Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Ever Show Up on the Wrong Night?
- Thread starter iamoldschool
- Start date
Well that makes a little more sense. I started to pack up at a church gig after two services. Drummer asks me what I'm doing and I said "Uh, going home." He tells me there's one more service. Oops, good thing he noticed.
Did he write it on a napkin right next to the 18" dimensions for the Stonehenge props?
don't even get me started on drummers...
i gigged for one that came to a rehearsal drunk
he actually played fine till during a guitar solo he passed out on his set and made a big mess
it was kinda funny because at first, we thought all the racket he made falling over was a drum fill XD
2 contributions
#1: I'm embarrassed to say I booked myself for a gig a month ahead of time and bailed the morning of. I hate when people do that. I try to always be the guy everyone can count on...better yet the guy to call when you're in a bind. Well this day my wife had booked a speaking engagement for me for the same night but forgot to tell me until the week of the gig. I hadn't practiced with the band, but was supposed to be sitting in on bass while trying out as their new singer/bassist. I couldn't talk the morning of, so I bailed. I could barely talk that evening, so I did the speaking engagement but left sick. Bottom line, I still got paid, but I feel guilty now for being the guy that usually gives me the opportunity to sub. Oh, and I didn't get the gig. First time in 9 years...
#2: I played w/a jazz trio with the promise of a monthly gig. 2nd Saturday of the month normally, but on Friday for the first time. Well, that's how I got it on my calendar. Month two rolled around. I called the organizer while on the road to the gig to see how things were going... the show had been the night before. Still not sure what happened. I just talked to him tonight though and I've still got a gig. I hate embarrassing myself. What happened to when I used to be Mr. Dependable?!?
#1: I'm embarrassed to say I booked myself for a gig a month ahead of time and bailed the morning of. I hate when people do that. I try to always be the guy everyone can count on...better yet the guy to call when you're in a bind. Well this day my wife had booked a speaking engagement for me for the same night but forgot to tell me until the week of the gig. I hadn't practiced with the band, but was supposed to be sitting in on bass while trying out as their new singer/bassist. I couldn't talk the morning of, so I bailed. I could barely talk that evening, so I did the speaking engagement but left sick. Bottom line, I still got paid, but I feel guilty now for being the guy that usually gives me the opportunity to sub. Oh, and I didn't get the gig. First time in 9 years...
#2: I played w/a jazz trio with the promise of a monthly gig. 2nd Saturday of the month normally, but on Friday for the first time. Well, that's how I got it on my calendar. Month two rolled around. I called the organizer while on the road to the gig to see how things were going... the show had been the night before. Still not sure what happened. I just talked to him tonight though and I've still got a gig. I hate embarrassing myself. What happened to when I used to be Mr. Dependable?!?
2 contributions
What happened to when I used to be Mr. Dependable?!?
Maybe you're gettin' old?
Yep. No need to explain. It happened, I was pissed! Basically I show up at venue and no other band members are there. I start calling and get the band leader and he says, " nah brah, we play there tomorrow night"!! Crap!
Oh, well. Here it is Thursday night again. I get to go to the rehearsal space and help break down and load gear again tonight for the gig we showed up for last Friday night. Wish me luck guys, you know I'm gonna be the butt of a lot of jokes tomorrow night.
don't even get me started on drummers...
i gigged for one that came to a rehearsal drunk
Ugh... Too similar to an experience of mine. Had a gig at a college bar in Oswego, NY a few years back. Drummer decided to celebrate his birthday by slamming a few shots between sets 2 & 3, then passed out on his snare in mid song. An awkward moment I'll never forget.
Same drummer different gig, this one in Canandaigua, NY, a good 2 hour drive for us. BIG banquet hall type thing. Drummer never shows up. We actually canvassed the audience for drummers and found one who was a sport and went home and got his kit. Faked three sets with us and went home with an equal cut. A later phone call to our drummer revealed that he actually made it to the town, but couldn't find the hall...so he went home.
Maybe you're gettin' old?
Hold still a second. I'm refilling my flame thrower...
Hehe.
Hold still a second. I'm refilling my flame thrower...
/Puts on asbestos underwear/
I arrived at this conclusion via shared experiences.
Ah, but Kharma does have it's rewards! My brand new '08 Five String American Standard P (Olympic White/Tort PG/Rosewood FB) arrived via the Big Brown Truck yesterday. Spent last night setting the intonation and string height after loading up.
She starts earning her keep tonight. If the gig HAD been last Friday, I wouldn't have had it.
I'll post pics of the new bass sometime this weekend along with some sound clips, hopefully.
well this isnt really about a gig
but like a bass lesson
I skipped out of class, with a note that the bass teachers give you each week
and i walked out went to the music room
and looked in
no one there
so i went to the office
asked
said he wasnt in today
but she called them up anyway
asking where hes was
"hes a friday man"
then i realised, it was thursday
talk about being an idiot aye
but like a bass lesson
I skipped out of class, with a note that the bass teachers give you each week
and i walked out went to the music room
and looked in
no one there
so i went to the office
asked
said he wasnt in today
but she called them up anyway
asking where hes was
"hes a friday man"
then i realised, it was thursday
talk about being an idiot aye
I did it with a lesson. Fortunately I only inconvenienced myself rather than the teacher. I definitely felt like an idiot, though!
scottbass
Bass lines like a big, funky giant
I showed up at the wrong bar. Unloaded my stuff, set up, and began to wonder where the rest of the band was. The manager came up to me about a half hour later and said "We don't have a band booked for tonight." I had driven 50 miles TO A BAR WE HAVE PLAYED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE and I could have sworn it was the right place.
Thank God for cell phones. It turned out we were playing in the same city, but at the VFW (where we had never played before) instead of the American Legion, where we had played several times before and where I was now standing on the stage by myself.
No harm, no foul, I tore down, loaded up, left the American Legion, drove about 8 blocks to the VFW, unloaded, set up and we still started on time. I was kinda upset that I had to haul gear, set up and tear down TWICE for one gig, but I had no one to blame but myself. I had just assumed we were playing the same joint in that town where we had played before.
Now I know how Ronald Reagan, Charlton Hesston, Dear Abby, etc. must have felt.
Thank God for cell phones. It turned out we were playing in the same city, but at the VFW (where we had never played before) instead of the American Legion, where we had played several times before and where I was now standing on the stage by myself.
No harm, no foul, I tore down, loaded up, left the American Legion, drove about 8 blocks to the VFW, unloaded, set up and we still started on time. I was kinda upset that I had to haul gear, set up and tear down TWICE for one gig, but I had no one to blame but myself. I had just assumed we were playing the same joint in that town where we had played before.
Now I know how Ronald Reagan, Charlton Hesston, Dear Abby, etc. must have felt.
Happened to me on a DJ gig. I was to meet the other DJ about 70 miles away and DJ for "Tim and Stacy's wedding". So we show up at the hall, get all setup (we had a pretty big show as far as DJ's go), and wait. Then, the bride and groom arrive. Luckily, the other DJ knew the couple and said "That's not Stacy!" He looked at the contract and apparently the halls were switched at the last minute.
Last April we showed up for a Saturday night bar gig at 8 pm (we were scheduled to play 9 to 1). The owner had gotten confused and let a local booking agency do a pay to play session for 5 bands. During the discussion the agent actually had the balls to offer us a 1 hour slot from 10 to 11. He very seriously told me he would wave the $100 fee. I very seriously suggested he perform an un-natural sex act with himself.
One of the bands waiting to go on asked our singer what made us think we were so much better than them. Her reply - a couple of thousand hours more practice, 20 years experience, and the $750 per night plus 10% of the door fee that we get every night we play, and we still make the bars a lot of money.
We never went back to that place, even though we were asked several times.
One of the bands waiting to go on asked our singer what made us think we were so much better than them. Her reply - a couple of thousand hours more practice, 20 years experience, and the $750 per night plus 10% of the door fee that we get every night we play, and we still make the bars a lot of money.
We never went back to that place, even though we were asked several times.
An old band I used to be in has a story that trumps all of these (sorry). They were booked by their agent, who was basically a scumbag, to play in some techno dive for free. Literally for free, since the place didn't serve alcohol, so no bar tab, no nothing.
The thing is, they were promised to be payed the door, but the day before the gig, they got in tocuh with a friend of them who said that this particular place never charges for cover. Like in, never happened in 5 years.
They rightly pissed and moreso when they confronted their agent who told them that they were actually replacing anothe rof his band that could not do the gig and that "promising them money" was the only way he could get out of his mess.
So the day of the gig arrives and they decide not to show up and let the manager weassel out of his misery. The club owner finally calls, pretty pissed and ask what is going on. They had agreed to tell that the guitarist had a benign heart attack (he was a fat mofo) and that he was in the hosiptal right now.
The owner was so apologetic as to want to send him flowers and a card
PS: I know it's sleazy and not pro, but I wasn't there.
The thing is, they were promised to be payed the door, but the day before the gig, they got in tocuh with a friend of them who said that this particular place never charges for cover. Like in, never happened in 5 years.
They rightly pissed and moreso when they confronted their agent who told them that they were actually replacing anothe rof his band that could not do the gig and that "promising them money" was the only way he could get out of his mess.
So the day of the gig arrives and they decide not to show up and let the manager weassel out of his misery. The club owner finally calls, pretty pissed and ask what is going on. They had agreed to tell that the guitarist had a benign heart attack (he was a fat mofo) and that he was in the hosiptal right now.
The owner was so apologetic as to want to send him flowers and a card
PS: I know it's sleazy and not pro, but I wasn't there.
My last band was scheduled to play a gig in Baltimore one night. I got to the venue with the majority of the PA system and my rig while the drummer was already there setting up. But there was no guitarist yet and we were running out of time to get the PA set up. So I walked outside and my cell phone rang. It was the guitarist.
G: "Hey Ron, just wanted to let you guys that we're playing at _____ Tavern next month instead of tonight. I just showed up here and they told me."
Me: "You're supposed to be in BALTIMORE tonight!"
G: "Oh s---!"
The bar he was at was in Culpeper, VA, about 110 miles from Baltimore. We wound up starting late, but got the gig done. We told the bar he developed mechanical problems with his car.
G: "Hey Ron, just wanted to let you guys that we're playing at _____ Tavern next month instead of tonight. I just showed up here and they told me."
Me: "You're supposed to be in BALTIMORE tonight!"
G: "Oh s---!"
The bar he was at was in Culpeper, VA, about 110 miles from Baltimore. We wound up starting late, but got the gig done. We told the bar he developed mechanical problems with his car.
