Poll: There is NO STAGE

[mellowinman]

Host: we need to wait until the people at that table leave, and then we'll move it, and that's the stage.
Me: Who booked this? WHO BOOKED THIS???? HEEEYYYYY!!!! AAAUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!! WHO BOOKED THIS?????
Host: Is there a problem?

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I've had to play a lot of gigs where there was no stage. I don't like it, but a gig is a gig.
What I object to is hollow stages or there is one place we play occasionally where the stage is about 30" high, but there is no step or ramp to get up to it.

 

[2saddleslab]

Prefer elevated stages but will do the floor if required.

 

[saabfender]

 

[RichardW]

I've played plenty of gigs where the "stage" appears after tables are moved. It's not preferable, but often inevitable. Hey, at least that beats the gig where we showed up and the manager of the place said "who are you and why are you here?"

 

[mellowinman]

I've had one too many times where a drunk stepped over the monitor to talk to me while I was busy PLAYING AND SINGING A SONG!

 

[DWBass]

Done hundreds of gigs with no dedicated stage. And plenty where tables and chairs had to be moved. Last gig was exactly one of those.

 

[charlie monroe]

It's nice to want things.

At the end of the day, you go where the work is...

 

[Stumbo]

If their money is green, then yes.

 

[Nick Danger]

The stage is where we make it.

 

[mellowinman]

Keep in mind, I may possibly be done playing live, except in certain very favorable circumstances. I can't think of one single time when I was adequately compensated, and I -cough- don't always get along well with others.

 

[Scottgun]

As others said as well as Mr. Krabbs, "The money is always right."

Seriously, I'm surprised that anyone is surprised by what kind of accommodations they encounter on a gig. I'll play a gig without a stage. If I show up and am surprised by a lack of a stage, shame on me for not knowing that beforehand.

 

[PaulJSmith]

I'm willing to bet that a good percentage of all the gigs I played in 35 years had a "stage" that magically appeared in a corner or against a wall after a few tables and chairs / pool table / dart machine were moved ... and usually by the band. One of the great pleasures of being a BarStar. Weirdest "no stage" experience for me was setting up and playing in an old non-functioning golf simulator in a little bar in Troy MO many years ago. That was truly bizarre.

 

[mellowinman]

I'm willing to bet that a good percentage of all the gigs I played in 35 years had a "stage" that magically appeared in a corner or against a wall after a few tables and chairs / pool table / dart machine were moved ... and usually by the band. One of the great pleasures of being a BarStar. Weirdest "no stage" experience for me was setting up and playing in an old non-functioning golf simulator in a little bar in Troy MO many years ago. That was truly bizarre.

My worst was in a loft of a strip club. Both patrons and dancers hated us with a passion, and the owner tried to sneak out without paying us.

Word to the wise: You aren't going to sneak off without paying us.

 

[filmtex]

Frankly, after 40 years gigging, I’m at the point in my life where the unexpected has become the norm- if that makes any sense. Life’s too short for me to worry about mundane annoyances that merely require a bit of creative thinking. I know how frustrating things can be when you’re merely trying to do a great job, as most of us here seem to try to do. But I’ve played on big stages, small stages, really small stages and everything in between. Last weekend we were here:

Temperature = 40 degrees, wind speed +20 mph, heat - nonexistent , pay - almost double the going rate and they let us off an hour early.
Stage? What stage?

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I've had one too many times where a drunk stepped over the monitor to talk to me while I was busy PLAYING AND SINGING A SONG!

A stage isn't always enough protection. In the early 70s, I played the Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg, VA. It had a two tier stage. The lowest level was perhaps 12". The lead singer had his Gibson SG on a stand behind has Martin D28 on a stand. A drunk fell into the face of the D28 which fell into the SG. The neck of the SQ hit the upper tier of the stage but the body stayed on the first tier. It broke the neck off the SG and destroyed the face of the D28.
But, the happy ending was the drunk was a successful lawyer who asked what the cost to replace the instruments. The singer told him and he wrote out a check (which cleared) and bought the band a round of drinks.

 

[RichardW]

and I -cough- don't always get along well with others.

wait, so you're NOT mellow?

 

[lfmn16]

When the club tells me that I just politely let them know that it takes an hour to set up and instead of play from say 9-12:00, we'll be playing from whenever we finish setting up until 12:00. We do set up as quickly as possible, but we don't try to set any records. I've never had a club complain or not ask us back.

 

[corinpills]

This is the thing to keep in mind about a gig like that: If they have to move a table for the band, the restaurant or bar is losing money on that real estate every time a band plays. Restaurants pay pay rent per square foot, so the amount of space your band takes is money out unless you are bringing in enough people to make up for it at the bar. Not walk-in crowd, your band attracting extra customers. So just keep in mind that someone in the bar's management is definitely already considering not having live music any more before you complain about having to wait for the paying customers to finish eating.

 

[interp]

A stage isn't always enough protection. In the early 70s, I played the Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg, VA. It had a two tier stage. The lowest level was perhaps 12". The lead singer had his Gibson SG on a stand behind has Martin D28 on a stand. A drunk fell into the face of the D28 which fell into the SG. The neck of the SQ hit the upper tier of the stage but the body stayed on the first tier. It broke the neck off the SG and destroyed the face of the D28.
But, the happy ending was the drunk was a successful lawyer who asked what the cost to replace the instruments. The singer told him and he wrote out a check (which cleared) and bought the band a round of drinks.

Wow! I have never heard of a clueless destructive drunk (and I’ve encountered many of them) turning out to be an upstanding person willing to take responsibility for his actions. And on the spot. Wow!