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What would you do?

#22
My current drummer is blind and does not participate in load in/load out or any of the heavy lifting so I can relate to being a "man down" with the heavy lifting. (Takes him over an hour to set up a 4 piece drum set but that's for another day)

Can you maybe set up a tiered pay structure so that you don't earn as much for not helping setup? I know it would bother me less if they don't help setup but I got a few extra $$$ because I did.
 
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#23
As a part-time thumper (28on/28off oil&gas gig), I tend to make up for lost time when I do get back. Fortunately we've only 2 regular gigs, and they're right next door to each other. We've only one pure musician, he's plug & play per-say, & the remainder of us with full-time jobs. I've personally found a few of our band-mates slackin' off, letting me & another get-on with the big-stuff - quite frustrating.

"Milking" a beer, while not lifting a finger asides, doing a poor job of it just makes me want to do it all myself anyways. But that's just me empowering their laziness though, whilst trying to lead by example. Damned sangers & twangers!
 
#24
There was once a girl from Siskatoon
The best damn singer the world ever knew
She wouldn't lift a finger to help with the setup
So the bass and the drummer became totally fedup
And now they backup no one in their bedrooms

Sorry about that, but maybe one thing you could do is to go ahead and get it out in the open as to what everyone is responsible for setting up, and why it should be done that way. These kinds of issues should probably be taken care of early on, but since it's progressed to the point of playing gigs, it might be harder to get anyone to change especially if you've been playing out for a while.
 
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#25
buldog5151bass said:
I am in a four piece band - guitar/vocals, drums, bass/vocals, and a female acoustic guitar/sax/flute/singer. The first three do pretty much all the load in and load out.

We had a second floor gig (I HATE second floor gigs). Guitarist and drummer are both legitimately hurt, so I do most of the heavy lifting. We get everything just about set up. The fourth comes in with her husband - she has nothing but an acoustic guitar, sax, flute and a few bags of personal stuff.

Anyway, her husband walks over to me as I am getting the main speaker up on the pole, and says this, in all seriousness, "can you guys help us get her stuff up from the car?"

I did my best John Belushi and lifted one eyebrow, said "no" (if he were carrying the guitar, I think I would have made like Animal House and smashed it against the wall, but I guess that would have been considered bad form). I'm the newest in the band, and the others put up with it, but ... what would you have done?
Click to expand...

I would never have let it get that far. If she's not there for load-in, load-out and to carry (at least) the things she CAN carry, she doesn't get paid - plain and simple. I was once in a band with two women (guitar and keyboards, respectively), and while nobody expected them to hump amplifiers or keyboards, they ALWAYS helped with the drums, guitars and PA. They WANTED to pull their weight as members of the band.

Sounds like you've got the makings of a diva here. Nip it in the bud... NOW.
 
#27
Lemme get this straight...

The husband asked you for help while he was empty-handed? The couple couldn't bring a few things up each on the first trip up? They both came up empty-handed? :eyebrow:

I'm so lucky I don't ever play with people like that. I can only guess what I'd do/say as I'm generally polite and helpful, but...
 
#29
I think it's worth reiterating that both the guitarist and drummer are hurt, and are both physically incapable of doing that heavy lifting. As a result you could really use some help from the female singer and/or her husband with the load-in. If she isn't able to comprehend the situation then, perhaps the band needs to have a discussion regarding responsibilities at gigs.
 
#30
I am lucky that in both of my band situations, everyone helps out equally as they physically can. I have been in the other kind of situation before, and it sucked being the only guy loading, packing and unpacking. It only happened once or twice.

The worst time, we had finished playing a CD release party, and our singer/guit player, and drummer left the club to go party, and LEFT THEIR GAR THERE STILL SET UP. All drums and cymbals still up...The (tube) amp was even left on. They assumed that the other guit player and I would "just get heir stuff since we don't drink or party and had no where to go" Needless to say, we left with just our stuff. The club owner was like "What do I do with this stuff?". I said "What stuff?" and walked out the door.

PRax on Tuesday comes around, and those guys show up, and are like "Uh...where is our stuff?" Other guit player and I look at each other and said "We just figured you guys were coming back to get your stuff"

It never happened again. They always made sure they loaded in and out
 
#32
Hi,

This is unbelievable. When Kelly's husband, Jack, shows up on the gig he's usually hauling, setting up, and running the PA. I usually help everyone with anything they need but all of our members are very professional and pretty much self-sufficient.

I would politely ask band member or husband to carry their own instruments just like everyone else is doing. It's part of the job. I refuse to work with a prima-dona or his wife.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
#34
Hi,

Just be polite.

"I have already loaded in all of this stuff and I'm in the middle of setting it up and I still have to sound check. In the interest of time I would appreciate it if you would bring in your instruments while I finish my tasks. Thank you."

Our keyboard player has had some health issues lately so he asks for help with his gear sometimes. We all pitch in where needed. But it sound like some people in your band don't want to pitch in at all.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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#35
I don't know if this helps or not, but have any of you ever thought about showing the girls in your band how to work and use a dolly? There are two small girls (NFC) in my band. One of them sings and the other one plays keyboards sometimes. I tought both of them to use a dolly and showed them how to work a cargo strap. All I had to do was encourage them and get excited make them feel good, useful, and excited about being able to help i.e. "There you Tiger, I told you that you could do it" and "That's what I'm talking about" followed up with a little spank on the butt. One time was all it took to show them how, and now me and the rest of the guys just say thanks when they get from point A to point B. They work at their own pace, but they by no means slack off of go slow and they help with all the gear. The guitarist and I basicaly just do the unload and load in and out of the truck which if fine because someone has to stay with the gear anyway while it's out side, but insted of waiting everything is moving until the last trip then we all go in and set up inside. I believe most girls would help if they could or the knew how to without getting in the way, or being slow and weak. One main bass and one backup, and I run a Mesa 400+ through a Diesel Road Ready 610 that's 90 lbs of amp and 160 lbs of bass cab which weighs more that the two chicks together (both are 120 something respectivly), but with a dolly and a cargo strap it's nothing. That's just my gear, you all got to only be 2% smarter than the gear that you all are working with.

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