Really Annoyed.....Your thought's please!!!!

[thebigyin]

Been practising with an old band I used to be with we re-formed in June this year....3 original members including myself (Vocals/Frontman), things have been going ok, slow but getting there about 16 songs off, I have started booking gigs for next year after everyone was in agreement.
One downside our Guitarist and Drummer are in another band (same band) which obviously we took into consideration, I got us some gigs booked into new year....great....then out the blue the Guitarist who has just retired messaged me saying book gigs but we might have to cancel if they clash with my holidays....I replied no can't do that start cancelling gigs you soon get a bad name give me your holiday dates hopefully they won't clash....by the way they was all ok with dates when given originally.....trouble is he can't give me any holiday dates until next year and some of the dates I have already booked might clash so we might have to cancel.
I wasn't happy so I messaged all members saying i will not book any future gigs until I know everyone's availability and holiday dates....I have messaged venues to cancel the few gigs lined up and apologised luckily given plenty of notice.
Never had this problem years ago when we was originally together but since his retirement the commitments gone, he does very little to promote or help the band and often makes mistakes at rehearsal.
Am I unfair as I told him straight that it's just not on to agree to gigs but if his family want to swan off on hols I have to cancel gigs...not a chance.
Before you say get another Guitarist it's virtually impossible....but it's put a real dampener on things.

[Lozz196]

I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all, switch it the other way, would you expect him to cancel a holiday he’d already booked because you’d booked a gig. Put that to him, see what his reaction is. 

[Bassman Sam]

I'm with Lozz. He should work his holidays around the gigs. He needs to show some professionalism.

[mrtcat]

Absolutely with you on this. If you join a band you simply can't mess venues or other band members about like that. It never works and leads to a bad reputation and resentment amongst members. A simple online diary (google calendar or similar) allows holiday and gig dates to be entered for all to see. Once a gig is agreed by all then holidays have to be worked around it. If he can't commit to gigs he shouldn't be in a band. 

[machinehead]

I agree with the others.  I'm retired and book holidays to take account of gigs already committed to.

In an extreme or unforeseen case, (they sometimes happen!) I'll organise a suitable dep and I see arranging a dep as MY responsibility not the rest of the band.

Frank.

Edited September 5, 2019 by machinehead
spelling

[Teebs]

Rubbish state of affairs!

I don't think you are in the wrong in the slightest.

Hope you manage to sort him out! 👍

Edited September 5, 2019 by Teebs

[Monkey Steve]

He's completely out of order.  Cancelling gigs is the quickest way to get a bad reputation amongst the people at the venues, especially if you're not an established band.  It's not like the threads on here are completely understanding when venues have to cancel gigs, so the same applies for the band.

Rule of thumb is that everybody in the band should stick to what gets into the diary first - if there's a gig you don't book a holiday for that date, if there's a holiday you don't book a gig.  You never cancel a gig because one band member fancied a break and didn't care about playing the gig. 

My personal experience is that nobody ever remembers to use the band diary, but they damn well know how to use their own and once a gig is confirmed it should be set in stone.  there should certainly be a band discussion about "I'm looking to book gigs in February, any dates you can't make?" and when somebody pipes up that they're thinking of going away that month and won't be able to commit until much closer to the time, that's fine, you don't book any gigs for February.  Or February, March and April if he's being really vague about when he's going away.  It shouldn't be a problem.  Well, there might be a problem if you are all depending on gigs for your livelihood, but I'm assuming that it's not the case

Too early to look for a dep?

[ahpook]

Time for a band chat methinks.

 

[Les]

You’re totally right to be narked. 

I couldn’t  wear that situation but if you can’t get another guitarist as you say then suck it up I’m afraid.

 

[Bluewine]

I think this will always happen when members of a band have lives outside of bands, music , gigging and don't depend on band incone to survive.

Blue

[thebigyin]

Thanks for the replies folks....we are having a band meeting and rehearsal on Wednesday, so fingers crossed.

 

[kusee pee]

Agreeing a band calendar is always a tricky thing and, occasionally, stuff comes up.  Over the last ten years, I think we might have had to cancel one gig.  We have a number of deps we use and, on occasion, have spent hours on the phone getting a last minute dep due to a crisis.  Find a dep drummer and try to keep the gigs, the reputation is important.

[phil.c60]

53 minutes ago, kusee pee said:

Agreeing a band calendar is always a tricky thing and, occasionally, stuff comes up.  Over the last ten years, I think we might have had to cancel one gig.  We have a number of deps we use and, on occasion, have spent hours on the phone getting a last minute dep due to a crisis.  Find a dep drummer and try to keep the gigs, the reputation is important.

Might not help - if I read the OP's post correctly it's the guitarist who's being tricky. If that's the case an extra drummer might not be much use......lol. 😄

[Sibob]

Just get a dep for the gig(s) he’s away for?! Sorted

Si

[christhammer666]

Gigs booked first . Arrange holidays around gigs

holidays booked first. Book gigs around the holidays 

[Sibob]

Book gigs, try to book holidays around gigs, if not possible, book dep. 

Again, sorted

Si

[kusee pee]

1 hour ago, phil.c60 said:

Might not help - if I read the OP's post correctly it's the guitarist who's being tricky. If that's the case an extra drummer might not be much use......lol. 😄

Note to self: must read post 🤪

[Teebs]

1 minute ago, kusee pee said:

Note to self: must read post 🤪

No, I think you're right.

Do a Simply Red - sack band every couple of years & replace them.

Hence, no royalties due.

Mick Hucknall = Git

[chris_b]

No one is indispensable. Get a dep.

[FinnDave]

My band was recently offered two more London gigs before the end of the year. One we will play minus one of the guitarists unless his other band can get a dep for him, for the other I have postponed a holiday with my wife that we had booked. Gigs come first - especially if they're already booked. For years, my wife has been used to the fact that we can only book holidays at fairly short notice for times when it is clear I won't be gigging. 

[Lozz196]

We gig pretty much all the time, so make sure holidays are booked when there is a free space - I’m on hols this week, singer next week, we resume on 14 Sep so only had 3 weeks without a gig. It’s easy enough to sort if you’re organised.

[Dan Dare]

My thoughts? Please stop misusing apostrophes. I'll go and lie down, now 😉

[mrtcat]

14 hours ago, Sibob said:

Just get a dep for the gig(s) he’s away for?! Sorted

Si

All well and good if band is earning reasonable cash and it's fairly standard stuff. Might be tricky if the fee is £50 per man and you need someone to learn 30 originals or obscure songs.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I'm kind of on the other side of this. It all depends on what level of professionalism, expectation and life commitment the various band members are wanting from the band. I've just left (broken up) my band for similar reasons. I made it perfectly clear before we even got together and played a note that to me it was nothing more than a hobby and I didn't want to be out gigging every weekend. Which at the time everyone was fine with. Then a few months in the goal posts were moved, 12 gigs in 10 weeks plus weekly practice in between and I'd had enough. I just couldn't maintain that kind of time commitment, even if I had wanted to. So it's all well and good making the guitarist the villain in the story, but it just sounds to me like he's retired and wants to chill out. Why should be put his life and retirement on hold for the band if he can get a last minute cheap cruise to the Bahamas and enjoy his retirement? I think holiday dates are the least of your problems. You need to sit down and have a serious chat about what everyone is expecting from the band, because if you're expecting to be booking gigs months in advance and everyone to build the rest of their lives around that, it sounds to me like you're going to be looking for another guitarist. 

[Strawbs664]

People's priorities change over time.

My old band reformed after a break of 25-30 years for a couple of charity gigs - great fun but it made me realise that I couldn't commit full time to a gigging band. When the guitarist asked me if I'd be interested in carrying on in a new group with him, I had to turn him down (no hard feelings - we're still very good mates). For me, at this point in my life, family time is more important than a band.

Sounds to me as if you & you're guitarist have different expectations, so best to have a chat with him so at least you both know where the other stands. At least then you'll be in a position to plan for the future, even if he has to take a step back & you have to find a replacement. If you're only booking gigs for 2020, you have plenty of time to find a solution.