Worst. Drummer. Ever.

[Wesley R]

First provide the BL a list of some drummers he doesn't know and the the contact info. Simply state that these are some good drummers.Solve his problem for him.

 

[Tom Howland]

If it were me, I would tell the BL don't call me if you use that drummer. Simple.

 

[3bc]

I think that BL has to be approached with a "everybody wins" solution but, if that drummer is his friend there's no logical way to convince him for not to call him again. Friendship is a very strong link and sometimes blinds people's thoughts.

Do not approach BL with ultimatums or "I don't like to play with that guy" arguments because he's gonna take it personally (you're talking about his friend). Be emotional in your speech. Talk to his emotions , not his mind. Talk about how better can sound the band with more competent musicians and how can all benefit from this. Tell him that it's not personal with his friend, but hiring him doen't benefit anyone. The band sounds bad , band members are unconfortable and maybe he can find himself in a situation that the best musicians out there don't want to gig with him.

What about the drummer?.. well , somebody has to tell him that he needs more practice. Nothing personal here..but if he wants to enjoy music and do more gigs he must work on his drum skills.

This more or less. I would take a very Dale Carnagie approach here. "You're a great band leader, I appreciate the opportunity to work together and love gigging with you. I know so and so is your good friend and he's a good dude, but he doesn't seem to take this very seriously. I worry that having to cut short songs that are flying off the rails may wind up affecting your ability to get repeat bookings. Here are the names and numbers of a few drummers I know that are really great pros and good dudes. I have a gig coming up this Saturday with one of them, why don't you come out if you are free, I'll buy you a drink and introduce you. Alright brother, I'll see you soon."

I am in sales by trade and won't boast about being the best or anywhere near but I have successfully gotten people to fire their best friends from college, brothers in law etc. in a very non-confrontational, but to the point way, you need him to understand you like gigging with him, and that you think this buddy has the potential to affect his ability to get gigs and make money. Friends are great and family is great, but they shouldn't interfere in your ability to earn a living - and they shouldn't want to either or they are real shite friends.

 

[two fingers]

This drummer is a friend of his. He is a "deep bench player" and is only "fielded" when the BL has no options. I know two drummers that were free tonight other than that guy...

Edit: The BL does not know these drummers.

Simple. You tell the BL you know better players and would be happy to give him their contact info.

Also, you tell the BL you will never work with that guy again.

Problem solved.

 

[filmtex]

you guys won’t have a gig soon if the drummer isn’t canned. and, problem solved.

I pulled the plug on a situation like that almost exactly a year ago. Told the BL, if he uses a certain drummer, or two, to call another bassist. He hasn't done a show since. It's just not worth wrecking your reputation on the basis of a drummers (in)abilities. IMHO

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Maybe not the worst - check this out

 

[mbart203]

It's true, you don't have the right to fire the drummer but you certainly have the right to not play the gigs that he's playing.
Introduce these other drummers to the BL

 

[micbass]

That sounds awful. Hideous comes to mind. You stuck through it - I'm proud of you. I think I would have started randomly plucking notes. 'What? Me - I never worry about chord progressions during a gig." Friend or not, that can't be good for repeat business. For some reason, the OP painted a picture of complete horror in my mind.

 

[buldog5151bass]

For some reason this BL still books this guy, while knowing there are issues. Rather than give an ultimatum, and risk losing these sub gigs, why not have a discussion with BL to discuss the gig and ask why he was used. Offer other names. Deepen his "bench".

 

[Kukulkan61]

If the BL isn’t affected in anyway by this drummers performance then he doesn’t care about how it makes the rest of the band look not even himself IMO the BL is just as whacked as that drummer, I would turn down any gigs where he uses that drummer...

 

[Spidey2112]

So a friend of mine who is a BL contacted me earlier in the week to do a cover gig at a beach bar. This BL will throw together a band on the fly to do simple reggae standards. I am typically his bassist, but the line up is always rotating amongst players in the area. When I got to the bar I asked him who the drummer was going to be for the night. He informs me it's X who we are both familiar with and have worked with. We are also both aware and have agreed that he is a horrible drummer. We start the first song of the night and it is almost immediately a total travesty. As the night goes on things don't get any better. At one point the BL turns to the drummer and asks that we pick up the song to a double time. The drummer then precedes to do a triplet "Dancehall style" reggae rhythm which essentially crashes the song into a ditch - we barely recover. The whole night is like this.

This whole thing made my blood boil for a few reasons. First of all his awful performance made the rest of us look terrible in return. I can only do so much to keep a train wreck rolling. Two songs tonight had to be stopped arbitrarily because he got so lost that he could no longer find the beat. Often times I get gigs with new BLs by meeting them and networking at gigs I'm doing for other BLs. If there was a potential BL looking for a bassist, I doubt he would have hired me based on the sh*t show I was involved with tonight.

The other thing that pisses me right the **** off is that there are practiced, talented, ambitious drummers in our area who have put time in to hone their craft and they are dying for work while this guy is taking gigs and totally cavalier about how terrible he is. It's almost a joke to him... I've talked to him in the past about his horrible performance, specifically not holding tempos during fills, and his response was to the affect of "Yeah, I don't bother trying to hold down the tempo in drum fills" ...!

Another point of contention is that this BL and I have talked and both agreed that this drummer is no where near talented enough to do these shows, yet here we are again.

Would I be out of line to let this BL know that I refuse to work with the drummer again? Would I be out of line to cancel a gig at short notice if I find out this drummer is booked again? I do 2-3 nights a month with this BL which is significantly more than any other, so I'm weary about being ham fisted with the way I handle this. I cannot go through another gig like tonight, though.

The drummer will forever be known by his new tribal name...

... 'Weak Link With Asymmetrical Craptastic Drum Fills'...

 

[Duder]

Simple. You tell the BL you know better players and would be happy to give hi their contact info.

Also, you tell the BL you will never work with that guy again.

Problem solved.

Great suggestion, though I would maybe word the part about no working with that guy a little softer. Maybe something along the lines of "I would prefer you use a sub for me if that drummer is also working."

 

[FugaziBomb]

You are making this about you.

1. You aren't the bad drummer.
2. It's not your job to hire/fire the drummer.
3. Anyone who would judge your bass playing upon what the drummer is doing is not someone you wanna work with.
4. If you start whining to the BL and refusing to work with certain people you are creating problems for the BL and lowering your worth.

My advice is to play the bass and only play the bass. Never offer your opinions unless asked.

I agree with this, but this time the drumming was so bad, it was essentially impossible to hold a groove or in any way shine even as a pocket player. I am weary of making too big a deal about it, as I like working with the BL and typically the performances are good. I dunno if I can go through that again, though. I was so embarrassed to be part of that...

 

[FugaziBomb]

I think that BL has to be approached with a "everybody wins" solution but, if that drummer is his friend there's no logical way to convince him for not to call him again. Friendship is a very strong link and sometimes blinds people's thoughts.

Do not approach BL with ultimatums or "I don't like to play with that guy" arguments because he's gonna take it personally (you're talking about his friend). Be emotional in your speech. Talk to his emotions , not his mind. Talk about how better can sound the band with more competent musicians and how can all benefit from this. Tell him that it's not personal with his friend, but hiring him doen't benefit anyone. The band sounds bad , band members are unconfortable and maybe he can find himself in a situation that the best musicians out there don't want to gig with him.

What about the drummer?.. well , somebody has to tell him that he needs more practice. Nothing personal here..but if he wants to enjoy music and do more gigs he must work on his drum skills.

I'm on the same page with being tactful. As for the drummer, I have talked to him in the past and he brushes off his lack of skill as "no big deal" and claims that "nobody is perfect, everyone makes mistakes." It's like talking to a brick wall

 

[Duder]

I agree with this, but this time the drumming was so bad, it was essentially impossible to hold a groove or in any way shine even as a pocket player. I am weary of making too big a deal about it, as I like working with the BL and typically the performances are good. I dunno if I can go through that again, though. I was so embarrassed to be part of that...

A professional musician should never have to be in a position to feel embarrassed about a performance. I mean, sh*t does happen (see Mariah Carey's NYE in-ear monitor catastrophe), but it sounds like this guy is consistently bad.

 

[JRA]

I've many times made it clear I'll only take gigs if a certain person or two, or more, are NOT involved.
I've usually gotten the calls to gig and never had to deal with the problem person(s) again. When in doubt, I also provide the contact details for people who can and will do the music justice.

StayLow has it right, IMO.

part of the BL's job is to consider the 'mix' of musicians: you have some clout...use it! good luck!

 

[FugaziBomb]

This more or less. I would take a very Dale Carnagie approach here. "You're a great band leader, I appreciate the opportunity to work together and love gigging with you. I know so and so is your good friend and he's a good dude, but he doesn't seem to take this very seriously. I worry that having to cut short songs that are flying off the rails may wind up affecting your ability to get repeat bookings. Here are the names and numbers of a few drummers I know that are really great pros and good dudes. I have a gig coming up this Saturday with one of them, why don't you come out if you are free, I'll buy you a drink and introduce you. Alright brother, I'll see you soon."

I am in sales by trade and won't boast about being the best or anywhere near but I have successfully gotten people to fire their best friends from college, brothers in law etc. in a very non-confrontational, but to the point way, you need him to understand you like gigging with him, and that you think this buddy has the potential to affect his ability to get gigs and make money. Friends are great and family is great, but they shouldn't interfere in your ability to earn a living - and they shouldn't want to either or they are real poopiee friends.

I did that almost verbatim this morning. I also have him two references for other drummers. He seemed cognizant of how bad the guy is, but I went through this already 8 months ago (the last gig with that drummer) and thought I would never have to gig with him again...

 

[FugaziBomb]

Maybe not the worst - check this out

This is close to how our night went...

 

[Whil57]

Maybe not the worst - check this out

The drummer took some acid back when he was playing with Vanilla Fudge and has been playing the same song ever since then.

 

[FugaziBomb]

That sounds awful. Hideous comes to mind. You stuck through it - I'm proud of you. I think I would have started randomly plucking notes. 'What? Me - I never worry about chord progressions during a gig." Friend or not, that can't be good for repeat business. For some reason, the OP painted a picture of complete horror in my mind.

It was horror... Even when he wasn't doing some kind of fill or off beat, it still want very good. No groove, and no sense of ensemble. He was just playing fun beats that did not correlate to anything the rest of us were doing. It was nightmarish. And it went on for 4 hours!