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Late band members...

#21
I quit, especially if they tell you to come to practice at some time in the morning and they dont show up till about an hour or two later because the guitard had some communication issues, that happened about 5 times and one time i waited for 3 hours.

Actually one time they showed up when i was writing my resignation note since i wanted to give them a little surprise when they showed REALLY late.
 
#22
ForSix said:
First of all, it's disrespectful to the other band members.
Click to expand...

+1. IMO that is the biggest point. Whether it is in a band or in real life people who are always late are being extremely disrespectful to the other party. Everybody is late at one point or another but people who are habitually late burn my a$$. It is like they are saying that whatever they are doing is way more important than anything you are doing....so you can wait. I have one friend with this problem and I called him on it because I was tired of waiting a 1/2 hour for him to show up. He seems a little better since then. I agree with giantjerk that you have to figure out the reason for lateness and find a solution from there.

Maybe start a band "Tardiness Beer Fund". People have to throw a dollar in for every 15 minutes that they are late.
 
#23
My band is constantly late, I normally set practise about an hour earlier than I want to start so that we cant get a decent go of it.

The worst was my new band me and the drummer were on time and the rest of the band showed up about 1.30 - 2 hours late and our drummer had to leave early so we only had maybe an hour together as a band.
 
#24
My favorite, was a guitar I used to play with. He would ALWAYS show up half an hour late. then set up his stuff, forget his capo or a pick, then half way through he would spend an hour rearranging his gear.

He knew he was late so he said well its hard for me to get here on time so lets set the rehersal a half hour later...

needless to say, he showed up a half hour late again, missing his capo and a pick.

he was fired.
 
#25
This is coming from a paid gig point of view...

After some problems with our guitarist/singer, we instituted a fine system for showing up late at rehearsals and (yes, even) gigs. Plus we'd just start without him and treat the rehearsal as a "sectional" until he graced us with his presence.

At union/orchestral/recording dates, you have to be set up, tuned and ready for the first downbeat, otherwise you are docked pay/fined/etc.

If I'm going to be late due to unforseen circumstances, I will call the other members of the band/contractor/MD to let them know. Yes I understand traffic, bad weather, etc. but I know the traffic patterns of my city and when rush hour is so I can adjust accordingly.

It's just a respect thing and being chronically late is a passive agressive way of showing lack of respect to the others whom may be waiting.
 
#26
If you have upcoming paying gigs and one of these guys is habitually late then ...can him, or at least casually mention that you may part ways soon.

If your band is just rehearsing for its next rehearsal, well then, start getting gigs. And then start throwing your weight around. Nothing motivates musicians more than the prospect of an upcoming gig.
 
#27
I agree with everyone that says that it is indeed disrespectful if someone is always late (assuming its not a case like giantjerk mentioned where you physically might not make it because of things beyond your control).

On the other hand, I have always been Mr. Punctual. Anally so...that is, until life has gotten crazy and made me focus on priorities. I am still not usually late, but I am not going to stress myself out if I get stuck in traffic (and where I live, everyone is pretty spaced apart, so its not like you are just down the street...its usually a 30+ minute drive no matter what) And I dont let myself get stressed out about others either (again, if its a short amount of time and not just cuz I felt like it)
 
#28
Thanks for all the good suggestions. The posts added up FAST. Sounds like a fairly common problem. I think respect/disrespect is at the heart of this. I wonder if certain genres have a greater degree of this than others. In other words, would a punk band be more or less likely to have a tardiness issue than, say, a string quartet? :hiding:
 
#30
I used to be late because I hated the singer and the music...it was always me and the drummer. When I started a band I liked, I was never late.

They needed me and the drummer in the first one though and the two guitarist realized I hated the singer so it didn't bother them tooooo much.
 
#32
Start on time, with or without them. And end on time. And specify what is to be covered in practice. And do it. If the guy shows up late, then he has to set up while the rest of the band is playing, then catch up with the band. I had a keys player who was always late. We just cranked off at the start time, and, when he came in he had to set up with us working on the music. And we left him out of the conversation until he was ready to play. He got PO'd, of course, but the drummer said it best: "Dude, you're late- catch up with us."
 
#33
When the band-mates are consistently late, I show up late. Why waste time sitting around at the practice? I sit around at home, where I have a comfortable couch. I'm the new guy, so I'm not going to rock the boat yet.

On the other hand, with other people, I talked to them about it. We both had that issue. We would take turns sitting and waiting for each other. The culprit was underestimating the preparation time. Drive time is one thing, but we weren't counting the time to gather our stuff, put it in bags, put bags in the car, get a phone call while walking out the door, say goodbye, lock the door, walk to the car, unload, etc.

So tell them to add ten minutes to account for the time between deciding to leave and driving.
 
#34
I had this problem with a new band last week except that ALL of the band members where late except me. I was set up, plugged in, tuned up, and ready to go at the 8:00pm start time and the rest of the band didn't show up until 8:15 and they still had to set up a drum kit, PA system, and guitar setups. We didn't get going until around 8:45pm.
Next week, if the same thing happens, I'm going to bring it up with them. I don't care if I'm the new guy.
From then on, they will either be on time, or I'm gone.
 
#36
I have major time issues. I am always late. Late for everything. Not on purpose. Normally that's the nature of my job. I have people that call or stop by and I can not turn them away.

I don't like being late. In fact, I run being on time in the ground. I look like a hypocrite later, but not because it was planned.

As a general rule, I am the joke of the band when it comes to being on time.

When I say I'm late though, that means that I have not gotten to practice in time to get things going, not that I don't arrive on the scheduled time. You have to understand; I own the PA, the power amps, effects, speakers, mics, etc. Once you place ownership of the "Bass" end of things, I own half of the equipment. Me being 10 - 15 minutes late puts a huge damper on things.
 
#39
I don't know about you guys, but I give people +-10min. But if you show up 10:01min late, you better have an excuse.

The only time this doesn't apply is at gigs, usually we show up at least 45 min before the set. I've had enough of filling time because someone's not even on the premises.

Stumbo said:
...or do you sell drugs?
Click to expand...

That's what it sounds like to me. Not passing judgment though.
 
#40
In my originals band, lateness has nothing to do with respect, and everything to do with job schedules, and the fact that we live in the greater Washington DC metro area. Traffic can cause unpredictable delays. The keyboard player is typically the latest. He's the manager of a bicycle repair shop, and he can't leave until all customers have been served. He's got to be the last one out, so he can lock up. I cause the practice to end promptly at 10 pm, because I have an hour drive home and I get up at 4:30 am for work. So we often wind up with 2 hours or less to practice.
My country band solved this problem long ago. We never rehearse. Ever. :p
 

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