We asked you nicely not to talk about this afterwards. Don Julio would like a chat with you. We’ll send the unmarked van for you. A couple of my associates will assist you into the van by the side door.
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Did We Just Play for the Mob?
- Thread starter 5andFretless
- Start date
We asked you nicely not to talk about this afterwards. Don Julio would like a chat with you. We’ll send the unmarked van for you. A couple of my associates will assist you into the van by the side door.
Been through that too at a casino in New Mexico once. And we had to be escorted by any nearby employee we could get when we needed to travel through the back hallways (to the gig, from the gig, to and from the employee dining room).
I'm with you on that. Next time it's known, don't bring the phone. Arms length and good pay works for me.
This. I can see famous people setting rules about phones/cameras.
When Messi got married, he requested guests to keep their cell phones at home, he did not want stuff going public. However, many flouted the rules by posting pictures of themselves at the wedding, as well as videos of the happy couple on the dance floor.
I've done gigs like that before...usually for a high profile group or personal celebration where they want a live band, but they hire someone to take care of things such that the band plays music, is sequestered in a back room during breaks, and leaves right after. And yes, they have taken our phones.
One gig was for a big sports player, the lights were on the stage the whole time, so I didn't really see anyone in the crowd, but after the gig, he came back to the band room and shook all our hands, thanked us for our music, paid us more than we agreed, AND, he had some guys pack up all our gear and load into the van for us! I would happily do more of those in the future. Good crowds, stress free, wear a suit, get paid well for playing music.
One gig was for a big sports player, the lights were on the stage the whole time, so I didn't really see anyone in the crowd, but after the gig, he came back to the band room and shook all our hands, thanked us for our music, paid us more than we agreed, AND, he had some guys pack up all our gear and load into the van for us! I would happily do more of those in the future. Good crowds, stress free, wear a suit, get paid well for playing music.
There's some places I won't go and some people with whom I won't associate. Money be damned.
LOL reading this thread you can tell who plays for a living and who doesn't. Amateurs are shocked at the idea of not being able to goof off and play Angry Birds on their breaks. Pros are going "This doesn't sound much worse than a typical casino gig. If the money is good you put up with just about anything during your work hours."
Heck, back in the day I played some underground gigs for biker events. They didn't need swanky security guys in suits to tell you not to take our your phone. But you learned what the rules were and made absolutely sure not to violate any of them, spoken or otherwise.
As for the OP's gig, might be mob but it sounds like a pretty normal gig in the era of modern-day social media stars and celeb/influencer culture. I've heard that a lot of people at that level confiscate phones, as said people make their living on social media and don't want any "off hours" photos or videos compromising their image.
Heck, back in the day I played some underground gigs for biker events. They didn't need swanky security guys in suits to tell you not to take our your phone. But you learned what the rules were and made absolutely sure not to violate any of them, spoken or otherwise.
As for the OP's gig, might be mob but it sounds like a pretty normal gig in the era of modern-day social media stars and celeb/influencer culture. I've heard that a lot of people at that level confiscate phones, as said people make their living on social media and don't want any "off hours" photos or videos compromising their image.
I think the party was held or attended by public figures who didn’t want people filming their activity.
It might have been more courteous if they’d let you know about the phone thing in advance. Maybe they did and someone on your end forgot to let everyone know. But the ask, on its own, is not unreasonable in my opinion.
I played gigs for 15 years before there were cell phones at all; being off the grid for an evening isn’t as big a deal as it may seem. Some of you guys, if you arrived at a private gig and there was no cell signal, would you refuse to play and go home?
It might have been more courteous if they’d let you know about the phone thing in advance. Maybe they did and someone on your end forgot to let everyone know. But the ask, on its own, is not unreasonable in my opinion.
I played gigs for 15 years before there were cell phones at all; being off the grid for an evening isn’t as big a deal as it may seem. Some of you guys, if you arrived at a private gig and there was no cell signal, would you refuse to play and go home?
I've had some experience playing for high profile people in Washington state over the years (politicians/CEOs) doing corporate parties, etc. Played a gig that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were at back at a country club in Bellevue, WA back in '01, made 3 house payments worth for the privilege but it was VERY much a "do NOT interact with the guests" situation, no matter what. Having a cell phone back then wasn't as big of a deal because no camera phones to my recollection. Oh well.
To clear up a few things (this post was partly tongue in cheek), we were playing at a very big house way back off the road on Long Island's Gold Coast. Our booking agent told us the pay rate, the details, and said there was going to be very tight armed security and no social media posts. Taking the phones were probably in there somewhere, but I rarely read those things. We've played gigs with armed security before. Not unusual around here.
In general, when we play a big wedding or cooperate event we are told we can not check in on any social media, take any pictures of anyone but ourselves, and no recordings. It is pretty much so standard that my phone stays in my gear bag. What I found interesting was we all use either IPODs or android tablets to read the music from, and if someone asks for something unusual we will download it on a break. They are mounted on the microphone stands and were in the gear bags when we were searched. No on said a word, even though those devices can take pictures and access the web if we had asked for the WIFI password (Which might have started a poopie storm).
It was most likely someone in sports or entertainment, but I like to keep my head down at these things, so I made no attempt to "out" the host. You can't accidently spill beans you don't have access to. 20 years in the military taught me that very well.
In general, when we play a big wedding or cooperate event we are told we can not check in on any social media, take any pictures of anyone but ourselves, and no recordings. It is pretty much so standard that my phone stays in my gear bag. What I found interesting was we all use either IPODs or android tablets to read the music from, and if someone asks for something unusual we will download it on a break. They are mounted on the microphone stands and were in the gear bags when we were searched. No on said a word, even though those devices can take pictures and access the web if we had asked for the WIFI password (Which might have started a poopie storm).
It was most likely someone in sports or entertainment, but I like to keep my head down at these things, so I made no attempt to "out" the host. You can't accidently spill beans you don't have access to. 20 years in the military taught me that very well.
You really don't want to play a Mob party where there's a "contract".
Especially if they think you're gonna "sing"
Nice tip in there.....
- Jan 5, 2017
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- Disclosures
- No one in their right mind would pay me to endorse them....
OP, please check in with us over the next several days to make sure you're OK....We remain concerned at your disclosure.
+1. I lived on a Caribbean island full of mafia people for awhile. I can assure you they partied happily out in the open. No need to hide, the guys doing the dirty jobs work for them. Fun fact, the largest brothel owner on the island was also the island police chief.
In other hand, there are a lot of wealthy people, CEOs, celebrities and politicians who have no desire to see their connections being aired publicly. I can totally understand the cell phone thing although, it should have been disclosed ahead of time.
When I was in a taiko drumming group, we had to do the same at a casino event. We had a member who was under 18 and had no driver's license, and they nearly refused to let her perform. Instead, they said she would have to go through the front entrance, change in a bathroom stall, and could join us only when the performance was about to start. As it turned out, they had us performing right by the front entrance anyway, and it would have been much easier to set up if we hadn't had to navigate their "backstage" maze.
Also they had these fake electronic Chinese firecrackers that they did not tell us about in advance, draped all around the area where we were performing. They set them off during one of our songs and startled the crap out of us. So that was fun.
