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Alcohol + Gigs = success?.. or failure?

#141
BassistNATE said:
Hey guys, figured this could be a fun conversation. In your opinion/experience, does doing gigs tipsy/drunk mean better gigs? What role does alcohol take in your music?

Personally, I don't mind having a pint or two before a gig, as long as it doesn't get in the way of my professionalism (something I always strive for as a live musician). I am naturally very animated on stage and equally happy with or without a drink beforehand. I have met people, however (like the violin player in my current band), who WILL NOT play a gig sober.... and he absolutely kills it when his is blisteringly drunk (violin behind the back, behind the head.... and it still sounds good!)

So, what do you guys think? Do you like to have a drink (or 5 or 6) before a show? Or do you prefer complete Sobriety?
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I tend to keep it at 2 or 3 drinks, spaced out over a couple hours before the show, just to loosen up and get rid of the preshow jitters. Just a little bit of that happy go go juice before a set does me good to quiet that nagging voice in my head that says you're "gonna mess up!" and get my knees to stop that little shake, but then again I've never been much for public speaking or porformance. I am currently the bassist, songwriter and sole singer of my band, and while I am loads more of an energetic front man now than I have been in the past, I'm still no jagger or iggy pop by any means, I keep the chatter and talking between songs to a minimum, just get on with it and play songs, after all that's what people wanna hear, not me talk about stuff nobody cares about. That being said, I currently play in, and have in the past played with mostly Loud punk and poppunk bands and have both been "that guy" and played with plenty of "those guys". In my experience, it's never fun to be the only, or one of the wasted guys and it's also not fun playing with the wasted guy. As long as the rest of my bandmates keep the drinking at least somewhat in check, it's a fun time, if everybody just gets housed besides me, I get pissed. I however recently played a show where we closed, we didn't go on til 12:30, so we were all kinda drunk. We also hadn't practiced or played for like a month previous, so it was all a toss up as to whether it was gonna be a trainwreck. It however was successful, we killed it, everybody loved it, I had lots of fun and most of the set went relatively smoothly without a hitch. So you never know. On the flipside, during practice, I'll get sloppy drunk with no remorse, it's my band and my songs, so my rules! Haha jk. I was recenter informed by my bandmates, that I should call the shots more, for I am the captain of the ship haha. I have always tried to run things fairly democraticly... But I digress...
 
#142
Even Die-Hard Van Halen fans used to complain to me about Eddie playing sloppy drunk, and David Lee Roth forgetting the lyrics. Clearly those two let it affect their craft and they need sobriety. Some of us don't have good brakes on our drinking machine and we're better off leaving it alone. If you can keep it together, more power to you! It still seems like post-show is the best time to pour the drinks.
 
#144
To each their own. When I was coming up as a player you had your dug out and one hitter packed with the kind bud, a cigarette lit nearby, a beer on your amp, and people buying you shots. Then life happens: DUIs, heartattacks, alcoholism/addictions. I comend those who can have a couple. I'm an all or none and after yeArs of all I am totally loving the none side. I will never preach. I lived the life and loved it. But now the gig is enough. I'm in a band with 2 guys who go to AA meetings. We're all happy we are alive and still gigging. Now we talk about those who did not make it and it's just scary cause I could have been the one who wrapped their car around the telephone pole after a gig.
 
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#145
These days a shot or a beer before the night starts and one or two more during the gig is about all I can do. Anymore than that and it takes too long to recover the next day. Back in the 80's was a different story!

I used to enjoy a smoke or two before, during and after gigs. At one point, I was dating a girl who's uncle was a big player in dealing such stuff and he always had great product. We would swing by his place to get some supplies and then head to the gig and proceed to get lit. At the time, I was convinced it improved my playing ten fold. I could go for anything and it all sounded GREAT! Even the lights looked better!

After a few months of this, my guitar player decided we should start taping the gigs. I thought, great idea! We can capture this magic that I'm making while I'm stoned to the gills. That didn't work out like I planned. The tape doesn't lie. I was all over the place. Rushing, dragging, blowing through changes. Just making a general ass out of myself and my bandmates.

Talk about a wake up call! That was the best way my bandmates could get me to straighten up.

Now that I'm pushing 50, I just don't have the time or desire to gig heavily influenced. And I really don't want to gig with someone else who's totally out of it.
 
#146
Rip Topaz said:
I also run sound for my band (from the stage). Wouldn't wanna do that drunk.
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I too do the sound from stage while playing bass and Invalid Link Removed. Effectively i'm FOH guy, bass and drums at the same time. It can get pretty busy. I'll usually have a couple beers before the gig and one per set during. It's enough to relax but i'm never more than tipsy........ I'm yet to have too much of any substance to the point where it is obviously affecting my performance..... from the punter's perspective at least.
 
#147
Back in the 1980's we had a drummer that got so hammered he thought he would play a song standing up. Needless to say he fell over the front of his drums mid set. Also needless to say we got banned from the club, at least until it got a new manager and we had a new drummer.
 
#149
hsech said:
Back in the 1980's we had a drummer that got so hammered he thought he would play a song standing up. Needless to say he fell over the front of his drums mid set. Also needless to say we got banned from the club, at least until it got a new manager and we had a new drummer.
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I think he was in my band too.....got drunk, tipped the drums over and passed out. we really had to do the WHO skit "Is there anyone here that can play the drums?"- and by golly there was a young fella in the crowd that could-and did play for the rest of the night. There was a less than pleasant band meeting band meeting the next day!
 
#150
It's all personal preference, although I've seen my share of drunken local bands that do terrible, and the audience doesn't notice because they are drunk too.

One band you may want to check out is "The Beards". No, not the Australian novelty band about beards (I like them too), but the one that does "spaghetti western" type music. Some call their genre something like "drunken bluegrass". Now I don't know if they're actually drunk but the music is very fun and loose.
THE BEARDS Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos

That being said, I think it depends mostly on the venue (bar vs. large event) and genre (loose, fun music vs. technical and fast). I personally oath not to drink due to having a family full of alcoholics, but I do understand why some musicians may want to drink. All I have to say, is that if you really think you need to "loosen up" in order to play in front of a crowd, just know the line between buzzed and drunk and don't cross it or you may really play badly without even percieving that.
 
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#152
Two nights ago, had one beer shortly before the first set, half of another before the second (it was too far to reach during :(). Pretty decent length sets. It was just enough to get me a little more relaxed without getting "loose". Didn't hurt that we were all much more chill going into this one than the first show we did with all new tunes last Thursday, where we didn't fully lock in; this time, we had the collective pocket going and slew it.

I think we were all at just about the same level. Personally, as much as I like to drink to enjoy it (glass of bourbon on my desk right now), I have zero problem holding off for the sake of keeping sharp onstage (or practice session) wits, and most of my colleagues drink even less and generally prefer certain herbals. So I suppose we're a lucky lot, or maybe it's just the shift toward said herbals becoming more mainstream...though THAT will cause me to go curl up in a ball in the corner and forget which hemisphere I'm in. o_O:crying::eek::dead:
 
#155
For me its a binary state. Either I perform normally, or I cross the cider threshold beyond which I can't differentiate between the strings, not to mention compress them.

Ergo, alcohol/grass is a big no-no before/during a performance.
 
#157
I've heard too many stories of gigs going South due to drunks, so when I became a BL last year, I made a clear no drinking, no smoking rule.

Yes, that does reduce the number of people that want to be in my band. But I'm not hurting for good players, and every single one of them is glad of the rule, and see it as a major plus.

I also advertise that fact on the wedding sites. I want the Brides to know that the band will not get sloshed at their wedding.
 
#160
I used to have a couple, but I didn't like to get hammered, not to say I haven't, but I never lost us a gig...

but , at times yikes ! The shots would get sent to the stage, then something green, and I'd literally forget what song I was playing. But we did play a lot of super poopy and very similar covers.... leave that hippie poopie 'til after the gig, lol...
 

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