I never had that happen to me but I was once invited to play a couple of songs with a band of dudes I knew. Pretty tight band. I said cool but the bass player (extremely cool dude, btw) made me take off my belt before I could put on the bass in case my buckle scratched his (very nice, very mint) Warwick Infinity. Can't say I blame the man but I couldn't live like that, to be honest.
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A couple of years back, I was house bassist at a regular Sunday night acoustic showcase, with my mate on guitar. I'd always pack electric, as the showcase acts needed it, but opening and closing, it was just me and my mate on his acoustic (run through the PA).
One Sunday, the two sons of the guitarist in one of my other bands showed up to watch. They are also in a band (singer and bassist) and asked if they could jump up and do "Fortunate Son" with us near the end. We'd had a good night, so invited them up; my mate agreeing as I said I knew them. I switch to backing vocals as other bassist takes over, we have the other young lad on vocals and my mate on acoustic guitar.
Now, at this time, it's worth pointing out that my mate and I are notorious for pranking each other during sets and this one was great because he just didn't see it coming.
As we're about to launch into the song, the young bassist rips his shirt off, to reveal tattoos and studded wristbands, before shaking his considerable head of hair loose. I look over at my mate and say, "Oh yeah, BTW, they're in a death metal band...1, 2, 3, 4..!!!".
You'll have to imagine the mayhem that ensued but by the end of it, the entire pub (including the band) was crying with laughter.
One Sunday, the two sons of the guitarist in one of my other bands showed up to watch. They are also in a band (singer and bassist) and asked if they could jump up and do "Fortunate Son" with us near the end. We'd had a good night, so invited them up; my mate agreeing as I said I knew them. I switch to backing vocals as other bassist takes over, we have the other young lad on vocals and my mate on acoustic guitar.
Now, at this time, it's worth pointing out that my mate and I are notorious for pranking each other during sets and this one was great because he just didn't see it coming.
As we're about to launch into the song, the young bassist rips his shirt off, to reveal tattoos and studded wristbands, before shaking his considerable head of hair loose. I look over at my mate and say, "Oh yeah, BTW, they're in a death metal band...1, 2, 3, 4..!!!".
You'll have to imagine the mayhem that ensued but by the end of it, the entire pub (including the band) was crying with laughter.
Some years back the band I was in at the time invited a local bass player on the scene to sit in. I had no idea this was going to happen until the guy showed up with his bass in hand.
I am really not that big of a fan of sit in's, overall I think they are disruptive to the flow, introduce too much of an unknown to the night, and I'll also be selfish and say when it comes to bass sit-ins, they reduce the amount of time I get to play that night. Sorry/not-sorry, but if I am only playing out once a month I'd prefer to not have some of that time taken away from me. At the same time I also don't get anything out of sitting in with a group. Its happened once or twice and getting up and playing a tune for 5 minutes with a group just doesn't do anything for me. I think it's really nothing more than opportunity and a networking thing.
Anyway, I get clued into whats going on and it's agreed that the guy gets to play one tune, the second set opener. Wasn't happy but I played along. One song basically turned into 3-4 songs and at this point Im getting annoyed. Another issue is the guy brought a six string modulus, and my amp wasn't setup to handle that low B or the active pickups. When he first plugged in it all sounded like my amp was going to blow up but he was fortunately smart enough to know how to fix it.
I think there was something else going on that night, possible they were looking to replace me as a few of these guys were more of the scheming/manipulative sort. That bass player would always show up at my gigs though, and I suspect he was actively trying to poach that spot out from under me.
Sit-ins and the possibility of them happening to me when Im playing a gig also largely dictate what bass I'll bring out and sadly on gigs where I know the BL will ask someone to sit in I leave my nicer basses like my Alembic SI at home.
I am really not that big of a fan of sit in's, overall I think they are disruptive to the flow, introduce too much of an unknown to the night, and I'll also be selfish and say when it comes to bass sit-ins, they reduce the amount of time I get to play that night. Sorry/not-sorry, but if I am only playing out once a month I'd prefer to not have some of that time taken away from me. At the same time I also don't get anything out of sitting in with a group. Its happened once or twice and getting up and playing a tune for 5 minutes with a group just doesn't do anything for me. I think it's really nothing more than opportunity and a networking thing.
Anyway, I get clued into whats going on and it's agreed that the guy gets to play one tune, the second set opener. Wasn't happy but I played along. One song basically turned into 3-4 songs and at this point Im getting annoyed. Another issue is the guy brought a six string modulus, and my amp wasn't setup to handle that low B or the active pickups. When he first plugged in it all sounded like my amp was going to blow up but he was fortunately smart enough to know how to fix it.
I think there was something else going on that night, possible they were looking to replace me as a few of these guys were more of the scheming/manipulative sort. That bass player would always show up at my gigs though, and I suspect he was actively trying to poach that spot out from under me.
Sit-ins and the possibility of them happening to me when Im playing a gig also largely dictate what bass I'll bring out and sadly on gigs where I know the BL will ask someone to sit in I leave my nicer basses like my Alembic SI at home.
I say bring which ever bass is going to make you look and sound the best. And if the BL tells you he wants someone to sit in on bass, tell him "OK, but he's going to use your bass, not mine. Your amp, too."
This thread has "HARMONICA" written all over it. That or "Diva with the giant ego and miniscule talent".
Well, I agree but some of these gigs are run by BL who just bring-in whoever is available, and if I am going to be fair most only invite people who they've vetted. In all honesty saying no to these guys would have resulted in not getting asked back. Still though, even though they may be competent individuals who aren't crazy it doesn't mean I want them playing my nice stuff so on those gigs the less expensive jazz bass comes out.
30 years ago, when playing in a 4 piece Country Band, we let a pedal steel player sit in (he brought his own pedal steel)...he was awesome.
On 2 occasions, since, we had "lead" singers sit in. All I can say is....never again.
On 2 occasions, since, we had "lead" singers sit in. All I can say is....never again.
A good BL should never surprise the band with a sit-in. A band is a team - and these things need to be worked out in advance.
That said, yes, I've experienced the surprise sit-in and they have never been "great" or "awesome" despite the BL and sit-in's emphatic assertions.
The worst experience was when the BL invited a "great lead guitar player" to the stage, who was prepared with his own guitar. BL neglected to tell him that we tuned to Eb. But that didn't matter as he proceeded to scribble all over the song. I guess since he was such a great lead guitarist, keys didn't matter.
That said, yes, I've experienced the surprise sit-in and they have never been "great" or "awesome" despite the BL and sit-in's emphatic assertions.
The worst experience was when the BL invited a "great lead guitar player" to the stage, who was prepared with his own guitar. BL neglected to tell him that we tuned to Eb. But that didn't matter as he proceeded to scribble all over the song. I guess since he was such a great lead guitarist, keys didn't matter.
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....and your story is the reason I NEVER let anyone sit in with my equipment. Thankfully, I don't have a story to add, but some of my bandmates do.
We've had a female singer join for a song or two, but she was a friend of the BL with whom he'd gigged for years and we knew she was going to do it and had a song prepared. It worked.
Once early in the band's history we had a horn player join, but he was obviously several notches below the rest of us talent-wise. The guy had a hard time staying on key. After a couple of gigs we invited him to leave.
Once early in the band's history we had a horn player join, but he was obviously several notches below the rest of us talent-wise. The guy had a hard time staying on key. After a couple of gigs we invited him to leave.
So we were recently doing a gig and the drummer invited a harmonica player up for a tune. Not great, but he did okay.
Guy may have been drunk or had issues, but we certainly had issues with him inviting himself up on three more songs. He wasn't good on those songs. I told the drummer to pull the guy off after the song and tell him "no more".
I've shared the stage with a guest player or two in the past with utmost professional courtesy. But I would never push my way into a song uninvited.
Guy may have been drunk or had issues, but we certainly had issues with him inviting himself up on three more songs. He wasn't good on those songs. I told the drummer to pull the guy off after the song and tell him "no more".
I've shared the stage with a guest player or two in the past with utmost professional courtesy. But I would never push my way into a song uninvited.
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I have the opposite I guess? I was playing a gig with my old cover band. This girl comes up to me (there was no stage at this gig so they could walk right up) and asks if her friend can sing a song or two. I go to the keys player who is the BL and relay the request and he says no. So I go back and deliver he news. She looks real upset with me and goes on her way. I thought it was obvious that I just relayed the request but I didn't see her throw a dirty look at the BL who I clearly asked.
Cut to 6 months later. I have left the band due to being too busy and wanting to spend a little time with my son who is rapidly growing up before he is too old to want to hang with dad. I see a facebook video of the band letting her sing a couple of songs. She is phenomenal and is now performing at a professional level. Now that my son is a month from 18 and firmly uninterested in hanging with me I am back in the scene. Every time I see her I feel like she thinks I'm the jerk who wouldn't let her sing.
Cut to 6 months later. I have left the band due to being too busy and wanting to spend a little time with my son who is rapidly growing up before he is too old to want to hang with dad. I see a facebook video of the band letting her sing a couple of songs. She is phenomenal and is now performing at a professional level. Now that my son is a month from 18 and firmly uninterested in hanging with me I am back in the scene. Every time I see her I feel like she thinks I'm the jerk who wouldn't let her sing.
The good - One night I was playing a gig and a young woman asked if she could sit in. I don't know why, but I said sure. She gets up and I swear she sang like Janis Joplin. What a set of pipes, wound up doing 5 or 6 tunes with us and the audience loved her.
The bad - doesn't every bad story start with "the drummer's friend?" Anyway, his friend wanted to sit in and we did a couple of old blues tunes and the guy sang them too. Booooooooring. Spoonful and one of those other one chord tunes. He was going for a third, when I said into the mic, "Let's have a big hand for our friend, can we get our regular bass player up here?" Nobody was sorry to see him leave.
The ugly - Our regular bass player was out so we had a sub. The sub was good, but kind of a jerk. One of our old bass players shows up, who we had parted with on good terms and asks if he can sit in. The sub was fine with that and after 4 or 5 tunes he says, "If you want him to finish the night, I'm fine with that." Well he had his amp and bass in the car so he brings it in. Then he proceeds to get completely, totally, falling down drunk. The last couple of songs were just embarrassing.
The bad - doesn't every bad story start with "the drummer's friend?" Anyway, his friend wanted to sit in and we did a couple of old blues tunes and the guy sang them too. Booooooooring. Spoonful and one of those other one chord tunes. He was going for a third, when I said into the mic, "Let's have a big hand for our friend, can we get our regular bass player up here?" Nobody was sorry to see him leave.
The ugly - Our regular bass player was out so we had a sub. The sub was good, but kind of a jerk. One of our old bass players shows up, who we had parted with on good terms and asks if he can sit in. The sub was fine with that and after 4 or 5 tunes he says, "If you want him to finish the night, I'm fine with that." Well he had his amp and bass in the car so he brings it in. Then he proceeds to get completely, totally, falling down drunk. The last couple of songs were just embarrassing.
Black beans, salad, and applesauce! Meatless night. It's pretty healthy. Good P/U on my use of ACKs. Thanks for going ABCD. For Bob. Sorry man, here at TB, most of us are guilty of CUOA in the course of our duties. AHOTT, I'm afraid!
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We used to have a "regular" show up at quite a few of our gigs; she was always stoned, and brought her own tambourine. Thank God she never tried to get on stage, but it was impossible to ignore her bad tambourine playing as she danced right in front of me. When I saw her coming, I headed back to hang with the drummer and get as far from her as possible.
I wrote a series of jokes with the premise being two people from different churches trying to one up each other. One of the jokes I wrote pertains...
There was a band in the local scene we played a bunch on the same bills, so we decided i would sit in on a song in their set and then the amazing singer in their band would sit in with us in the late/last slot of the night. By the time she got on with us she was VERY drunk, her performances were amazing sober but her performance that night was awful and embarrassing for everyone, especially cause everyone in the crowd knew the popular cover.
I only let people sit i if i personally know them, and know they are good. Stranger Danger? Not a chance.
Almost never. We rarely ever did this in an unplanned manner. Those that we did let sit in were planned - and in a couple of cases - rehearsed beforehand. In those cases, we would advertised the gig as "featuring". Only in a small handful of cases did we do it in the fly, but it was at least discussed and agreed upon minutes before it happened. And in one particular case it worked for out really well.
We never did the "hey my cousin Billy does a really great Willie Nelson. Could he get up and sing with you?"
We never did the "hey my cousin Billy does a really great Willie Nelson. Could he get up and sing with you?"
I don't have any stories, but the bands I have sat in with might.
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