Smoking Venues

[Krakmann]

Salud!

Gosh, how i don't miss AT ALL smoking in closed spaces... Here in Spain, I don't think of any closed space where it is allowed to smoke anymore and nobody misses it, smokers included.

 

[Nebadon2000]

The last indoor smoking gig I played they had enclosed glass smoking section [with heavy ventilation]

That room was packed with over a 100 patrons whilst in main room band area watching us there was about 20 patrons

 

[Sam Evans]

Funny story, we had a fill in drummer one time at a non smoking place. Old dude with long white hair and drum stool almost on the floor, a real old school banger. I liked him. I look over during the show and he’s just banging away with a lit smoke in his mouth. I looked over after the song and said, hey, we can’t smoke in here. He smiled and said, I don’t give a f***.

I would never play in a band with someone like that. I do not find that behavior funny or admirable. I find it unprofessional and selfish.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I avoid smoking venues. Especially if there is evidence of a stupid with a flare gun.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

In 'the day' your rat fur covered amp would come back reeking of smoke. That's an argument for no smoking venues or going ampless and making sure all holes in your gear are plugged

 

[Lance Bunyon]

My time in smoky clubs affected my health for life. I've been on steroid medicine since that era.
FYI, vintage tint yellow is simply a reproduction of what would happen to your maple neck if you gig in cigarette smoke for 5 years or more...

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I'm sure this topic has been covered before - I just started a new weekly gig last night, easy 3 hour gig, other players are easy to get along with, venue personnel are cool, all very supportive.

The kicker is it's a smoking venue, and aside from having to strip down and throw my cloths in the wash when I got home, I'm still dealing with a ripping sinus headache since early this morning.

Smoking venues may still be a thing in your areas, though here in both Dallas/Fort Worth and mid-cities, they're against city ordinances.

Different story with the suburbs: Addison and Richardson, just north of Dallas, do not have indoor smoking bans, though most the venues I've played there have their own bans, with outdoor smoking encouraged.

Not the case last night, and unfortunately, I'll be giving two weeks notice to the BL as a result.

I was a smoker, and for many years after quitting, I just accepted playing in smoky bars as part of the package, playing in clubs.

Now it'll have been 20 years this coming Spring since the city of Dallas enacted it's indoor smoking ban, and 8 years since my last weekly residency in a smoking (suburban) bar, and I just no longer have the physical tolerance to be around it on a regular basis. I'll accept a smoking venue gig for one-offs, but as of last night, will no longer accept weeklies.

So what's the smoking situation like in your area? How does that affect you? Do you factor it in when accepting or not accepting gigs?

No smoking here, except at private clubs, which are exempt because they're private. We played at one a couple years ago. Only time I was ever glad to see a light turnout.

Freaky to even think about it, now. For years I played at places where you could smoke. There is some circle of hell in which tobacco smoke gets into your sweat, so your eyes start burning, and you step up to the mic and get zapped in the mouth because some wizard got the polarity wrong. Not occasionally, but every damn time.

Band Name! "Knows Moe King"

 

[buldog5151bass]

I used to have a set of clothes that I only wore for gigs back in the 80s, solely because of smoke.

 

[rockdoc11]

Seems to me I once saw a sign in a bar way back in the day that said something along the lines of:

"Smoke if you want to. Just don't exhale."

 

[Beej]

Yuck. I haven't seen a smoking venue in decades up here.

The last show I played was an outdoor fundraising event and even though it was outdoors, there was so much weed smoke that we all reeked of it at the end of the night, so there's also that.

 

[James Flowers]

In the Carolinas, the only venues I have found with indoor smoking are Cigar Clubs. They really aren't much of an issue though as the most have major air handling systems and keep the air amazingly clean.

 

[Parzival]

I know no one likes a Smokey club, but it kills your crowd around here. Last week, we had about 10 people inside while we were playing. There were people there though, full parking lot. They were just all outside smoking.

Of course, it could have also been due in part to our loud overbearing drummer.

 

[Steve Dallman]

I quit smoking when I was 21. But I’ve played in smoky bars since I was 16 until smoking in bars ended here in WI a few years ago.

I’ve always had asthma and yearly bronchitis, but I developed COPD and constant sinus infections. Singing in smoky bars for years had PP’s been determined to be the cause of my COPD by my doctors.

We did a couple jobs on the reservation in a smoking venue. Terrible. I couldn’t do it again.

 

[Warpeg]

This thread caught me off guard. I didn't realize that there are still states with clubs that are allowed to have indoor smoking. Ohio has been smoke-free since 2006. I can remember many of us musicians worrying that the ban was going to affect live music venue attendances. The real result was that more people started going to shows since they didn't have to worry about the smoke.

 

[Jefenator]

My local dive bar venue used to be pretty bad for smoke. My buddy who owned it would spend tens of thousands of dollars to lease these air scrubbers, and folks would still joke he must have left the door open when the valley got hazy.
Since the early '00s there hasn't been any public indoor smoking allowed in Oregon. That's probably a good thing, overall.
I do like the occasional whiff of cigarette smoke. It takes me back to a simpler time when everyone wasn't quite so "precious" about all this.
Do I miss having my clothes & gear reek of it? Not particularly.
Smoke might not be a deal-killer for a gig for me. Factor that in with pay not adjusted for inflation and I might have to pass.

 

[40Hz]

26909901[/URL], member: 371794"]Smoking was made illegal to placate a small percentage of the population.

Maybe where you live. It was an extremely popular decision to restrict it where I am.

 

[Sam Evans]

Maybe where you live. It was an extremely popular decision to restrict it where I am.

Ditto. In America, I think only about 12% of the population smokes. The other 88% were quite happy not to be around that anymore.

 

[Patrice B]

Myself a smoker and I accept that I pollute my lungs but don’t want to irritate non-smokers so, yes, cigarette ban from public places is a good decision.

 

[Patrice B]

I would never play in a band with someone like that. I do not find that behavior funny or admirable. I find it unprofessional and selfish.

Not fun at all! I’ve made a bad thing however when drunk at New Year’s Eve 25 years ago: lighting a smoke while waiting for subway. Not really proud of me, really selfish! I don’t drink anymore BTW!

 

[Patrice B]

Maybe where you live. It was an extremely popular decision to restrict it where I am.

Oh, the post you answered to was deleted as I had something not so kind to answer to this fellow, even as a smoker… I think it’s called being « egoiste ».