I play in the church and have hidden tambourines from those in the audience because over zealous whackers.
Older hippie women are usually the culprits.
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Older hippie women are usually the culprits.
I had forgotten, but the story about the librarian brought it back to me.
Was playing a gig at a local mountain resort around New Years
Classic rock band, old white guy music
Black lady from the bar approaches band and asks if we'd let her sing "Proud Mary".
We look at each other, see if we know the changes, and say "sure".
We stumbled thru the intro but eventually got it.
She nailed it, Tina Turner would have been proud.
When she was done, she said "thanks" and went back to the bar.
only happy story I've had in this regard.
Was playing a gig at a local mountain resort around New Years
Classic rock band, old white guy music
Black lady from the bar approaches band and asks if we'd let her sing "Proud Mary".
We look at each other, see if we know the changes, and say "sure".
We stumbled thru the intro but eventually got it.
She nailed it, Tina Turner would have been proud.
When she was done, she said "thanks" and went back to the bar.
only happy story I've had in this regard.
We used to have a "Local Legend" he was know as Tambourine Man or Tambourine Mike I think. Super nice guy, older, skinny super ripped type dude who'd show up to every show no matter what type of music, had beads and dangling jewelry all over himself. As soon as the band would start playing (Metal, Funk, Jazz, Punk etc) He'd bust out a Tambourine and just start smacking. He'd dance like the world was going to end, it was really a fun thing to see and usually got the crowds going even more.
One evening my original band is headlining a show and its packed, we see the guy coming in and our singer points and says something like "***** about to get real, Tambourine Mike (Man) is here" the place cheers and he waves him up. First song, TM is doing his thing banging the tambourine and dancing on stage. Song ends we all laugh and wish him a good evening, NOPE! he won't leave and continues to play and dance around while we try to finish our set lol. Fun night but one song would've been fine.
One evening my original band is headlining a show and its packed, we see the guy coming in and our singer points and says something like "***** about to get real, Tambourine Mike (Man) is here" the place cheers and he waves him up. First song, TM is doing his thing banging the tambourine and dancing on stage. Song ends we all laugh and wish him a good evening, NOPE! he won't leave and continues to play and dance around while we try to finish our set lol. Fun night but one song would've been fine.
Going to (or backing up) open jam nights can be "fun" sometimes. Ever heard someone try to play You Can Call Me Al when they've obviously never even heard the song before? That was interesting. Drunk girls insisting on singing a song and not knowing any of the words. Hilarious torture to endure.
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We probably have sit-ins every other night, and when we have them, it's at least 2-3 people, sometimes 6-8.
It almost always goes well, but every now and then someone's a little too drunk. We just ease their microphone down a little.
The trick is knowing the crowd and venue. Some places want a party. Some places want a demonstration. Two very different kinds of shows.
It almost always goes well, but every now and then someone's a little too drunk. We just ease their microphone down a little.
The trick is knowing the crowd and venue. Some places want a party. Some places want a demonstration. Two very different kinds of shows.
Sorry, someone had to do it.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
Yeah, this one always reeked of Patchouli and was barefoot; I saw her stomp out lit cigarette butts barefoot on numerous occasions.
Although I won't allow anyone to use my bass, I have allowed folks to play through my small venue set up at the open-mic nights we used to host. My set up for that is an Eden TN226 (226-watts rms)and an Eden EX112 cab (300-watts rms power handling). I will typically set them up, adjust the gain and master, and then adjust the EQ if they have any special requests. Once I'm done, I tell them not to touch any of the controls on the amp. As long as they don't dime the Bass EQ, they shouldn't be able to damage my speaker.
Then I head to the back of the room to hear how their bass sounds. I'll come up and make adjustments if it's too loud, too quiet, or doesn't sit in the mix well. It usually sounds really good. Meanwhile, I'll have ordered some shrimp tacos and a bar from the bar. I am willing to let others use this gear because, if the speaker gets blown...I have a second EX112 that I'm not using. If they screw with the amp and wreck it, I have other amps I could use with my 112 though they would be paying to repair this one.
I don't let anyone use my bass because it took me 10-years to find one with this neck on it and I couldn't replace this bass for less than the $3,500 - $4,000 or so the Custom Shop would charge to make one. I also promised to pass it on to my son when I kick the bucket.
Nothing throws the band off worse than an off beat tambourine....
My band hosted a blues jam a couple months ago. We played a long set, then others came up and played through our amps. I brought my bass for my own use, and I brought a cheap P bass as a loaner in case anyone needed one. Nobody did though, all the other bass players brought their own basses.
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You gotta figure with Guitar Center, Sweetwater, et al. moving tens of thousands of basses a year that they end up somewhere. That’s where.
I'm sure there are a few former Sweetwater or GC products among the basses I own also.
Heh. I got messaged if I want to sit in tonight, with people I've only played with twice before the pandemic, to play songs I don't know that well, including one that starts with a bass solo. (I Wonder by Rodriguez)
Of course I said yes.
What could possibly go wrong?
Of course I said yes.
What could possibly go wrong?
If I had to provide an amp for a situation like that, I’d bring a Choadhammer.
Back in the 80's it was guaranteed that some stranger at every gig would come up with his harp and want us to play "Whammer Jammer". We developed a set of polite excuses why we couldn't do it, like "we tune our guitars low" (not true). This happened as usual one night, and we managed to dissuade the guy. Later, we played "Workin' For A Living", and the guy came up with such a plaintive, hangdog look that I gave him a nod towards a Mic. The guy was GREAT! Sounded just like the record. It was really a pleasure to play with him. I recall we kept him up for as long as he was interested.
To get back to the thread topic, do I regret ever regret letting someone sit in? Yes, every harp player ever other than this guy.
To get back to the thread topic, do I regret ever regret letting someone sit in? Yes, every harp player ever other than this guy.
It's actually not very common to have someone plug their bass into it because most folks just get up there with a guitar and sing. But occasionally groups will come in and then I set them up and tell them "don't touch those dials." As long as they don't mess with the bass EQ, they should be OK as the amp puts out just 225-watts rms and the 112 speaker cab will handle 300-watts rms.
Last night there was a blues meeting/jam, but without the meeting. I know a lot of the musicians involved. The original plan was for my band to show up, and if there was an opportunity, play one or two songs as a band. But life intervened, and I was the only one from the band to make it. I know a lot of the musicians there, including the bass player and guitarist from the host band. After the break, I got asked to play -- partly because I was the only other bass player there, partly because I would have been in demand even if I wasn't the only other bass player there, and partly because the host band's bass player had some health issues I didn't know about, and he was happy to sit down and take a break. I ended up playing the remainder of the evening.
(The bass player has a nice jazz bass, and was playing through a nice Genz-Benz amp. I didn't touch anything except the volume knob on the bass.)
The tricky thing for me was that once the jam musicians started coming up, they wanted to do songs I didn't know. Fortunately, the harp player (who is the BL in his own band) was good at singing the bass lines he wanted me to play, and then once the song got started, it was automatic. So it was never a train wreck, and the crowd there had a great time, which is ultimately the important thing.
(The bass player has a nice jazz bass, and was playing through a nice Genz-Benz amp. I didn't touch anything except the volume knob on the bass.)
The tricky thing for me was that once the jam musicians started coming up, they wanted to do songs I didn't know. Fortunately, the harp player (who is the BL in his own band) was good at singing the bass lines he wanted me to play, and then once the song got started, it was automatic. So it was never a train wreck, and the crowd there had a great time, which is ultimately the important thing.
