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First Gig stopped on account of another bassist

blendermassacre

blendermassacre

May 28, 2009
4,242
371
kansas city, mo
#1
As I posted, it was my first show with my new band, The Uncouth. We were hosting a jam last night, along with a few other bands. This whole fiasco started because our second guitarist's amp's input died. We politely asked the guitarist of the first band that was playing, "From the West" to borrow his amp. He gladly agreed. By the time we were up to play, he decided that he wanted to leave ( like, after sound check). We were pretty irritated, but we got another amp to fill in.

I swear to god, this guy took 10 minutes to attempt to get his stuff off of the stage. Mind you this was AFTER sound check, so it was just awkward down time. My lead singer / guitarist asked him a bunch of times to hurry up, and at the end of the 10 minutes said "will you get your **** off of the ****ing stage already?!" in a not nice way.


FINALLY we get the amps working, and my lead singer starts talking with the 10 people left in the bar. He says thanks to the bands, including "From the west".

Next thing we know, the bass player from their band comes up and asks "What Did you call us???" Cody says "From the West?" and then the dude punches him right in the face.

cody.jpg


I We were also there with a band called the Death Vally Wolf Riders, who are not only great friends of ours, but bad asses to boot. The only thing that saved that dudes life is the fact that our drummer's family manages the bar that we were in and would flip if there was a brawl.

So yeah, first show, not so good, but We've got another one on the 9th of september.
 
#10
I sure hope your singer filed battery charges with the local PD. Could be the only way to keep that lunatic from doing the same, again, to you guys, or to others.

Name calling is one thing, physical violence is a different story. If the guy is unstable enough to haul off and hit someone for no reason, then he's unstable enough to take it farther, I suspect. Can't be too careful these days.
 
#11
Tampabass said:
I sure hope your singer filed battery charges with the local PD. Could be the only way to keep that lunatic from doing the same, again, to you guys, or to others.

Name calling is one thing, physical violence is a different story. If the guy is unstable enough to haul off and hit someone for no reason, then he's unstable enough to take it farther, I suspect. Can't be too careful these days.
Click to expand...

Well the bar was throwing a fit, and insisted that we didn't call the police. Turns out, we're never playing there again, ever.
 
#12
blendermassacre said:
Well the bar was throwing a fit, and insisted that we didn't call the police. Turns out, we're never playing there again, ever.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I wouldn't care what the bar said, because the bar won't be around 24/7 to shield you or your bandmates or your friends/family from a lunatic.

It's not too late to at least file an incident report with the PD - that way, a record will be established if/when he attacks someone again.
 
#13
My band's rhythm section is me (6' and 250 lbs) and my drummer (6'5" 275 lbs) who is mistaken for a pro football player all the time. We rarely have issues where someone tries to assult the band :-)

We did have a bouncer throw a drunk person into the stage last month causing damage to a mic, stand and a custom guitar. We were not happy. The bar agreed to cover the cost.
 
#15
Remember all that talk about "paying your dues"? Yeah, well welcome to it. Ha ha!

Sorry to hear about the mess, but unfortunately this kinda crap happens from time to time. It seems to happen more in the teen - mid 20's years and less as you and your audience grow older. I guess is just less to prove at that point, or too much to lose.

This is great example however of why you need back up equipment. The "just in case" gear doesn't have to be fancy. A $300 solid state (Line 6/crate?) guitar head or a Squier guitar/bass can sit in a corner for just those emergencies. They may not sound as good as your main rig, but unless you're filthy rich spending $1,800 on a back up Mesa head is a bit excessive. If your main rig takes a dump throw that combo with an extension speaker out on top of your cabinet and rock n' roll. This lets you continue with the show and keep things moving.

I know you already know this stuff but your experience from the gig just serves as a reminder.

Rock on and have fun with the next gig. :hyper:
 
#16
I bet you could go there, at this group's next performance, stand in the audience, do nothing, and they'll flip out. And maybe, just maybe, they'll lose their work, just like you lost yours. It would be important to do zero anything, which would be tough.

Then you can press charges, really good charges...
 

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