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when people act weird about your gear...

#261
Fishyfishfish said:
I'll be an old guy for a minute: the skateboard is awesome idea, but I would think it might be a distraction/safety issue on stage.
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I kinda agree, but... really: How often have you seen people step on a pedal board by accident? A pedal board is there for a reason, and even without wheels, you may trip over it, step on it and destroy pedals etc. Still, I don't see that happening because each musician has a certain space to be / move in, and you have to be aware what's in that space. Cables, boxes, stands etc. They are all safety hazards if you don't pay attention. But as a musician, you do. You have to. In that context, I think the skateboard pedal board is a minor issue.
 
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#262
friendlybass said:
I had a church gig yesterday and thought I did everything right. It's a suit and tie sort of church so myself and the other musicians (my dad on drums and the pastor who I do most of my work through on keys) dressed nicely but the usual protocol for this circle of churches is the band dresses down from the pastor like 2-3 notches. Here's where this gig went odd.
I play very non gospel instruments typically cause its not really my thing usually, which I've taken crap for but my gear is what I've got, and having nice shirts for these gigs is one thing but a bass I use exclusively for this is not what Im about. So initially a deacon/associate pastor comments on my bass pretty rudely, calls it a kid bass and asked if that's all I've got to play. It's an MIJ jaguar bass in oly white, I didn't exactly show up with my SG bass or Jr. Jet. Then the whole worship team gets to talking about my pedalboard (a skateboard with pedals mounted to it) and asking if I really needed to use it or if it could be positioned out of sight. I did so to prevent a scene cause it wasn't my church, and I didn't really need the pedals, I brought it because I dislike unmounting my sansamp, vibe, chorus, and delay or removing my OD's and fuzz just for one gig.
So what's etiquette like in this situation? Do I acknowledge my less than professional appearing gear and back down like I did? Or should I have used what I use tastefully and do my thing regardless of what others say/think? Can we all agree the deacon was out of line to diss my bass?
Thanks for listening to the rant TB. I attached pictures of the gear in question for your scrutiny.View attachment 711846 View attachment 711847
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NOTHING wrong with your gear, it's all beautiful.

The skateboard is cool, and adds flare to what might be an otherwise banal pedalboard.

Something seriously wrong with people at that church though. They need to read some scripture about tolerance and ... wow – there is so much wrong with their attitudes and perceptions it makes me wonder what they really believe in. Ridiculous Hypocrites comes to mind, though that's not all I'd like to say, but I'll shut my trap lest I get banned.

PM me if you ever want to sell that gorgeous white MIJ Jag.
 
#263
smeet said:
Hey duh, it's kind of like every other band I've played in. I keep hearing about worship teams acting so weird and political. I don't get it.... I know they are just people like everyone else, but I would have thought a church band should have LESS problems than a regular rock band.
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I once heard this very thing talked about in a sermon, not about a band but a radio station. The pastor had had a career in radio before becoming a believer. After his conversion, he went to work for a religious radio station. He was very excited that it was going to be so much better, none of the politics and jealousy and backbiting and egos etc. In fact, it was much worse. The reason, he realized eventually, was that while everyone was thinking about how loving and forgiving Christians were supposed to be, everybody's main focus was on how everybody ELSE was supposed to be loving and forgiving towards THEM, rather than how THEY could be loving and forgiving of OTHER people. That created a disconnect that made things toxic.

It's an easy trap to fall into, and we've seen plenty of it on this thread - how many posts have leaped to judgment against someone they don't know and have never even met, based only on a few words in the OP, for being a horrible judgmental person?

Kevan Campbell said:
Okay, let's take a look at this situation without the religious element, hopefully before we cross a line and the Mods are forced to close this thread. What would our responses be if:

The OP was asked to play at a family friendly bar & grill that has live blues music one night a week. It's his first gig at this particular venue and the only info he got from his bandleader that booked him was a setlist and and time for soundcheck. As he's setting up his gear one of the line cooks is walking around and notices his bass, remarking that it "Looks like a kid's bass." Later the bar & grill manager asks him to move his pedalboard out of sight since it's appearance clashes with the venue's theme. The OP complies and plays the gig without any further issues from the staff at the bar & grill.

Should the OP never return to that venue again for one off-hand comment from someone that doesn't have any regular interaction or decisions with the band's they hire or over a miscommunication from his bandleader about the nature and theme of the bar & grill? Or should the OP decide whether or not the overall experience was worth returning again and adjust his/her approach accordingly?

I'm simply saying that many responses seem to be filtered through our perception of what a church SHOULD be and not what it actually sometimes IS.
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Best post on the thread.

Tony B. Filthy said:
No pics, no pastor....sorry, just had to throw that in there :roflmao:
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I think we need to start a "Chicks at Church" thread.

Chris Fitzgerald said:
The religious trolling in this thread needs to stop now. This is a thread about a worship gig, not a religious topic.
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The other best post in the thread.

MrFPB said:
Rules?
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No discussion of religion on open forums, only in the Lobby. Insofar as church is a gig, you can discuss it as a gig, including the expectations etc. it involves. But you can't cross the line from that into either promoting or attacking religion.
 
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#265
Shardik said:
I kinda agree, but... really: How often have you seen people step on a pedal board by accident? A pedal board is there for a reason, and even without wheels, you may trip over it, step on it and destroy pedals etc. Still, I don't see that happening because each musician has a certain space to be / move in, and you have to be aware what's in that space. Cables, boxes, stands etc. They are all safety hazards if you don't pay attention. But as a musician, you do. You have to. In that context, I think the skateboard pedal board is a minor issue.
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Argh! My drummer does it every rehearsal. We have a small practice space and I'm situated next to a giant 24 track mixing console that I want zero part of interfacing with. He'll sometimes come around to make a minor adjustment and suddenly my tuner is turned on...

I guess I could not be a moron and move the pedalboard, though.
 
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#267
I play my white uke bass in our praise band. I get a few comments but they are all fun and the bass sounds great through the PA. I don't see that either of your basses should be a problem.

I'd leave the pedal skateboard at home. It's a hazard on stage and the church has a reasonable right to set their worship standards of appearance. More importantly, PB music (aka CCM) doesn't really require much in the way of effects, mostly tone shaping. My PB pedalboard at church consists of a custom wired tuner and a Joyo Dr. J Sparrow. I tried compressors, distortion boxes, delays, choruses, flangers, and autowahs. None of them added anything to the worship music or the service.

Admit it, your pedal board is there for you, not the congregation or the music experience.
 
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#270
Dead-Horse.jpg
 
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#277
hrodbert696 said:
Or possibly "I back a hot pastorbabe."
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Sounds like an awesome idea but we'll probably need some help from non-musicians; when I was playing in churches I couldn't figure out where they all went after the service was over. I know they were there because I could see them in the audience from the stage lights, but by the time I got off stage at the end it was a ghost town...
 
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#278
JimmyM said:
Church gig or not, I'd have left when he called the Jag a kid's bass, and I'd have quit the church on the spot if I were a member. Who needs that kind of aggravation in their lives? People can only do to you what you allow them to do.

The skateboard, OTOH, that's never a good thing. Someone accidentally steps on it and it rolls out on them and they break something...lawsuit. So ditch the skateboard for any of your gigs regardless of what you do with the church.
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I would not ditch the skateboard, I'd just remove the wheel assemblies, put some non skid rubber feet under, make it safe.

As for the rest, I would just tell them to grow up. The Jag bass thing especially. Somebody who allows that kind of garbage to spew out of their mouths needs some serious counselling. They are probably overcompensating for something else, something dark and criminal.
 
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