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Trainwreck incoming!

#41
Good luck, man. I've done gigs in the past that I say to myself, "What the heck was I thinking?" I agree with those who've said take the high road, be professional, and try to make it work. That'll always reflect better on you as a musician and a person. I've seen pro friends in these situations, too, and I certainly don't think less of them for their involvement. We all try to be a bit careful about where we play and with who, but sometimes...
 
#42
BigMarc said:
Go to the rehearsal, if it's a train wreck, then call the mom and tell her that her son is really not ready to play on front of an audience. $50 is not worth it. I agree experience is a good thing as well, but not at a big show....

Big Marc
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Do NOT tell mom her son is not ready. It will be your $50 to pay the co-pay at the emergency room. Moms don't like the hear the truth about their kids when it isn't praise.
Another thought - Tell mon she should hire another drummer to "help her son learn" and that it is not uncommon for a band to have two drummers. It will be good experience for him and make him look even better.
(you sell the sizzle, not the steak)
 
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#44
buldog5151bass said:
Not a bad idea Dave - is it too late for that? Do you know someone who would come to the rehearsal and play time, if she won't/can't pay? You will owe him/her, but might be worth it.
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It would be a bit of a drive from Texas, so I don't know anyone who could do it.
Were it me and I had a drummer available I could trust I would give him the $50. It would improve your rep.
 
#45
Thing here is, Mom probably knows her sonny isn't great.
Maybe he suffers from autism, or ADHD, or any kind of ailment, and she just wants to give him a happy experience.
She is hiring you to help out, and be patient and generous with him
It is clearly more about him than it is about the gig, so go along with it.

Be a professional in this case. Rack it up to experience, and try to find out what it is that this kid needs from you.
 
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#47
I used to run a friend's karaoke at this one seedy bar. One time, I went to one of his other karaoke bars, and I heard a guy who was easily the worst singer I ever heard. He never came near the note, pitch-wise. Everybody in the audience enthusiastically applauded when he finished. It felt like the Twilight Zone.

Someone turned to me and said, "he's pretty good, for someone who's deaf."

I had to admit he was.
 
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#48
#49
Gravedigger Dav said:
Do NOT tell mom her son is not ready. It will be your $50 to pay the co-pay at the emergency room. Moms don't like the hear the truth about their kids when it isn't praise.
Click to expand...

+100000

If you want to take the gig, do what you can to work with the kid at rehearsal. You get what you get. Be professional about it and try to hold it together. Get paid and say goodbye. If it's a train wreck, it's a train wreck.

Subscribed so, so much!
 
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#50
I've taken gigs like this, but not for $50. no way.

several years ago had a singer friend who was Ok, not great, but she looked good.
she paid me to write some songs in the style she was looking for.
then she paid me to find drummer, guitarist & synth guy.
then she paid me to rehearse the band.
then she paid me to book a couple of gigs for the band.
I put a bill together with a a couple local bands and another touring band, to increase attendance.
show went well, band played ok, not great, but we made money after paying all the bands, and the guys I hired to be in her band always answer when I call them, because we all made a lot of money of this woman who had a good job and a dream of playing in a band.

point is, do the best you can with what you got, and it just might work out ok!
 
#52
Let me get this straight, you got a gig with a terrible drummer, an ever changing set list, and a huge chance of total failure, for a whopping total of 50 bucks, that you have to collect from the horrible drummers mother, who set this whole thing up to somehow bandage her sons self esteem?

No amount of experience, or due paying would be worth going through with this gig. Just my opinion.
 
#53
Hopkins said:
Let me get this straight, you got a gig with a terrible drummer, an ever changing set list, and a huge chance of total failure, for a whopping total of 50 bucks, that you have to collect from the horrible drummers mother, who set this whole thing up to somehow bandage her sons self esteem?

No amount of experience, or due paying would be worth going through with this gig. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

As usual, I agree with Hopkins. I don't think it's something you'd want to be associated with, OP.
Is the mom a MILF? That would be the only reason to take the gig.
 
#54
Hopkins said:
Let me get this straight, you got a gig with a terrible drummer, an ever changing set list, and a huge chance of total failure, for a whopping total of 50 bucks, that you have to collect from the horrible drummers mother, who set this whole thing up to somehow bandage her sons self esteem?
Click to expand...

At this point in my miserable excuse for a music career, I'd jump at this opportunity :D

In fact, I almost did a few weeks ago, until common sense got the better of me. Guess I still have some self respect left :eyebrow:
 
#55
Didn't manage to post after rehearsal, so here I am post gig.
Venue was 10 minutes walking time from my home - we were just playing on the street in the city centre, as it's "music day" in the city.
At rehearsal I convinced them to drop the material that wasn't needed or unfeasible - ex. a dance song without a keyboardist.
The guitarist also sang, it was a 17yo kid who wasn't very good but could cut the mustard and knew his way around the neck enough. Plus we had another chick singer which did a few pieces. In the end, this was the setlist:
Green Day - American Idiot- medleyed with Holiday
4 Non Blondes - What's up
Blink 182 - All the Small Things
Sum 41 - Hell Song
The Cranberries - Zombie

Yep it was a trainwreck. Drummer didn't follow any of the directions given at rehearsals, sometimes he would just stop playing and sometimes play a lot where he shouldn't have. We started off well, but then we butchered completely the second GD song also due to the fact that my monitor was off and soundguys couldn't fix it in time. I believe I also screwed it up royally, as I was relying on following the guitarist for the changes - they had arranged the song differently.
Other pieces went fine, save for the guitarist stopping singing before a chorus; we dicked around with the riff a bit and came back into the chorus again a few seconds later.
Zombie got completely butchered by the singer, guitarist played an horrible ending solo and drummer just wouldn't shut up in the quiet parts.

Some of the audience noticed the wreck, some didn't, soundguys did but I had already warned them. They all still clapped at the end so what the heck.
A good part of the audience was likely friends&family, but I still got compliments from some people and the bassist from another band who was playing. I got to save face because during set-up guitar kid was taking a bit too long fiddling with his pedalboard, so I just noodled a couple of grooves in the meantime.
Got paid in advance (60€ total including reimbursing me for the cash I gave at rehearsal), both mom and kid were happy.
All in all, it was a decent experience which took less effort than I feared.
 
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#59
I did a charity show in town last year where there were a number of young musicians along with the vets. A little after us two teens were singing and playing some Beatle tunes. My drummer and I crept back on stage, and joined them mid-verse. They turned around and saw us (holy $&*$, we have a BAND with us). Priceless moment.
 

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