Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
What is the worst criticism/insult your band has ever received?
- Thread starter Stinsok
- Start date
Band has no energy. You’re not very exciting.
And, they had a point. Wasn’t the drummer or I because we get down. Guitar players are like statues sometimes. Singer, she’s great but still has work to do on working a crowd and being a front person.
I have taken matters into my own hands with the guitar players and do my best to interact and mess with them and get them to come alive a little.
The only time I am a statue is if we play Tennessee Whiskey or Desperado. I just can’t muster up any kind of energy at all for those songs.
And, they had a point. Wasn’t the drummer or I because we get down. Guitar players are like statues sometimes. Singer, she’s great but still has work to do on working a crowd and being a front person.
I have taken matters into my own hands with the guitar players and do my best to interact and mess with them and get them to come alive a little.
The only time I am a statue is if we play Tennessee Whiskey or Desperado. I just can’t muster up any kind of energy at all for those songs.
"You suck, get off the stage," can't remember if that was before or after I got hit with the opened ketchup packet.
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
Hey, I'm in Newton right now before I head back to Colorado. Off topic, but there it is.
A band I was in once did get a full on arm waving "Hey, hey, hey! Stop! Stop! Stop! You guys suck!" followed by acoston our singer in the bathroom where the complainant pronounced, drunkenly, "I've been to Europe and I know jazz!" That was ca. 1997 and we've been laughing about it ever since.
We played at a joint north of here a few years ago. Jazz trio. My upright, guitar and keys playing real book jazz. I could tell we were not the right fit. Especially on a loud busy Friday night. It was geared to a lot of trendy 30-40s crowd. Loud talkers and constant phone watching. I mean they were louder than us!
The pretentious owner/manager who fancied himself as a musical know it all, comes to us afterwards saying how we didn’t sound good to him. But offers up how if we got a drummer we would definitely “kick some us”. This is verbatim. Geez.
The place was already was too loud with the people. We were actually trying to bring them down by keeping our volume lower. We never went back. I was good with that.
The pretentious owner/manager who fancied himself as a musical know it all, comes to us afterwards saying how we didn’t sound good to him. But offers up how if we got a drummer we would definitely “kick some us”. This is verbatim. Geez.
The place was already was too loud with the people. We were actually trying to bring them down by keeping our volume lower. We never went back. I was good with that.
Wait, blues isn't about endless, mechanical wankery? Man, my old band was doing it all wrong!!
Who doesn't like professional muscians?
Back on topic, when I first took my NS Design WAV 4 to a gig - with a professional sound mixer, I was asked: "Is that thing supposed to sound like that?"
Different band, different sound check: "So do you want the audience in this room?"
This one time in my early 20's I subbed for a bunch of teens who'd fired their bass player before an "important, local festival" where they/we were booked as second band of the night. Their singer, bless her, couldn't sing on key to save her life. The review afterwards made it look like we'd opened the night. Subtle, but harsh!
A write up in the local indy rag in Seattle: “(Band Name) can’t decide if they’re Beat Happening or Dio. You wouldn’t think that would be a problem, but the band IS from Sequim, WA. They either have an unrealized sense of humor or they’re just complete dorks. I would have to say dorks.”
No criticisms, but some interesting “compliments.”
“You guys are far from crappy.” “You guys don’t suck too bad.”
“You guys are far from crappy.” “You guys don’t suck too bad.”
After one NYC gig in 1992, the only show played by that particular lineup, the club owner told one of my bandmates he was embarrassed by how awful we were. I think we were good on some tracks, but overall I don't blame him.
But I also didn't care, because: (1) at that show, the woman who became my wife asked me on our first date; (2) the Japanese TV network NHK, finding it interesting that a bunch of lawyers would play "punk," interviewed us and filmed the gig, and made us a segment on their show "What's Up In New York?," which gave us our Andy Warhol allotted 15 minutes of fame...in Japan; and (3) it was fun!
I played bass on some tracks, and guitar or lead vocals on others. Since then, I haven't performed on either guitar or lead vocals, but it appears I'm up for lead vocals on a track in my newest band.
But I also didn't care, because: (1) at that show, the woman who became my wife asked me on our first date; (2) the Japanese TV network NHK, finding it interesting that a bunch of lawyers would play "punk," interviewed us and filmed the gig, and made us a segment on their show "What's Up In New York?," which gave us our Andy Warhol allotted 15 minutes of fame...in Japan; and (3) it was fun!
I played bass on some tracks, and guitar or lead vocals on others. Since then, I haven't performed on either guitar or lead vocals, but it appears I'm up for lead vocals on a track in my newest band.
Our last guitarist had been told many times that his breaks don't fit the song. It's true. I don't like giving up on folk, but you need to sometimes.
On one gig, the father of the bride got super pissed off that we didn't play Crocodile Rock, a song that nobody knew and was never included in the request/must play list. Said we sucked because of that. Both the bandleader and the agent had a good laugh about that.
I've repeated this story in other threads, but it still makes me laugh. I lasted maybe 6 months in this band, because the front person was a giant......insert your own curse word.
We were playing a well attended gig opening for a big local one night. The drummer had a camera with a decent mic set up to record. After sound check I glance at the setlist to see that there is no key listed for the first song, which if I recall I never played with them before (but it was 1-4-5). When I asked the front man what key, he responded with something like "you'll just have to figure it out". Well, ordinarily not too big of a problem, but for the fact the whole band came in all at once on the drop of click in from the drummers sticks. I guessed E as he sang a lot in that key, so of course it wasn't in E! I corrected in time for the 4 chord.
So were are sitting at the drummers house watching the video a week later, and of course the obvious flub to start, then the song finished. Somebody within range of the mic says, "PLAY SOMETHING YA' KNOW!" I laughed out loud in front of the band. They didn't find it amusing.
Harsh criticism, but also true!
We were playing a well attended gig opening for a big local one night. The drummer had a camera with a decent mic set up to record. After sound check I glance at the setlist to see that there is no key listed for the first song, which if I recall I never played with them before (but it was 1-4-5). When I asked the front man what key, he responded with something like "you'll just have to figure it out". Well, ordinarily not too big of a problem, but for the fact the whole band came in all at once on the drop of click in from the drummers sticks. I guessed E as he sang a lot in that key, so of course it wasn't in E! I corrected in time for the 4 chord.
So were are sitting at the drummers house watching the video a week later, and of course the obvious flub to start, then the song finished. Somebody within range of the mic says, "PLAY SOMETHING YA' KNOW!" I laughed out loud in front of the band. They didn't find it amusing.
Harsh criticism, but also true!
When I'm in that situation I have learned to sit out on 1 and come in on 1-and or 2. That sounds like a stylistic choice and it gives me enough time to hear what the root is on that chord. I hear good jam players doing this all the time.
But yeah, it's challenging.
) played a more straightahead San Francisco jazz venue in the late '90s.
"Your bass player is not a virtuoso"
The producer of a band i toured with... Context:
Pop/Rock Mellow love songs with a Diva singer and a deaf drummer not in time.
The producer claimed he knew how to mix and record, he crancked my In-ear thinking it was the "Better" knob on the mix desk, i had to finish songs without any monitor on my bass (no amp) only drums because i was in the same room and we kept my bass tracks as they were.
13 songs in 1.5days.
The said "Producer" told us he found us somewhere to sleep (i ended up sleeping on the floor behind the drumkit), bounce checked the recording studio and vanished in another country.
Of course the first mix was a disaster, it sounded so bad that we had to go back to raw tracks.
Oh yeah! And the diva singer busted his vocal chords the night before he started recording by partying and singing the loudest at the local drunk-hell-hole bar. He took 15 days to record songs and we had to use autotune anyway.
And i was not a virtuoso, i'm ok with that.
I'm laughing now but i felt so alone at the time.
The producer of a band i toured with... Context:
Pop/Rock Mellow love songs with a Diva singer and a deaf drummer not in time.
The producer claimed he knew how to mix and record, he crancked my In-ear thinking it was the "Better" knob on the mix desk, i had to finish songs without any monitor on my bass (no amp) only drums because i was in the same room and we kept my bass tracks as they were.
13 songs in 1.5days.
The said "Producer" told us he found us somewhere to sleep (i ended up sleeping on the floor behind the drumkit), bounce checked the recording studio and vanished in another country.
Of course the first mix was a disaster, it sounded so bad that we had to go back to raw tracks.
Oh yeah! And the diva singer busted his vocal chords the night before he started recording by partying and singing the loudest at the local drunk-hell-hole bar. He took 15 days to record songs and we had to use autotune anyway.
And i was not a virtuoso, i'm ok with that.
I'm laughing now but i felt so alone at the time.
