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Top five things other bands do that irritate you.

#362
Overly and sarcastically compliment you on your set "Because that cover was perfect" or "your solo was fantastic". Honestly... if you're serious, then you're suck-up d-bags and if you're sarcastic, you're just d-bags.

Also I hate band that want to jam with you before playing. I've had one too many bands ask to do that and it gets annoying.
 
#363
Oh, I'm good at this;

1. The guys that doesn't bother bringing all the stuff they're gonna need. I mean, 3 bands, a bass player and 2 guitarists each, and I'm the only one that thought of bringing a tuner with a cord?
2. The sound guys that has to use crappy inline DI's instead of either my Sansamp or the one in my amp. Even if I can give them any kind of mix they want, post/pre EQ, straight out of the Sansamp or what. Nono, they have to use their old beaten up DI that crackles like crazy.
3. Sound guys or other bands that doesn't know **** about gear at all. ("Hey man, you can't coil your cables like that, they'll go bad, you need to use Magic tape like me so they don't get snagged, trust me, I've been doing this for decades!" Well, I can use a soldering iron to fix my cables if they get snagged, and just because you can't tie a 30 foot cord into a bundle fast without braking it or damaging the conductors doesn't mean my cables have to be sticky from all that tape. And oh, my cables last a decade or more, might it be you're just using bad cables?)
4. People expecting to borrow your rig just because it's the biggest at the gig? No, if you can't even bother listening to me when I explain how you get the gain right on the pre-amp, then the leads for the rig is coming right down from the stage with me.
5. People telling me that if my Fender isn't Made in the US of A then the intonation can't be right and it's gonna sound like crap and I need to get real or go home. Well, guess what, I play instruments that sound good and play great, then care about how much it's price boosts my ego. On top of that the bloody ****** had the nerve to go give my friend a beating over some really dumb stuff the same evening, I mean, who the **** kicks somebody repeated times in the face when they're laying down? My friend is now in such a bad shape that it pulls to the right when he tries to walk in a straight, along with multiple stitches in his face. I wish I had beaten the **** out of the guy then and there, I was stone cold sober and pissed off, he was piss-faced drunk and offering me a beer bottle which would have done well as an ad hoc weapon. :D

About the dress-code stuff. I don't care what you're trying to pull off in that department, but if you don't pull it off, then sorry but you just look like an idiot. Goes for the whole showmanship as well.
 
#364
overdrivethree said:
might just be an indie scene thing. it's definitely the context to which i'm referring...

but the band that brings loads of its friends/fans in to the show, and those friends either stand in the back or outside smoking cigarettes, pointedly ignoring your band. then, when their scenester buddies' band plays, they crowd the place and all of a sudden are an enthusiastic audience. to top it off, you might have one of them raving to you about how awesome your band was, and you know full well they saw 30 seconds of your set, tops.

i've been playing fairly regularly since i was 16, so i know that sometimes you just play to an empty room, and that's the reality. but when you're playing around in the scene that prides itself on checking out new things, and being respectful, it's a real head-scratcher when they vacate the bar/club en masse when someone they don't know is on stage.
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People are sheep. Especially the 'scenester' (great word for them) drones. Exactly the same thing has happened to us many times (we definately don't suck, honest). And the booker had the nerve to blame us for 'empying the venue with our music' despite saying how much he'd enjoyed our live CD when booking us!
 
#365
Stuggi said:
5. People telling me that if my Fender isn't Made in the US of A then the intonation can't be right and it's gonna sound like crap and I need to get real or go home. Well, guess what, I play instruments that sound good and play great, then care about how much it's price boosts my ego. On top of that the bloody ****** had the nerve to go give my friend a beating over some really dumb stuff the same evening, I mean, who the **** kicks somebody repeated times in the face when they're laying down? My friend is now in such a bad shape that it pulls to the right when he tries to walk in a straight, along with multiple stitches in his face. I wish I had beaten the **** out of the guy then and there, I was stone cold sober and pissed off, he was piss-faced drunk and offering me a beer bottle which would have done well as an ad hoc weapon. :D
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This response is crazy. Are u gigging in Somalia? So some guy dislikes your non-US made bass, and then kicks your buddy in the face? This post went from dislikes of other bands to some insane rant about post-gig beatings.

"And another thing I hate is when bands set fire to the vehicle I arrive to the gig in. Or when bands have a group orgie with my family members. That just makes me steam." LOL! What the hell!?!
 
#366
The bass-disrespecting and the beating had nothing to do with each other, it was just coincidence that the same guy that was disrespecting me beat up my friend 3 hours later. If I had dealt with the dude then and there when he was alone my friend would have probably not got his ass kicked. :D

(And no, it's Finland, not Somalia, here we just get pissed drunk and beat each other) :D
 
#367
Stuggi said:
The bass-disrespecting and the beating had nothing to do with each other, it was just coincidence that the same guy that was disrespecting me beat up my friend 3 hours later. If I had dealt with the dude then and there when he was alone my friend would have probably not got his ass kicked. :D

(And no, it's Finland, not Somalia, here we just get pissed drunk and beat each other) :D
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Note to self: Bring a bodyguard if gigging in Finland.
 
#372
guitfiddle0409 said:
Endorsements of political candidates on band websites. I want to hear you play, not blather about who you vote for.
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Not only that, it's as least as polarized a political climate as it has ever been, yet in the US you are likely to alienate 50% of your potential audience. Leave it off unless you're playing for a political event.

We played for a political event for "the other team" (the check still cashed), but since it was a private event there was no point in advertising it.

KO
 
#373
fenderfunker said:
I hate bands who play for only a couple of hundred dollars, or worse, free. This conditions venue owners, who then think they shouldn't have to pay real wages. Meanwhile they make a motza. The entertainment is paid for after the first fifty drinks are sold. Who wins there, except the venue owner???
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Unfortunately you wouldn't gig at all in Minneapolis. It's the going rate in town. If you're willing to put in an hour and a half or more of road time each way and provide a PA to play outside of town you can make some money, but a lot of people prefer no to do that.

That's the way this town is.

KO
 
#376
kraigo said:
Unfortunately you wouldn't gig at all in Minneapolis. It's the going rate in town. If you're willing to put in an hour and a half or more of road time each way and provide a PA to play outside of town you can make some money, but a lot of people prefer no to do that.

That's the way this town is.

KO
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Austin's the same. Its pretty difficult to get more than $250, $300. But the folks who play for free? Ooooooh, they need a good, hard SMACKDOWN!!! We already don't get paid enough...and then they undercut us even more. Bastages.

Cherie
 
#377
I'd say the underpaying in Minneapolis, Austin, etc. is probably a big-city phenomena more than a small town one. Supply far outpaces demand in bigger cities it seems. One of my friends has a band in a little ville out in a rural county and his band makes $400 at a bar they play at.
 
#378
michael_atw said:
I'd say the underpaying in Minneapolis, Austin, etc. is probably a big-city phenomena more than a small town one. Supply far outpaces demand in bigger cities it seems. One of my friends has a band in a little ville out in a rural county and his band makes $400 at a bar they play at.
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Also, I've always gotten better paid in working-class places than wealthy ones. Not sure why, but it's been very consistent. My theory is that working folks understand the value of money, and are willing to pay for value received.
 
#379
ONLY 2 things saying that they love their fans but, don't ever stick around after a show or when they are promoting an album but, charge you an arm and a leg for it cause they pack stickers, and pins and patches driving the cd up then when you buy it you see that the cd is a blank cd and says SONY on it.

Happened to me before ALOT.
 
#380
michael_atw said:
I'd say the underpaying in Minneapolis, Austin, etc. is probably a big-city phenomena more than a small town one. Supply far outpaces demand in bigger cities it seems. One of my friends has a band in a little ville out in a rural county and his band makes $400 at a bar they play at.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. You can make more in the outlying little towns, but its more competitive to get in there, 'cause everyone's trying to book with them and get paid.

I've been trying to get my bands into a nearby small city with a good music district, and never have been able to get their bars to talk to me. A touring buddy of mine says it is almost impossible, because they have their own booking guys, their own bands, and if you aren't *real* good, tight buddies with 'em and known 'em forever, you can break in.

Cherie
 

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