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NO YOU CAN'T SIT IN!

#141
I was asked to sit in a few weeks ago at a blues gig along with our front man harp player, by the band leader. The guitar player.

I said sure, cool.

The middle of the next set the leader announces myself & our front man harp player & invites us up.

We get a bit of a hand from the locals who know us, front man takes the mike, I go twards the bass player and he refuses to look at me.

Nice.

I stand there a few seconds (feels like a few hours) the leader gives the bass player a look, gets one in return, this goes back & forth, I'm standing there, finally the bass player grudgingly gives it up.

I kicked ass for two tunes & got a great hand from the crowd & kudos from the leader & drummer... sweet revenge.

The guitar player later apologized for the @sshole Bass player move.

I simply said " next time clear it with bozo the @sshole".

It's all good.
 
#142
joeybyron said:
"You can play my bass if I can F*** your wife" they usually get the point.
Click to expand...

There's a guy who wants to take you up on your offer.
Here's his wife:
uglyGirl.jpg
 
#144
While on vacation about a year ago, I wandered into a club that was just setting up to do a benefit show with three bands scheduled to play from 5 pm to 2 am. While sipping my beer I talked to the house sound guy and when he found out I was a bass player he said the first band was short their bass player (he was sick) and got me in touch with their guitarist. It turned out they played pretty standard classic rock tunes and I gave him a quick demonstration to show him I could keep up and he invited me to sit in for the the hour and a half that they'd be playing.

That set turned out fine and was a lot of fun and as I was sitting in the audience listening to the second band the guitarist and the drummer from the third band came up to me and asked if I would sit in on a few songs with them - they said that it would be kind of fun for them mix it up with another bass player who had a different style from the other guy. I didn't get to talk with their bassist but the guitarist and drummer assured me it would be OK. We picked out a few tunes to play and when it was time for them to start they invited me up to play with them (the same bass and amp were still on stage from the first band).

We played three tunes and I was ready to quit but they insisted that I play some more. I played two more tunes while the band's bassist was sitting in the audience looking bored and I was more than a little uncomfortable and told the guitarist that I should get off the stage and let their band mate up to start playing. He said "Screw him!" and started to laugh which I thought was really weird but just then the bass player got up and walked out the front door. :confused:

The drummer and guitarist consulted with each other for about ten seconds and then they both asked me if I could manage to play for the rest of the night because obviously their bassist got mad and left. Keep in mind this is all being whispered on stage between songs. I was totally confused by this point but I figured the show must go on so I continued to play.

After the set was done they said that they had been getting increasingly disgusted with their bass player because of his constantly getting drunk before gigs and were planning on firing him after that gig. They figured that they could take the opportunity to use me as a last minute replacement and fire him right before the gig especially when they realized he'd showed up drunk again.
 
#146
For years I played in Australia where "Can I borrow your bass for a couple of numbers?" was roughly equivalent to "Can I borrow your girlfriend for bucks night?" except maybe less likely. :D And it wasn't just me - it just wasn't cool to invite anyone to play your livelihood instrument unless you were really familiar with them.

But living in Bali, I have to say things are very different. For a start, musician is a highly respectable profession here (not so much in Aussie - ask my in-laws). Almost everyone can play a guitar from an early age - music is very important. Knowing a lot of local musos, I am lucky enough to be asked to sit in a lot, and often I am offered some quite tasty instruments to use. This is even more amazing to me, since a $1500 bass would equal 6 months wages for most here. The musos here seem to be almost infinitely generous musically, and will tolerate some very average drunk tourists playing a song or two.

Still, my golden rule is (and always will be) "Never ask to sit in!". When it happens and you're asked, it's nice. Sometimes I will (and have a great time), sometimes I am there to listen to good musicians and have a quiet ale (so I'll gratefully decline).

But not everyone is so disposed. Just yesterday my son, Matt (only 13 years old, but 5 years of guitar instruction from a smokin' local player), was asked by a local band to sit in - the guitarist, Sam, is actually his guitar teacher. Matt went to the car park to grab his instrument. While he was gone a fairly hammered tourist whined loudly to the band (and the audience) about wanting to play, " . . and if you let a kid play . . . ". You get the idea.

They gave him someone's $50 copy to play and plugged him in (down in the mix though). They asked him what he wanted to play. He said "Smoke on the water" (obviously!) just as Matt got back with his guitar case. Matt says "Cool" as he pulls out his black MIA Strat and proceeds to rip off a solo that pretty much smoked our foreign friend where he stood. I'm not talking "good for a 13 year old" you understand - just good. One very proud daddy, I assure you.

And don't worry, his twin brother (although also a competent guitarist) is very definitely a 5 string bassist.

So if you get to Bali, be sure and bring your instrument. There is always plenty of cool (and talented) musicians to jam with (if your asked).
 
#147
txbasschik said:
People are becoming more rude. They act as if they are *entitled* to get up with the band. I blame karaoke, an arrogant focus on self, and the fact that people do not seem to have had any training in manners as they grew up.

Cherie
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I’m sure American Idol and similar programmes are also to blame.
We get requests like this every single gig we do. It’s also often from the same people that complain the most about our music in the beginning of the gig. Even if we have over 300 different songs to pick from they will not happy and request a song we don’t know.

No way would I be doing this without getting paid.
 
#148
We don't allow it. I have no problem telling a guy no. We once had the guitarist from an old punk band (that I was a big fan of growing up) ask to sit in, and we told him no. Simply because we've had issues in the past with guitarists, harmonica players, percussionists, drummers (our drummer actually pulled a dude off his kit by his hair), and bass players. I don't ever ask another band to sit in with them, but often the bass players will ask me. Mostly I decline, but a lot of times they insist because the bass player either wants a break, or wants to do something else (like vocals, or synth or something). In that situation I'll step up and play.

I have a funny story though. This phenomenon happens to the big boys too. I remember seeing Toots and the Maytals once. Toots steps up and very professionally introduces his "friend". You could almost hear the rest of the band collectively moan. I swear I actually saw the bass player roll his eyes. Then Steven Segal stepped on stage. At least they had the presence of mind to turn him down in the mix, but he contributed absolutely nothing. It was pretty hilarious. He also tried to step up and sing into a mike that was obviously either turned down or off. It was like the mixer was playing a chess match from behind the board in order to block his every move.
 
#150
Joe Garage said:
I’m sure American Idol and similar programmes are also to blame.
We get requests like this every single gig we do. It’s also often from the same people that complain the most about our music in the beginning of the gig. Even if we have over 300 different songs to pick from they will not happy and request a song we don’t know.

No way would I be doing this without getting paid.
Click to expand...

Yeah, American Idol seems to be making people think that they should use their neighborhood bar band as rehearsal for a bad AI tryout. Now, if I could have Simon at my gigs to critique them, that *could* be fun! LOL! :ninja: :D ;) :hiding:

I've had some girls get all huffy because we wouldn't let them sing. I sweetly told them when our friend who does a really fun, non-competitive karaoke night, with comedy, would be playing the local bar next. Reminded them that bands are not karaoke machines. :rollno:

Cherie
 
#152
MakiSupaStar said:
I have a funny story though. This phenomenon happens to the big boys too. I remember seeing Toots and the Maytals once. Toots steps up and very professionally introduces his "friend". You could almost hear the rest of the band collectively moan. I swear I actually saw the bass player roll his eyes. Then Steven Segal stepped on stage. At least they had the presence of mind to turn him down in the mix, but he contributed absolutely nothing. It was pretty hilarious. He also tried to step up and sing into a mike that was obviously either turned down or off. It was like the mixer was playing a chess match from behind the board in order to block his every move.
Click to expand...
Not really appropos, but along a similar vein. There is a old (in his mid-80's) guy who in his day was quite a folk/country singer/player. His hands are crippled with arthritis now, and he's got a mild case of hand tremors. He struggles with simple chord changes (but obviously was a good player at one time). He still sings strong, though. At the local open mic the host (who is most gracious) will back him with the house band. They give him lots of his guitar in the monitors, but none in the FOH. They help him sound good, and everyone's happy.
 
#153
jimb213 said:
haha... I was gonna say the same thing... tell you what... you can sit in on my gigs if I can sit in on your gigs...
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Now it's just the matter of aligning the planets to make the trip down that way

......[aligning planets]..........ERROR!......[/aligning planets]

Oh well, I'll try again later or maybe teleport when that technology catches up. ;)
 
#154
RustyAxe said:
Not really appropos, but along a similar vein. There is a old (in his mid-80's) guy who in his day was quite a folk/country singer/player. His hands are crippled with arthritis now, and he's got a mild case of hand tremors. He struggles with simple chord changes (but obviously was a good player at one time). He still sings strong, though. At the local open mic the host (who is most gracious) will back him with the house band. They give him lots of his guitar in the monitors, but none in the FOH. They help him sound good, and everyone's happy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a different story. That's giving props to someone that inspired a lot of people. It made that guys day, I'm sure. :)

That's totally different than some j-off demanding to share the spotlight though.
 
#157
For years and years we had Johnny Rosebud, a beat old guy that would go from bar to bar selling roses. Johnny knew one song, Kansas City and it was expected for you to let him sing it with you. So anything from Punk Bands to Metal, local to out of town did it, resulting in some funny moments along with some great ones over the years.

He did actually sing pretty well. I remember one band getting tired of the song so they tried to get him to do another song. No dice, so Kansas City it was:)

Rest in peace Johnny Rosebud. Rest in peace.
 
#158
Two short sit-in stories:

A couple of months ago the lead guitarist and I went to check out a new venue that this low end agent was trying to push on the band. Low pay, but maybe an interesting place. It was a dive. The band started late, played OK, not stellar. On their break we talked to them, somehow they learned I was a bassist (my wife has a big mouth) and they offered to let me sit in. Nice, but not necessary I said. Middle of second set they called me up. Had to adjust the strap, their bassist was about 6'4" (2m+) and liked his bass hangin' at his knees. I'm shorter and like a bit higher on the beer-belly position. Played two songs, it went well, drummer was rock solid and one of the best drummers I've played with in years (and yes, I did tell him that). They tried to call me up again third set, and I declined since I was getting a bunch of free bass instruction at the time.

Story 2: Last Friday we were playing in a new place, same agent, low pay, different place, and in the third set we get to a song I sing and usually slaughter (Petty's Breakdown). This girl hops up and starts singing with me in the lead singer's mic. The two of them proceed to do backing vocals while I try to stay within 3 semi-tones of the lead vocal part. Later on break the lead vocalist says "We finally found someone who sings worse than you... and she has really bad breath." I had to agree on both points. But a good time was had by all, especially the young lady, and it isn't like we're anything special. Just a cover band playing low end gigs that most of you would decline. So we generally let anyone come up and sing. People seem to love it.

- Paul
 
#160
The funniest one we ever had was a guy who would not leave us alone. While we were setting up, he was telling us how good he could sing. In between songs he was right at the front of the stage telling us how good he could sing. On break he would follow us into the bathroom telling us how good he could sing. He bought the band a round of drinks, (which he delivered) so he could stand on stage and tell us how good he could sing.

We finally gave in and invited him up. He perused through our song list and picked out "Ain't no Sunshine". He grabbed the mic, looked around, and then with a very confused look on his face asked the guitar player "Where's the TV screen with the words on it?":eek:

It wouldn't be so funny if weren't true.:rollno:
 

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