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Alcohol + Gigs = success?.. or failure?
- Thread starter BassistNATE
- Start date
Now I've only perused the first couple pages of this thread so I may be wrong in thinking that having at least several beers translates into a way better show for every member of our band. That might be due to the music we play but we're way more entertaining and the crowd seems to react much better. Yes technical skill is sacrificed a slight bit but the amount of confidence and fun had is well worth it when keeping in mind we're trying to put on a kickass show as opposed to a painfully perfected set. Might not hit every note but it's still worth the compliments we get about how much fun we're having and the crowd seems to do the same. But either way to each their own!
I also use the 1 water/1 beer rule. Helps avoid dehydration and prevents anything more that a slight buzz.
No. Plus I do my best to find out if people who ask my to gig with them do. If yes, I decline. What other profession is it ok to be drunk while you work? Keep drinking. More money and gigs for me
I was a singer in multiple chorus' before my band days, so I was a proponent of lemon water in those days (used to have one of those plastic lemon juice bottles in my cord bag). I did find that a 7/7 after the first set did on occasion help with my range on the later sets. I usually nursed that to the end of the second set and went back to lemon water. I liked to be sober when loading up my gear.
Since I technically don't gig any more, the occasional jam session or backyard jam usually includes a few beers. It's not pretty, but we have fun.
Considering gigging again (couple buds are asking), as a rythym guitarist/bass/vocal swap, I'll likely go back to my old regimen.
Since I technically don't gig any more, the occasional jam session or backyard jam usually includes a few beers. It's not pretty, but we have fun.
Considering gigging again (couple buds are asking), as a rythym guitarist/bass/vocal swap, I'll likely go back to my old regimen.
wmhill
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- Aug 20, 2012
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several years ago I was in a band, that the consumption of mass quantities of booze was a huge part of our draw. We had the reputation of being a hard partying, down & dirty rock-n-roll band. We were by far the busiest band around, very much in demand. Sober we were musically pretty good, but obviously after downing a quart of JD in the first set, things got sloppy, sometimes lose a man sloppy- yet people dug it! The shelf life of a band like that is limited- we kicked it hard for about 3 years, then some of em thought they were rock stars and it came apart..... (booze can do that). Would I recommend building your bands worth around drunken debauchery? Absolutely not! This was just to give an alternate view. It was the kind of band that would have literally drank themselves to death,had it been more than a weekend warrior thing. I'm now playing a basically dry band.....and me & my liver are fine with that!
I also find that bands I used to play with improve with time. When I listen back to actual tapes of performances years ago, they rarely sound as good as I remembered.How was his time before the spliff?
Correlation is different from causality.
Some people have very specific ideas about this, but I think it is pretty obvious that it depends on a variety of factors like the player, crowd, venue, etc..
For example, the drummer of my old band could party with the best of 'em, but just could not keep solid time after even one beer. For him, it didn't mix, so he stayed sober until after the gigs, no matter what. Nowadays, I play a lot of bar gigs and my current band frequently gets free beer. For us, this works great. We all love to have a pint or two while we're playing and nobody gets sloshed. Now, this is an example where you know the venue is ok with the band drinking and you know the crowd is drinking. At a corporate or family event, things are often times different. It all depends on the situation
For example, the drummer of my old band could party with the best of 'em, but just could not keep solid time after even one beer. For him, it didn't mix, so he stayed sober until after the gigs, no matter what. Nowadays, I play a lot of bar gigs and my current band frequently gets free beer. For us, this works great. We all love to have a pint or two while we're playing and nobody gets sloshed. Now, this is an example where you know the venue is ok with the band drinking and you know the crowd is drinking. At a corporate or family event, things are often times different. It all depends on the situation
I've found this to be the case with private parties like house parties/pool parties - birthday, retirement, engagement. 4th of July type stuff. Not quite downing qts of JD, but the guests and host will be plying the band with mucho booze and/or 420. I'm usually pretty good at tolerating it, but the end of the show can get hairy.
Kind of a ridiculous statement, I don't need to be on tour with someone to tell how they sound. The fact that there are a small group of people that can kill it while intoxicated doesn't mean anything. Frankly, the living legends that cleaned up sound better sober, i.e. Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton (when he's clean), Aerosmith (when they are clean) ALL play better live sober. Show me a before and after where your living legends sound better under the influence and then you'll have something to debate.
This, if I hire a band to play in my wedding I am expecting the band to be sober, same if it is a corporate event, in fact I will expect the same for any paid gig.
Jam with friends is ok
I can't play drunk... just can't do it. the rest of the guys in my band have a prettu good tolerance for alcohol. I hate it at the end of the gig, no conversations had will be remembered.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Would you go to work, or drive, drunk (maybe I shouldn't ask)?
In a word, NO. I am there to perform, and I want to be at my best.
In a word, NO. I am there to perform, and I want to be at my best.
I always wait until after the show. I look at it as my job to get on stage, play music and want to do the best I can. To each their own but I wait until after.
I think it would depend on the instrument I was playing and the type of music I was playing as to how many beers or shots I might take. If I'm playing drums maybe 1 beer; guitar no beers; bass usually 1-4. If I'm playing punk rock, blues, or stoner doom I'll catch a buzz; if I was do do a jazz improvisation with a lot of thinking on the spot or technical death metal I'd probably be straight sober.
Kind of a ridiculous statement, I don't need to be on tour with someone to tell how they sound. The fact that there are a small group of people that can kill it while intoxicated doesn't mean anything. Frankly, the living legends that cleaned up sound better sober, i.e. Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton (when he's clean), Aerosmith (when they are clean) ALL play better live sober. Show me a before and after where your living legends sound better under the influence and then you'll have something to debate.
That's hard to do because of the ones that don't clean up tend to die; Hendrix, Moon, Pastorius etc. Also, unless you know them personally and know exactly how intoxicated they are at any one moment, as an audience member you don't really know. You only know what you can notice. If a guy can still deal after a few, you don't really know what state he's in.
However, some people would argue that band like Black Sabbath was better when the guys were all doped up. I find Scott Weiland's lyrics far more entertaining when he's on smack.
People still seem to love infamous toker Willie Nelson despite his self proclaimed haze.
I think a lot of people prefer tripped out Beatles to early Help era Beatles or the dreadfulness that was Wings.
You mention Aerosmith; cleaned up Aerosmith is boring as hell.
Like I said, its more about degrees. Its a false dichotomy to have stone cold sober over here and full on wasted over here as your only options. One or two drinks, a puff or a line, isn't a life altering thing. Where I usually draw a line is you can't really just trip on a little acid, or just shoot up a little.
I have a CDL, so my drinking is VERY limited these days. That being said, I don't mind minimal amounts before a gig to calm the nerves a bit. Especially if it's a long drive and/or I'm pre-jacked up on coughee
Same with me to everything you said, CDL included. Coors light but not to excess...
