Complaining On Stage

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[ambient]

Complaining on stage isn’t at all professional.

 

I’d wait until the interval and go home.

[tauzero]

I used to play with a ceilidh band. For some reason on one occasion we'd swapped to using my PA - we normally used the dulcimer player's, who was married to the melodeon player. The melodeon was always a nightmare as it was very liable to feedback. I could hear it OK, and it appeared that the guitarist and dulcimer player also could, but at the end of the set with the mics still live and a face like fury she bellowed "I couldn't hear myself in the f*cking monitors!". Mrs Zero (who was the caller) and I eventually left the band - it was a good band but it was getting too stressful with the seriously mardy melodeon player.

 

I'm not sure why people think eye contact is so important. The only time I make eye contact is with the keyboard player when the singer/guitarist goes off-piste and we exchange glances (all in good humour). Ear contact is useful though, as is playing all the right notes in the right order.

[PaulTreff]

 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

2 minutes ago, PaulTreff said:

 

Ha ha. I thought it was the backing vocals that sounded like a different song 🤷‍♂️

[Jonesy]

A singer of a old band was once so drunk that he stumbled into the drumkit, luckily it didn't completely ruin the song and we were able to play on. I think that whole gig was cursed though as later on in the set there was a photographer on stage getting too close for comfort and he ended up tripping on my cable, ripping it out of my bass, and I gently nudged him off stage with my foot. We had a producer who had worked with Biffy Clyro down to watch us that night, so it wasn't the best night for that to happen. He thought it was 'very rock n roll', needless to say that was the last we heard from him 😂

Band break ups on stage is a great little YT wormhole to go down though, this is pretty cringe....

 

 

 

[Downunderwonder]

Same drummer used to have a bad habit of getting the count off way wrong. Sometimes I had to wave it all off with a HELL NO!!

 

One time he slipped it in at DOUBLE time and the fricken showoff trumpet players played on so the poor singer had to improvise the Chipmunks version. That was the last straw and next rehearsal he showed up with a tablet metronome doofer with the set all programmed in.

[Nail Soup]

3 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Ha ha. I thought it was the backing vocals that sounded like a different song 🤷‍♂️

I thought the argument was going to be about the guitarist drinking a can of lager for a few bars cos they had an open tuned guitar 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

4 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I thought the argument was going to be about the guitarist drinking a can of lager for a few bars cos they had an open tuned guitar 

Ha ha. Yeah, I saw that too. I guess that is PJ approved behaviour 😂

[Jakester]

Not quite on stage, but I used to be part of a group of deps for this vocalist who did gigs up and down the country. One of his band used to do the sound and the singer was endlessly beaching at him, gig after gig, about everything - too loud, too quiet, frequencies wrong, setup wrong - whatever it was, he complained about it. The guy used to just take it - he was really quiet and reserved, never snapped back.

 

He was an chocolate starfish, but he paid well and the rest of us weren’t generally weren’t in the firing line. However, it all came to a head at a big wedding do at a huge country house in the middle of nowhere. The singer was off on one of his rants and the sound guy just snapped. Told him where to go in no uncertain terms and started packing all his gear away - both the PA and his instrument.

 

I have never before seen someone plead like that singer did at that gig. Almost literally down on his knees begging, pleading with the guy to stay - it was almost like an adulterous husband pleading with his wife to take him back. 
 

The gig went ahead in the end, but it was touch and go for a while - and thereafter the singer treated the sound guy much better! (He was still a pink torpedo though and a few gigs later I refused to do any more with him!)

[tauzero]

4 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I thought the argument was going to be about the guitarist drinking a can of lager for a few bars cos they had an open tuned guitar 

 

We sometimes play "Relax" for a soundcheck number, and I have been known to go to the bar and buy a pint while playing along to it.

[BlueMoon]

The worst example I saw (and paid money to see, I might add) was at a concert of the band Widowmaker back in the mid 70's.

Lead guitarist (Ariel Bender a.k.a. Luther Grosvenor) and Bob Daisley were having a right ding dong, which ended in one spitting in the face of the other.

 

High on drugs, part of the act, who knows? It was awful.

I remember that, but not very much of Bob Daisley's bass playing.

[Dankology]

15 hours ago, PaulTreff said:

 

I saw PJH on that tour and I think the same song had to be restarted because Eric Drew Feldman seemed to start it in the wrong key. Makes me wonder if it was part of some ongoing in-joke, although the facial expressions in this clip would suggest not.

 

I think the bvs are the most egregious element of this performance though.

[stewblack]

I confess to being unimpressed by any band that soundchecks, is happy with the levels, but later tells me to turn down based on a complaint of one member of the audience.

However, trying to argue this point with the BL during the performance was unprofessional of me. I had such a magnificent bass sound that night as well.

 

[Cat Burrito]

Personally I make a point of learning the name of the sound engineer. If something is not right, I query it down the mic but quickly move on. I always thank whoever does the sound regardless. It's just good manners. 

[cheddatom]

5 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

Personally I make a point of learning the name of the sound engineer. If something is not right, I query it down the mic but quickly move on. I always thank whoever does the sound regardless. It's just good manners. 

Yeh that works if the engineer is actually at the desk

[NancyJohnson]

21 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

Yeh that works if the engineer is actually at the desk

 

@Wolverinebass Ring any bells, bonny lad?  Lol

[Wolverinebass]

14 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

@Wolverinebass Ring any bells, bonny lad?  Lol

It does indeed.

 

A few years ago I went to see @NancyJohnsonplay a gig directly after the SE Bass Bash. The sound engineer was periodically going to the toilet and it was obvious to me that him and his mates were getting completely nutted on coke. So, for quite a lot of any of the band's sets he was in the toilet with a golf ball up his nose. I can only say that the sound wasn't great either. Surprising that.

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, stewblack said:

I confess to being unimpressed by any band that soundchecks, is happy with the levels, but later tells me to turn down based on a complaint of one member of the audience.

 

The dad of the drummer, who sees all our gigs told me at the last gig that the sound was terrible in the first half, bass and drums too loud, but it was fine in the second half, so whatever I did was good. Nice to know. Shame really as I didn't do anything, and the drums weren't mic'd anyway!

 

[wateroftyne]

I don't mind the occasional polite 'Could I have a little more / less guitar etc. in the monitors please?' between songs.

 

But complaining? Nah.

[dmccombe7]

Last gig with Glam band the FOH had to rush thru the soundcheck because of PA problems.

We did the first set based on how we normally do a stage set up with everything balanced to drum level on stage. Sounded fine.

At the interval she complained the on stage amps were too loud and when i turned down i couldn't hear bass on stage at all. I know the songs well enough to just "go for it" and feedback from audence was it all sounded great. The vids i've seen from audience using phones it was pretty much ok.

For me i feel that if i can play a set without hearing the bass and not worry too much about it and its still good out front then i've succeeded on a personal level. 

Just need to sort out venue sound engineers lack of experience.

Dave

[Bassfinger]

I find that if chumps start on me that standing up to my full height, spreading my lats (and sucking in my stomach!), and staring them dead in the eye usually encourages them to keep it civil.  It may be a ballache when buying clothes, but being rather large has its advantages when some little prat with a Napoleon complex fancies a whinge.

[SteveXFR]

I once saw punk rock legend Lars Frederickson as an audience member to take their coat off his wedge monitor on the front of the stage. He even said please and thank you. 

Does that count?

[Rich]

5 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I don't mind the occasional polite 'Could I have a little more / less guitar etc. in the monitors please?' between songs.

 

But complaining? Nah.

Our dear mate Si the OldGit used to so frequently ask for "more baritone in the monitor" (always politely, needless to say) that it became a standing joke in the band. The engineer would ask what we wanted in the foldback, Dave would answer "bass and vocals in the drum fill, keys saxes and vocals in the horn monitors, and you know what Simon wants..." and we'd all shout "MORE BARITONE!"   

Edited November 10, 2021 by Rich

[ubit]

I frequently fell out with my guitarist mate over this. He used to drop bum notes quite often and I never bothered but if I made a mistake he would glare at me or shout something. I used to say keep playing and look as if nothing happened. You can be sure the audience didn't notice until you gave me dirty looks.