Post by kenb on Jul 5, 2009 10:15:31 GMT -8
I'm on a bitch rant this morning, and I have to get this out, sorry, but it's actually funny in a sad ass sort of way.
I play a lot of shows where there are multiple acts playing one after the other. This is kind of the way things go if you play clubs now, there are usually 2 or more bands to a bill.
You can always tell the rookie bands. They don't get off the stage when they are done, they bullshit with the folks giving them kudos for the great set, and bask in their new glory right on stage while we, the next band up, are waiting so we can put out shit on stage and play for the crowd that we brought, so the rookies would have someone to play for besides their mom and girlfriends.
Get your shit off the stage and bask 10 minutes later!
And this was a new one for me. I played a solo show for a 4th of July festival on Friday. I never play solo, so it was fairly awkward to begin with. I got on stage following a full band, and was setting up. All I had was an acoustic guitar and a mic. I started talking to the audience and just making noise as I tuned my guitar, and I heard a loud thump next to me. A guy was pushing his bass drum up on the stage right next to me. I had to move my guitar case and the drum was less that 5 feet from me to my right side.
I figured he was done, so i started my first song. As I was playing a kept hearing shuffling, talking ,and clanking next to me, but it was a little behind me, so I couldn't see what was going on until I turned and looked, (still playing my song). He was setting up his drum set!
I saw him hook up his kick pedal, and then...viola he kicked it a few times. Just cursory testing to see if the fucking thing worked I guess. It wasn't anywhere close to being in time with my tune, then a few taps here and there on the skins, again to a different song than I was still trying to play. There were a few in the audience that were laughing, and a few that were obviously mad for the interruption in my song. I ended the song before it was done. I couldn't keep time anymore.
I turned to the guy, who was, shall we say seasoned, (he was my age or maybe older, at least mid-fifties), and asked if he was done setting up. When he looked at me I could tell, he was surprised I was talking to him, and replied that he was nearly done. No apology, in fact he acted as if I was bothering him.
So I said, "Great! When you test out some more of your drums, try and see if you can hit the fuckers on the beat!" I was freakin fuming! He asked me, if he was bothering me, and I said yes it was a little disconcerting to have a drummer playing "Smoke on the Water, while I was playing a waltz. He told me, "I guess that's why you play alone." Pretty snappy! Sharp as a marble, he was.
He left in a huff.
He apologized after my set, and I assume someone told him I wasn't a rookie, had been invited and paid very well to come sing some of my songs at the festival. I'm not a big star, but I play in excess of 200 shows a year, tour all over the US a couple times a year, and play with some pretty hot bands, and it seemed he may have been told something to that effect.
Anyway it all ended well, we parted friends of sorts, and he played his set with his band.
There needs to be a rule book. First rule; pay attention. Its about the music not us. I get reminded of that almost daily, and it can be humbling
I play a lot of shows where there are multiple acts playing one after the other. This is kind of the way things go if you play clubs now, there are usually 2 or more bands to a bill.
You can always tell the rookie bands. They don't get off the stage when they are done, they bullshit with the folks giving them kudos for the great set, and bask in their new glory right on stage while we, the next band up, are waiting so we can put out shit on stage and play for the crowd that we brought, so the rookies would have someone to play for besides their mom and girlfriends.
Get your shit off the stage and bask 10 minutes later!
And this was a new one for me. I played a solo show for a 4th of July festival on Friday. I never play solo, so it was fairly awkward to begin with. I got on stage following a full band, and was setting up. All I had was an acoustic guitar and a mic. I started talking to the audience and just making noise as I tuned my guitar, and I heard a loud thump next to me. A guy was pushing his bass drum up on the stage right next to me. I had to move my guitar case and the drum was less that 5 feet from me to my right side.
I figured he was done, so i started my first song. As I was playing a kept hearing shuffling, talking ,and clanking next to me, but it was a little behind me, so I couldn't see what was going on until I turned and looked, (still playing my song). He was setting up his drum set!
I saw him hook up his kick pedal, and then...viola he kicked it a few times. Just cursory testing to see if the fucking thing worked I guess. It wasn't anywhere close to being in time with my tune, then a few taps here and there on the skins, again to a different song than I was still trying to play. There were a few in the audience that were laughing, and a few that were obviously mad for the interruption in my song. I ended the song before it was done. I couldn't keep time anymore.
I turned to the guy, who was, shall we say seasoned, (he was my age or maybe older, at least mid-fifties), and asked if he was done setting up. When he looked at me I could tell, he was surprised I was talking to him, and replied that he was nearly done. No apology, in fact he acted as if I was bothering him.
So I said, "Great! When you test out some more of your drums, try and see if you can hit the fuckers on the beat!" I was freakin fuming! He asked me, if he was bothering me, and I said yes it was a little disconcerting to have a drummer playing "Smoke on the Water, while I was playing a waltz. He told me, "I guess that's why you play alone." Pretty snappy! Sharp as a marble, he was.
He left in a huff.
He apologized after my set, and I assume someone told him I wasn't a rookie, had been invited and paid very well to come sing some of my songs at the festival. I'm not a big star, but I play in excess of 200 shows a year, tour all over the US a couple times a year, and play with some pretty hot bands, and it seemed he may have been told something to that effect.
Anyway it all ended well, we parted friends of sorts, and he played his set with his band.
There needs to be a rule book. First rule; pay attention. Its about the music not us. I get reminded of that almost daily, and it can be humbling
