30 song live audition - Not much fun for me

[the yeti]

What was the song list?

2nd that... can you post the list?

 

[rtslinger]

Sorry that happen to you, I personally as a rule do not join bands I start my own. I control the situation and that works for me. Good luck in the future RTS

 

[Lizooki]

You probably should have said no thanks after the initial contact.
But you also probably done as good as anyone could have given the circumstances.
Guys that can walk in and deliver in that scenario 100% are truthfully few and far between.
I've been involved in music in one way or another around here for many years .... I know maybe one guy for keyboard, one bass player and one guitarist who could do it.
I'm pretty good at getting the "key of C" over the shoulder shout and hanging on for the ride, but I wouldn't have tried your gig.
But I also understand wanting to play!

Best of luck finding a good groove.

 

[bbh]

So now you know a bunch of tunes you didn't know before. This can only help with future endeavors.

 

[ToneMonkey]

At my request the next day I get a list of the keys and some chord charts for most of the songs.

I feel your pain. My approach is similar to yours. I don't consider myself very talented but I work my ass off to sound good and to not embarrass myself or the band.

I have to say though that the fact that the band could provide what you asked for makes them an extreme outlier, especially for a cover band. I almost never run into guys who can actually do that. I've actually stopped asking, except in the softest most diplomatic way possible. I usually end up charting stuff out myself just because I need to. I usually end up with "cheat seats" where I cram a dozen or so songs on each page. Bare minimum. Almost always the rest of the band asks for copies. That always kills me. They clearly need something but are unable or unwilling to do it for themselves.

It's even worse with original material. You'd be surprised at the number of singer-songwriter types who apparently have no freakin' idea what they're doing.

Your situation reminds me of this audition a few years back. Guitarist/songwriter fancied himself a "jazz" musician. The situation was mostly his originals. Keys player did work in a few covers that he sang. Problem was the guitarist's concept of "jazz" was just moving random chord shapes around the fretboard. I call that shizzle "flarpy." Just random non-diatonic wanking: no key centers, no structure. Whatever that is, it ain't jazz.

I didn't get the gig. I ran into the drummer a few years down the road. He told me that my questions pretty much meant I wasn't a "good fit." The band is no longer together. I think they played one more gig after my audition sans bassist. The guitarist played a few solo gigs around town at coffee houses that literally paid $20/night. But he hasn't done that for years now. Sometimes the best gigs are the ones you don't get.

 

[Koog]

Sounds to me like a good band to be out of. It would be too loose for me and my opinion is that if you care about delivering quality to the audience and venue owner, this gig would bring you a lot of frustration.

BTW....your time wasn't wasted in learning all those songs. You increased your song book and that's to your advantage.

There are plenty of fish in that Florida sea.

Best of luck in finding your right fit.

Koog

 

[bassbully]

I've had the opposite happen to me a few times. Band, "We need a bass player next weeK". Me: "Sure, I'm in". Band: Do you know XYZ?". Me: "Yea, sure". Although the truth is I know the genre, not necc all the songs they do. Maybe get a list of songs. maybe not.

Show up for gig and rough it out, but do it with spirit. When in doubt, play something that sounds right. Being in the right key and in the right rhythm helps.

Later: Band: "That was ok, a few rough spots but a good gig". Me: "Yeah, sorry I f'ed up a couple time". Band: "ok. no one noticed, want to gig next week?"

Been here did that lol

 

[bassbully]

It really sounds like a not fun situation. You came, you tried it, you don't need the complaining.

Right! For 60 bucks they got plenty.

 

[ELG60]

Welcome to Tampa Bay. Now you're a damned Yankee. Here's my take, fwiw. That was a bit of a tough situation however, it might have been better to try for the root, and depending upon the music genré, the 5th, 7th, and/or 3rd or 4th.

Here's where my frame of reference lies:
I make too much money in my secondary weekend business to be in a band full-time, so since the reopening in our State and area, I've been attending various open jams mostly in Pinellas County.

Much of the time it's (at least at first) with muso's I don't know, and still today, about half the time, songs I don't know (but at my age, have often heard over the years)

I recall a recent set with a Country/Bluegrass outfit that was doing a mini-set and needed a bass player so I volunteered. The guitarist and I sketched out a basic chart for the songs (but since he was using a capo on a few I had to transpose on the fly)

Other than the 1st song (Whiskey River medley) I'd never heard any of them, but since I was standing to the right rear of the &×!+@%!$+, I asked him to clip my tuner to his headstock so I could more easily follow the notes if necessary.

I'm not a pro either . . . Like you, and it definitely wasn't my finest moment, but we got through it without it being a total trainwreck for the most part.

I'll even have the cajones to post a link below as I normally video the jam nights and post them on YouTube. The jams are a good way for me to scratch the live playing itch, meet some cool musicians, and improve the ear, without having to commit to a band. Plus if I hit some clams, or get lost on a song (which has happened occasionally) no one's shooting at me, and if they do . . . I'll shoot back.

The only downside is sometimes having to play with the occasional bedroom wanker or someone with a, shall we say . . . Interesting concept of timing, and of course, the singer who is a bit . . . Pitchy. But I ain't perfect either. Far from it, so we put up with each other, and ofttimes, things are quite fun.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

For $60 they got a steal.

 

[Basslice]

As I mention this was really out of my comfort zone as I like to practice and be rehearsed but took this on as it was safe, outdoors, and I wanted to play and after reading from a lot of TBers here that that typically play shows without any rehearsals I figured this was a low pressure situation to see if I could handle it.

I'm not sure what they expected, can / should they expect that a bass player can come in cold and play 3 sets - songs with different arrangements and keys, several unrelated mash ups or medleys??

It sounds like it was not fun and the group was not into it either. They needed to get through it. You did a good job, but they were not feeling it. Nothing personal - considering you didn't know these guys all too well.

Chalk this one up to experience. Now you know what doesn't work for you. I agree that any mashups would be freaking hard as heck to do cold without a practice. That would kind've freak me out too. My current band has trouble doing these, even after we practice them ad nauseum.

Thanks for sharing the story. Lots of lessons in this for me and many others.

 

[Medicine Man]

I do sub gigs here and there, often on short notice. If you didnt put it on a set list, ill fake the best i can. Sometimes win, sometimes lose. If they wont give me a rehearsal, that drop in show quality is in them. Believe it or not, the number of bass players who can just show up without rehearsal or a setlist and kill it is small, and they charge more than $60. I feel like the going rate for a "plugin" sub is at least $250+ a night most places. These guys get what they get. For $60 they are lucky you showed up with working gear. Dont let some small time jerks get you down.

 

[jnuts1]

im super confused by some of you. the band clearly isnt pro but some of you think it was the OPs fault for not being a pro learning all of the tunes. he told them he's not pro. they didnt even provide them until a few days before the gig with new arrangements and keys with almost no charts? the bands expectations are clearly delusional. especially the starting a song over??? are you kidding me? as soon as the guitarist starts a song over in his own band the OP is absolved of all responsibility. he was clearly with clowns.

 

[john_g]

At one point a couple of years ago, I was actively trying to get as many sub gigs as I can get (doesnt sound like the OP was supposed to be a sub though) and its stuff like that is why I wont take them unless I can practice at least once with the band. Different keys, arrangements, changing parts, etc...and no one would bother to mention any of it. If I was trying to find a sub for my band, i would get every detail I could to that person so it wouldnt be a trainwreck, who wants to stand in front of people and not care if it sounds like garbage? I dont get it.

 

[john_g]

I do sub gigs here and there, often on short notice. If you didnt put it on a set list, ill fake the best i can. Sometimes win, sometimes lose. If they wont give me a rehearsal, that drop in show quality is in them. Believe it or not, the number of bass players who can just show up without rehearsal or a setlist and kill it is small, and they charge more than $60. I feel like the going rate for a "plugin" sub is at least $250+ a night most places. These guys get what they get. For $60 they are lucky you showed up with working gear. Dont let some small time jerks get you down.

I agree and as i just said in my other post, I was getting a bunch of sub gigs a couple years ago. Send me the setlist and anything out of the ordinary (different keys, stops, etc) and I can show up to a gig without playing with a band first, no problem. That never happens though. There were always a ton of things they didnt mention, if they bothered to mention anything at all. I usually could fake it well enough to get through, but when I told people I was going to be charging alot more than just an "equal cut" for sub gigs, most of them dried up. They just didnt understand why I would charge more to learn a ton of songs, hump my stuff to a gig, and have several sudden panic attacks when you realize that you have no idea what they are doing in a certain song.

 

[Altitude]

This is sort of what subbing is. There's a ton of shedding for one-off gigs. You get to where you have to qualify the situation to avoid a bad experience for yourself and for the band.

In my view, it's not unreasonable for a band to ask you to cover a three-set gig. And it's not unreasonable for you to say no either. But if you and they agree that you'll do it:

• They should either commit to you that they play tunes per the standard arrangements and point you to a definitive recording OR provide you with charts that represent their arrangement.
• They should make themselves available for one pre-show walkthrough, so you can run at least the beginning and end of each tune and ask questions. Depending on the setlist, you might agree you don't need this. Horn funk bands, for instance, all play "Brick House" the same way, pretty much.
  
• An iPad on stage is normally acceptable.

Sounds to me like you and they had different expectations of each other. But you got through the gig and it was a learning experience for next time. In that, a good thing.

 

[jthisdell]

1. I only want to be in a band where the hang is good, players who like playing together, like to rehearse and learn new songs. I am done with players who have been playing the same songs they learned twenty years ago. If you don't want to get together regularly and try to make something better then I am out.

2. I am decent at following along and playing a new song on the fly. But three sets of that is way too much. If you gave me charts of everything and were cool with me playing off them all night that would be one thing. But I'm guessing these guys don't have charts because they have been playing the same songs forever. In order to do that you have to be a remarkable player and I doubt any of these guys could follow suit if the roles were reversed. Kind of tunnel vision to be of the mindset that since we know these songs everyone else knows these songs well enough to play them live in public. I've played with tons of guitarists who are decent but when asked to play unfamiliar material on the fly they can't. To do so takes remarkable skill and I've only known a few who really could do so. But bass and drums are expected to all the time. "Hey, here's a song you've never played and maybe never even heard. In A. Let's go, 1, 2, 3.."

3. A proper audition is to give the player a set list, ask him to pick out a half dozen or more, then provide charts or at least keys. Give him a chance to do it well. If it is not worth two hours of your time to get together outside of a show and just play together then forget it.

IMHO this is the problem with Classic Rock, guys play the same old same old. I am in a Dead/Byrds/Beetles band but I doubt that more than a half dozen of our songs would fit on a Classic Rock set list. And we like it that way.

 

[Fialka]

It has been a brave thing to do, I probably wouldn't do it. Standing on a stage with a bunch of strangers playing 3 sets of songs you don't know/have different arrangements and without a single rehearsal? Nah, thanks.

 

[jthisdell]

im super confused by some of you. the band clearly isnt pro but some of you think it was the OPs fault for not being a pro learning all of the tunes. he told them he's not pro. they didnt even provide them until a few days before the gig with new arrangements and keys with almost no charts? the bands expectations are clearly delusional. especially the starting a song over??? are you kidding me? as soon as the guitarist starts a song over in his own band the OP is absolved of all responsibility. he was clearly with clowns.

Clearly the player they are expecting to be able to do this is not the player willing to do it for $60.

 

[jnuts1]

Nope. Didn't miss a thing. Read it all, a few times, in fact. You and I just interpret the outcome differently. To me, laying out is never acceptable - especially when you say it was only a couple songs. If it was me in that situation, I'd have to look back at my short time of wood shedding and see where I could have grabbed another 20 minutes of the day to hammer out the last two. I'd look at it as "what could I have done different given the lemons that were handed to me?"

Like @LBS-bass said, with relatively formulaic music, a player can at least watch the hands of other players for the changes and stick to roots if necessary. Between that and listening as the song went on, it won't be perfect, but you could surprise yourself and be quite passable. I can't tell you how many times a band leader has thrown out something I've never played before and he tells me across the stage "Awwww, that's alright, follow me and you'll be fine."

Like I said, not getting on you at all. It's a learning experience for both sides. I see my similar messes as "o.k., what should I have done differently?" Whether it's preparation, being adventurous and not laying out, or not taking the gig in the first place for all the red flags.

your going to learn 2 songs with different arrangements in a different key in 20 minutes? you may have read it a few times but he says he couldn't see the guitarist.