Refusing to play at places where smoking is allowed

[agreatheight]

I understand the OP. After my state banned smoking in bars / clubs, it made gigging much more enjoyable. I am not sure I would make it a mandate, but I get it. STAND YOUR GROUND!

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I think the point here is the occasional exposure to second hand smoke is not the health risk that many make it out to be. You are no more likely to get cancer from the occasional visit to a smoky bar than you are from your daily commute.

I think walking through the smoke of one lit cigarette outside, okay maybe not so bad. But in a bar where it is highly concentrated probably does warrant the health concern.

I've never come home from the city and had the smell of commute radiating from me! Well, maybe if you count the sweat...

And I can sympathize with the OP, being a singer. It is an environment that makes your singing worse. I can remember days when there were no non-smoking laws in place and having a real sore throat at the end of a gig night and the next day. And that's when I wasn't singing.

 

[4OnTheFloor]

I have never agreed with this argument. Just because there are other things we are exposed to that are harmful doesn't make it acceptable to tolerate smoking in public places. I think that public perception is slowly starting to change to recognize that it is not okay.

And plus, who wants to have their bass and cabs smell like a dirty ashtray?

Derail much?

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

All part of the larger discussion.

 

[Ric5]

Refusing to play at places where smoking is allowed

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I don't think we have any such place here in Colorado.

 

[4OnTheFloor]

IMO the largest discussion I can have is that government is moving away from regulating businesses and overspending to regulating ME. Why is this thread turning into the smoking ban debate? I disagree with banning smoking:
Don't like it? Don't go there! Leave me out of your life choices.

 

[hdracer]

And plus, who wants to have their bass and cabs smell like a dirty ashtray?

Yeah, it is much better when they just smell of stale beer and whiskey and exhaust from the cabs being in the box of a pick up.

 

[guy n. cognito]

I think walking through the smoke of one lit cigarette outside, okay maybe not so bad. But in a bar where it is highly concentrated probably does warrant the health concern.

Probably not, unless you're in that environment constantly. A few hours a month really isn't the risk some think it is.

 

[Steve]

Here’s my question that I’m looking for opinions on. I may be moving to another area in the next year or two and would try to find a gig in another band. If I look to join a band, how much of a deal breaker would it be if I tell them this?

If you're moving to NE Florida, expect to be a very, very, VERY lonely bass player.

 

[spade2you]

Yes.

And don't go camping either, pesky neighbors are sure to have a campfire going and there's this thing called wind.

Severe drought here. Not sure if campfires are allowed in most state parks in my area.

 

[bluewine]

I currently play bass and do most of the lead singing in a band. Our aspirations are small, we do it for fun and the occasional money we make. I’ve made it very clear that I don’t play at places where smoking is allowed and this doesn’t go over well with some bandmates. We get asked to play paying gigs where there is smoking and I tell them no way, doesn’t matter how much smoking there is, how good the ventilation is, or how much it pays, I just won’t do it. I’ve told them I will step aside if they find someone to replace me, we’ll all remain friends, but this rule is simply non-negotiable for me.

Here’s my question that I’m looking for opinions on. I may be moving to another area in the next year or two and would try to find a gig in another band. If I look to join a band, how much of a deal breaker would it be if I tell them this?

I’m a good bass player with a very good voice and tons of gigging experience, I’m extremely confident in what I do. I’m not looking for opinions or advise on how to change my ways or whether you think I’m being a jerk (I probably am). I’m looking for your opinion if I was auditioning for your band. What would you say?

I'm in Wisconsin, you can't smoke anywhere.

I would step down.

 

[BBox Bass]

In florida, as long as the bar has a certain ratio of liquor sales over food sales, it smoking. Almost every gig I play is a smoking gig. If you wanted to play in working cover band here, it would be a deal breaker unless you could get into a wedding/convention band and even some of those play a gig ever now and then in bar to get there name out and get more private gigs.

PA does this too. When the state passed its no smoking indoors law, they allowed bars to submit evidence that their gross receipts for food accounted for less than something like 20% of their total sales in order to exempt them from the law.

Every single bar in my town jumped on the opportunity, and they all were allowed to remain smoking. A few of them are popular restaurants which appear to sell an awful lot of fish fries and wings, so I suspect a little book-cooking went on during the application process. My band currently has a regular monthly gig at one bar with horrible ventilation. My gear and I always leave smelling like deep-fried cigarette butts.

Fortunately, the New York border is a mile from my house. They have a total ban on smoking indoors, though some bars have separate rooms or sheds for the smokers to hide out in during the winter. Some of the bars also allow the use of e-cigarettes (for now).

 

[Andy_D]

I don't smoke, and I have asthma as well. For me, if were only the occasional gig I would still put up and deal with it. But that's a personal decision and it epends on how much you like playing your bass and how much you have invested as a member of your band. Life is all about tradeoffs and compromises.

 

[BassyBill]

I don't smoke, and I have asthma as well. For me, if were only the occasional gig I would still put up and deal with it. But that's a personal decision and it depends on how much you like playing your bass and how much you have invested as a member of your band. Life is all about tradeoffs and compromises.

Wise words.

(and in the quote I corrected your typo - please excuse me )

 

[bluewine]

I'd take the gig. I don't smoke but I'm not as scared of second-hand smoke as most people seemed to be. I just like playing out I guess.

+1

 

[Buster Brown]

I currently play bass and do most of the lead singing in a band. Our aspirations are small, we do it for fun and the occasional money we make. I’ve made it very clear that I don’t play at places where smoking is allowed and this doesn’t go over well with some bandmates. We get asked to play paying gigs where there is smoking and I tell them no way, doesn’t matter how much smoking there is, how good the ventilation is, or how much it pays, I just won’t do it. I’ve told them I will step aside if they find someone to replace me, we’ll all remain friends, but this rule is simply non-negotiable for me.

Here’s my question that I’m looking for opinions on. I may be moving to another area in the next year or two and would try to find a gig in another band. If I look to join a band, how much of a deal breaker would it be if I tell them this?

I’m a good bass player with a very good voice and tons of gigging experience, I’m extremely confident in what I do. I’m not looking for opinions or advise on how to change my ways or whether you think I’m being a jerk (I probably am). I’m looking for your opinion if I was auditioning for your band. What would you say?

I would politely tell you "Thanks, but no thanks". All judgements aside, we (musicians) play in places where, for the most part - and whether or not you agree - smoking is allowed. I am not a smoker; quit some 30 years ago and, although the smoke doesn't really bother me now, there are times when it gets a little "heavy"....

Unfortunately, that's just one of the "hazards of the trade" and it's sometimes hard to find a place to play where smoking ISN'T allowed.

 

[ChrisB2]

Maybe it's a regional thing, because I don't think most people around here go to bars to be able to smoke. In fact, I think they're in the large minority now.

I didn't mean that people go to bars SO they can smoke. I meant most people in my area who go to bars ALSO JUST HAPPEN to smoke. Yet they still come out...

The smoking ban has really hurt bar attendance here, and the outdoor beer gardens have really hurt participation with bands. It's pretty dumb really... most people HERE who go to bars WANT to smoke... even the bar owners and most of the employees. Why not let them?

I don't recall a lot of outcry by bar patrons and owners asking for the ban. Just the liberal do-gooders sticking their noses in other people's business.... The free market was doing a pretty good job of providing choices for people before the ban... there were plenty of bars and restaurants that disallowed smoking, as well as those that allowed it. This is just more government intrusion into personal privacy. BAH!!!

 

[Auguste]

I tend to avoid people like you, do your thing, but stay away. If someone wants to turn down a gig because they want to stand up for what they believe in, great! However if someone wants to turn down a gig because something "tweaks" them, then they are not a team player. I understand you are concerned about your health, but there are a lot of other things in life that will slowly kill you and we are all exposed to them every day. Not being a team player is a deal breaker to me, 1st world problems IMO.

That is truly an insulting response.

You manipulate your definition of team player to support a filthy smoking habit.

In reality if a band member can not stand the smoke than It IS YOU WHO IS NOT A TEAM PLAYER for not supporting your non smoking member

Remember that the tobacco companies kill 500,000 of their best customers every year

 

[bolophonic]

What I am learning from this thread is that refusing to hang around in smoky bars automatically means that you are a cry-baby wimp, because some other people work around dangerous chemicals; paranoid, because second hand smoke really isn't such a big deal; and in some cases, actually indicates that you are an unpatriotic snob because you might offend a veteran who smokes.

Edit: apparently it also means you are a "liberal do-gooder."

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I would argue that having non-smoking establishments has opened them up to much more people who might not have gone out to see a band otherwise. I know it's true in my case; I'm much more inclined to go and see a set now than before when there was smoking.

As long as the bars in your area all have to do the same (so they're all equal), after an adjustment period, people usually do adapt.