I don't smoke at all and seldom drink. On gigs, I won't drink anything stronger than a Diet Coke.
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Playing bass on the clock vs having a drink during gigs?
- Thread starter Rabidhamster
- Start date
I don't feel secure enough to drink/partake when practicing/rehearsing/gigging. Also being the PA guy, too many things to do and too many things to go wrong to have my brain functioning lower than it already does.
Actually since I've retired, I lost the desire to drink, so that helps.
The other three in the band do drink a couple/few beers, but nowhere close to drunk.
I smoke where/when appropriate, and I don't bother anyone else.
Actually since I've retired, I lost the desire to drink, so that helps.
The other three in the band do drink a couple/few beers, but nowhere close to drunk.
I smoke where/when appropriate, and I don't bother anyone else.
Don't have my own office, so bass in the office is a no-go.
I definitely have a couple beers in the few gigs i've done. They've been at bars/restaurants and been low pressure, just hanging out, having fun gigs though. There's definitely a line there that i don't intend to ever cross, but I don't see the issue in having a few. Just know your limits
I definitely have a couple beers in the few gigs i've done. They've been at bars/restaurants and been low pressure, just hanging out, having fun gigs though. There's definitely a line there that i don't intend to ever cross, but I don't see the issue in having a few. Just know your limits
Know your limits and how things affect your thinking/performance.
I get to noodle on bass during work breaks/lunch because I work from home and my amp is directly under my standing desk.
I won't have a drink during a gig any more, into my 40s I've found even one drink affects my thinking/playing. Used to think it was good to loosen up, now it makes me feel sloppy and sometimes flushed/hot under the stage lights.
Sometimes I'll have a beer or take a hit during a rehearsal session if we're casually jamming, working out something new, "experimenting".
I work in cannabis so smoking on the job is way too common, but drinking is frowned upon.
I get to noodle on bass during work breaks/lunch because I work from home and my amp is directly under my standing desk.
I won't have a drink during a gig any more, into my 40s I've found even one drink affects my thinking/playing. Used to think it was good to loosen up, now it makes me feel sloppy and sometimes flushed/hot under the stage lights.
Sometimes I'll have a beer or take a hit during a rehearsal session if we're casually jamming, working out something new, "experimenting".
I work in cannabis so smoking on the job is way too common, but drinking is frowned upon.
Drink on the gig if you want, just don't drink to the point where it affects your playing. Smoke outside as often as you want, but don't do it while everyone else is packing in/out. As far as playing on the clock, it depends on your work situation. A lot of people where I work have guitars in their work space, we have video games in the break rooms and if you have a beer with lunch, nobody cares. But if it's 11:00 PM at night and something important hits, you gotta take care of it. So, there are tradeoffs. Other places that I've worked were strictly clock only, no fun to be had.
It's a complex issue for each of us to decide. Because of my past experiences I prefer to play with folks that do not imbibe at the gig or do so in moderation. I ain't perfect and have myself digressed but not any longer.
I've been in bands with drunks, pot heads, druggies, junkies and alcoholics and most often enjoyed playing with them and quite often learned from them and developed my skills as a player. I have spent a night in jail because someone would not admit to their possession of pot, the entire crew bus was locked up and finally released.* I really developed my jazz skills and knowledge playing a winter season with a group of high functioning alcoholics, because their previous bass player was in liver failure. I've been in bar brawls and had my significant other hit on by a high band mate. I worked as a road manager on a tour that was plagued by drug and alcohol issues from every band member, getting band members out of jams and jail and struggling mightily to make each date on time. Never again.
*The cops only searched the crew bus and passed on both of the "talent" busses or we would never have been released due to the arcane and ridiculous drug laws in the US.
I've been in bands with drunks, pot heads, druggies, junkies and alcoholics and most often enjoyed playing with them and quite often learned from them and developed my skills as a player. I have spent a night in jail because someone would not admit to their possession of pot, the entire crew bus was locked up and finally released.* I really developed my jazz skills and knowledge playing a winter season with a group of high functioning alcoholics, because their previous bass player was in liver failure. I've been in bar brawls and had my significant other hit on by a high band mate. I worked as a road manager on a tour that was plagued by drug and alcohol issues from every band member, getting band members out of jams and jail and struggling mightily to make each date on time. Never again.
*The cops only searched the crew bus and passed on both of the "talent" busses or we would never have been released due to the arcane and ridiculous drug laws in the US.
Why are people so concerned with things other people do that don't affect them? Oh, right, this is the internet.
Also a college professor. I have a bass in my office which I play not particularly often, usually between meetings or over lunch. Drinking at work is pretty rare outside of happy hours at the end of the work day, which often take place on campus. Frankly, heavy drinking would probably improve faculty meetings but it would be frowned upon so I haven't tried it (yet—though we have a new faculty member who is driving me in that direction).
Of course people drink at gigs. Not everyone, but it's pretty common, and I've never heard anyone in the audience object to someone on stage with a beer or something else that they swig between songs. But these are rock shows, so maybe the customs differ elsewhere.
Also a college professor. I have a bass in my office which I play not particularly often, usually between meetings or over lunch. Drinking at work is pretty rare outside of happy hours at the end of the work day, which often take place on campus. Frankly, heavy drinking would probably improve faculty meetings but it would be frowned upon so I haven't tried it (yet—though we have a new faculty member who is driving me in that direction).
Of course people drink at gigs. Not everyone, but it's pretty common, and I've never heard anyone in the audience object to someone on stage with a beer or something else that they swig between songs. But these are rock shows, so maybe the customs differ elsewhere.
I don't drink anymore (on a keto diet, your tolerance goes to essentially zero), but back in the day when I played clubs in my college band (1980 +/- a couple years), bars were filed with cigarette smoke, so having a swig of something to wash the smoke down your throat (yes, it was gross) was pretty much necessary if you wanted to sing. As we were in establishments that were selling beer, I would use that to wash down the godawful smoke.
It made sense back then.
It made sense back then.
My job was as a military musician...so playing bass at work was mandatory.
I don't smoke, but military members were allowed to smoke at work. Towards the end of my career there was a pretty strong push to discourage smoking, and you had to go to a designated smoking area (outdoors). These were not always conveniently located or sheltered.
It was never acceptable to smoke weed...we had random drug tests and a positive would result in involuntary discharge (other than honorable or worse) and possibly being convicted and imprisoned.
Drinking or being intoxicated at the workplace during normal duty hours was a no no.
Drinking on the gig was usually allowed and sometimes expected. When you are playing for high-level military and political leaders at a social event and they offer you a drink, you generally take it. Also I was stationed for several years in Europe, and drinking is, or was still more socially acceptable and expected. As an example, some parents were concerned because school bus drivers had alcohol on their breath. There was no recourse unless the driver was proven to be over the legal limit. Their law allows them to drink alcohol with meals...it is essentially a right.
There were times when band members drank to excess on gigs. If it resulted in some sort of embarrassing incident, reprimands or other forms of censure could be imposed. There is a difference between taking a drink and getting stupid drunk.
Some of my commanders established policy that forbid drinking on the gig. One even tried to establish a policy that forbid drinking at any time on tour, and the base legal determined this was beyond his scope of authority. However, while deployed on General Orders, it is possible to restrict or limit how much you can drink. We were issued ration cards, and from what I remember we had a 2-beer a day limit. Anyone caught giving their ration to someone else could be punished. My point is policy determined whether drinking on the gig was acceptable.
I also gigged with a corporate band for awhile where the group leader would buy drinks for the band members. However, he did not want to give the perception we were drinking. The first time he offered to buy me a drink, I got a beer and he was upset. He wanted us to consume well drinks that could not be distinguished from soda.
I don't smoke, but military members were allowed to smoke at work. Towards the end of my career there was a pretty strong push to discourage smoking, and you had to go to a designated smoking area (outdoors). These were not always conveniently located or sheltered.
It was never acceptable to smoke weed...we had random drug tests and a positive would result in involuntary discharge (other than honorable or worse) and possibly being convicted and imprisoned.
Drinking or being intoxicated at the workplace during normal duty hours was a no no.
Drinking on the gig was usually allowed and sometimes expected. When you are playing for high-level military and political leaders at a social event and they offer you a drink, you generally take it. Also I was stationed for several years in Europe, and drinking is, or was still more socially acceptable and expected. As an example, some parents were concerned because school bus drivers had alcohol on their breath. There was no recourse unless the driver was proven to be over the legal limit. Their law allows them to drink alcohol with meals...it is essentially a right.
There were times when band members drank to excess on gigs. If it resulted in some sort of embarrassing incident, reprimands or other forms of censure could be imposed. There is a difference between taking a drink and getting stupid drunk.
Some of my commanders established policy that forbid drinking on the gig. One even tried to establish a policy that forbid drinking at any time on tour, and the base legal determined this was beyond his scope of authority. However, while deployed on General Orders, it is possible to restrict or limit how much you can drink. We were issued ration cards, and from what I remember we had a 2-beer a day limit. Anyone caught giving their ration to someone else could be punished. My point is policy determined whether drinking on the gig was acceptable.
I also gigged with a corporate band for awhile where the group leader would buy drinks for the band members. However, he did not want to give the perception we were drinking. The first time he offered to buy me a drink, I got a beer and he was upset. He wanted us to consume well drinks that could not be distinguished from soda.
I don't drink. I don't consume any mind altering anything prior to or during gigs. I wouldn't perform well if I did, and I don't like feeling inebriated. Gigs are work even though I have a day job.
I work for myself, I'm a therapist. I don't see any problem with taking a few moments to play bass between clients.
I work for myself, I'm a therapist. I don't see any problem with taking a few moments to play bass between clients.
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I'm a little unsure about the definitions being used, but...
The last full time job I had was when I was active duty in the Marine Corps. There was no way that in my work context, having a bass & amp in my office would ever be appropriate. Neither would drinking or smoking ever be appropriate. In the barracks? Sure, but not on the job.
On the job in a band context, though, it's a different story. I have yet to experience anyone giving a rip about whether or not I drink on the job, or even take narcotic pain killers, as long as I'm able to play. I'll typically have 2-4 beers over the course of an evening, but I'm careful to stay hydrated while I do that, so I'll often alternate beers and water. Also, I don't want to run the risk of getting pulled over for a DUI on the way home, so I regulate my own alcohol intake to mitigate that risk.
The last full time job I had was when I was active duty in the Marine Corps. There was no way that in my work context, having a bass & amp in my office would ever be appropriate. Neither would drinking or smoking ever be appropriate. In the barracks? Sure, but not on the job.
On the job in a band context, though, it's a different story. I have yet to experience anyone giving a rip about whether or not I drink on the job, or even take narcotic pain killers, as long as I'm able to play. I'll typically have 2-4 beers over the course of an evening, but I'm careful to stay hydrated while I do that, so I'll often alternate beers and water. Also, I don't want to run the risk of getting pulled over for a DUI on the way home, so I regulate my own alcohol intake to mitigate that risk.
Sounds like the OP has worked for alcoholics who will of course justify a cocktail (or 3) with lunch. And I guess he wonders why playing bass (sober) on the job is a no-go in comparison.
Wait, does "work" mean, like, a non-music day job? Because I work at my day job AND I work when I perform music at gigs. Performing bass used to be my full-time day job too, but I've also had a dozen or so non-music day jobs in different industries.
In any case; when performing bass for work I've never been opposed to smoking or drinking on the job. In fact, it's rare that I don't. When working a day job, it depends on the job. As a public school teacher, phlebotomist, and auto mechanic, for example, I found out quickly to never smoke or drink on the job or my comfort and performance levels drop to an unacceptable level. However, as a radio host/announcer, surf shop manager, musician, and lifeguard, I found a different outcome.
As far as playing bass at a non-music day job goes, I've never had the time at work to fiddle around on a bass. I'm either working, or on break to eat and/or rest my body. If I ever felt I had enough free time at a non-music day job, I'd totally play some bass.
All that is to say I didn't find an answer in the poll that fits my experience.
In any case; when performing bass for work I've never been opposed to smoking or drinking on the job. In fact, it's rare that I don't. When working a day job, it depends on the job. As a public school teacher, phlebotomist, and auto mechanic, for example, I found out quickly to never smoke or drink on the job or my comfort and performance levels drop to an unacceptable level. However, as a radio host/announcer, surf shop manager, musician, and lifeguard, I found a different outcome.
As far as playing bass at a non-music day job goes, I've never had the time at work to fiddle around on a bass. I'm either working, or on break to eat and/or rest my body. If I ever felt I had enough free time at a non-music day job, I'd totally play some bass.
All that is to say I didn't find an answer in the poll that fits my experience.
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For me there's a tiny bit of overlap.
I work in the operating room at a big trauma center. We always have music playing. So i'm constantly listening to music and I get my share of picking what we listen to. Sometimes it's to a point where by the time I head home from work I don't even listen to music in the car and will opt for a podcast or the news or something but no, im not playing bass during surgery lol. I definitely have spent plenty of my breaks and down times reading Talkbass, planning out pedalboards with websites like pedal playground. Even using apps to make tabs and send them to guitar players that were struggling to remember how to play parts of songs or editing video for band social media. But you have to understand I'm doing those things when my coworkers are literally sleeping or playing games or watching movies on their phone. It's just an odd job where sometimes I'm at work there is no surgery going on but we have to be there to knock out a couple hours of prep work for the next day and already be there in case of a bad emergency surgery
As far as gigs being all business or not. That's varied over the years. I've never done heavy drugs like any variety of cocaine or meth or heroin or stuff like that. I smoked weed when I was younger and went through my drinking days. When I was in my early 20s gigs were mainly just for fun, not so business minded and we all partied to some extent. By my mid 20s playing music got more serious, we started looking at it a little more like a business and started touring the east coast. Sold a few thousand CDs. So we started implementing things like a two drink limit until after we were done playing. Around the time I was 30 I started having kids and also by that time having seen drugs really mess up some friends and family members any band member doing heavy drugs became a big no no. But I never really cared if a member smoked weed on their own time away from the band. But I wouldn't play with guys who were at the gig smelling like weed or guys that did heavier drugs regardless if they were stone cold sober on stage. These days I'm in my early 40. I have a 12 year old, a 10 year old and a 2 year old. I haven't smoked weed i many years (since before my kids were born) and rarely ever drink. Maybe once or twice a year I'll drink alcohol. I can't party like I used to. I now get drunk as easily as I did when I was 21 and recovery time is longer. I don't want my kids to ever see me wasted or hungover. I had a couple drinks for thanksgiving. That was only the second time I've had any alcohol this year. The first was when my wife took me to to a drag comedy show lol. When I go out now I'll pretty much always have a drink in my hand so I'm not sticking out like a sore thumb. But it's not Jack n' coke, more like just ice and Diet Coke.
I'm retired from my engineering job so playing bass has been my "retirement job" for the last 12+ years.
I have to drive to and from gigs so I don't drink alcohol at gigs.
I have to drive to and from gigs so I don't drink alcohol at gigs.
Aside from day jobs in music, jobs in the Square World would have never allowed basses or drinks on the job, and if you smoked, they had a smoking area.
IF I had been a drinker (I'm not), after all the Power Drinkers I shared bandstands with? Forget it. In general, on breaks I'd ease outside and generally preferred not to mix it up with the paying customers. I found it not good for them to think they were your buds.
IF I had been a drinker (I'm not), after all the Power Drinkers I shared bandstands with? Forget it. In general, on breaks I'd ease outside and generally preferred not to mix it up with the paying customers. I found it not good for them to think they were your buds.
As for smoking/drinking during a gig, if it impairs your performance. No. I've been there, I lost a gig with a "party" band due to over imbibing. My fault totally, we had an open bar at our rehearsal space and I took it too far. Honestly losing that (really good) gig was a blessing, it caused me to take notice of a growing problem.
As for playing bass during work, I have worked with some well known builders as well as vinatge guitar resellers. Back then, I thought nothing of taking some time to jam, especially if I was working on some really cool instrument. Now that I own my own company, I can't afford to waste time playing on the clock. What an eye opener.
As for playing bass during work, I have worked with some well known builders as well as vinatge guitar resellers. Back then, I thought nothing of taking some time to jam, especially if I was working on some really cool instrument. Now that I own my own company, I can't afford to waste time playing on the clock. What an eye opener.
I had to go with "other".
I would have absolutely no issue with smoking (a cigarette) on a gig. I think it's a way to network with some of the patrons.
I can't imagine a straight job which still allows smoking. So, that's not an issue.
Drinking? On the job? "Negative, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full."
Playing a bass on a straight job? No way (unless that's what I'm paying you to do).
I would have absolutely no issue with smoking (a cigarette) on a gig. I think it's a way to network with some of the patrons.
I can't imagine a straight job which still allows smoking. So, that's not an issue.
Drinking? On the job? "Negative, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full."
Playing a bass on a straight job? No way (unless that's what I'm paying you to do).
If someone in the band is dumb enough to book the band for a bar tab, you can damn well be sure I'll be the best paid mo-fo there, if only to prove a point. And I'll be giving myself a raise after the second set! On a properly compensated gig, all perks aside, I don't drink until the gig is done, and probably not even then if I have to drive home. Bass at work? I keep a bass and a guitar hanging in my office and will noodle while waiting for an online meeting or call. But as many before have said, I very rarely try to pull off a full rehearsal or learn new songs. It's just not the right environment for learning and/or retaining.
