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Involuntary Substitution

Skokiaan

Skokiaan

Jun 19, 2004
1,180
2,851
New Jersey
#1
I received the following text from a bandleader:

"Are you available for rehearsal before April 8th? I have our backup bass player chompin at the bit for that gig. Let me know."

This sounded like some newly booked gig of which I was unaware. It's not. It's our regularly scheduled gig for which I expressed my availability as it was being booked.

The problem is the bandleader wants to rehearse every Monday. I do not. That's four rehearsals a month versus just one, sometime two gigs. I am not ok with a 4:1 rehearsal-to-gig ratio. This is a blues-rock gig (75% covers). It ain't Mozart. I am willing to rehearse once a month with this band. (I have another band that rehearses roughly once a month, plus a startup project and fill-in gigs).

I have two fill-in gigs in April with two other bands for which there will be no rehearsal. (I haven't even met the people in one of the bands). They will go well because I will be prepared.

My last four Mondays went like this:
3/7 - Vacation, visiting my daughter out of state.
3/14 - I had tickets to see the Who, rescheduled from a fall date.
3/21 - I was nursing my dying cat, which we put down the next morning. I also took off from work for this.
3/28 - Vacation, visiting the in-laws for Easter, as we do every year.

The bandleader seems unaware that our keyboardist frequently cancels rehearsals due to work.

Here's the rub. The bandleader gave the gig to this bit-chompin' bassist, in spite of the fact that I am:
1. A full member of the band.
B. Available for the gig.
III. Always prepared.

I told the bandleader that if he is replacing me for April 8 then he should replace me permanently.
(My wife is a singer. Her advice was to tell him to go f*** himself, but I like the guy and have become good friends with his brother (band's drummer)).

I am awaiting his response.
 
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#2
I think you and the BL (and the band) need a sitdown to determine frequency of rehearsals. Different bands do it differently. I have one band that never rehearses, unless it is to put together a new tune. Others like regular rehearsals. If he is set on that, you have a choice to make - sounds like you are busy anyway.
 
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#4
I've had that happen to me. The BL wanted to rehearse every weekend whether or not there were gigs booked...I didn't. In all honesty, if the band "needs" to rehearse that much, it probably isn't a very good band.

Time for you to leave.jpg
 
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#6
dave_p said:
If the other guy is chomping, he deserves the gig. You sound like you don't want it that bad.
Click to expand...

The band is good and I like the people. The gigs are mostly meh. Apparently they used to play better gigs before I joined. That can change, so it's not the issue here. I just can't see rehearsing these easy songs for three hours every Monday.
 
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#7
Skokiaan said:
The band is good and I like the people. The gigs are mostly meh. Apparently they used to play better gigs before I joined. That can change, so it's not the issue here. I just can't see rehearsing these easy songs for three hours every Monday.
Click to expand...

Then have a talk with BL. See if reasonable minds can prevail. If he just wants to play more, then

 
#9
Some players enjoy rehearsal for its own sake. I play in a band that rehearses, even when no gigs are on the horizon. We work on our chops. One of our projects right now, is getting more comfortable playing in odd meters. A couple of the players use the rehearsals to try out new compositions.
 
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#11
Skokiaan said:
I received the following text from a bandleader:

"Are you available for rehearsal before April 8th? I have our backup bass player chompin at the bit for that gig. Let me know."

This sounded like some newly booked gig of which I was unaware. It's not. It's our regularly scheduled gig for which I expressed my availability as it was being booked.

The problem is the bandleader wants to rehearse every Monday. I do not. That's four rehearsals a month versus just one, sometime two gigs. I am not ok with a 4:1 rehearsal-to-gig ratio. This is a blues-rock gig (75% covers). It ain't Mozart. I am willing to rehearse once a month with this band. (I have another band that rehearses roughly once a month, plus a startup project and fill-in gigs).

I have two fill-in gigs in April with two other bands for which there will be no rehearsal. (I haven't even met the people in one of the bands). They will go well because I will be prepared.

My last four Mondays went like this:
3/7 - Vacation, visiting my daughter out of state.
3/14 - I had tickets to see the Who, rescheduled from a fall date.
3/21 - I was nursing my dying cat, which we put down the next morning. I also took off from work for this.
3/28 - Vacation, visiting the in-laws for Easter, as we do every year.

The bandleader seems unaware that our keyboardist frequently cancels rehearsals due to work.

Here's the rub. The bandleader gave the gig to this bit-chompin' bassist, in spite of the fact that I am:
1. A full member of the band.
B. Available for the gig.
III. Always prepared.

I told the bandleader that if he is replacing me for April 8 then he should replace me permanently.
(My wife is a singer. Her advice was to tell him to go f*** himself, but I like the guy and have become good friends with his brother (band's drummer)).

I am awaiting his response.
Click to expand...
I'm just replying to express my condolences regarding your cat :(
 
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#15
Skokiaan said:
The band is good and I like the people. The gigs are mostly meh. Apparently they used to play better gigs before I joined. That can change, so it's not the issue here. I just can't see rehearsing these easy songs for three hours every Monday.
Click to expand...

You're not the only member of the band. Perhaps the BL feels there are other members who do need more rehearsals - and it's kind of silly to rehearse them without a bass player present?
 
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#18
Skokiaan said:
I told the bandleader that if he is replacing me for April 8 then he should replace me permanently.
(My wife is a singer. Her advice was to tell him to go f*** himself, but I like the guy and have become good friends with his brother (band's drummer)).

I am awaiting his response.
Click to expand...

Be careful what you ask for. Those kinds of wishes tend to be granted. Because the only real response to an ultimatum is saying "sod off" in return.

FWIW I would never involve my SO in a disagreement like the one you're having with your BL. Nobody is ever gonna love or want to protect you more than your lady. SOs tend to go hyper over these sorts of kerfuffles. And they sometimes get you pumped up to say things you probably wouldn't if left to yourself this early in the disagreement. Just sayin' ;)
 
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#20
fdeck said:
Some players enjoy rehearsal for its own sake. I play in a band that rehearses, even when no gigs are on the horizon. We work on our chops. One of our projects right now, is getting more comfortable playing in odd meters. A couple of the players use the rehearsals to try out new compositions.
Click to expand...

I can dig that. I'm in a couple of rehearsals bands that might gig twice a year. My purpose for being in those is to keep my reading chops sharp. I also get together with some friends once in a while just to play ELP tunes. We'll probably never gig. There are also people who are in a band for the social aspect. It's like their golf.

I have a problem rehearsing cover tunes to keep people up to speed or for somebody elses player maintenance.
 
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