Band leader

[two fingers]

So in a "democracy" band what do you do when a guy staggers up to the bandstand waving a fistful of money and offers to pay you to play another set? Who decides? Better decide quickly and definitively, the drummer's already taken his cymbals off. No time for three rounds of debate and a vote.

I have literally done hundreds shows in my 35+ years of doing this (probably close to a couple thousand). Not once have I ever been in a situation where we were offered money to play another whole set. A few songs? One more song? Another half hour? Dozens of times. A whole set? Never. That likely will never come up.

That said, my current band is a democracy. And, yes, we would need to have a quick discussion about it. If the guy with the cash can't wait two minutes for us to talk it over he can pound sand. We would likely need to take a pee break and get a drink before playing another whole set anyway. Plus, we would need to discuss what the heck we're going to play. And, again, if the cash is a limited-time offer that has to be accepted in the next 45 seconds, the weirdo can keep his cash. That decision I can make for the whole band....because I simply won't play for the jerk.

 

[pepj]

Unless they get consensus it aint happening.
Im not saying I'd never do it but noone is demanding I do it.

Biggest consideration is can the vox go to a few more numbers and they'll offer 2 songs max ime.

 

[turf3]

I have literally done hundreds shows in my 35+ years of doing this (probably close to a couple thousand). Not once have I ever been in a situation where we were offered money to play another whole set. A few songs? One more song? Another half hour? Dozens of times. A whole set? Never. That likely will never come up.

That said, my current band is a democracy. And, yes, we would need to have a quick discussion about it. If the guy with the cash can't wait two minutes for us to talk it over he can pound sand. We would likely need to take a pee break and get a drink before playing another whole set anyway. Plus, we would need to discuss what the heck we're going to play. And, again, if the cash is a limited-time offer that has to be accepted in the next 45 seconds, the weirdo can keep his cash. That decision I can make for the whole band....because I simply won't play for the jerk.

Yeah, it's an extreme example. It hasn't actually happened to me that way, either. But the point remains that there are times when decisions need to be made. My preference, honestly, is for a decision to be made, and right now, even if it's not my preference, rather than arguing about it for an indefinite term. Some people love debate and consensus decision making, I get that, but it's not my preference for an operating organization.

 

[MegaSwing]

Yeah, it's an extreme example. It hasn't actually happened to me that way, either. But the point remains that there are times when decisions need to be made. My preference, honestly, is for a decision to be made, and right now, even if it's not my preference, rather than arguing about it for an indefinite term. Some people love debate and consensus decision making, I get that, but it's not my preference for an operating organization.

It would totally take a consensus among the players. All kinds of variables could come into play that have nothing to do with the amount of money being offered. And that’s something else leadership within a band does is build consensus for repertoire and operational decisions. The moment a band member feels left out or unheard is where problems start festering.

But my bands never have had issues with audience members throwing money at us for requests. One night some guy wanted to hear ‘My Girl’ three different times, $20 each time. So we let him. Everybody’s got a thing.

 

[Michedelic]

I read about “band leaders” once in awhile on this here chat board. In my experience playing in bands, there’s no “band leaders”.

The only band leaders I can think of are the country and western band dude that drives the Winnebago in the Blues Brothers movie and the dude with the chop stick at the orchestra.

In you current band, do you have a “band leader”. If you do, what exactly does that person do?

How did those bands of yours function, then?
No disagreements, ever? No one, ever, calling the shots?

 

[GeorgesEric]

My bands always have been bands of buddies - I guess we never took ourselves seriously enough to get into disagreement territories.

We agreed that the first set was Whipping Post, the second one Dazed and Confused and the the 3rd one Her Majesty. Then we played whatever we felt like ;-)

 

[tothemax]

Pretty selective sets Not sure I could sit through 50 minutes of Whipping Post