- May 30, 2000
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- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
Why anyone would allow someone that's drunk to get on stage with them and expect anything but a bad outcome is a mystery to me and that includes band members.
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Sitting In - Your Band's Policy
- Thread starter jaywa
- Start date
Unless I know you very well and have played with you multiple times - get the hell off my stage.
If we know them, they've played with us before, and EVERYONE in the band is cool with it, then it can happen. Otherwise I have no problem telling a person no. However, there is one caviat. If the chick is drunk, and her bobo's are spilling out, then she can come on and try to sing all she wants. We'll just bust out a funky strip jam for her. "Sure sweety, we can play Kelly Clarkson," and then when she gets up on stage we start playing a funky strip jam until she starts grooving and dancing for us. 
Seriously though, my dub band is a rhythm section with a rotating line up of keyboards, guitarists, percussionists, horn players, etc. So we had to define this policy really clearly. The people on stage with us are players we've either rehearsed with or gigged with before.
Of course, there's always the exception of the ripping pro stumbling into your gig, at that point we make a flip decision.
Seriously though, my dub band is a rhythm section with a rotating line up of keyboards, guitarists, percussionists, horn players, etc. So we had to define this policy really clearly. The people on stage with us are players we've either rehearsed with or gigged with before.
Of course, there's always the exception of the ripping pro stumbling into your gig, at that point we make a flip decision.
Our band pretty much has a "no sit in" policy. There are rare exceptions. If you are a friend of ours that we know can play, and you're not too drunk to be competent, you can sit in for a song or two at a club or bar gig. However, if we are at a festival, fair, or any other sort of "showcase" job, NO ONE is sitting in.
The way we look at it, is the event manager is paying to see and hear US, not anyone else. If it's a "loose" situation, such as a bar gig, it's not quite as strict, but I've seen bands that have an endless stream of friends come up, and usually, 1...they suck, and 2...it REALLY slows down the show.
The way we look at it, is the event manager is paying to see and hear US, not anyone else. If it's a "loose" situation, such as a bar gig, it's not quite as strict, but I've seen bands that have an endless stream of friends come up, and usually, 1...they suck, and 2...it REALLY slows down the show.
Definitely on #2. Inevitably the guest guitarist will have to go back and tweak the amp before he plays, or the guest drummer will futz around with the drumkit (which our regular drummer then has to take additional time afterward to put back into place), or something like that. And then, they usually wind up wanting to play a song on your setlist, only not when you have it listed, so then your flow is shot and you're scrambling to put the rest of the set together on the fly. The last thing you want when the dance floor is packed is to slow things down while someone else comes up and gets situated.
Also thanks for making the distinction between a bar gig and more high-profile events. Our band would never think of letting anyone up for any kind of "showcase" gig or really, any gig where people had paid for a ticket to see us.
