2 wasted 2 play

[Son of Wobble]

i mean of course alcohol... but caffeine definitely ruined a gig for a former band. we had a long van ride and the drummer got a big coffee before the show... i think we ended up having to add 2 songs to our set to fill the amount of time we had... some of the songs i had to literally slur the lyrics cuz there wasn't time to annunciate the actual words. it was bad.

This is hilarious! Show ruined by 24 oz coffee, love it

 

[zon6c-f]

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.

In mid 1980s, we lost our keys player.
Replacement keys had a nose problem which he soon shared with our tenured drummer/ lead vocalist ..And poof.. went from playing out 3nites a week to nothing quickly

 

[Medicine Man]

C'mon. Do we REALLY have to have another one of these threads?

Sorry, I'll only post about tort pickguards from here out.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

1. Booze.
2. The "weeyoo boozed crowd heckling the boozed {fill in the blank} player."
3. The boozer(s) standing in the way during load-out...total bummer.
4. Intoxicated FOH...usually due to booze.

 

[bassbrad]

Many of the above but you left out several of the dreaded worst:

The "Girlfriend" Effect

The "BoyFriend" Effect

The "A&R" Person Effect

The "Pawnshop" Effect"

The Jail/DUI/DWI/Probation Effect

Smoking LSD Pot in a Carrot while drinking Sweet Corn and Mountain Dew my absolute favorite, twice

 

[DrMole]

There should be another choice on poll for over-bearing significant other.

I see Brad beat me to it- likely others as well.

When i started professional gigging my non-musical dad warned me to not let alcohol, drugs or women take precedence over my job...did fair with the first two...

 

[James Willie]

Best stoned band ever...
The Reefer Heads from movie "Back to the Future"

 

[oZZma]

I have never gigged yet. But I know I would never be able to play under the effect of weed. I have tried a couple of times. Never again. I make the most stupid mistakes.
On the other hand, I doubt I could ever go on a stage without one beer in my stomach. Too shy and awkward for that. Definitely need some "liquid courage". But not to the point to numb my senses or affect my playing. I worked too hard to ruin everything.

 

[izorbot]

It's all about practice. Our band used to practice about 4-6 hours per night on the nights when we did not have a gig lined up. At practice we drank like fish, 30 minutes of practice - 30 minutes bouncing quarters - 30 minutes of practice - 30 minutes drinking - back and forth. So when we had a gig we sounded pretty darn good because of the the long sets and not enough time in between sets for getting plowed. And none of us started drinking at a gig until after the first set. I voted alcohol because I've witnessed it happen to other bands. Practice.

 

[DrMole]

I can't get my carrots to stay lit.

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

On the one hand, I feel like this list should include the option “People. People are a-holes”. On the other hand, if it did that might be the only option anyone chooses.

 

[REV]

In one group I play with, the drummer always pounds a Red Bull at the beginning of the second set (we always play two long sets). The tempos are way faster in the second set.

 

[DrMole]

Only had one experience of this. Drummer had a few lines of Cocaine between sets. Came back and counted like King Arthur in Monty Python's Holy Grail

Armaments, chapter Two, verses 9 through 21...and Saint Attilla....

Best scene in a movie where every scene is actually the best

 

[izorbot]

On the one hand, I feel like this list should include the option “People. People are a-holes”. On the other hand, if it did that might be the only option anyone chooses.

This!

 

[Medicine Man]

To all the folks who want me to include some kind of "people suck" option, keep in mind that over indulging in drugs is a people problem, not a drug problem. If you are too wasted to play, you are letting you coworkers down by acting like a selfish jerk. The drugs aren't to blame. In yesterday's thread, many offered up anecdotal evidence as proof, and I'm trying to quantify, at least to some unscientific extent, whether or not these experiences are common to all of us or merely a couple bad out of place, isolated experiences.

 

[oZZma]

Anyways on YT there is an Electric Wizard gig video and the drummer is blatantly totally stoned and still playing great. Flawless.

 

[DrMole]

I think lots more people use alchohol responsibly as well. So much for the accuracy of this poll.

No; you are correct that many use alcohol responsibly but that does not excuse the vast number of players who overindulge and last set is often a train wreck.

So even if many use alcohol responsibly alcohol STILL effs up gigs more than any other drug just out of, as mentioned, sheer ubiquity.

 

[oZZma]

And actually I think cocaine may boost your "performance" if you're the frontman.
(Never tried cocaine, personally, but from indirect experience I think it works that way)

 

[DJ Bebop]

They didn't list my drug of choice...

I like the unscented so, nobody knows I'm using

 

[orange joe]

I can't say I've ever played with anyone who was stupid enough to take hallucinogenic drugs before performing. Alcohol has definitely been #1 for ruining gigs or practice in my experience. I've also had some issues with overconfident stoners . On the contrary I used to play for a local guitarist who was one of the most professional BLs I've ever worked for. we eventually found out he was on opiates nearly every practice and gigs. He was such an amazing player and professional in every way. We were very surprised when he told us what was going on and that he was going to rehab.