Drummers from Hell..True Stories

[Mr. Ray]

Hi Throughout my "career" as a bass player I have played with a ton of drummers. Some have made the gigs enjoyable and some have made it hell. I remember one drummer that I played with in a top 40/rock band that would always insist on wanting to bring this gigantic loud kit that would take up half the stage. No where to stand, dings in my bass from his kit and cymbals ringing in my ears.I could not wait until the gig was over.
Do you have any stories about "the drummer from hell"?

 

[MatticusMania]

Sorry, Ive worked with a small handful of drummers in my time, and have never had problems withs any of them.

 

[lousybassplayer]

Sorry, Ive worked with a small handful of drummers in my time, and have never had problems withs any of them.

And therefore your post to this thread was pointless. Almost as pointless as mine.

IMO drummers are all like that, some are just worse than others. When you say some make the gig enjoyable, I submit that it is simply because you grade your drummers on a curve, which is to be expected.

 

[Xavier Knox]

I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Although I do have an extensive list of drummers I have not enjoyed playing with there's one that stands out.

Played a gig with a band I had been in for about eight months. We had to replace the drummer since the original drummer was diagnosed with diabetes and was unable to play anymore.

The new guy we got was great at practice. Very solid, reliable and punctual. On stage however, the closet drunk came out. This guy had mastered chugging a beer between songs and tossing back about three between sets.

On one occasion (which coincidentally turned out to be his last gig with us) he got so drunk that by the third set he was so drunk that he couldn't keep time, got two songs that are sound nothing a like mixed up and hurled over his floor tom. Its a night I will never forget. We were never asked to gig at that venue again and the next day the three remaining members voted to find yet another new drummer.

 

[Mooblar]

I played with a drummer that we nicknamed slowmotion. I'll leave it at that.

 

[QuelOround]

Nothing worse than a drunk drummer who can't keep time.

I used to jam with a drummer who twirled his sticks even though he was pretty bad at it, he kept loosing them and hitting random people. I got one to the back of the head. Also he only knew one drum line/beat that he would play for everything at different tempos....

 

[Xavier Knox]

Nothing worse than a drunk drummer who can't keep time.

I hear ya on the drunk part. I'm actually pretty pleased that the band I'm in now has a "no drinking at gigs" policy. Seeing how I don't drink myself it makes for a pleasant atmosphere. Looking forward to playing my first gig with these guys.

But I digress. Sorry if I got off topic there. I'm saying that in order to cover my butt.

 

[svtb15]

I was called to sub for a gig in Texas... it was a club gig.. the drummer was so drunk.. "How drunk was he"? the crowd asks...

He was so drunk that when he went to hit his crash, he completely missed the cymbal, and followed though as if he was swatting at a fly.... he continued to follow through smashing his hand on the drum... his body followed through with his arm and he fell off of the drum seat and onto the floor...
I though he had a heart attack.. i freaked out.... he got up and player terribly the rest of the set... the guitard told me he has done that before... they did fire him finally..

 

[sfericean]

O.k. first and foremost I am not a pro. However I have about 13 years experience playing bass so I would like to think that I know something about somethings...not everything about all things but something about somethings.

I was playing at a church about 5 years ago and the band would change on a regular basis due to some people being available during some times of the year and what not. It was a church that had multiple services and about 400+ per service.

Nice stage, nice sound, the works....

The drummer.................not so much fun.

Luckily he was only there for a few months and I would have to say that the kid was talented in putting together interesting beats but he just sucked and making the one clear for the entire band to hear. And once again as I mentioned before that I don't know everything about all things but I did know that when playing simple rock praise and worship and funk numbers the one is very important...this guy was playing in time signatures that were complete contradictions to the song...we would play in 4/4 and he would play in 3 3/4 to 4/4 and HE NEVER HIT THE ONE!!!!

Now we all know that the general public is basically musically ******** however even people from the congregation would ask me on a regular basis, "what the heck is that guy doing up there?" or "So you do you like playing with ****?" And too boot he would make these faces that were just ridiculous....kind of like my avatar but more spirit filled per se....

Well any who that was my drummer horror story.....and the occasional dude that couldn't play but what are you going to do the guy can't play so I never expected much..

 

[bassteban]

Many moons ago, garage band. Great drummer, quite small in stature. TEXTBOOK SGS- huge kit, thought he was Keith Moon(he was actually pretty good). Every time we met, he insisted on wrestling, until one or both of us was bleeding. Fun the first 2 or 3 times, as I had a huge reach advantage but he had wrestled in school so it was pretty even. Got quite boring/annoying after awhile.
Much later- church gig, EXTREMELY talented, genuinely pro-level drummer(he claimed to be friends w/Steve Gadd & the like, which from his abilities was entirely plausible). Also suffered from manic-depression & post-traumatic stress syndrome(Viet Nam vet). Would go from euphoric bliss to the depths of depression overnight. Consequently, according to him, one day I'd be the greatest thing since sliced bread but the next day I'd be worthless. Kept me on my toes...

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I was in a bar band that had a drummer who would get WASTED by 1am - last set, he insisted on singing every song, which made his playing even worse...

That's as bad as it has been for me...

But I have to say - playing with a really good drummer is damn near better than sex.

 

[DaveDeVille]

Do you have any stories about "the drummer from hell"?

many , many ...

" 27-piece Pete " was tough to deal with ...

full wrap-around kit , cymbals in every imaginable size , roto-toms ,
and double bass kick drums .

Pete was a perfectionist , and somewhat compulsive .
great drummer , perfect rhythm , but a pain in the a$$ ...

set up and tear down was a ritual for him , took about two hours each .

... after each gig , we already had our equipment loaded and ready to go ,
but there was Pete , wearing his Brasso soaked gloves , polishing
any and all smudges from his beloved kit ...

and then there was his monitor kit .
ohmygod ...
a 15" JBL monitor , a smallish 12 channel monitor amp ,
about 16 microphones and drum triggers ,
all needing to be packed away lovingly , and slowly .

ah yes , good times , good times ...

 

[Calebmundy]

And therefore your post to this thread was pointless. Almost as pointless as mine.

IMO drummers are all like that, some are just worse than others. When you say some make the gig enjoyable, I submit that it is simply because you grade your drummers on a curve, which is to be expected.

Well, I'll be the first guy to chime in with the old Talkbass standby "I disagree." I'm sorry that all the drummers you've dealt with are on that curve, but almost none of the guys I play with have any of those problems. In Nashville there's almost an inverse purportion between the size of a drum kit, and the skill of player. I.e. "if he's playing a 9-piece kit, because he's not gigging enough to have gotten tired of hauling it around." I have a friend who nails everything with finesse who toured for a while with kick, snare, hat, floor tom, crash and ride. He could make you believe there were three toms.

 

[svtb15]

i dont mind if people drink on a gig.. just as long as they dont get drunk... on a club gig i may have 1-2 beers the course of the night...But i get pissed if i see a band person drunk.. it ruins the vibe.
Although i also subbed for a band where the two front guys get plowed under... you would never know it. they are full fleged alcoholics...
They dont slur at all. they do the gig well. In fact the drunker the two front guys get the better they play and perform... really! i mean it.
They also get very funny and the crowd loves it because they are like the crowd...
pure drunken genius.
they start with a pitcher of beer each as they do load in. then another before dinner.. then pre gig shots... then they tip the waitress to keep their beer full throughout each of two sets...
I have never seen anything like it in my life..
The drummer an I look at each other and laugh and cant believe what is happening..
needless to say it is a very low pressure gig...
and thr drummer and i get to cook in some serious stuff...
I love when those guys call me to sub.. its an adventure...

Oh.. i forgot to add. they get so drunk that those knuckleheads bought a huge RV to park outside the places they play so they dont have to drive after a gig... thats drunk!
And they always seem to get great name players to sub so that makes it fun too. i go them about 4x a year...

 

[bassteban]

I'll also contribute to the derail in saying that the majority of drummers I've played with have been great- ranging in ability level from decent to phenomenal. Even the two I mentioned earlier were for the most part great to play with.

 

[Calebmundy]

But for the sake of the thread proper:

Nashville has it's share of crazy's too. I did a "battle of the bands" gig one time that I got called for the afternoon before the show. I went home and learned the tunes off the artist's website, and showed up expecting the players to be good.

At 5:30pm I rolled in with my gear and met the drummer who was a "friend of the artists" which was already a warning sign, he was crazy excited to be playing the show, which was another warning sign (not exactly playing Shea Stadium here), and was already pretty tipsy sitting at the bar (where I have to admit he did warmly welcome me and buy me a beer).

The show was the worst thing I've ever done. He was straight up wasted by the time we went on a couple of hours later, and he was yelling and counting off songs that were supposed to be a slow 6/8 in a fast 4/4. I don't even know how we kept playing, and I can't imagine how the artist sang his own stuff in a completely different feel. Things kept going downhill from there, but the drummer stayed at that level of terrible. I have never shaken hands, collected my check and gear and bugged out of a venue faster.

...oh, and it was a live Radio competition!

 

[John Bigboote]

The drumber in my last project never, ever practiced between rehearsals. I would constantly have to "sing" the drum parts for him to get him started on songs he should have known in his sleep. He was also forever blowing fills, breaks, changes. Drove me nuts. The good news was that at gigs, he'd carefully avoid anything that might trip him up, so he was actually pretty good in live situations. Never fancy, fairly reliable tempo.

Our current drumber suffers mightily from Big (and Loud) Kit Syndrome. Brings his own plywood riser to any gig that doesn't have a drum riser built into the stage. Four toms, EIGHT (count 'em!) cymbals + hi-hat. Just got a free China as some kind of promo (it's obnoxious), and when our guitarist suggested that maybe he could do without a few (or a half-dozen) cymbals, he insisted stubbornly (and seriously) that he *needed* them all -- including the China he'd just gotten! He plays so loud, and his kit's so large, that it rules out some venues we'd like to play. And yes, it takes him forever to set up and break down.

Sigh,

-jb

 

[pbagley]

Nothing worse than a drunk drummer who can't keep time.

As opposed to the drunk drummer who can... or maybe the sober drummer who can't.

OK, here's my contribution:

Nothing worse than a drummer who overplays.

I mean the guy who does a rock god drum fill ... and then can't figure out why his snare beat on 2 and 4 isn't fitting with what the rest of the band is playing. I suppose we should have held on during that extra beat and 1/4 that the big drum fill added to the song. It's always funniest when the drummer has to stop to find the beat, don't you think?

Then there's the guy who'll play a complex poly-rhythm over a simple tune just a little bit faster than the tempo the band has settled into. As bassist I hang way back on the beat to keep the tempo down to where all the words will fit. I don't like playing behind the beat. A rushing drummer is just hell, but an overplaying rushing drummer is like being tortured in two different levels of hell at the same time.

Biggest problem is that these are likable guys, and I feel terrible for being the one who has to say something.

 

[scottbass]

I've seen examples of all of them. The gear-loving, slow setup and tear down perfectionists. The ones who are great players but bad people. The ones who are bad players but great people. The drunks. The druggies. The schizophrenics.

The worst (for me) was an old guy who dropped names like crazy about everyone he'd ever (supposedly) played with in his life, starting with Jerry Lee Lewis. He got so drunk by the 3rd set he slowed everything to a crawl. I had to give up all thoughts of playing decent bass lines and just pound quarter notes in order to try and keep things moving. We ended up playing the last few songs at a completely different tempo than him - we sounded like two sound systems playing different songs at the same time.

I will never play with that guy again.

OOH, OOH, thought of another one: "Headbanger Howie". He auditioned for our classic rock band - Stones, Doors, Kinks, Nugent, that kind of stuff. He brought his double kick pedal and used it non-stop on everything. I had such a headache at the end of the one-hour audition! He was also the type of drummer that used his rock-god A material fills after every 4th measure and left no opportunity for bass riffs, guitar riffs, vocal riffs, any riffs. We did not hire him.

 

[b_carville]

many , many ...

" 27-piece Pete " was tough to deal with ...

full wrap-around kit , cymbals in every imaginable size , roto-toms ,
and double bass kick drums .

Pete was a perfectionist , and somewhat compulsive .
great drummer , perfect rhythm , but a pain in the a$$ ...

set up and tear down was a ritual for him , took about two hours each .

... after each gig , we already had our equipment loaded and ready to go ,
but there was Pete , wearing his Brasso soaked gloves , polishing
any and all smudges from his beloved kit ...

and then there was his monitor kit .
ohmygod ...
a 15" JBL monitor , a smallish 12 channel monitor amp ,
about 16 microphones and drum triggers ,
all needing to be packed away lovingly , and slowly .

ah yes , good times , good times ...

Sounds like the drummer in my main band,but he doesn't play a huge kit.
When we were playing huge places he had a monitor rig like that,not 16 mikes though.
This guy I play with is a great drummer,but slow & anal about setting up.He prefers about an hour & a half to set up.We are talking about a 5 piece kit with 2 cymbals & hi-hat.His rug has to be just so & no compromise or change can be tolerated.Then he usually needs to eat,toilet break,etc.He's anal about other aspects of his life too.
After the gig he has to make the rounds,socialise,try to get laid,adulation break,etc.After that's over & there's nobody left in the place to tell him how great he is, he'll approach his kit & it takes about an hour not counting packing his van.
He's getting better though! Lately we've been cracking the whip on him.He can tare down in 45 minutes if he has to!
Great drummer,though!