Did I screw up, or am I a hero?

[Pizza1988]

I personally would've started a new song after to show him how it's REALLY done, but I definitely wouldn't lose any sleep over this.. whether I was in your position or his.

 

[Dave Siff]

Just let him do his thing.. Take the next "Rush" song on the list and kill it with your talent when it's your time if you like..

The funny thing is, "The Spirit of Radio" was on the list, but when I asked the band to do it, they said they couldn't really play it.

 

[ultra60]

They probably got bent as they thought you were out of key and off time....

 

[Spidey2112]

I was thinking about a peace offering of my extra, unsigned copy of Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass.

You will lose 'modern day warrior' status, if you do...

... you could have always filmed it, later uploading it to YouTube's Alcohol Fails channel?

This year they hired a cover band, who handed out song lists at the beginning of the night so people could come up and sing one.

As long as it was explained guests could come up and sing one song, I'm good with it... (sure, some show up late, already lit, don't understand simple instructions such as, "No, you can't do that.", etc)

What if 'Tom Sawyer' was the first song he sang? Would that have been acceptable, at least to you?

Was 'Tom Sawyer' the only song you sang?

 

[Dave Siff]

What if 'Tom Sawyer' was the first song he sang? Would that have been acceptable, at least to you?

Doubtful.

 

[spvmhc]

The sports announcer, Red Barber, was asked if a pitcher who'd been injured as ready for the first game he was starting. Red said, "The batters will let him know". The audience would let the singer know.

I like the idea of a gesture to show friendship. The guy didn't kill anybody.

 

[RustyAxe]

Would it have killed you just to let him finish? Had I been in the band I’d have tossed YOU off the stage.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Definite heel. It was a #$&_#$-in' neighborhood party. If the ban was worried about a pro performance, they wouldn't have put Rush on the list, not would they have given the mic to drunk partiers.

 

[Jon Lars]

Fortunately, you weren't singing "My Way", or things could have gone further south:

Karaoke Killings: A Bizarre Phenomenon In East Asia

 

[JOME77]

So every year at my neighborhood pool, there’s an adults-only party. My band played it a couple of times. The beer, wine and liquor always flow freely at this shindig and things can go a little sideways…

This year they hired a cover band, who handed out song lists at the beginning of the night so people could come up and sing one. I can carry a tune and there were a couple of Rush songs on the list and there’s no bigger Rush fan than me, but I don’t sing with my band and I had no intention of jumping on-stage at this party. Until…

A neighborhood guy who I don’t even know got up there and sang some song which I don’t remember, and it wasn’t so good, but whatever. Everyone’s having a good time. Then he stayed up there, consulted briefly with the band, and they launched into “Tom Sawyer”. So I move close to the front of the stage ‘cause this is gonna be cool.

But right from the first line of vocals, he’s screwing it up. Badly. Off key, not in time with the band. I’m looking at him, we make eye contact, I’m mouthing the words in time, trying to get him back on track, and it’s not happening. And I’m thinking to myself, go ahead and desecrate the Cranberries or Sublime or ‘Brown-Eyed Girl’, but not Rush. Not on my watch.

So after “the river…”, I took the #%$^&* mic out of his hand and finished the song, in tune and on time. And the crowd went wild. This guy and his wife, however, did not.

Several minutes later, he saw me and said “not cool”, pretty forcefully. I apologized. He wasn’t having it. Then, a few minutes later, his wife comes charging at me, calling me every name in the book, saying I embarrassed her husband because I’m “a professional”, etc. And then they both stormed outta there, flipping me off.

Thinking about it later, if someone had done that to me, I probably would have been pretty pissed. Then again, I wouldn’t have been butchering one of the greatest songs in rock history. So, I’m dug in – sorry not sorry, as a massive Rush fan with some liquid courage, I did what I had to do.

Am I am heel or a hero?

Dave,
You're my hero!

 

[two fingers]

Wow. Tough crowd here. All the curmudgeons are out in force. We have more than our share of those.

OP, was tipsy. Neighbor guy was tipsy. His wife was tipsy. It's a huge nothing burger. If that's as out of hand as this party got, it was pretty tame.

It'll be alright.

As for those of you suggesting that YOUR band would have thrown OP off the stage, you are being ridiculous.

I have played a zillion weddings and private parties. As such, VIPs at those weddings have hopped up on the stage to sing with the band. (We actually didn't mind. Everyone there wants to see Uncle Bob sing more than they want to see you. If you don't see that, you're naïve.) If Uncle Bob jumps up to sing Mustang Sally, and then Cousin Steve jumps up and grabs the mic from Uncle Bob, the band has two jobs. 1) Keep playing. 2) Stay out of it. The family will take care of ole' Steve. It ain't your job.

Wanna talk about unprofessional? Stop the music and tell Cousin Steve to take a hike. That would insure that your band will never work for that wedding planner again.

 

[Crazy_Jake]

I would say heel - sorry. It's a backyard party where the band solicited for people to come up and sing . They are probably assuming that people can't sing and honestly that is half the fun of having people come up onstage. If you are in fact a professional and have the musical " skills to pay the bills" get in a band ( if your not in one already ) and get your own time on stage. Leave the wanna be karaoke singers to feel like a star in their drunken backyard party - my two cents

 

[Yango]

You’re a hero in your own mind. It was not a cool move.

But as a few other people have mentioned: drunks, what-a-ya-gonna-do? Unfortunately you were “that guy” this time.

 

[brianrost]

I've done that at a jam session a few times when the guy singing didn't know the words to some song I had sung a million times myself.

 

[Nevada Pete]

I say your nose isn't broken, so your lucky. By all rights, you assaulted the guy on stage. He could have claimed you frightened him, which would have been perfectly reasonable, I think. That means if a fight had broken out and the cops became involved, you are the one who would have been arrested. So your doubly lucky your bad behavior didn't buy you more than you bargained for. You had to ask?

 

[giacomobass]

OP, was tipsy. Neighbor guy was tipsy. His wife was tipsy. It's a huge nothing burger.

No no no, it's a perfect movie scene script right there! I imagine Ben Stiller as the protagonist (the OP). In this scene, the neighbour's chubby wife, beercan in one hand, cigarette in the other, just before leaving, punches Stiller right in the face, knocking him off his feet. Fade out and fade in, the next scene opens with Stiller wearing a big plaster over his nose.

 

[Biggbass]

It was a Douche move for sure. Should've let him crash & burn then just followed him and shown how it's supposed to be done.

 

[two fingers]

No no no, it's a perfect movie scene script right there! I imagine Ben Stiller as the protagonist (the OP). In this movie, the neighbour's chubby wife, beercan in one hand, cigarette in the other, just before leaving, punches Stiller right in the face, knocking him off his feet. Fade out and fade in, the next scene opens with Stiller wearing a big plaster over his nose.

See, I saw that going a different way. Husband and wife take OP around the corner. A fight ensues. Wrestling leads to.... they all wake up on the lawn at 9:00 a.m. in a nekkid snuggle sandwich with the home owner hovering over them squirting them with the garden hose. Next thing you know all the suburban moms in yoga pants walking well-groomed dogs are looking at them with judgemental eyes as they saunter by. Some are appalled. Some are jealous.

Maybe that's just my neighborhood.

 

[RVRSCO]

Yeah. I’m with the not cool crowd on this one. How would you feel if you were in his position? I know I’d be pretty mad.

Heck, I’m not the best singer or bassist in the world, but when I am on stage singing or playing that’s my time. Not yours. Just because something annoys you doesn’t give your the right to act like a jerk to change it. You should have just asked the band if you could sing with them on another song. You ruined and embarrassed that other dude. On no level does a “hero” do that to another person. Hero’s help people.

 

[juggahnaught]

Dude...

At the end of the day, your favorite song - no matter how great you think it is - it's just a song.

You are indeed the ******* in this situation. Not cool.

If you want to take some corrective action in any musical context with an audience that involves replacing a performer (party or professional), do it before or do it after...but do NOT do it during.

(For next time - a better way to handle this specific situation is to get up there and sing with the dude, party-atmosphere style. You correct the song, you provide support, and you keep the good time going, and after the fact everyone will love your duet and you make a new friend over a couple of pints.)