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NO YOU CAN'T SIT IN!

#61
fact of the matter is that if your worth anything you never ask to sit in with a group... they ask you! You ask = your lame and if you are good enough to sit in and the band doesn't know you, well then they ain't worth playin with anyway! HA!
 
#62
papajune said:
fact of the matter is that if your worth anything you never ask to sit in with a group... they ask you! You ask = your lame and if you are good enough to sit in and the band doesn't know you, well then they ain't worth playin with anyway! HA!
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+1,000!!!

Asking to sit in is rude. Just plain rude.

I used to work with a woman (in a band) who just continually asked to get up with other local bands. Sometimes, she didn't even ask. She just got up there. She felt it was fine, not rude at all, and that because the bands knew her, she was somehow entitled. She even went up and adjusted the sound on someone guitar while they were playing it!

As a result, those musicians lost respect for her, and would groan whenever they saw her at a show. "Oh no. There's that chick who thinks she needs to sing with everyone."

I would be *mortified* if someone felt like that about me! So...I never go up unless asked. Ever. I never want to see people trying to avoid me like that!!!

Cherie
 
#64
I ask people to come up and play all the time. We have a pretty tight little musical community up here, and bass players always get extra love from yours truly.

We did have a situation a while back, with some friends of ours from another band. We ask them up all the time, but on this particular occasion, the bass player was babysitting the guitar player who was going through a nasty divorce. The guitar player was drunk as a skunk and getting drunker with each passing minute. On about three songs, he just came out of nowhere, grabbed the closest mic, and proceeded to sing background vocals, or even the lead on one tune in particular. This wouldn't be a big deal under normal circumstances, but he was too hammered to carry a tune. It was really surreal. It was annoying and yet strangely entertaining in a train wreck sort of way. The bass player was very apologetic, and I even asked him to play a song or two. (He declined as he had to watch the guitar guy to make sure he didn't aspirate any vomit or anything.)
 
#65
Phalex said:
I ask people to come up and play all the time. We have a pretty tight little musical community up here, and bass players always get extra love from yours truly.

We did have a situation a while back, with some friends of ours from another band. We ask them up all the time, but on this particular occasion, the bass player was babysitting the guitar player who was going through a nasty divorce. The guitar player was drunk as a skunk and getting drunker with each passing minute. On about three songs, he just came out of nowhere, grabbed the closest mic, and proceeded to sing background vocals, or even the lead on one tune in particular. This wouldn't be a big deal under normal circumstances, but he was too hammered to carry a tune. It was really surreal. It was annoying and yet strangely entertaining in a train wreck sort of way. The bass player was very apologetic, and I even asked him to play a song or two. (He declined as he had to watch the guitar guy to make sure he didn't aspirate any vomit or anything.)
Click to expand...

I sometimes wonder if it isn't part of the bassist's job, to ensure the guitard doesn't aspirate vomit. We all seem to have had to babysit a drunken guitard at least once! Sometimes, its the drummer, but...

Cherie :ninja: :D :hiding:
 
#67
IMO, it's musically dangerous to allow a bass player to sit in. If you call up a horn player, and he plays a solo that just sucks, he finishes and sits down, then you talk about how bad he was for the next week. No harm, really. If a bass player sits in and doesn't know the tune, is not musically competent, doesn't listen, or whatever, the whole tune crashes and burns.
 
#68
Any one in here ever have someone show up and try to steal your gig?

We are a blues, old school funk, party music band. We were playing at one of our regular spots and a guy walks in and sits at a table right next to the stage and stares at us for about a half dozen tunes.

He then goes out and comes back in with a bass case and sits bac down for the rest of the set.

At the break, he talks to our lead singer and tells him he really needs to fire me and hire him as bass player. He says he can "roll with what you are doing" and "wont just play that I-IV-V sh!t".

Out lead singer just blew him off, but it was still pretty funny

I was tempted to let him sit in, but the crowd was too big to risk what might have happened
 
#72
Marksb_2000 said:
Any one in here ever have someone show up and try to steal your gig?

We are a blues, old school funk, party music band. We were playing at one of our regular spots and a guy walks in and sits at a table right next to the stage and stares at us for about a half dozen tunes.

He then goes out and comes back in with a bass case and sits bac down for the rest of the set.

At the break, he talks to our lead singer and tells him he really needs to fire me and hire him as bass player. He says he can "roll with what you are doing" and "wont just play that I-IV-V sh!t".

Out lead singer just blew him off, but it was still pretty funny

I was tempted to let him sit in, but the crowd was too big to risk what might have happened
Click to expand...

That's one of the most stupid ways to try to get into a band (does not even count if this person is good or not...) --Kent
 
#73
WJGreer said:
IMO, it's musically dangerous to allow a bass player to sit in. If you call up a horn player, and he plays a solo that just sucks, he finishes and sits down, then you talk about how bad he was for the next week. No harm, really. If a bass player sits in and doesn't know the tune, is not musically competent, doesn't listen, or whatever, the whole tune crashes and burns.
Click to expand...

True dat!!

This didn't happen to me but a good bass playing buddy of mine not too long ago. A friend of his who plays trombone (competently but not always consistent), turns up at my buddy's gig, with his horn demanding to sit in. Keep in mind this was an original band and the 'bone player had ZERO familiarity with the music. My buddy tells him NO in no uncertain terms. Well, 'bone playing dude goes and gets hammered on SEVEN consecutive shots of tequila, and while my buddy's band is settling into a pretty nice groove, the drunk trombonist somehow manages to put his horn together, stomps up on stage and for 1.5 songs plays this incomprehensible mess and he says, "I was adding counterpoint!"

My buddy by this point is infuriated, and eventually gives him "The Universal Sign To Get The Hell Off Stage" (namely flips him the bird). He finally does. Next day, after the tequila wore off, 'bone player is FORCED to apologize to the band and nearly EVERYONE that was there, good I say.
 
#74
NJL said:
easy, just play left handed.
Click to expand...

Good point, or play 5,6,7 stringed beasties, scares 'em away EVERY time just about.

Or another way to scare off someone who wants to sit in, just start rattling off a bunch of convoluted esoteric nonsense about how your band's music relates to Bauhaus architecture and how a long running Norwegian carpenter's strike could be resolved by way of studying your band's music. :D
 
#75
Mine happened in reverse. I was attending a frat party at UAG 100 years ago when the band comes back from a break, all but the bass player. So the drummer & guitar player start noodling around to make some noise, hoping the bass player will hear & report to the stage. After 4 - 5 minutes of no bass player & the rest of the band getting pissed the guitar player ANNOUNCES OVER THE PA "Any bass players in the house?" Abuddy of mine pushes me forward, so I volunteer. I think the guitar player's joking, but he says ***, it's not my gear, help yourself. (Clearly he's pissed at the bass player) We launch into "Long Train Running" and right as we get through the intro the bass player shows up looking super-pissed. It's funny how hearing your rig being played when you're not the one playing it really gets your attention.
 
#76
"We launch into "Long Train Running" and right as we get through the intro the bass player shows up looking super-pissed."

This guy should have been fired unless he had a super super damn good reason.

Having to wait for some body (former drummer) who would always friggin wait until everybody headed to the stage at the end of the break to go to the friggin washroom really used to p@#$ me off.
 
#78
bassfrenzie said:
Our bands policy for drunk strangers who want to play a tune or two is "It's against band policy". Unless your name is Eric Clapton or Buddy Guy or something, THEN NO PROBLEM, please be our guest!

How do you handle these bozos?
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Not only for drunk strangers, but for strangers in general (after all, do you really want to get into "how drunk is drunk"?). You can make exceptions if you wish, but it's important to first set a policy.

Not only that, but musicians should make sure they have the venue management on their side when it comes to enforcement of security. I recently attended an open mike where there was this drunk who was aggressively pestering everyone, i.e. getting on the stage while the performers were playing(!), dancing around, grabbing the microphone and trying to sing, etc. And the club management did practically nothing about it!

If I were on that stage and it happened to me, I would immediately stop playing and insist that the management do its job. And if they refused, I would pack up my gear and leave - simple as that.

If you want to be treated as a professional, sometimes you have to demand it... :mad:

MM
 
#80
I remember over 20 years back going to see sarah mclachlan at a very small club in Vancouver called the Railway Club. This was way before she and her band became famous and a drunk but polite man came up and they let him tap on the drum set and chatted him up politely. Maybe when an aggressive drunk guy shows up you hand him a Mouth Harp and ask him to play you a song.
 

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