Did I do the Wrong Thing?

[Chickenwheels]

What’s your bands name? Can I check you guys out on YT or Social Media?

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I wanted to go to a concert but we were booked. I contacted one of our former bass players, who lives in town, to see if he could play but he was out of town. I didn't contact another of our former bass players, who lives out of town, but instead decided to play the gig, since I wasn't sure, didn't really feel quite right, about taking off anyway. The gig went okay but the crowd cleared out early and the management had us take off early. Not a good sign in my opinion. I kept thinking I wished I had searched more to find a sub so I could have gone to the concert. The money was good, though.

Did I do the wrong thing?

You did the right thing- don't worry about it

 

[Egg250]

I'm not clear on what you're asking. Are you feeling guilty because you wanted to see a concert instead of perform one? Are you second guessing your decision to play the show?

You were right to play the show.
You were right to look for a sub in the event you didn't play the show.

We only have this one life. From your posts it doesn't sound like this is your livelihood and it doesn't sound like you play out very often. Do what you want to do. Your bandmates will either respect your choices or not. I will say if you book a show, change your mind but can't find a sub, you really ought to play the show. Death, serious illness or family emergency notwithstanding.

 

[Manticore]

Keep your gig karma clean and always honor your commitments. If you say yes, play the gig.

 

[MynameisMe]

You did the right thing.
Perhaps you will be able to see that show a different time.

 

[pepj]

Going on some of your threads about the BL or members, I think you could have taken the concert.
If I had a real good reason to pull out of a gig I'd tell them I wasn't available, and tell them why.
If they had to cancel, I'd pay the wages.
I'm not getting the impression this is a must must do gig.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Personally i think finding a sub would had been fine, but so would be doing the gig. I'm not in the camp that is saying going to the concert would be selfish/wrong. Some concerts can be once in a life time opportunities.

 

[micguy]

In any endeavors in life where two or more people are involved, if you say you are going to do something, you do it...unless you really can't. I have backed out of gigs before, but every time I did that, the word "surgery" was involved - people will forgive that.

No, you can't have your appendix removed 3 times.

 

[RVRSCO]

If it were my band, and you backed out of a gig to go to a concert, you’d be looking for a new band.

 

[Dave Leighton]

No, you can't have your appendix removed 3 times.

Or can I...

 

[braud357]

I had 2 artists on my "bucket list" that I wanted to see before i died. One was Stevie Wonder - was able to see him in 1986. The other is Paul McCartney. In 1993 he played at the Superdome, and my band had a gig scheduled for that night. I gave the band 3 months notice that I would be unavailable for that gig, and that they would need to find a sub. We played another gig the very next day, and the band said that the sub did a terrible job. I have never regretted my decision to skip the gig and attend the McCartney concert. I have been in bands where members missed gigs for more trivial reasons than mine !

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I wanted to go to a concert but we were booked. I contacted one of our former bass players, who lives in town, to see if he could play but he was out of town. I didn't contact another of our former bass players, who lives out of town, but instead decided to play the gig, since I wasn't sure, didn't really feel quite right, about taking off anyway. The gig went okay but the crowd cleared out early and the management had us take off early. Not a good sign in my opinion. I kept thinking I wished I had searched more to find a sub so I could have gone to the concert. The money was good, though.

Did I do the wrong thing?

Playing a gig you were committed to, the right thing? Unless you were the one that caused the audience to clear out, you did the right thing.

 

[thunesBARROW]

People should do what makes them happy.
That said, I would never sub out of a gig to see a concert, even if they resurrected the two dead Beatles or the original 10CC reunited.

I would probably skip a gig at MSG to see The Beatles.

 

[2cooltoolz]

YES

 

[JRA]

As long as you texted your band to see if the gig was still on, all is good.

 

[thunesBARROW]

You did their right thing.

There's hundreds of great shows and concerts I've passed on because of gig commitments. Hell, I even passed on working one-on-one with Chick Corea (one of the finest jazz pianists E-VER) on one of his last shows because of a gig booking.

Maybe it was how I was raised, for better or worse, but I'd never consider finding a sub for a playing commitment that was already on the books.

In my world, artists and band leaders have enough grief and crap to deal with without my adding to it without it being an emergency (which has happened a couple of time).

I couldn’t imagine a gig that would be more worthwhile than playing with Chick.

 

[EriktheRed]

Did I do the wrong thing?

Absolutely not, and I say that as someone who isn't in a band. I would think that if you actually wanna make a living playing - or even just want to keep gigging - you don't want to hurt your rep as someone who can be depended upon to show up when it's agreed.

 

[themickster]

I wanted to go to a concert but we were booked. I contacted one of our former bass players, who lives in town, to see if he could play but he was out of town. I didn't contact another of our former bass players, who lives out of town, but instead decided to play the gig, since I wasn't sure, didn't really feel quite right, about taking off anyway. The gig went okay but the crowd cleared out early and the management had us take off early. Not a good sign in my opinion. I kept thinking I wished I had searched more to find a sub so I could have gone to the concert. The money was good, though.

Did I do the wrong thing?

You did the right thing

 

[pcake]

IMO you did the right thing!

 

[Geri O]

I couldn’t imagine a gig that would be more worthwhile than playing with Chick.

Oh, no, no, no!! NOT playing! I’m sorry I insinuated as such!

No, the PA company I work with part-time had Chick at a jazz festival hosted by a college in MS. I was able to talk with and kinda get to know his long-time audio and recording engineer while we were advancing the date. And after soundcheck, my buddy that worked the show Face-timed me with Chick and the sound guy late that afternoon. What a thrill that was! It did help ease the fact that I couldn’t be there. But we had a great gig anyway.

That always helps….