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Would you walk out mid-gig?

#41
If a gig goes so bad you want to quit the band in the middle of it, that usually is as much on you as it is on them.
Let it be a lesson on how to pick bands and quit after you're done playing.
Always have hearing protection with you when you play. As a musician who is expected to work closely with the drummer, you should own proper ear plugs anyway.

I mean, okay - if you find yourself in a situation where something not related to the music (like the nazi situation @Volker Kirstein was in) happens, it might be the professional way to distance yourself from all of it in the second you find out.

If there are loudness wars breaking out on stage, there have been clear signs beforehand. Bands that are way too loud on stage have loud rehearsals, too. They just can't control their volume.
 
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#42
Maybe my biggest regret in my life as a bassist is that I once threatened not to play a gig if the venue didn't let my underage girlfriend in. I was 21. She was 20. It was a childish move, and honestly, uncharacteristic for me. It was 37 years ago and it still bothers me. I played the gig, but was fired afterward, as I should have been.

A few years later, I was playing in a blues band, and the whole band walked off because the vibe in the biker bar we were playing got very ugly. The bartender told us to get out as quickly as we could. I suspect that was good advice.

I tried to convince that same band to do that same thing another time after one of the patrons got stabbed in the face. I told the BL I'd do whatever he thought was best, but I was ready to go. This time we finished the gig and got out of there relatively unscathed. I can't recall if we ever played that room again, but I think we did.
 
#43
No, I'll stick it out to the end but w/ ear plugs and cans in position. I'd make it very clear that I'll never share a stage again and load-out everything that is my property. I'd be more prone to execute when faced with unprofessional, embarrassing stage behavior (drunk, profane, violent, etc.)...I won't be humiliated.

Riis
 
#46
I came extremely close. It was a show with 3 or 4 original bands. And the "headliner" insisted that everyone had to use their gear cuz they didn't have "time" for everyone to change gear.

I got to use a crappy 410 and 115 that was farting out even when I had it turned down so low the farts were the only parts you could hear.

I got off stage after the show packed my gear and was out so fast I was on the highway home before my drummer had time to text me and ask where I got to.
 
#48
Steven Ayres said:
I remember once packing up and leaving when the drunken bandleader decided he wanted to play overtime to a room where they were actually putting chairs up on tables to close. I don't think that counts.
Click to expand...

Same here, after a long gig, which had started late I was no mood for the singers drunken jam session, and walked.

Turns out it does count, as I was fired 2 days later... I have no regrets!
 
#49
The only time I have was when a mass brawl broke out and with no security it just went on and on… once the pint glasses and pool balls started flying around the room, I started packing up. It was an acoustic duo and the guitarist was like “oh, are we done” I just looked at him in disbelief and he got the message.
 
#51
I’ve quit the following day after a particularly brutal gig experience. There’s only so much crapola one can put up with on the saloon circuit. For higher paying jobs, the tolerance factor totally rises.

Quitting mid-gig is bad karma, almost as bad as not showing up at all, IMO.
 
#52
I was playing in a blues band about 25 years ago when the drummer walked off stage in the middle of the gig because he didn't want to play the next song. The BL told him we were playing it anyway. The drummer left the stage, walked to the back of the venue, opened the fire door and stood out on the fire escape lighting up a joint. The BL told us the gig was over and we went home.

That was the end of the band, we never played again. A few months later the guitarist joined the Fabulous Thunderbirds :wideyed: and the BL moved back to Seattle to take a day job with Microsoft. You can't make this s*** up.
 
#53
I quit before a gig once. I had rehearsed with this band a couple times and mentioned the sound problem. After like the third time, I quit a few days before the gig. They weren’t happy, but my ears were.
 
#55
I played some sketchy places when I was younger. I played the gig but told the BL "never again" . I've never quit a band in the middle of a gig....but have left one or two if I felt it was risky to continue with the band or venues.

Since then I check the "new" places out, where we get asked to play, on Friday or Saturday nights to see what kind of crowd shows up. Doing that this week.
 
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#56
Well, no shots were fired, but there was a woman unconcious on the floor, bleeding from her ear and nose. And it wasn't just me who left, because the cops came and shut the place down. I even remember the name of the club: Down By The Station. Hornell, NY, 1975.
 
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#57
I've never had to do it....and it would take a serious situation to warrant walking out mid gig. Also whom i was playing with may be a contributing factor...local pro's with whom a good reputation is important, vs "random" local/amature types from craiglist ad. Maybe a big band fight or heavy drug use? However, with pro's, its a LOT less likely a situation that serious would occur:)
 
#58
I walked out on a soundcheck once. No need to stick around for the show. I switched over to bluegrass and country blues back in '86 and volume levels since then haven't been a problem. I've done some fill in gigs over the years for friends and college band reunions, but I'm done with loud. I can't handle it anymore. I've never cared about gigs anyway. I'm happier playing in a living room than on a stage in front of a thousand people if the music is good. Less hassle. Often better playing too.
 
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#60
I had a drummer walk off near the end of our set. I did not blame him. The lead guitarist had way too much to drink and was on the struggle bus playing Yellow Ledbetter. It was truly awful. After the drummer walked off, I found a logical exit point and walked off as well to make it seem like we were going on a break, which we did after that song. Luckily a friend of the band was there and able to fill in on guitar for the last 40 minutes or so.
 

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