Playing gigs sitting down. Pop/funk covers band. Acceptable?

[TimR]

I've never heard the Sex Pistols version of Kumbaya.

[DTB]

I was going to start a new thread, but thought I would post on this one instead. 
I was back at the docs yesterday with yet more arthritis woes, turns out I have a rare inflammatory/autoimmune disorder that can lead to all sorts of problems including deafness, blindness and breathing problems in its worse extreme cases, I am hoping my doc will manage it so I don’t get that bad. 
I am now fairly desperate to get back in a band and enjoy playing with other musicians again while I still can, but I would need help to load in and out my gear, unless it was a straight to PA preamp setup, as well as 100% need to sit down to play on a tall stool. At least if there was a band van we could use my park anywhere blue badge lol. I would probably struggle with travelling due to pain levels associated with travelling, but for now I think it would be worth it just to get back on stage again. 
so would you have a disabled bassist in your band that needed help with his gear? 
not wanting to hijack this thread but seemed better than starting a new one as it’s fairly similar topic. 
to the op very interested to hear which strap works out the best. I know Walter Trout has a double shoulder strap thing going on due to a destroyed shoulder, perhaps google that maybe. Seems to work for him. 
Also I am sure I saw Michael Rhodes sitting down playing towards the end of his life with Bonamassa, and his gigs get quite lively, although not as much as some funk bands. 

[tauzero]

13 minutes ago, DTB said:

so would you have a disabled bassist in your band that needed help with his gear?

 

Well, no, but that's because my band already has a bassist. However, I've encountered both ends of the spectrum of helpfulness - current band are brilliant, I can lift and carry all my gear but there's quite a few bits as it's the PA plus my bass gear (nothing weighs more than 10kg) and they all help loading in and out. There was a band in the past that always managed to turn up later than me so I loaded all the stuff in (I had a heavier PA and bass rig then), then I would sometimes get some help loading out but never from the idle sod of a guitarist. So the answer is that it depends, if you tell them at the outset what help you'll need and also give an idea of your travelling limitations, you'll either find a great bunch of people or, er, you won't.

 

PS. I meant to say that my current band would be perfectly happy to have someone in who needed help with gear, but I'm not leaving... 😁

Edited April 8 by tauzero

[DTB]

4 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Well, no, but that's because my band already has a bassist. 

So if you were seeking a bassist would you have one that played competently and was easy going but walked very slowly with a stick and needed help with gear?

[SamIAm]

1 minute ago, DTB said:

So if you were seeking a bassist would you have one that played competently and was easy going but walked very slowly with a stick and needed help with gear?

That describes me exactly (the bassist).

Sam x

[tauzero]

34 minutes ago, DTB said:

So if you were seeking a bassist would you have one that played competently and was easy going but walked very slowly with a stick and needed help with gear?

 

Yes.

[rOB]

7 hours ago, DTB said:

So if you were seeking a bassist would you have one that played competently and was easy going but walked very slowly with a stick and needed help with gear?

Yep absolutely

[Mykesbass]

7 hours ago, DTB said:

So if you were seeking a bassist would you have one that played competently and was easy going but walked very slowly with a stick and needed help with gear?

Replace bassist with musician, and yes. I have worked with a guitarist with a disability and had band mates (including me) needing help when recovering from surgery. Being in a band IMHO is all about being a team player. Good luck in your quest @DTB

[Ed_S]

I'd have no issues with sitting for my melodic metal gigs if my back/neck was too painful to stand with a bass on a strap - it's not happened yet, but it's been very close and could easily happen. I used to sit for the vast majority of my acoustic duo gigs, but we both did... and as it's easier to cradle your chin between your thumb and index finger when you can rest your elbow on the table, so did the audience.

 

If it was going to be longer-term and sitting was the only way I could continue gigging, then I'd get something akin to the Ashdown speaker stool made; custom height, lightweight, folding, and obviously not actually a speaker cab - just dressed up to look like one. I'd be tempted towards other bits of lightweight 'set dressing', too - I don't sing, but a cheap vocal mic, stand and cable (trailing off to absolutely nowhere) take up very little carrying capacity and, to my mind at least, kinda define a space on a stage where a performer is expected to be stationary.

 

Personally, if I'm hiring and can find band members that are easy going and competent, the other quality I'm looking for is 'reliable', not 'athletic'. If I was routinely helping to move a bandmate's gigging gear, all I'd ask is that they'd made it as minimal and lightweight as possible, just like I do with my own. No valve heads and fridges!

[police squad]

My back is playing up again and I fully expect to have to use my bar stool for saturday and sunday's gigs (and I'm the front man too)

[ezbass]

2 minutes ago, police squad said:

My back is playing up again and I fully expect to have to use my bar stool for saturday and sunday's gigs (and I'm the front man too)

You need the Grohl throne.

 

[police squad]

13 minutes ago, ezbass said:

You need the Grohl throne.

 

yep I'd go for that

[Happy Jack]

10 hours ago, DTB said:

So if you were seeking a bassist would you have one that played competently and was easy going but walked very slowly with a stick and needed help with gear?

 

If you were going to be the only crock in the band then that's easily enough worked around (with a bit of goodwill). The problem that most of us have on Basschat is that we are - in the main - of the (ahem) more mature persuasion which means that we tend to be either crocked ourselves or in bands that contain other crocks, and even if we aren't then we just need to add "yet" to that sentence.

 

Many years ago, when it was still topical to describe a pub called The Duchess Of Cambridge as The Topless Kate, my back went big time just before a gig. @MacDaddy will remember that one; and he still had hair in those days. The only thing that made it possible for me to play was that @Silvia Bluejay stepped in and acted as my personal roadie, moving literally every single piece of kit that I would normally have carried - including the PA. 😱

I played almost the entire gig sitting/perched on a Kinsmann guitar stool which is why the only video I kept of that evening was this one, where I stood up. Which is just as well, because I had to do the fastest & slickest input change in history when my wireless failed halfway through the song. Note that the bass is a Mike Lull P5, which I bought after @chris_b introduced me to the wonderful world of lightweight basses.

 

 

[SumOne]

I'd say sitting is fine for music where people sit to listen to it (jazz, folk, classical, theatre work). If you are trying to get people to get up and dance though (which I guess is a big part of a pop/funk covers band) then having a band with people sitting down doesn't really help encourage people to get up, so isn't ideal - hence not seeing many funk bands with bass players sitting down. Perhaps sit (on a high stool) for the slower songs and stand up once you're trying to get the crowd to dance?

 

I'd recommend going for something like an Ibanez EHB. The 4 string ones can be less than 3kg, and perhaps a shorter scale - or travel Bass: the Traveler ULB Ultra-Light is about 1.5kg. But as others have said, posture/position/stretching etc. are things I've found really help too, perhaps more than the weight of a Bass.

Edited April 9 by SumOne

[Lozz196]

13 hours ago, DTB said:

I was going to start a new thread, but thought I would post on this one instead. 
I was back at the docs yesterday with yet more arthritis woes, turns out I have a rare inflammatory/autoimmune disorder that can lead to all sorts of problems including deafness, blindness and breathing problems in its worse extreme cases, I am hoping my doc will manage it so I don’t get that bad. 
I am now fairly desperate to get back in a band and enjoy playing with other musicians again while I still can, but I would need help to load in and out my gear, unless it was a straight to PA preamp setup, as well as 100% need to sit down to play on a tall stool. At least if there was a band van we could use my park anywhere blue badge lol. I would probably struggle with travelling due to pain levels associated with travelling, but for now I think it would be worth it just to get back on stage again. 
so would you have a disabled bassist in your band that needed help with his gear? 
 

In my band we have me who can hardly carry anything due to back issues and our singer - who was also was our guitarist - sadly had to have the lower half of his right leg amputated following a motorbike accident, so we`ve two in a band of five that aren`t able to carry much. We get by, though being an originals band we seldom have to carry a lot of gear.

[MacDaddy]

2 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

@MacDaddy will remember that one; and he still had hair in those days

 

Hair today gone tomorrow...

 

Look after your backs folks, you only get one!

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, MacDaddy said:

Look after your backs folks, you only get one!

 

This.

 

And start looking after them when they are fit and healthy.

 

Don't end up a disabled f#ckwit like me, who only started to be sensible after I herniated a disc.

[leschirons]

I did a little gig once at a really cool french bistro and the guy who got the gig said he fancied doing it seated so we did.

Bit of Joe Cocker, Bozz Scaggs, Joe Sample so not ultra rocky stuff

 

It was a great gig and I felt I'd played really really well that night. It was really comfortable sitting and playing and I'm wondering if I played well because I always tend to practice sitting down so playing, is just easier. If you think about it, most of us probably spent 75% of our playing time sitting down.

I'd do it all the time if I could, health issues or not.

Edited April 9 by leschirons

[obbm]

Since the prostate was whipped out 15 years ago I’ve almost always sat down to gig. Initially it was a tall bar stool but now I use an Eich active drum throne with the kick drum fed into it. A sort of kick up the backside. I certainly feel more comfortable and never had a problem as the keyboard player also sits.

[Leonard Smalls]

Found a vid of me sitting down with broken leg at Morecambe Nice'n'Sleazy punk fest. No fancy guitarist's stool for me, just a plastic garden chair!

 

[nilorius]

I never played a gig sitting, because then no one in the crowd would stand up and dance. On the other side - i think it's normal for guitarist or bassist to play sitting, according to his health problems. It can be quickly explained to the crowd when starting the gig by vocalist.

[TimR]

I think if you're playing pop and funk, the front line need to be moving and grooving, most 2 set gigs I've done tend to get going halfway through the first set. The punters need some encouragement and if you don't have something visually entertaining just the music won't get people up and dancing. 

 

So as long as the front person is not just a guitarist singing with a fixed mic, you should be OK.

 

Our guitarist doesn't move around much, so it's left up to the singer and I to move around the stage. 

[tauzero]

9 hours ago, nilorius said:

I never played a gig sitting, because then no one in the crowd would stand up and dance. On the other side - i think it's normal for guitarist or bassist to play sitting, according to his health problems. It can be quickly explained to the crowd when starting the gig by vocalist.

 

Doesn't stop them standing up and dancing when I'm playing. Why explain? No explanation has ever been necessary at any of the gigs I've played in the last 20+ years.

[xgsjx]

I play electronica sitting down. I play a mix of bass & synths, so it’s a stool that I use. 
If I only played bass, I’d get a chaise longue.

 

Here’s some inspiration for you. 

 

 

[chris_b]

I'm sitting on Friday's gig and standing on Saturday and Sunday's gigs.

 

So I'm playing the Sadowsky on Friday and the Sandberg Superlight for the rest of the week-end.