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Seriously??!!

You're forgetting a very important fact. The OP informed the sub that he was no longer needed and the sub agreed that he wasn't playing the gig. No mention of money being paid. Terms of the original agreement were renegotiated and agreed upon.In light of the fact that a new verbal agreement was reached, the only one that is breaking a promise is the sub by asking to be paid for something he agreed he wasn't doing.

Quoting just because this is just so well put. The drummer missed his chance to make a claim on any kind of payment at that point. The OP is being VERY generous in paying him anything at this point.
 
Electracoyote. how long after the OP informed him he wouldn't be on the gig should it take for him to get back to the OP and tell him this isn't cool and he still needs to be paid? can you really wait a month before saying anything?

What's the expiration date on a reputation?

I see much further down the road and boil it down the way people do in their heads. OP offered sub drummer a gig, and OP pulled back his offer. I'm really focused on that detail, because that's the fact that will give the sub drummer the credibility he needs if he decides to engage in a smear campaign on the OP.

My concern would be most people won't care about that timeline statute of limitations opinion drama rabbit hole. Too complicated. "Sub Drummer Gets Stiffed" is the front page headline that will sell newspapers. "Communication Breakdown, Misunderstanding" gets a paragraph on page 8.

Unless OP wants to lie, and turn his band mates into liars, they can't refute the basic fact that he offered a sub a gig and then backed out on his agreement. That will carry more weight than the communication breakdown, if anyone even has the patience to hear the whole story.

That will be the narrative, and that is not the image of myself I would want spread around my town.
 
Making a mountain out of a molehill. He's lucky he got something. But he went about it wrong. I wouldn't have paid him. I get folks views and opinions on this to pay him but he's wrong for bringing it up almost 2 months after the fact. He most likely took a gamble and won. I''d almost bet he was ready to be shot down. Good for him.
 
Quoting just because this is just so well put. The drummer missed his chance to make a claim on any kind of payment at that point. The OP is being VERY generous in paying him anything at this point.

I know people who, when they get cut out of the picture, even though it stings, they just kind of eat it and slink off. It's just their nature.

But they spend time contemplating it, and they still feel resentment, and perhaps rightfully so.

And they sometimes get up the nerve to come back later and say, "Hey, you cut me out of the picture, and that wasn't cool."

Does this completely excuse the OP for the part he played? Are we really saying that OP should think, "Too bad loser, it's been a month and half, you waited too long to speak up, so slink on back over to your corner and sulk." ???

Man, that just sounds wrong to me.
 
I know people who, when they get cut out of the picture, even though it stings, they just kind of eat it and slink off. It's just their nature.

But they spend time contemplating it, and they still feel resentment, and perhaps rightfully so.

And they sometimes get up the nerve to come back later and say, "Hey, you cut me out of the picture, and that wasn't cool."

Does this completely excuse the OP for the part he played? Are we really saying that OP should think, "Too bad loser, it's been a month and half, you waited too long to speak up, so slink on back over to your corner and sulk." ???

Man, that just sounds wrong to me.
I doubt very much dude was thinking "Too bad loser" I don't think it's that serious. He was shocked as I would have been. But he paid him. Oh well.
 
Making a mountain out of a molehill. He's lucky he got something. But he went about it wrong. I wouldn't have paid him. I get folks views and opinions on this to pay him but he's wrong for bringing it up almost 2 months after the fact. He most likely took a gamble and won. I''d almost bet he was ready to be shot down. Good for him.

You could be right about this sub.

I would have put it to the test and told him get yer butt and yer kit to the gig and earn your money. He was good enough to play the gig when it was offered. I wouldn't give him a handout.

And either way, this is not a sound character, with the "If I find another gig, I'll bail on you" comment.

Worth it to OP to get this mistake behind him without tarnishing himself in the process, and move on wiser.
 
This is how our conversation went in October...and he never mentioned any gigs he declined for us until yesterday..which I thought was a joke initially.
so he did in fact decline a paying gig offer in that 4 day window and failed to find another gig since? That changes everything. It behoves you to improve on your communication and you owe the fellow the full fee.
 
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On TalkDrums there was a dude saying his bassist buddy led him to turn down a $150 gig date back in October and he let it slide because he figured he would find another one anyway. Since he didn't actually fill the date he asked for half pay but his douche buddy don't wanna pay. Seriously?
 
This is how our conversation went in October...and he never mentioned any gigs he declined for us until yesterday..which I thought was a joke initially.
OP- did the drummer turn down gigs within these four days of being hired then fired by you? Seems unlikely but I'll need you to clarify, please. Also please clarify just how many gigs were on the table. I'm led to believe you'd promised exactly one.
 
No one in this thread tells us what would happen if the actual gig was cancelled totally by the booker, for all participating members? Whether he's in it or not? Should the stand-by drummer still get a cut off of it, while the rest of the band didn't?
 
Find it funny. Let's think of it - postulation and speculation the other way around - That the sub drummer is the one who bails out, and the band had told the permanent replacement that he was off that peculiar date due to this commitment. Had the band proceeded to him, that he needs to pay them, because they had to cancel that gig, loosing money? Say that that sub-drummer bailed out due to - anything. Wife's dead, grandmother died, or for a better gig? I don't think so. If it was any mutual thing happened in this deal, it would be another thing, but I think the drummer has enough bad-rap and wont get any gigs in the future, sub or not. Not the band. Or say, if the band just sort of splits up, cancelling any gigs, and no one got any money at all from that?

I was in a loosely knit type of jamming rock band for a while. Since they had no permanent members, the BL asked for me once in a while to be on standby for gigs IN THE NEAR FUTURE, in case he couldn't get hold of the other members that used to play with him (due to vacations, other commitments). Not a professional band, just a hobby thing going on. I e he demanded that I was on some kind of duty call all of the time. On top of that, not his first choice either. Once I sent him a mail, wondered if I still was on the line he replied "Oh, I thought I'd told you that, but the other guy can play tomorrow...". Mind you, tomorrow. And when the BL seemed too loopy and aloof, once he mailed me and just went along "Ok, tomorrow we'll pick you up at 5 P.M..:" to which I replied, "What mail did you ask me if I could play tomorrow"? I didn't even got noticed that there was a gig coming up at all. He just thought he'd mailed me and asked about that without ever checking back. He didn't reply back, and then for all future my bridges were burnt on that band. Didn't want to deal with them, but soon that band plummeted anyway. I didn't crave any compensation for these major gaffes anyway. There wasn't any money involved.
 
No one in this thread tells us what would happen if the actual gig was cancelled totally by the booker, for all participating members? Whether he's in it or not? Should the stand-by drummer still get a cut off of it, while the rest of the band didn't?
That wouldn't be the fault of the OP so it shouldn't be on him to pay anyone. I thought about that, too.
 
OP- did the drummer turn down gigs within these four days of being hired then fired by you? Seems unlikely but I'll need you to clarify, please. Also please clarify just how many gigs were on the table. I'm led to believe you'd promised exactly one.
When I talked to him in October about cancelling the gig schedule, he never mentioned anything about him declining any potential gig or anything like that...only this December did he mentioned that he declined gigs for us on that particular date.
 
So in 2 months he couldn't pick up a gig? Does he gig regularly? I doubt it if he's nitpicking about this gig. He should have said something at the time of cancellation. Personally, I think he's full of %^&* and wrong for calling you almost 2 months later asking for money. Like I said, I bet he was preparing to be shot down but you went for it. Good for him.