My worst gig was this weekend just gone.
It's a school fete (a fun day, fairground rides, hoopla games, lucky dip, throw sponges at teacher stall etc etc) Don't know what they call it in other parts of the world but its one of those family, fun, fundraising events.
Anyway we are last band on after acoustic duos, a young rock band, a very good pop-rock "Crowded House"-like band, and a white reggae-funk band.
All the acts have been allocated a 25 minute slot. 10 minute changeovers.
At about an hour before we are on, we've got our gear at the back of the stage area, ready to be lifted on, plugged in and go, guitars tuned. We can set up in 5 minutes. Fast and professional.
It's 5 minutes till the band before us is on. Nowhere to be seen, "have they turned up?" I ask the organizer. She doesn't know. But show is running a bit late, they still have leeway. Well they finally appear, but are just relaxed hanging about. They are hippie-white-rasta-beanie-wearing types. I ask them if they are ready to get on, "oh man just waiting for our drummer".
They finally get on and set up really slowly. They have about 3 people banging drumkit and are just totally self-absorbed. All their songs sound the same. They go on over their time limit. Fete is 10 minutes from being officially over, but organizer says end time is flexible. I'm pacing about thinking how long will they be? Organize says "last song" they say OK. But then play another song, that goes on for ages and has extended stop start ending, can see people drifting away.
They finally finish. Again they take ages to pack up. It's like no one else exists. I say to their singer "It's really bad that you are going over your time allocation and are now taking ages to get off stage". He comes right back at me, face 1" away from mine saying "what are you going to do about it" in a really aggressive way, like he's going to hit me. He has a drum stand in his hand. I say you're a jerk and shove him away. He grabs my throat really hard, before being dragged off by my band mates.
They were singing about peace and love 2 minutes before. Amazing how nasty they all were considering. They then continued to hog the back stage area hindering us getting on stage, putting their gear in the way. Really being c***s.
Anyway we finally got on stage, and the kids loved us. They were really pissed of and even came back stage while we were on to try to take some of our stuff, thankfully repelled by a parent. Unfortunately we had to cut our set short because of all this.
Later on they tried to get payment from the organizers - even though it was a charity event and no one got paid. They stank of weed. I think smoking that at a kids event is so bad.
My throat is still sore from him strangling me, horrible.
We've only ever had trouble from hippie trustafarian bands.
It's weird. Have gigged with killer-looking punks, metal heads with piercings and horror-tattoos, goths and rockabilly bikers, art-weirdos - all as nice as can be, interesting and interested in others. Respect from all of these people, never a problem.
Anyway, that's the last time I play alongside a white-reggae act, they're just nutters.
It's a school fete (a fun day, fairground rides, hoopla games, lucky dip, throw sponges at teacher stall etc etc) Don't know what they call it in other parts of the world but its one of those family, fun, fundraising events.
Anyway we are last band on after acoustic duos, a young rock band, a very good pop-rock "Crowded House"-like band, and a white reggae-funk band.
All the acts have been allocated a 25 minute slot. 10 minute changeovers.
At about an hour before we are on, we've got our gear at the back of the stage area, ready to be lifted on, plugged in and go, guitars tuned. We can set up in 5 minutes. Fast and professional.
It's 5 minutes till the band before us is on. Nowhere to be seen, "have they turned up?" I ask the organizer. She doesn't know. But show is running a bit late, they still have leeway. Well they finally appear, but are just relaxed hanging about. They are hippie-white-rasta-beanie-wearing types. I ask them if they are ready to get on, "oh man just waiting for our drummer".
They finally get on and set up really slowly. They have about 3 people banging drumkit and are just totally self-absorbed. All their songs sound the same. They go on over their time limit. Fete is 10 minutes from being officially over, but organizer says end time is flexible. I'm pacing about thinking how long will they be? Organize says "last song" they say OK. But then play another song, that goes on for ages and has extended stop start ending, can see people drifting away.
They finally finish. Again they take ages to pack up. It's like no one else exists. I say to their singer "It's really bad that you are going over your time allocation and are now taking ages to get off stage". He comes right back at me, face 1" away from mine saying "what are you going to do about it" in a really aggressive way, like he's going to hit me. He has a drum stand in his hand. I say you're a jerk and shove him away. He grabs my throat really hard, before being dragged off by my band mates.
They were singing about peace and love 2 minutes before. Amazing how nasty they all were considering. They then continued to hog the back stage area hindering us getting on stage, putting their gear in the way. Really being c***s.
Anyway we finally got on stage, and the kids loved us. They were really pissed of and even came back stage while we were on to try to take some of our stuff, thankfully repelled by a parent. Unfortunately we had to cut our set short because of all this.
Later on they tried to get payment from the organizers - even though it was a charity event and no one got paid. They stank of weed. I think smoking that at a kids event is so bad.
My throat is still sore from him strangling me, horrible.
We've only ever had trouble from hippie trustafarian bands.
It's weird. Have gigged with killer-looking punks, metal heads with piercings and horror-tattoos, goths and rockabilly bikers, art-weirdos - all as nice as can be, interesting and interested in others. Respect from all of these people, never a problem.
Anyway, that's the last time I play alongside a white-reggae act, they're just nutters.
and I am OK with that, practice Wed and the NEXT first gig is in two weeks 
