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Final Practice Before Show (Drummer...***)

JtSD619

JtSD619

Nov 10, 2011
351
617
San Diego
#1
Had an interesting practice last night, and thought I would vent about it on good ole TB. Band has a show this coming Thursday. This will be our 3rd show since I have joined the band. Our set of songs is nice and tight. Before our previous two shows, we all stressed the importance of running through the set perfectly as if we were on stage. This included what the singer would discuss between certain songs blah blah everything..just as if we were on stage.

So last night we have our final practice before the gig on Thursday. It was a disaster. For whatever reason, the drummer was going absolutely ape poo. Adding ridiculously unnecessary fills, changing timing on certain parts, it did not sound good...at all. After the first 3 songs, I'm looking at my other band mates like *** is happening right now. So I straight up ask the drummer if thats how he plans to play the songs on Thursday, he laughs and says no and that hes "just having a little fun".

Got to have fun playing...I get that. After we played the second song and I saw he was trying new parts, I decided to try some new fills too I mean shoot why not at this point. After we ran through the set, we broke down gear and loaded up. Now I know the drummer is not going to play the same way he did at practice, but im not happy with that practice at all. Last practice before a show is not the time to be experimenting. Before our previous shows, we all made it clear that the final practice should be JUST like the show. I mean we are no big band, but I just thought it was unprofessional...also thought it was odd that no other band mates were concerned.

Im probably over thinking and maybe being too much of a perfectionist. Anyone else have this happen and felt the same way I do?

Cheers
 
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#2
I get the dress rehearsal concept - it's a good concept.
But keep in mind - Live never goes down just like rehearsal anyway, so a certain aspect of performing live is handling things that don't go as planned with aplomb.
I've played with people who absolutely could not bring a song back on track if the smallest thing didn't go per the script.
Last rehearsal is also your last chance to try something new to see if it works. If it doesn't, you know to leave it out come showtime.
If your band is tight after two shows, you probably have enough skill and confidence that you can loosen up a little - especially at runthrough.
Post again after the show.
If it goes well, you will have learned that it is not necessary to plan and execute every little musical detail. Live shows where everything is perfectly choreographed and scripted sometimes lack life - and being a cog in a karaoke machine doesn't appeal to some musicians. (You want it to sound just like the record? Listen to the record...)
If it's a train wreck, you're probably entitled to exactly one 'I Told You So' and you'll have learned you got too far out over your skiis and got more cocky than your collective experience could pull off.
Meanwhile, don't stress about the performance, because nothing good will come of it.
Just IMO/IME ...
 
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#3
ArtechnikA said:
If your band is tight after two shows, you probably have enough skill and confidence that you can loosen up a little - especially at runthrough.
Click to expand...
Right. I'm assuming that the previous two gigs went well, and it sounds to me like your bandmates are just feeling confident enough that a perfect "dress rehearsal" isn't as crucial this time. "We've got this!"

Good luck with the gig, and let us know how it goes.
 
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#4
I sometimes will try new things at rehearsal too...sometimes it lands and sometimes it doesn't. But when show time comes i don't do such risky things. Doesn't mean i won't through something new in on the gig, it just won't be something i'm not already confident about. I also hate dress rehearsals...so there's that.
 
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#11
Where was the rest of your band in all of this? I don't know how your band operates, but that sh*t wouldn't fly in mine. The rest of us would quickly and directly address that drummer's goofing off before it became an issue. If you have a band, then you have to have ground rules.
 
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#12
OP, I feel your pain.

If you decided to "play it like the show," that's exactly what it means, and that should have been respected.

I assume you had several rehearsals before your "dress rehearsal" to mix it up, experiment, and get that out of your systems. The stated purpose of the rehearsal before the show was to play it straight so you can hear what you'll sound like on stage. NOT the time for experimenting and over-playing.

That would be a confidence-shaker for me, because now you don't really know what the show will sound like live because you didn't play it as a dress rehearsal, you played it as a try goofy experiments rehearsal.
 
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#14
If the rehearsal was supposed to be *just like the show*, I think everyone should have treated that way. That said, I also go fill crazy at rehearsals a lot. Sometimes the guitarist asks me to tone it down, and I say "no, don't worry, I won't play the [show/recording] like this, but if I don't mess around I won't find the perfect sweet spot for my lines." And then I play the [show/recording] conservatively and am rarely (if at all) a weak link.
 
#15
I do church gigs. We do our gigs with very little rehearsal, so what we do every week is kinda like your dress rehearsal thing.

Sometimes we have a Thursday night rehearsal before Sunday, sometimes we don't. Either way, on Sunday we get a rehearsal, which is often straight through (unless there are snags, then we stop and work it out), a run through (which is usually no stops), and then.. first service. I come in knowing the songs - the chord structure, the general feel, etc. But, when I get there, what the drummer does affects what I play - the feel may want to be different than the mp3, so the exact part I play is a work in progress. During rehearsal and run through, I'm working out exactly what I'm going to play, and yes, the drummer is too. Sometimes, even the 2nd service is different than the first, because....I think I can make it better.

While I don't expect the drummer to be playing the exact parts he will in performance, I do expect us both to be converging on the right parts, not playing something that we know we won't play. My opinion is your drummer is a bit unprofessional - wildly different parts are things you work out when you're not close to the gig, not the last rehearsal before a gig.
 
#16
If a rehearsal was designated as a dress rehearsal, then I'm with you. That is not the time to experiment especially unannounced.

I also agree with the comments regarding that you're probably already fairly tight musically having a couple of solid gigs under your belt and that maybe a dress rehearsal is no longer needed. That said, it sounds like you were even rehearsing the stage timing. If you guys still need to polish that up, then, yeah dress rehearsals are the best way to do that.

I guess my point is: if it needs to be a dress rehearsal, then it should be surprise free.
 
#19
Drummer being a little disrespectful from what I hear. After the show, reassess if it needs to be addressed with all band members present and approach it as a discussion so dum dum drummer doesn't get his feeling hurt. Focus on your role and learn to roll with the punches if dum dum starts executing unexpected fills and such...been there before.
 
#20
Just one reason I hate rehearsals! Maybe once a year our church band will rehearse if we have a somewhat complicated new song, otherwise never. And the folks I play with on other gigs know their stuff, know a million songs, and know their instruments. I won't play with people who can't walk in and do the gig.
 

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