Why did you quit a band?

[malthumb]

1)....

2) Quit due to a band leader refusing to use a set list and repeatedly calling songs that were unrehearsed, over the objections of band members and despite prior agreement.

...

In the band I was in for 6-7 years, the BL/guitarist had a bad habit of drifting away from the set list. I eventually got adjusted to it, but it didn’t sit well with my OCD. He also wanted us to play “Call Me Maybe” when it was big. The rest of us refused to work on it and said no every time he suggested adding it to any set list. So we’re at a gig where I think either he or his wife had a bet going with a friend of hers that we would play it. I found out about the bet after the fact. We’re getting back to the stage after a break and he picks up his guitar and starts playing Call Me Maybe. Our singer was on her way to the stage and immediately went back and sat at the bar. I had already picked up my bass. So I just spent the next couple minutes tuning it. He caught the hint and switched to another song.

 

[rickwebb]

"It was time for me to move on..."

 

[bassmanrocke]

The one I remember was a country/ rock band that was billed to me as a rock/ country band. I was far and away the best singer, but I never got to pick any of the songs. Maybe I was stubborn at the time, but I told them from the get go I was not interested in playing any Skynard. If they wanted me to quit, all they had to do was call out Freebirds and that would be it. As the band became more frustrating I almost quit about five times. The BL was a great guy, but I didn't like him as a BL. So we're playing a party and he just starts up playing Freebirds. I told him after the gig I would play the gigs we had lined up, but that was it for me.

 

[Beej]

I've only quit one band, and it was over guitarcissism.

 

[2112]

I've only quit one band, and it was over guitarcissism.

lmao

 

[Nedmundo]

Most recently, I quit a Stones cover band project because the leader fired the lead guitarist, who had come with me from the ashes of our previous band into the project. He's a fantastic player and great dude, but the leader somehow thought he had a "bad attitude" and sounded "too much like the Grateful Dead." This was total nonsense, and besides, anything remotely resembling the Grateful Dead has a massive audience among folks our age in the Philly area. Seriously massive.

Simultaneously, the BL kept a vocalist in the project who couldn't sing in the least. This confirmed my suspicions he had terrible musical judgment, which, combined with a few other eyebrow-raising issues, led me to quit. This was a shame, because I absolutely loved playing Stones material and the project had real musical potential. Months later, the drummer said the project sounded by far the best when my buddy and I were involved, which provided some vindication.

Four years ago I quit a good cover band because the leader was just insufferable. I had replaced a good friend who moved, and had seen the band a few times. I'd detected a few issues with the leader, so I had concerns, but it was even worse than I thought. It was like pulling teeth to get a set list out of him, and some of them were for his solo acoustic shows, so I'd learned tracks we'd never play. He would sometimes start songs in the wrong key, start playing songs on stage we'd decided not to play, show up completely hungry and hungover (at age 49, mind you), and it just goes on from there. Thing is, he's a highly intelligent, thoroughly decent, warm, friendly guy. And he's a fantastic musician. He just had no ability to focus, which made it impossible. The drummer and I quit together.

A few months after I quit the band the drummer admitted to the other band members that he didn't like me but he had no idea why. Shortly after that he was arrested for domestic violence and fired from the band.

Yikes. The drummer from my last long-term band is now in prison after pleading guilty to a domestic violence charge, and it's heartbreaking because he's been a great friend and has lots of goodness in him. I don't know what happened, but her version of events was deeply disturbing.

 

[grimjim]

I've only quit one band. The rest fell apart due to other people.
It was in a cover band with a male and female singer. They were dating on top of it, so you can imagine what that was like at times. It was kind of nice for me as I was always behind her, and she would wear short skirts and bend over at the waist all the time. She might have done it on purpose, who knows.
Anyway, she was an emotional train wreck on top of being a narcissist.
In addition to all of the bf/gf arguing and drama, the drummer had a new years eve party, bunch of musicians just jamming. She was upstairs, bawling her eyes out because nobody played anything she knew.
Then I suggested the live version of Hotel California. I was excited to play one of the classical guitar parts. When I talked to the other guys in the band, they were cool with it as well. She insisted on singing it. The male singer had the perfect voice for eagle's stuff. I drove to the drummer's house, packed up my gear and didn't look back.

 

[BassBrass]

Quit a successful gothic Americana band when the backup singer/rhythm guitarist-keyboardist who was the heart of the band got married to the girl he met in Canada when we toured there, fishing is his greatest joy and now he had the wilderness fishing of his dreams as a Canadian citizen, not to mention a real gem of a mate. (oh the hoops he had to jump through)
Then Bl and drummer decided to move the franchise to Austin TX, gothic Americana (steampunk death folk circus music) is interesting from a New England perspective, it formed a tribe of support with packed gigs. In Austin it became one of many bearded hipster bands. I wasn't about to abandon my elderly parents for Texas (too hot for me! too much ragweed in Austin and the other issue about TX that shant be mentioned)
Hear tell, once in Austin Bl's wife found out about the affair he was having with the cute album cover artist and as his wife's very rich mother was the financier, there went support money for everything. Drummer started to see the Bl's wife, I don't believe that went down well either. Total implosion. Makes a great story though in the gothic Americana idiom.

 

[bassfran]

1. After 2 years BL/keys suddenly decided to dictate all my bass parts. Later, Gator.
2. Singer and drummer (married to each other) wanted to keep writing more and more songs. I felt strongly that we should concentrate on playing more shows since we were complete unknowns. After months of consistent arguing about it I gave up and split.
3. Singer liked drugs more than us.
4. Nice guys, decent players and good material but booked only 2 gigs in a year's time. Buh-bye.

There are likely more but these are the ones that 1st come to mind.

 

[Cut the middle]

6) Band leader's wife insisting by shouting and arm waving, that the bass was "way too loud," even when I played 5 songs in a row with my amp off.

She sounds like a real psycho,!

 

[Winton]

I played in this band here 20 years ago … The drummer was way too loud, the lead singer was always drunk, and the 2 guitars would zombie out when they played … you can see I look totally bored on stage … I really enjoyed leaving that band … they kept going thru bass players and they kept making the same mistakes in the same songs for years

View attachment 3833146

That look on your face is classic, lol

 

[Geena]

Back in the late 80s, a friend of a friend had a southern rock/country band that was looking for a drummer. I joined them, and we were supposed to get together the coming weekend, for me to meet the rest of the band and rehearse. It started off pretty bad right out of the gate, and progressively got worse. The "rehearsal" turned out to be a gig at a local bar. I had still not met the rest of the band at this point (after almost a week), and didn`t even know what their play list was. The "band leader" gave me a freaking cassette tape to listen to, to learn the songs they would be playing...at 06:30 on the day of that gig...we were supposed to go on at 6PM.

Ticked me off pretty bad, but I hung in there for a lot longer than I probably should have. This band NEVER got together to rehearse, and just "winged it" at every single gig we did. I didn`t even SEE the rest of the band until we were getting ready to for a gig. After about 3 or 4 months of this crap, I decided it was time to move on before I started getting bad press from it. I told them I would give them one more month to find a drummer, and that I would be leaving whether they had one of not. They hadn`t found one by the time my month notice expired, and I left. Fully understanding why their last drummer walked out on them. They called me a few times, trying to get me to come back, but I never returned their calls.

 

[Cut the middle]

Keep it coming folks!

 

[mattj1stc]

It was a hobby band, for fun. Dealing with a #2 rhythm guitarist who was too loud (and couldn't play well) and a singer who treated the band like his personal karaoke (never learning the words to songs) made the band not so fun anymore, so I left.

 

[Rib 13]

Ive gone one further: Ive pretty much quit playing live cover band music after doing it for 30+ years and I am now a RN.......I still record and fill-in with bands..........The problem is me: My choices in my area are either guitar bar rock, blues, or country - all of which Ive done to death and beyond. Theres a few corporate bands but Im pretty much done with that too. Theres a lot of other musical styles Id rather do but nobody around my area has any interest in those and especially newer music -- theres a problem with me playing/singing newer music too: It doesnt really get communicated correctly by someone my age (50+) to the audience. I don't blame my musical community: My local scene is perfectly happy playing classic and jurassic rock and, if they are happy, thats all that matters.........So, I decided I'm done.

 

[Winton]

I was in this band in Tokyo run by an American dude that promised that he had very big goals in mind and how we will be BIG. Started doing marketing material, websites, pictures, even before we started performing. We went along with it, but his fantastic ideas (and eventually) his attitude against any sort of criticism made it easy for me to leave. We all tried leveling with him and confronted him but he would constantly counter what we would say, always mentioning about his mental illnesses. I'm a very communicative guy so I told him straight up by phone (he refused to meet up with me because he knew it was coming). He felt betrayed and would put all blame on me.

Another band for just a one time thing. I said that I'll just show up for one rehearsal, maybe 2, before our gig (mainly because I was busy). The guitarist heavily insisted on me showing up to every rehearsal even though it was obviously not necessary for such a casual fun event where we just play 2 songs. I stuck with it but never wanted to play with him again.

Both scenarios, it was like having an extremely annoying, nagging girlfriend. Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[QweziRider]

Because we were booked for this past weekend (yesterday and Friday), less than two weeks ago we had not yet been cancelled due to shutdowns, asked what was going on since it's been so long since the last gig and wondered if we'd rehearse the previous weekend. BL texts back, "Haven't heard a thing, I guess we're cancelled."

BL played the joint last night as a solo gig.

I'm out.

 

[Clemouze]

The guitarist was indicating me what to play on bass and wrote the core basslines

 

[jmattbassplaya]

There have been a number of reasons over the years but it usually comes down to one of the following:

1. Travel distance from the rehearsal spot.
2. Lack of paying gigs.
3. Lack of progress.

The last point is probably the biggest for me. I don't necessarily mind staying in the garage and playing for fun and even traveling for it, but I have to see progress within the group. The repertoire should grow, the songs should get tighter, the jams better and more intricate, etc...

 

[pcake]

other band members not putting in the effort, playing badly and not learning songs
or
band member drama