Ever had a band member lose his/her temper on stage?

jakelly · #1 11-08-2009, 06:56 PM

It was an embarrassing moment for the band. He stopped playing after we had begun a song and had words with another band member. Right in the middle of a show. He was drinking and not playing well, and took offense to being asked (or told) to get it together a few times. He plays well (or well enough) maybe 2 out of 3 shows on average. None of the other band members, including me, have ever had this happen at a show before.

Talk to him, try to work it out and give him one more chance, or replace him, like, yesterday?

NJL · #2 11-08-2009, 06:59 PM

yeah, and Pacman texted me within minutes of it happening. LOL

it was his former drummer in the AF... his former keyboardist from the AF snitched on me while wear a Brokeback Mountain shirt. LOL

LaklandBass · #3 11-08-2009, 06:59 PM

I went through this. Replace him.

I know that you guys will probably want to give him a shot but from what Ive learned over the years is that the type of person that will do this will do it again. I would end it now and move on.

Jefenator · #4 11-08-2009, 07:35 PM

I'd say he *needs* to get the can, like right away, for his sake as much as yours. (IMO you're not really doing anyone a favor by enabling that kind of BS.)

I'll tolerate all sorts of imperfections in band mates but that isn't one of them.

steveksux · #5 11-08-2009, 07:43 PM

Guitarist I played with before reportedly had an "episode" once. Someone threw something at the band, think it was a tambourine. Guitar goes down, guitarist goes into the crowd after them...

Never had a repeat, was always reliable.

Only thing that happened was he got a new nickname out of it.... "Time Bomb"

That's a whole lot different than getting drunk to the point he can't play, then getting belligerent when its pointed out. I wouldn't tolerate that either.

Randy

JustDavid · #6 11-08-2009, 07:51 PM

I'd say you can that those actions as sufficient grounds for immediate dismissal.

Any extenuating circumstances that cloud the issues?

bongomania · #7 11-08-2009, 10:18 PM

I had a bandmate who went off on people sometimes, but it wasn't because of him being intoxicated--he just didn't take any crap, and wasn't afraid to let the offender know it. If a bandmate is not playing well and is not keeping his #### together, then he has to go. Tell him he can come back after he cleans up his act.

Lazylion · #8 11-08-2009, 10:22 PM

I had a guitarist drop his guitar, jump offstage and drag a guy off his (guitarist's) wife and bumrush him out the door. Strange, because she was a grade A #1 beyotch, I would've thought she could handle the jerk all by herself.
I started calling him Sudden Steve after that.

Beej · #9 11-08-2009, 10:53 PM

A band I played with in the early 90's did a show where the singer was so wasted he laid down on the stage during a song. The guitarist who knew him better than I did and had had enough, dropped his guitar and physically attacked him right there.

We all got the boot from the club muscle and I was lucky to get my gear out barely in time. Literally for years afterwards, people would come up to me and tell me that was the greatest show they'd ever seen...

Craig_S · #10 11-08-2009, 11:02 PM

I would get the guys together and ask him what was bothering him. Hopefully he'll have a good reason for being in a bad mood and getting drunk. Next, I would tell him if it happens again, he's done; no more chances, just done. If he starts arguing, I'd tell him to grab his gear and get out.

TigerClaw · #11 11-08-2009, 11:06 PM

My old drummer wigged out on tour one time on the rest of us while we were in the middle of the set. Totally embarrassing. Especially since these people scrambled to set up the show after the first show got canceled.

I punched him in the face.

Not the best thing to do, but it fixed the problem until we got home. Haha.

Edit: Do nothing that I did.

yellofury · #12 11-08-2009, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

My old drummer wigged out on tour one time on the rest of us while we were in the middle of the set. Totally embarrassing. Especially since these people scrambled to set up the show after the first show got canceled.

I punched him in the face.

Not the best thing to do, but it fixed the problem until we got home. Haha.

Edit: Do nothing that I did.

LOL!

mike costelow · #13 11-08-2009, 11:35 PM

Had a drummer get mad at singer once for playing his acoustic guitar out of time with drums.Instead of just keeping the rythm till end of the tune he threw a tantrum started hitting the drums really hard, randomly and out of time,threw down his sticks and walked off the stage in the middle of song

,all I could do was laugh!needless to say that was it for him! ....He didnt have a drop to drink which makes it even worse!

**Stumbo** · #14 11-09-2009, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakelly

He plays well (or well enough) maybe 2 out of 3 shows on average.

How long has this been going on?

Seems to me that he's been draggin' your band down for awhile. Maybe one of the reasons you don't get more gigs.

Time for a reality check. If he can't keep it together after you lay it out for him, then it's time for him to go. His problems are too deep if he can't control himself even when he tries.
Can't fix stuff like this.

mccartneyman · #15 11-09-2009, 06:57 AM

Never happened to me, but I have seen more than one band get into a fight onstage. I even saw a fistfight between members of a major orchestra's brass quintet -- at a concert for kids.

DWBass · #16 11-09-2009, 07:05 AM

I'm guilty of this! I snapped on a gig (actually my last with them) when they just could not control the stage volume. The drummer was banging away and the guitarist had his amp cranked as he was on a 64 bar+, so unnecessary, solo! I yelled at them both to 'bring it down, you're too effin loud"! The vocalists could not hear themselves, we were getting so much feedback from the monitors being cranked! It was ridiculous! I quit immediately after the gig! They were pissed at me too for showing my displeasure on stage but at that point, I just didn't give a flying crap!

5StringBlues · #17 11-09-2009, 07:20 AM

Me.

I told one of my guitards a million times NOT to put his beer anywhere near my amp.I even told him why:"When that beer spills it will wipe right off of your tolex,but it will soak into my ratfur and then into the cabinet wood." Yeah buddy,your 5 dollar beer means as much to me as my 1,000 dollar amp!

Sure enough,beer spilled.I put down my bass,picked up my amp(combo) and took it off the stage.I set the amp down to the side of the stage and went and sat at the bar to cool off...............

I'd have hit him ,but a close to 300 lbs. guy doesn't come off looking good when he pounds on a guy that doesn't weigh 140 lbs. soaking wet.

Phalex · #18 11-09-2009, 07:54 AM

HA! Yep. I had almost the exact same thing happen between 2 guitar players. There were lots of F-bombs, and one fingered salutes going on. They were on either side of me, and I just kept right on playing.

That was the first incarnation of the band I'm still in. I kinda miss the one guy......

gweimer · #19 11-09-2009, 08:16 AM

We had an entire band melt-down on-stage years ago. It was really ugly. The inclusion of LSD and beer in the middle of the day fueled things. By the time we got to the empty club to play, we were in pretty bad shape. We barely made it through the first set. Halfway into the second, we just fell apart, walked off, and got into a huge screaming and bottle throwing fight in the dressing room.

PlanetEarth · #20 11-09-2009, 08:37 AM

In any company certain behaviors are tolerated, some require reprimanding, and some are mandatory termination-of-employment offenses. In my book this would be the later...