thebrig

We auditioned a singer last night, and to say he was awful would be an understatement. Normally we would ask someone auditioning to learn five or six songs for a 45 minute slot, I sent him a list of 16 songs to choose from, and he said he knew them all and would be happy to do all of them on the night, so we thought that we might as well have him there for the whole two hour session seeing that he is familiar with them all. So we left it to him to choose the running order, guitarist plays the intro, singer comes in over it, next song, same thing happens, third song, he doesn't come in at all, and all night he was singing over solo's, singing chorus's when it should have been a verse and vice-versa, and to make matters worse, he was just about the worst singer we have ever heard, the type you often get doing a drunken karaoke badly. He did say after a few songs that it wasn't going too well, so we asked if he wanted to call it a day and finish early, but he said he wanted to carry on and we didn't have the heart to tell him to go, I know a lot of bands would have told him to go after the first song, but he was so bad, we actually felt sorry for him, and we know it takes a lot of guts to audition with strangers, and he was obviously nervous, but he was totally under prepared as well as not being able to sing at all. Has this ever happened to you, and if so, how would you have handled it?

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

I've just auditioned for a band where drummer is in his 30's, the guitarist is 27, and the singer is 29 and she has the most amazing voice I've ever heard (think Joplin, Beth Hart, etc), when I applied, I did mention that I might be too old for them, but they offered me the gig after the audition even though I am 66, they said that they are not bothered at all by my age, they felt I fitted in well and liked the way I played, so don't be put off at such a tender age of 39, you've got many years left to rock! 😊

Not really questioning whether this is genuine or not because it probably is, but it is listed at a "Buy It Now" price of £1300 which seems very reasonable, then I saw it again listed as an auction item with a starting bid of £1800, but what puzzles me is the fact that it is listed by TWO different sellers, one is in London, the other is in Bourne, both have 100% feedback so are probably genuine sellers, one is charging £20 for shipping, the other is charging £28 for shipping, all seems a bit odd to me. Your thoughts? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Bass-Genuine-1978-Great-Condition-Olympic-White-aged/323392507716?hash=item4b4bb20f44%3Ag%3AzUIAAOSwX4dbbSZ8&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sacat=0&_nkw=fender+precision+bass&_from=R40&rt=nc https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Bass-Genuine-1978-79-Great-Condition-Olympic-White/332762824639?hash=item4d7a35bfbf%3Ag%3Av9sAAOSwX3FbHq7Q&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sacat=0&_nkw=fender+precision+bass&_from=R40&rt=nc

In the West Midlands there are a couple of Led Zep tribute bands, one is called Fred Zeppelin, and the other band who is fronted by a female vocalist is called Miss-Led.

It's definitely the number of musicians in my area, most venues don't want to pay the money anymore so are hiring duo's and solo acts more and more, I know a number of landlords and they admit this themselves. Full band = £200/250 Duo = £100/150 Solo act = £50/100

We might have considered taking him on, but we rehearse Tuesdays, and he "Can't do Tuesdays"

Another JoinMyBand classic!!! Ding ding, who wants me? Triangle player seeks band. Can play any style. Own transport. Can't do Tuesdays.

I remember a few year's ago we auditioned a singer, we gave him two weeks to learn six very well known songs, anyway, when he turned up, he had his girlfriend with him who sat in the corner of the rehearsal room, we asked him which of the songs he wanted to start with, he hesitated and after a long pause, he finally suggested one but then said he would have to have listen to it on his phone first to remind him how the song went, obviously we all looked each other fearing the worst, and sure enough, he didn't have a clue how the song went, so we then suggested trying one of the other songs and exactly the same thing happened, luckily for us, his girlfriend stood up and said to him, "come on, let's go, you haven't even learn't the songs, have you? you are wasting these guy's time", she then apologised to us all and proceeded to march him out of the room, I don't think I would have wanted to be him on the way home.

VOCALIST REQUIRED FOR TERRIBLE BAND Unreliable egotistical diva required to sing badly before their voice fails half way through the second song of each two hour set. The ability to come up with various poor excuses and not turn up for gigs and practices less than half an hour before they need to be there is a must. Must also be able to argue equally with ALL other band members and have tantrums on and off stage whilst maintaining a drunken and/or stoned condition. The ideal applicant won't even turn up to their own audition and preference will be given to applicants who have extremely poor personal hygiene. If you think you can live up to these high expectations you probably won't be arsed to respond to this advert, if not please feel free to message me here.

Fantastic!!!

I have had at least 30 basses over the last ten years and I've normally had around eight to ten at any one time, but I have finally come to my senses and realise that I only need TWO max, and probably only need ONE to be honest, I have never had a bass break down on me yet, so no real need for a back-up. I have been selling my collection off over the last 6/12 months and I now have my final three up for sale now as I write, I have recouped at least £5,000 recently and I am receiving a new bass today that is going to be the one I will gig all the time, it cost me just over a grand, I have treated the missus to a few things, I have upgraded my hifi system, we have brought a few things for the house, and some of the money will go towards this year's holidays. I feel so much better for not having all those basses hanging on hooks around the house, I feel that I am now spending our money on things that benefit both of us. Don't know how long this non-gas will last though!

If I take york5stringer's advice, I could book a seat next to me for the the bass instead of the missus

I'm no expert by any means, but I do keep an eye on what vintage Fenders tend to go for, and I would say that £16,000 is a fair price for an instrument of this age and quality. If this is genuine and can be authenticated, I would say that it would be a great investment. I am so tempted, and I could take the missus to the States with me to pick it up personally, the saving on the shipping (855.29 USD) would go a long way to funding the trip.

The first commercial release of the Precision bass was in October 1951, the neck is dated 5th May 1953 on this one, so this really is a museum piece. I want it!!!