2 wasted 2 play

[Medicine Man]

So after a polarizing thread where we agree to disagree, it is clear that many musicians are determined to avoid sobriety. Many of us have worked with players whose performances have been sub par because of intoxication. I'm curious to find out what drugs have destroyed the most shows. Did your drummer push the tempo from too much blow? Stoner guitarist forget all the breaks after smoking a blunt? Fiddle player runs screaming off stage from mind shredding hallucinations? For me, it was a singer who would get blackout drunk and slur all the words. Tragic.

 

[charlie monroe]

For me, by the numbers, it’s no contest.

The all time WMD is Booze.

 

[Eilif]

Any of that stuff can kill a gig. Over indulgence in alcohol is the most common in my experience.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most folks gig in establishments that exist to sell alcohol?

 

[Jebberz]

Don't feed cognac to the lead singer before the show - He would then makes un-coherant and un-intelligile speeches between songs and probably misbehave.

And I never touch weed If I need to play in public or rehearse seriously. My playing is getting very sloppy, and I tend to forgot where I am in the songs, where are the punches, and almost what song I am currently playing.

 

[Medicine Man]

Fyi, I love to party. After the gig. I always perform sober.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Mostly alcohol, mostly because it is more prevalent. I won't play with anyone who shows to a gig or rehearsal impaired, regardless of the reason or source for said impairment.

 

[Medicine Man]

Any of that stuff can kill a gig. Over indulgence in alcohol is the most common in my experience.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most folks gig in establishments that exist to sell alcohol?

For sure, especially when the crowd is buying the band shots.

 

[Medicine Man]

My drummer can only do like 2 shots before his timing gets off.

 

[Nashrakh]

Thinking about it, I am lucky enough to never have had a drug related incident outright destroy a gig.

Timing issues, usually rushing, come down to adrenaline. But I've never seen anyone drunk or high enough to absolutely butcher a show. That said, in my circle of acquaintances no one does any drugs except alcohol and cigarettes (and coffee I guess). The vast majority don't even smoke. And some can drink like a bottomless hole, but they never do so on a gig.

 

[Medicine Man]

That's great! I suspect many of us haven't had such good fortune!

 

[TheReceder]

As a fill in bassist, I watched a Guitar player stumble around stage in the last set. Eventually tripped over himself fell off the stage and snapped the neck off his guitar. I was a kid then and after that I never got trashed on stage... As for drugs, as I said in the controversial thread. I lost a good friend and drummer to a drug overdose. Am I critical of others... sometimes, when they screw up a show, but everyone has to make their own choices.

 

[sleddogn]

here we go again....lol alcohol is by far the most abused, too damned easy to get at clubs...

 

[Winslow]

Voted booze, just because of its sheer ubiquity. In my drumming days, I played with some guys who would all enjoy a drink or three (or five) as the show went on. I was the only one who didn't drink "at work," since I didn't want to screw up tempos or my coordination. I know, I can hear you thinking it: "A conscientious drummer?? Impossible!"

Well, maybe now it is.

 

[RichardW]

so fortunate that I've never experienced this in my band, but I'm guessing abuse of alcohol is probably the #1 cause.

Though there was that one time when I had a lot of carrots pre-gig. It was touch and go.

 

[dalkowski]

I pretty much quit a band on live radio b/c the lead singer was embarrassingly drunk.

 

[bound'n'blocked]

Call me an ol' Fuddy Duddy, but I can't fathom why any band would want to get blind drunk (or stoned or trippin' or whatever you choose) while performing a show. If someone is paying me to play at their place, then I'm at work. I dont get hammered and go to my day job, so why would I do it at a gig?

A few friends of mine are in a band, and they make it a point to get as drunk as possible. I used to play in that band and it drove me insane. I eventually quit. They dont even understand the issue. One place they had a regular gig with called them out on it one time, saying they wanted to have them back for the usual gig that was coming up, but that the last time, they had gotten pretty drunk (actually, had to quit early because the guitarist and singer couldn't perform anymore) and the music sounded awful. They wanted to know if the band would do the gig cheaper this time. The band felt insulted and one guy said "if they think we suck, let's just not play for them anymore!" REALLY? Not one single guy in that band said "hey, maybe we need to not get so effed up next time we play there" The next gig that they played after that email they were so drunk the singer announced they were done because he couldnt remember any of the words.

I voted alcohol, because I think folks dont really realize it's messing with you until its too late. You have one, then two, and before you know it you've had ten.

Oh, and I also voted freebase carrots. I had a hard time kicking those. Spent a while in detox.

BnB

 

[bassdude51]

All of the above?

 

[Coolhandjjl]

I was a frequent poster in the other thread. While acceptance of alcohol and drug use is higher in the arts & entertainment industry than in others, it's a serious matter. Stardom has a price to pay, and addiction can be one of them. There's tons or anecdotes, tons of myths, tons of rumors, but one thing is certain. Abuse of alcohol or drugs can have fatal consequences.

Disclaimer: I live a sober life & I share that fact with people. I also behave in a manner as to not infringe on another’s pursuit of happiness or make them feel awkward around me.

 

[Medicine Man]

All of the above?

I was looking for specific incidents, but I suppose some unfortunate soul mixed em all.

 

[bound'n'blocked]

I was a frequent poster in the other thread. While acceptance of alcohol and drug use is higher in the arts & entertainment industry than in others, it's a serious matter. Stardom has a price to pay, and addiction can be one of them. There's tons or anecdotes, tons of myths, tons of rumors, but one thing is certain. Abuse of alcohol or drugs can have fatal consequences.

I was going to post this in the other thread, but didnt, so I'll put it here. In regards to The Pot and whether or not it would have any after effects. Back when I was a younger musician, the drummer and I would car pool to practice at the bass players house. We were both "Heads", IE we got stoned to the Bejezus Belt on the ride over. I always tried to hide it from the bass player and his wife and other guitar player, but I'm sure the knew. Especially the one time I went to tune with the bass player's rack tuner. I unplugged my cable from my amp, and plugged it into the bass players tuner. I couldn't get it to read, and for five minutes cussed at the tuner, my cable and everything else I could think of. The bass player just stood there smiling at me, until I realized I hadn't plugged the other end of the cable into my guitar yet.

"Maybe you should have hit that thing one more time on the way over..." he said dryly...

BnB