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CHURCH GIGS FROM HELL STORIES
- Thread starter LedBelli Bass
- Start date
Many years ago we are playing in a church that we were visiting, first time we were at this one. After playing for a time the band leader turns to me and says they say the bass is too loud, turn it down some so I do. A few minutes later he turns around and says they say the bass is too loud so I turn it down another notch. This happens a few more times and I finally turn the amp to zero and unplug the cable from the bass and let it hang over the strap, I then just go through the motions playing as if nothing changed. The band leader turns around a final time and says man they say your bass is way too loud still, turn it down some more so before he can say much more I reach down and show him the cable was not plugged in and said I cant get any lower than this!
It was an old PBass, maybe that explains it???
It was an old PBass, maybe that explains it???
Many years ago we are playing in a church that we were visiting, first time we were at this one. After playing for a time the band leader turns to me and says they say the bass is too loud, turn it down some so I do. A few minutes later he turns around and says they say the bass is too loud so I turn it down another notch. This happens a few more times and I finally turn the amp to zero and unplug the cable from the bass and let it hang over the strap, I then just go through the motions playing as if nothing changed. The band leader turns around a final time and says man they say your bass is way too loud still, turn it down some more so before he can say much more I reach down and show him the cable was not plugged in and said I cant get any lower than this!
It was an old PBass, maybe that explains it???
I had a similar experience once!
This thread is a true testament as to why the worst thing you can do to your playing career outside of church is to let it be known that you play inside a church.
Church = the amateur hour in all its glory
Thats about all I can take from this thread. Seriously, do you even play in a Music Ministry?
They say that God does not care about your Ability, just your availability, however when God calls a group of musicians together that are as talented and as spirit filled as those that I have the honor of calling Brothers and Sisters, there can be no "Gigs from Hell".
I respect your opinion and perhaps there have been some bad experiences, but the reality for me is that each week is an absolute blessing for me and I feel so much better for the experience.
Its not just music, its Worship, and whilst I admit that not every congregation is ready for the full electric, amplified music ministry experience, once you find one that is, or at least is willing to be open to growth and change, the spirit moves very quickly through it.
The nature of Ministry is that it is important that you spend regular periods revisiting your calling to minister and regular prayer and fellowship to ensure that the common goals and mission is on track.
I've played, pubs, receptions, cabaret and the occasional stadium / festival and none of them compare in the satisfaction department to leading worship and praise.
So, I gladly tell other, non ministry musicians that I'm part of an awesome Music Ministry, in fact I have to check myself to make sure that I am not boasting.
Sorry to rant, but the whole amateur comment really got me going.
Cheers.
Gavin
I just had a fun event this past saturday.
My old youth pastor (josh) for like almost 10 years ago asked me to play drums with a few guys for a contemporary youth worship service. I had no problems about this untill I met the soundguy and scoped out the church.. the curch is old school. and there were no monitors on stage. worse than that is the soundguy was an arrogant jerk that grew up in the church and had no clue how to run sound. well fast forward to the day before the actual service. we had two monitors on the stage now altho they are only coming off one aux send. we were still working on getting a stage mix when the sound man told me to not play the drums so loud.. I stood my ground and fired back at him that I am not going to back down and that I am comfortable playing at the dynamic level I'm at.... the drums arnt too loud, everything else isnt loud enuff... at this point the senior pastor steps in and gets in my face... I'm quite bold, so I started arguing with him too... next thing you know Pastor wants to see me in his office... luckily Josh walked in and we all had a short meeting.... I told pastor that we were still setting the stage mix and explained to him that the drums are loud because nothing is going into the house mix yet. I also told him that this is a youth service and totally different than what he's used to but we all agreed that this is what Josh wanted, and after I came out of the office I just went back to playing the drums the same way I had been... I did make a note of using an airhorn during the actual service... without telling anyone before hand
on a good note I let the bassist use my entire Bass rig for the service:
Ibanez SR300 w/ dr hibeams
GK 1001rb mkI
Mesa Powerhouse 4x10
he was one happy bassist
My old youth pastor (josh) for like almost 10 years ago asked me to play drums with a few guys for a contemporary youth worship service. I had no problems about this untill I met the soundguy and scoped out the church.. the curch is old school. and there were no monitors on stage. worse than that is the soundguy was an arrogant jerk that grew up in the church and had no clue how to run sound. well fast forward to the day before the actual service. we had two monitors on the stage now altho they are only coming off one aux send. we were still working on getting a stage mix when the sound man told me to not play the drums so loud.. I stood my ground and fired back at him that I am not going to back down and that I am comfortable playing at the dynamic level I'm at.... the drums arnt too loud, everything else isnt loud enuff... at this point the senior pastor steps in and gets in my face... I'm quite bold, so I started arguing with him too... next thing you know Pastor wants to see me in his office... luckily Josh walked in and we all had a short meeting.... I told pastor that we were still setting the stage mix and explained to him that the drums are loud because nothing is going into the house mix yet. I also told him that this is a youth service and totally different than what he's used to but we all agreed that this is what Josh wanted, and after I came out of the office I just went back to playing the drums the same way I had been... I did make a note of using an airhorn during the actual service... without telling anyone before hand
on a good note I let the bassist use my entire Bass rig for the service:
Ibanez SR300 w/ dr hibeams
GK 1001rb mkI
Mesa Powerhouse 4x10
he was one happy bassist
I respect your opinion too, Gavin. If I may qualify mine . . .
For a while our worship leader does not know the difference between a bar and a measure (there isn't one), or for that matter didn't even know what a measure is for sure. He is an awesomely talented musician and singer, but in over 25 years of leading/playing worship he has never taken the time to educate his own ministry in some basic essentials of entry level music theory . . . which would only serve to make him better than ever.
We have a percussionist who does not know the difference between a 3/4 waltz rhythm and a 6/8 blues rhythm, often switching between the two in the same song/rehearsal. Try playing bass on top of THAT sometime! Then, when you try to point some simple rhythmic corrections out to him, he gets all pissy with the, "Oh, don't lay that theory stuff on me! I just play from the heart." So then YOU'RE the bad guy for even saying anything.
We have a piano player I tried to talk shop with once about 12 bar blues and he says, "Oh, I can't handle that theory stuff." Missing the fact that the blues is the most anti-theory music going . . . The good news: he wants to learn and know this stuff, so he's always asking me for more. That feels good when somebody cares enough to want to improve their craft for God!
So . . . by and large, it IS the amateur hour a lot of the time.
And while God might be looking for availability over ability, I also thought we were supposed to be bringing our BEST and working to BE our BEST to/for Him.
I feel it is very important to keep learning and stretching as a musician, especially for God. So when I encounter a "couldn't care less" complacency it makes me wish for better . . . for them and for God!
Then you really need to revisit your calling and try decide if this is really for you, at that place.
Maybe I am in a blessed situation (I know I am), but I also know that God wants you to worship from your heart and if your team is not allowing you to do that, then you need to find some way that you can.
Cheers,
Gavin
Maybe I am in a blessed situation (I know I am), but I also know that God wants you to worship from your heart and if your team is not allowing you to do that, then you need to find some way that you can.
Cheers,
Gavin
That's priceless. Your higher power smote thee for using a
Behringer. Wow!
Yeah I think that's a safe assumption. I've had no problems whatsoever with my current setup, so I conclude that God prefers Hartke and Gallien-Krueger amps
i gotta say, i'm really enjoying seeing the points of view that gavin and ledbelli are bringing up. just about the only place i've played in life is in church. i started at 14 in the high school youth group band, joined a christian band at 18 that i'm still in, played every kind of venue a christian band can in california, and have been playing a ton more at my home church recently. i've got some war stories. and believe me, i can very easily call them gigs from hell. i know the flip side too. i've played some mega churches in the area that were so bad they made me literally want to quit music. the congregation wasn't the problem, nor was the crew. it was the leadership. also, i've played tiny churches in the central valley where ten people showed up and it was an experience that not only inspired more passionate playing, but gave me another little glimpse of who God is. i think the big difference between one church gig and another, even if it's at the same church from week to week, is that some churches don't really invite God into the situation. let's face it, no matter what we claim to believe we don't always think to turn to who we supposedly serve for help. and alternately, we have an enemy as well who you can bet your ass doesn't want us using our talent.
sorry if i'm being overly philosophical or something. i'm in a weird place about all this. i played at my church sunday night and came out to my car monday to find it broken into and all my gear was stolen. all of it
sorry if i'm being overly philosophical or something. i'm in a weird place about all this. i played at my church sunday night and came out to my car monday to find it broken into and all my gear was stolen. all of it
Just a story of my active Carvin bass dying 1/3 of the way through mass due to a dead battery (before they made the active/passive pre-amps & easy access battery compartments). That stunk, sitting there holding my bass...
My church is pretty chill for the most part. No exploding amps or preachers punching basses. Everyone gets along really well. But one time I was at a friend's church rehearsing for the Christmas program when the soundguy and the drummer got into a heated argument, throwing around words that would make my grandmother roll over in her grave. It was baaaaad. But then they apologized to each other and the Christmas program went really well!
That's not to say the spirit can't move through non-electric, unamplified music is it
I'm a youth and college minister at a large church in Chapel Hill, NC, and I found it interesting when I began working there two years ago, that my youth had almost no knowledge of "contemporary" worship music. We have a 50+ person youth choir that goes on tour every summer (last year we did "Godspell") but my kids know more of Mendelssohn and Bach than they do Tomlin and Redman.
We've tried a "contemporary/emergent" service and they're much more comfortable with cantatas. Honestly, I don't mind! We all know no one understands the power of a bass line better than J.S. Bach.
We may be an anomaly, but we do only "traditional" worship, and we do it really well. As a major church in a college town, I can't tell you the number of students who tell me that they chose our church because they prefer our "un-amplified, non electric" and yet mysteriously spirit-filled worship.
We don't have much drama in our group. A little from time to time, but nothing major. We have issues with the musice director. He does the adult and childrens choir and some of the special masses for those that show up twice a year. He is prone to kicking us out of our rehersal time and when we have to follow his group they always leave the choir area a mess. I used to work sound for the special events and the childrens masses, but I had one to many run ins with him and one of the preist (jumped my case in front of a church full of people because his mic was not on 30 minutes before mass) so I just play bass now.
its always the soundguy and drummer getting into it.... the problem is always an amature soundguy that thinks hes above all the musicians and tries to control everything
I remember I was playing a Wed nt service at one of the Mega Churches here in the area( TV broadcast etc...)
Readers Digest version:
My bass + cable into their DI
Had to leave after music was finished ( GO TO Work) Soundman and P&W leader informed before service started
Music finished, Pastor comes on stage to say prayer, time for me to unplug and quietly exit stage. P&W nods at me , I unplug from DI and BOOOOOMMM goes the mains. Should I say more?
Readers Digest version:
My bass + cable into their DI
Had to leave after music was finished ( GO TO Work) Soundman and P&W leader informed before service started
Music finished, Pastor comes on stage to say prayer, time for me to unplug and quietly exit stage. P&W nods at me , I unplug from DI and BOOOOOMMM goes the mains. Should I say more?
Amatuer soundguys =
Wannabee musicians
Passive aggressive acting out rooted in jealousy
Secretly hates musicians and wants them to fail
Immune to kindly suggestions or corrections from musicians; just smirks
Immune to ensuing sarcasm from musicians; just smirks
Knows that musicians (and the audience) are ultimately at his mercy and that's just the way it is; just smirks
Professional Soundguys =
GIFT FROM GOD
