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ah, my first "Rage Quit" ever

I already was on the fence about being in this sloppy, mediocre band with a very uncreative LS who simply could not remember the lyrics to songs, and often didn't know when to come in - even with lyric sheets attached to his wedge...and blathers on too long between almost every song. Who can't learn the lyrics to well known cover songs after YEARS??? Never had to work with someone like that.

but the lead guitarist last night - a guy I had known for more than a decade -- took what was turning out to be a fun gig with enthusiastic people in front of us, into a trainwreck. by getting drunk. not the first time, but it was 4x worse this time than I've ever seen. It was an important festival show. And he ruined it. First set, superb. 2nd set, starting to get a bit sloppy. third set? Full on drunk and was playing badly. Worse than that, he was talking nonsensically into the microphone between songs. And the LS - the chickenpoppy - did nothing about it.

It was the last straw. I simply quit.

and I feel great about it. I had had enough of this cruddy band. It was a first!
 
0_Churchill-und-Ehefrau.jpg
 
SCROOM ! ! ! Good for you, bunch of losers. SCROOM ! ! ! !

I once had a gig like this where they started off sober, hit the 1/2 gallon and some reefer in the car every break, and every set got worse and worse. There was only a few weeks left so I stuck it out. Except . . . . .

The LS/Guitar Player would round up 'all the birthdays in the house tonight!' and would read them out and recognize them from the stage, usually 2 or 3, at the start of the last set, once Jack Daniels and Smokestack El Ropo had had their way with him. He'd write them down on a list on his music stand (another one those dumbasses that had to have a music stand with all his lyrics in front of them, despite having played the same 50 damn songs for the last 10 years. . . . .). So while they were 'out to the car' between sets, I added a name to the bottom of the list. . . . .

We play a tune, then it's 'Birthday Time!', and he begins to read the list, with a fairly substantial buzz on:

'Joe Smith! Where's Joe? Hey, Happy Birthday!

Susan Brown! Where's Susan? There she is, Happy Birthday !'

Then . . . . he gets to the name me and the fiddle player added at the bottom:

'Jack Mehoff! Hey, where's Jack Mehoff ? Is he here? Where is that Jack Mehoff? Maybe Jack Mehoff's in the bathroom' . . . . and, as they say, the Crowd Goes Wild! Then he's too buzzed to catch it and he keeps on calling for old Jack, me and the fiddle player are just rolling in the floor along with the crowd. . . . . . and all was right . . . . with the World that night.

Sometimes, you just GOT to get your licks in.
 
I already was on the fence about being in this sloppy, mediocre band with a very uncreative LS who simply could not remember the lyrics to songs, and often didn't know when to come in - even with lyric sheets attached to his wedge...and blathers on too long between almost every song. Who can't learn the lyrics to well known cover songs after YEARS??? Never had to work with someone like that.

but the lead guitarist last night - a guy I had known for more than a decade -- took what was turning out to be a fun gig with enthusiastic people in front of us, into a trainwreck. by getting drunk. not the first time, but it was 4x worse this time than I've ever seen. It was an important festival show. And he ruined it. First set, superb. 2nd set, starting to get a bit sloppy. third set? Full on drunk and was playing badly. Worse than that, he was talking nonsensically into the microphone between songs. And the LS - the chickenpoppy - did nothing about it.

It was the last straw. I simply quit.

and I feel great about it. I had had enough of this cruddy band. It was a first!
FREEDOM!!!!!!
 
1 . Yes. The LS, who is such a weakling, who had been standing there holding his mic while the drunk guitarist babbled endlessly into the microphone, just looked at me. Said nothing. Still haven't heard from him.
2 Nobody got punched. I consider them all "Friends" of sorts . I wasn't going to hit anyone and nobody was going to hit me
3. Gig was over at that point and there are none on the immediate schedule coming up
4. PA was provided by the sound company who was doing the festival so not an issue.

so all in all, yes, it could have been worse. I was so pissed that I simply almost couldn't see straight. I told the other guys as I was packing up, "sorry, I can't stay any longer in this. I'll see you around."