That less than one week after our first (and highly successful) gig, my band fell apart this evening. It's over. This is what happened:
Our drummer was not cutting it. Everyone in the band agreed. He even agreed about his lack of dedication, practice, money, time, etc. He didn't even own his own kit. Everyone decided unanimously that if the drummer couldn't pay his room rent this month, he was out. There was a looooonnnng history of him being a moocher and a flake.
After our first gig last Saturday, the word got around to the local club owners that we rocked out and had a huge draw. Our gig was Saturday, and by Wednesday, we had 3 paying gigs booked in October, one in November, and another club that wanted to book us for a few Fri-Sat. gigs. Amazing, right?
So the rhythm guitarist, who is the founder of the band and also owns most of the PA, volunteered to be the one to do the deed and fire the drummer this afternoon. He and the drummer had been friends since childhood, and they had been together the longest of any of us. The drummer had quit the band before (before I was part of it) and came back. He never practiced, was habitually late to practice, and never paid his own way. It was time for him to go.
So I talk to the rhythm guitarist and he tells me he has done it. But did he do it the way he said he would in person? Hell no. He calls the guys cell phone and leaves a message. "Dude-you're fired for various reasons. Call me if you want to know why." Then the guitarist proceeds to start drinking. This guy is a recovering alcoholic that falls off the wagon occasionally and does really stupid stuff. He did it tonight. He calls the lead guitarist, who happens to be a good friend of mine, and goes off on him. He puts down his son-in-law (who is a revered local musician who has been helping us get started), puts down our lead-singer's sexual preferences (happens to be gay...not a problem for me....the dude can sing and you wouldn't know he's gay because he's just like a regular guy), and then starts putting ME down because I put my cell phone number on a frickin' gig flyer I made. Reason why? Because I don't have a "regular" job and I'm available to take phone calls at any time. No biggie. It's just a flyer and not our website (which I created and maintain btw). The guitarist tells the drunk guitarist "Hey man....don't be talking about my son-in-law like that; he's helped us out more than you know, plus he's my family!" The drunk geet just keeps on going about all the crap he doesn't like. They hang up.
Jeff (the good geet) calls me up, tells me what happens, and we go collect our equipment from the rehearsal room. Over. Done. No more. All that hard work that we put into the band derailed because of someone who doesn't know how to stop drinking. If the guy has one or two, he's fine. More than that he goes off the deep end. We warned him before....and he did it again Strike three.
So now the lead guitarist, the singer, and I now have to start over. Since we don't have a PA, we're in a bind. I don't know if we'll be able to keep a new project going or not.
Sorry for the rant....I just can't believe this guy is so immature and irresponsible as to sacrifice everything for the rest of us.
I did get a lot out of the experience though. 1). Don't play with alcoholics; 2). Don't rely on someone who holds all the cards with a PA; 3). I learned a lot of new songs and made tons of contacts, and 4). I got back up on the stage after a 19 year hiatus. Hopefully my future experiences won't be as screwed up as this one was.
I'm bummed because I was looking forward to us continuing our progress and being able to play for pay starting in October.
