Quitting A Gigging Band?

[steantval]

7 hours ago, DaytonaRik said:

I quit Think Lizzy who had around 30 gigs booked for 2018 for a few reasons

1. I'm not a Thin Lizzy fan!
2. Out of 80 gigs we played, only 2 were within 10 miles of where I lived, the rest were an average of bout 100 mile round trip - funny, but the b/l's average trip was about 10 miles each way...go figure!
3. Other hobbies/interests
4. I wanted to spend more weekend time with the significant other
5. I had formed another project which involved less gigs (10-12 a year MAX!) and contemporary material that I actual enjoy

The biggest bugbear was a combination of travelling 100 miles every other weekend to play music I wasn't really enjoying playing - I guess I could have put up with one or the other, but not both.  Once that resentment kicks in then you know the writing is on the wall.  I tried discussing the problem of travel with the b/l but the idea of gigs nearer to me always seemed to fall on deaf ears.  He was genuinely shocked when I called it quits.

Music is a part of my life (albeit a very important part), but not all of it.

As other chatters have questioned, I don’t understand reason 1.

IMO to join a tribute band you really must be into the original band, it’s more passionate than being in just a general covers band, of which I have been in many and I’m currently in.

I played in a Free tribute band for a few years, one of the main reasons is that me and the rest of the band members were really into Free, I would still be doing it now if we hadn’t lost the vocalist (who was first rate, couldn’t find anyone good enough to replace him) as he went on to do his own original material.

Playing in a tribute band usually involves playing gigs more far afield, playing locally all the time just would not work.

One of our old vocalist from the 80’s is now one of the top Bowie band tribute acts and a lot of his gigs take him over to Europe.

Edited February 20, 2018 by steantval

[Monkey Steve]

On 20/02/2018 at 12:47, DaytonaRik said:

 

No, I knew it was a Thin Lizzy tribute band.  My point is that there was insufficient interest in the material to offset the pain in the backside that the travelling became.  When in three years you get two gigs on your doorstep whilst the b/l is home and in bed whilst you've not unloaded the car yet grates after a while!   Had it been music I really enjoyed listening to and playing then the travel would have been an inconvenience, not just another reason to stop/look for something else

This probably sums it up.  Perhaps it's a musician thing, but I've often come across band mates who do as much or as little as they please, only agree to they stuff they want, and assume that because they like it that way then everybody else must be happy.

The best/worst one i had was a guitarist who was late for everything, and not five or ten minutes, but over time, one or two hours, for gigs, nights out, and almost every single week for rehearsals.  This bothered all of us, particularly as the excuses for being late were so very obviously lies, but it particularly wound up the drummer who had got married and moved away, so was giving up an evening at home with his pretty new wife for the privilege (and cost) of driving 75 miles each way, sometimes kipping on my sofa and not seeing his wife for the best part of two days, and then paying for four hours of studio time of which two were spent sat around not rehearsing, waiting for the guitarist to show up.  Really bending over backwards to stay in the band after moving away,. and getting nothing in return.

When the drummer finally snapped and spat his dummy out, the guitarist was genuinely shocked - he couldn't believe how unreasonable the drummer was being in expecting him to get to rehearsals on time.  

needless to say the band didn't last much longer

[discreet]

21 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

...a guitarist who was late for everything, and not five or ten minutes, but over time, one or two hours, for gigs, nights out, and almost every single week for rehearsals. ..

This is guaranteed to boil my fosters. I'm not the world's most reliable man, but my reckoning is that if I can turn up on time, then anyone can. Persistent lateness is just pure selfish bullcrap.

[FuNkShUi]

6 minutes ago, discreet said:

This is guaranteed to boil my fosters. I'm not the world's most reliable man, but my reckoning is that if I can turn up on time, then anyone can. Persistent lateness is just pure selfish bullcrap.

We now impose fines for lateness as it was really pissing me off too.
The amount of times someone would say, "Be at the venue at 5". I'm there for 5, but the rest show up between 5 and half past.
I'd have no problem arriving at 5.30, just let me know so i could've stayed in the house! 

So it's £1 for every minute late.
Sounds a bit harsh, but we started it as our bands New Year resolution and no-one has been late since. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by FuNkShUi

[Paul S]

20 minutes ago, discreet said:

This is guaranteed to boil my fosters. I'm not the world's most reliable man, but my reckoning is that if I can turn up on time, then anyone can. Persistent lateness is just pure selfish bullcrap.

Pet hate of mine.  I am ALWAYS on time.  The only way I have ever been late for something is if my extra contingency travelling time is used up by extreme traffic conditions, and I generally allow enough time for that not to be a problem.  The way I see it, if someone is always late they can just as easily always be on time.  It believe it to be arrogant and disrespectful to make others wait 'just because' they are always late. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Paul S

[Monkey Steve]

1 hour ago, discreet said:

This is guaranteed to boil my fosters. I'm not the world's most reliable man, but my reckoning is that if I can turn up on time, then anyone can. Persistent lateness is just pure selfish bullcrap.

I hate being late for anything - I'd rather be half an hour early than five minutes late.  But people who are late clearly think that being on time isn't in the least bit annoying to anybody else, and no matter how much people tell them it's really annoying, they know they're right and that the people shouting in their faces aren't really very upset at all.

And there's always the laziest excuse that they think sounds plausible but is very clearly a complete lie that is fooling nobody. It's amazing how many times there are roadworks or the satnav has taken them the wrong way.  

It came to a head with this particular guitarist when he let slip that his tales of having to work late and not being able to commit to arrive on time (a half truth - he did a low level job in the building trade which relied on his boss offering him work by the day, so he had to work to whatever hour his boss wanted him there or might not get asked back the next day) were not quite the whole story.  It turned out that rather than working until 7.00 or 8.00 and coming straight to the studio as he liked to imply, on a very late day he was in fact finishing more like 6.30 or 7.00, heading home, then taking his girlfriend to the supermarket to do the weekly shop or to pick up something for their tea, then back to their place where he put his gear in the car while she cooked his tea, which he then sat down to eat before setting off for practice.

We quite loudly explained the concept of a sandwich, being more than most of us had to eat before rehearsals.  he thought it was completely unreasonable of us to expect him to skip a proper cooked meal

Edited February 21, 2018 by Monkey Steve

[KevB]

On 20/02/2018 at 13:02, DaytonaRik said:

I know what you mean - when you're fed up everything becomes an excuse to call it a day - little things grate like dumping gear in stupid places, commandeering too much stage real-estate, being inconsiderate, insistence on ear-shattering levels because that's 'my tone' instead of relying of FoH and monitoring...grrrrrr!

In the new project things couldn't be different, we're all respectful, keep levels down, put each other first - just how a band should be.

This is an interersting point. I didn't mention it while you were in the band but the rest of your band mates wanted me for a side project they planned to do outside of TL. I turned up to run through some songs and asked them to turn down twice at the session (small village hall) due to the stupid gtr volume levels and I was still at approx twice the vol I used to gig at with my previous classic rock band. I told your band leader that we were never asked to turn up. He looked at me and said 'Well I would have'. Texted him next day to tell them it wasn't going to work out and quit the project.

Edited February 21, 2018 by KevB

[Woodinblack]

My current band is ear shattering, both live and in practices. In fact, there is no real volume difference between the two.

Its quite unpleasant and unnecessary

 

[spongebob]

In a previous band, we had a drummer whose timekeeping was similar to the examples above - every rehearsal, at least 1/2 an hour late.

As said band was having problems, a 'band summit' was arranged to discuss said issues, including the drummers lateness.

In comic fashion, he then turned in more than 1/2 an hour late for the meeting, and then went on to take notes and agree it was an issue.

I left that one not long afterwards.....! 

Edited February 21, 2018 by spongebob

[discreet]

6 minutes ago, spongebob said:

...we had a drummer whose timekeeping was similar...

A drummer has two sorts of timekeeping to get right, then. Neither can be ignored!

[discreet]

24 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

My current band is ear shattering, both live and in practices. In fact, there is no real volume difference between the two.

Its quite unpleasant and unnecessary.

It IS uneccesary. I've been in some stupidly loud bands, so my current band, with both a drummer AND a guitarist who can play very quietly, is like being on holiday. So much easier to get a good sound without everything on '11' and you can listen properly too. Sweet!

Edited February 21, 2018 by discreet

[Woodinblack]

38 minutes ago, discreet said:

It IS uneccesary. I've been in some stupidly loud bands, so my current band, with both a drummer AND a guitarist who can play very quietly, is like being on holiday. So much easier to get a good sound without everything on '11' and you can listen properly too. Sweet!

I did an audition last week, it was so quiet I actually found it rather odd. Fantasic for practicing though, you can actually hear what is happening.

[phil.c60]

Just in from rehearsal. Not silly quiet but definitely not loud. If I said "Hold on, can we just stop there a moment..." everyone did, including the drummer. Just how it should be.

We've got a gig in a very small venue coming up, guitarist straight away offered to do it as an acoustic type gig (with acoustic guitar) and drummer immediately offered to do it on Cajon with  a cymbal and maybe a snare. It will be a first time for us playing like this. Instant co-operation, that's what I like. Shame I' not doing it and we've got a dep but as I'm having surgery 3 days before my wife put her foot down. Can't think why.

[discreet]

5 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I did an audition last week, it was so quiet I actually found it rather odd. Fantasic for practicing though, you can actually hear what is happening.

Absolutely. And if you have 'quiet on stage' at a gig, it makes the engineer's job a lot easier too.

[bazzbass]

SIX years and only 2 EPs of originals?

 

are you a cover band or originals band, or a cover band that wishes it was original?

 

Sounds like an identity crisis

 

move on, you will find others, if you look for them

[spongebob]

We did one in '14, the next in' 15....the next was due early '16.....

 

[DaytonaRik]

17 hours ago, KevB said:

This is an interersting point. I didn't mention it while you were in the band but the rest of your band mates wanted me for a side project they planned to do outside of TL. I turned up to run through some songs and asked them to turn down twice at the session (small village hall) due to the stupid gtr volume levels and I was still at approx twice the vol I used to gig at with my previous classic rock band. I told your band leader that we were never asked to turn up. He looked at me and said 'Well I would have'. Texted him next day to tell them it wasn't going to work out and quit the project.

I read your comments re TL's sound being excessive with interest - I've been trying to tell Simon this for three years but it fell on (very) deaf ears every time.  I'm just glad I'm an avid user of IEMs otherwise I'd have finished off what's left of my hearing long ago!

I know that Mick can be a loud drummer but I found that at gigs it could quickly escalate into a volume war between guitar back lines instead of keeping those down and using monitors to fill in what you can't hear.

[KevB]

At the first (and for me last) get together I was standing about 3 feet from Mick and I couldn't hear him at all above the guitar volume. That's why I asked them to turn down, I was pretty much having to look at the drums and guessing where I was supposed to be locking in rather than hearing them.

[discreet]

3 minutes ago, KevB said:

I was standing about 3 feet from Mick and I couldn't hear him at all above the guitar volume. That's why I asked them to turn down, I was pretty much having to look at the drums and guessing where I was supposed to be locking in rather than hearing them.

I just don't understand why guitarists do this. Is it an ego thing? Are they deaf? I've been to at least two auditions at which a guitarist was silly loud, one of them half-deafening me for days. In both cases I asked if they always played at this volume and when they said 'yes', I immediately walked.

I can't be doing with these fecking wunkers. This behaviour is selfish, stupid and very unprofessional. But at least it does have the advantage of letting you know immediately what sort of tosser you're dealing with, thus saving time.

[steantval]

1 hour ago, discreet said:

I just don't understand why guitarists do this. Is it an ego thing? Are they deaf? I've been to at least two auditions at which a guitarist was silly loud, one of them half-deafening me for days. In both cases I asked if they always played at this volume and when they said 'yes', I immediately walked.

I can't be doing with these fecking wunkers. This behaviour is selfish, stupid and very unprofessional. But at least it does have the advantage of letting you know immediately what sort of tosser you're dealing with, thus saving time.

It’s a lot worse in bands with two guitarists, I had this when playing in a rock band in the 80’s.

Both guitarists had 4x12 Marshall stacks and they were always competing with each other on volume, one turned up and then the other one turned up and on it went, ridiculous.

[discreet]

42 minutes ago, steantval said:

It’s a lot worse in bands with two guitarists, I had this when playing in a rock band in the 80’s.

Both guitarists had 4x12 Marshall stacks and they were always competing with each other on volume, one turned up and then the other one turned up and on it went, ridiculous.

Yes I've experienced that. The only way to stop a volume war is to turn down yourself. As Ghandi said, 'Be the change you want to see'.

A 100w valve amp with a 4X12 is overkill for guitar anywhere but a festival or stadium. Even then, pros use them largely for show. A Vox AC30 is loud enough for any size room - and that without PA assistance.

[DaytonaRik]

The benefits of a desk with multiple aux sends - at rehearsal on Monday guitarist A asks guitarist B to turn up because he can't hear him...woah there buddy!  Tim, would you like a little of Phil's guitar in your monitor?  Oh, good idea comes the reply.  Job done, volume wars prevents, everyone is a happy bunny!

It takes 5 mins extra to set up a mic in front of every sound source and the benefits far outweigh the perceived hassle.

Edited February 22, 2018 by DaytonaRik

[KevB]

I've just been asked to join yet another rock covers band which has 2 guitarists. I feared the worst but actually on first rehearsal session they seem to have agreed 'lead' and 'rhythm' roles and have worked out how to be musically complementary rather than competing and the volumes were sensible. So far so good.

[dave_bass5]

22 hours ago, Paul S said:

Pet hate of mine.  I am ALWAYS on time.  The only way I have ever been late for something is if my extra contingency travelling time is used up by extreme traffic conditions, and I generally allow enough time for that not to be a problem.  The way I see it, if someone is always late they can just as easily always be on time.  It believe it to be arrogant and disrespectful to make others wait 'just because' they are always late. 

Same here. In the old band me and the drummer travelled together in his car. We were always on time and continuously having to make excuses for the others being late. The guitarist we had was the worst time keeper ive ever known, other than the drummer when playing :-). We had to start getting to gigs late just so we weren't always in the firing line at weddings etc, when only half the band had arrived.

In my current band i travel with my GF (the singer, we live together), and she drives, and is also always late. I get very frustrated and normally arrive in a bad mood.

[discreet]

38 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

In my current band i travel with my GF (the singer, we live together), and she drives, and is also always late. I get very frustrated and normally arrive in a bad mood.

Youre not in Spinal Tap, are you?