Warning This is Long!!! I recently responded to a CL ad for a bass player needed to round out a 3 piece blues band. To be honest I was only mildly interested. I currently play in two bands one of which plays out regularly. That being said I took a chance because I like the type of music and because they are based much closer to me than the other bands I am in. They had also posted the ad 2-3 times over the last month or so and appeared to be having trouble finding what they were looking for. I decided to give it a shot. In the ad they mentioned that they practice every Sunday afternoon, and in their response they requested I audition at their next practice. By text I asked them to send me 5-6 songs that I could work on to prepare for the audition. They proceed to send me their complete 40 song set list (IMO this is the first BS move). Why would you expect someone to learn 40 songs for an audition which is 4 days away? Most of the songs were very obscure and I hadn't even heard half of them. I decide to work on getting 5-6 of the songs down good and to at least make notes on the others for the audition. They had a couple of Allman Bros, and Clapton songs which I felt I could nail pretty easily.
On the day of the audition I get a text to meet him at a local restaurant, and from there I can follow him to their practice location which he claims is 10 minutes away. I meet him (guitar/vocals) at the restaurant at which time he tells me he is waiting on another musician. I assume it is the drummer or maybe another guitar player. The other musician pulls up a short time later and we proceed to follow the guy for about 30 minutes to his practice location. When we finally arrive he politely asks me and the other guy if we need help carrying our stuff in. I thank him and tell him I got it. He then starts helping the other guy with his stuff and it was at that point that I realized he was another bass player (BS move #2). I am a little stunned that they would expect 2 bass players to audition at the same time, but I soldier on. It gets worse.
He gives each of us an outlet on opposite sides of his practice room with the drummer in the middle and asks us to set up. Once we set up, and with no discussion or warning he begins playing one of the songs from his list and asks us both to join in (BS move #3). Of course he is playing one of the songs from his list that I barely know, and the fact that there is another bass playing at the same time made just about anything I did sound awful. Even with all this I pretty much had the song down by the last verse. He then calls out another song I barely know and starts playing it. At this point I have had about enough and I quit playing after the first verse to at least give the other guy a chance. He appeared to be struggling also.
At this point the guitar/vocals notices that I have stopped playing (and probably that I am not very happy ) and decides that we should alternate. He allows me to go first he again picks a song I don't know, but without the other bass player muddying things up I am able to get through it pretty easily. The other bass player plays his song, and when they are done the guitar/vocals looks at me and asks me if I can play "Crossroads." My eyes light up. He has finally picked a song I know. We start playing it and its going great until the second verse when I realize the other bass player is playing to (BS move #4). I again stop playing in disgust. They finish the song, and then play another one. At this point I am looking at my phone and not even paying attention to them. I had originally agreed to play from 1-3 pm. It was only 1:45 and I was already trying to think of a good excuse to bail. They play a 3rd song "It's been a long time" by Led Zeppelin which wasn't even on his list. I am still looking at my phone. When they get done he asks me which song from their list would I like to play, and he makes a point to tell the other bass player not to play on this one. At this point I had already decided I was leaving when the song was done, and after telling him once that it didn't matter to me I begin to play "Whippin Post" one of the songs on his list. He immediately recognizes the song and stops me. He proceeds to tell me that they don't play the standard version of the song, but some super slow tempo version he had heard on some live recording (BS move #5) . He begins to play his super slow version and at this point I had completely given up. As soon as the song was over I began packing my stuff up, and told them I had to go. In an attempt to remain professional I shook everyone's hand and thanked them for the opportunity. I left with a new found appreciation for my other bands. A short time after I left, the band leader sent me a text thanking me for my time, but telling me they were going to keep looking (apparently the other bass player did not work out either).
I apologize for the super long post (BS move on my part), but I had a lot to get off my chest. Am I being too sensitive or was this audition complete BS? In hindsight I probably could have communicated to him from the beginning that I was not willing to learn their entire set list for an audition. I would also like to add that they were good musicians. The drummer IMO was very good. However, while I assumed they may be trying out other bass players I did not even consider the possibility that they would try out two at the same time. Aside from this what could I or should I have done differently?
On the day of the audition I get a text to meet him at a local restaurant, and from there I can follow him to their practice location which he claims is 10 minutes away. I meet him (guitar/vocals) at the restaurant at which time he tells me he is waiting on another musician. I assume it is the drummer or maybe another guitar player. The other musician pulls up a short time later and we proceed to follow the guy for about 30 minutes to his practice location. When we finally arrive he politely asks me and the other guy if we need help carrying our stuff in. I thank him and tell him I got it. He then starts helping the other guy with his stuff and it was at that point that I realized he was another bass player (BS move #2). I am a little stunned that they would expect 2 bass players to audition at the same time, but I soldier on. It gets worse.
He gives each of us an outlet on opposite sides of his practice room with the drummer in the middle and asks us to set up. Once we set up, and with no discussion or warning he begins playing one of the songs from his list and asks us both to join in (BS move #3). Of course he is playing one of the songs from his list that I barely know, and the fact that there is another bass playing at the same time made just about anything I did sound awful. Even with all this I pretty much had the song down by the last verse. He then calls out another song I barely know and starts playing it. At this point I have had about enough and I quit playing after the first verse to at least give the other guy a chance. He appeared to be struggling also.
At this point the guitar/vocals notices that I have stopped playing (and probably that I am not very happy ) and decides that we should alternate. He allows me to go first he again picks a song I don't know, but without the other bass player muddying things up I am able to get through it pretty easily. The other bass player plays his song, and when they are done the guitar/vocals looks at me and asks me if I can play "Crossroads." My eyes light up. He has finally picked a song I know. We start playing it and its going great until the second verse when I realize the other bass player is playing to (BS move #4). I again stop playing in disgust. They finish the song, and then play another one. At this point I am looking at my phone and not even paying attention to them. I had originally agreed to play from 1-3 pm. It was only 1:45 and I was already trying to think of a good excuse to bail. They play a 3rd song "It's been a long time" by Led Zeppelin which wasn't even on his list. I am still looking at my phone. When they get done he asks me which song from their list would I like to play, and he makes a point to tell the other bass player not to play on this one. At this point I had already decided I was leaving when the song was done, and after telling him once that it didn't matter to me I begin to play "Whippin Post" one of the songs on his list. He immediately recognizes the song and stops me. He proceeds to tell me that they don't play the standard version of the song, but some super slow tempo version he had heard on some live recording (BS move #5) . He begins to play his super slow version and at this point I had completely given up. As soon as the song was over I began packing my stuff up, and told them I had to go. In an attempt to remain professional I shook everyone's hand and thanked them for the opportunity. I left with a new found appreciation for my other bands. A short time after I left, the band leader sent me a text thanking me for my time, but telling me they were going to keep looking (apparently the other bass player did not work out either).
I apologize for the super long post (BS move on my part), but I had a lot to get off my chest. Am I being too sensitive or was this audition complete BS? In hindsight I probably could have communicated to him from the beginning that I was not willing to learn their entire set list for an audition. I would also like to add that they were good musicians. The drummer IMO was very good. However, while I assumed they may be trying out other bass players I did not even consider the possibility that they would try out two at the same time. Aside from this what could I or should I have done differently?
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