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abrubtly quitting?
- Thread starter jnuts1
- Start date
Wow again.
First off bro, I am on your side in this and not trying to be antagonistic.
The answer to this question is also the answer to why he "just decided" to go home instead of the studio.
Answer: He cares about nobody but himself. He is very young, doing A LOT of drinking and drugging, and being about as unprofessional on AND off the stage as is humanly possible. All of his decisions are based on HIS conveniance, with no thought as to how it will effect others. And he is the lead singer?
Just the fact that after playing the "spiked drink" gig 2 hours late, he/they "leave the bar to smoke and drink and dont come back until the bar is almost closed and the staff have the chairs off the floor before tearing down" tells me the whole band is a bunch of flaky, oblivious, self absorbed lazy bums with huge egos and no regard for anyone.
I bet the bar staff just loved waiting for you guys to get your gear out so they could leave. And...........I wonder where your band mates went when they left?
Sounds like a classic cocaine life-style: looking for it, buying it, selling it, and doing it....with more looking for it than anything.
You owe these guys nothing. Get your gear and be done with them.
Good luck.
Dude, if this band is as flaky as you say, what reputation are you preserving by showing up for what is sure to be another 3-ring circus of a show? I have NEVER played a show that disorganized. What a complete waste of time.
Think of it this way -- you are WAY more professional than they are. This band doesn't sound good enough for you -- they need to hire a walleyed, alcohol-soaked nitwit to round out the lineup and then HE can miss shows, wander away, stumble around drunk, and frick things up in harmonious symphony with them.
You will be playing gigs you aren't so embarrassed about that you are wearing a bag over your head. And seriously WHO are they going to sully your reputation with? This a the band that sounds like they can't get through a single gig without a horrific screw-up.
Argh. Out-of-town show in a freakin' clown car? I'd just bail on them, no explanation needed. They aren't going to miss you because they aren't making music -- they're screwing off.
Think of it this way -- you are WAY more professional than they are. This band doesn't sound good enough for you -- they need to hire a walleyed, alcohol-soaked nitwit to round out the lineup and then HE can miss shows, wander away, stumble around drunk, and frick things up in harmonious symphony with them.
You will be playing gigs you aren't so embarrassed about that you are wearing a bag over your head. And seriously WHO are they going to sully your reputation with? This a the band that sounds like they can't get through a single gig without a horrific screw-up.
Argh. Out-of-town show in a freakin' clown car? I'd just bail on them, no explanation needed. They aren't going to miss you because they aren't making music -- they're screwing off.
I don't like going on stage five minutes late let alone two hours late. I think you know the answer to this quandry: Get your gear and get the hell out of that situation. I've seen high school-aged garage bands with more professionalism than this.
You shouldnt be embarrassed by that. He probably came to you coz you were the only one there that looked like they had their sh!t together.
BTW, did the bar cut your pay?
I feel for you. I just couldn't do it -- I have played with people that unserious before. One time I was sitting there loading my stuff into the car to leave and they were begging me to stay because I was the only one who could keep it together.
I don't know about the pay yet. i was supposed to make at least 50 bucks, which always means 50 bucks & not a penny more! to tell you the truth i just wanted out there that night & in the morning i figured i would catch my cash when i picked up my gear.
I can't see any reason to disagree with this.
I would typically come down on the side of honoring commitments and seeing the Friday gig through before calling it quits. But it seems to me that this situation is unusual in terms of the risk it poses to you personally, both to your health/safety and to your reputation as a local musician.
Heck, your freedom might be at risk as well. I mean, if the bust comes Friday, do you really want to be rounded up with these guys? "Um, officer, I was just trying to honor my commitment as a professional..." Uh-huh.
BTW, where do you live? Cuz anyplace where bands as horrible as this one you describe can get gigs would be an absolute gold mine for anyone with talent and a professional work ethic! I wanna move there!
^ This guy would have a field day there. I caught his band
at a gig last week and it was without a doubt one of the
most highly professional and polished sets I have ever seen.
If they made any mistakes, I sure couldn't spot one.
WOOOPS, that changes things A LOT. Now you need to go into stealth mode and reacquire your gear first. I wouldn't sever any ties till it is back in your possession.
I really suspect that the chances of that cash be around for a week waiting for you are just about zero. JMHO. But it probably got used for booze and dope.
I guess you have to run a bit of a stealth game and achieve
certain objectives.
1) Do not back out of the gig. Yet, anyway.
2) Be sure your equipment is going to show up, even if you
have to get a ride to go pick it up. I would really try to get
that in hand this week before this gig.
3) Ask for your money from the last gig. You are entitled to
quit if they stiff you on the pay. If they pay you then -
4) Play the gig if you feel you must.
5) Be sure your gear goes in your vehicle back to where you are going.
6) Don't commit to any more gigs, you're busy, you're booked,
whatever.
7) Call Saturday and resign, citing professional goal differences, or however you want to handle it.
Not being in possession of your gear really complicates the issue. Especially when
you have NO IDEA where this loser lives.
Finally, take a few mini water bottles. Only drink from a new one.
These guys get this loaded and drive around? Wow!
+100
If you decide to do the gig, DO NOT let them know your plans ahead of time. IMO, they'll definitely spike your drink and try to make a fool out of you.
IMO, quit now. No sense in throwing good time after bad.
my god thats the worst band in the world to be a part of run fast NOW! I worked with a drummer that was like that..hed be totally wasted falling down drunk/high on 10 different things and couldnt play in time, was the reason wed be late for all of our gigs we ever had, his equipment fell apart mid song on every 3rd song sometimes and he didnt have the coordination left in his drunk a$$ to make up for it, and on top of that hed take at least 20 mins longer than we were allowed to set up and tear down for timed shows, fought with owners, other bands over his problems, insulted other bands, and every time it was time for us to go out and play or come back from intermission hed conveniently wanna take ANOTHER smoke break..you can guess what he smoked..
we fired him after one night of this haha sounds like your guys are ALL like this and have done it more than once! RUN..Im glad I did!
we fired him after one night of this haha sounds like your guys are ALL like this and have done it more than once! RUN..Im glad I did!
In a sense, yes. It's called "ask a lot of questions before you join a band." It wouldn't have taken much research to discover these guys are trouble.
Tell'em you'll be there and don't show...then accidently spike their car tires
Messin' with someone's drink= a$$ kicked once you cross Florida State Line
Messin' with someone's drink= a$$ kicked once you cross Florida State Line
coyote, how much research can you do on a no name band? not much. i checked their site & asked about goals & all the good stuff you would usually ask. you can ask all the questions you want but it doesn't matter if they give all the right answers.
but i could have been a little more vigilent that's for sure. the first few gigs with them went pretty good so i really didn't have much to worry about at the time. & then i started hearing stories about some erratic behavior & it has just been going downhill since then.
but i could have been a little more vigilent that's for sure. the first few gigs with them went pretty good so i really didn't have much to worry about at the time. & then i started hearing stories about some erratic behavior & it has just been going downhill since then.
No way would I go somewhere out of town with these guys with no "backup". People are telling you to be a "pro" and do the gig but what you've already been through is probably nothing compared to what you could be in store for in a place where you are on your own when they decide to get stupid. Leave now with your health, dignity and sanity in tact.
I beg to differ.
That sounds about right.
I have a LONG list of questions I ask the band members directly before I join. They include alot about professional and ethical band behavior. Among other things, I ask about their attitudes and policies toward punctuality, alcohol and drug use, pay arrangement, acceptable on-stage behavior, etc.
If you are saying you asked all these questions and they lied to you and fooled you into joining, well, that sucks for sure.
If you didn't ask enough questions and get honest answers from these guys (or weren't vigilant enough, as you said), live and learn, and do so the next time you consider joining a band. Use your instincts about people, and keep your standards up.
