TimR Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 2 minutes ago, Len_derby said: Ain’t this the case with WhatsApp and text? I’ve had a band break up around me due to a silly spat between two members quickly getting out of control on WhatsApp. A temporary disagreement gets escalated because some people can’t, or won’t, walk away and calm down. Yes. We had a clumsy message from one member. He asked what time we were on as the poster said x o'clock. The member who organised the gig took it as a dig. I thought it was an odd thing to message. If the poster says x o'clock then usually we are on some time shortly after. Most bands have a 'doors open time' and a 'show starts at' time. Pubs are very loose in my experience. It was hardly something to even message about, let alone start a long exchange over. People just seem to be very edgy and sensitive at the moment. Then they complain that no one answers their messages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 3 hours ago, Norris said: How? What?! Eh?!! 😂 3 hours ago, dclaassen said: Not a literal statement, I hope! 3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said: Yes i was wondering about the wording of that too. Dave 2 hours ago, MacDaddy said: 💩 ? Gents, when I say he shat himself, I mean an unscheduled bowel evacuation took place mid-scream; at that point his sense of humour failed and shortly after that, so did mine! Quite how it was anyone's fault was beyond me, but the screaming fit that followed the screaming sh1t put the blame firmly on the rest of us. 8 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matski Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 Shitting your pants and then blaming everyone else - was your singer called Donald Trump? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 1 hour ago, Len_derby said: Ain’t this the case with WhatsApp and text? I’ve had a band break up around me due to a silly spat between two members quickly getting out of control on WhatsApp. A temporary disagreement gets escalated because some people can’t, or won’t, walk away and calm down. With the first one, I bought in a new singer and I know he wanted us more than we needed him. Things went a little toxic, guitarist left, singer wanted the drummer gone etc. We were a four piece but if we voted on anything it was always guitarist and singer against me, with the drummer just sitting on the fence, so I had no voice in a band that I'd actually started. It just got incredibly frustrating. Much as I hated just jacking in, I felt that if I hadn't it would have just come to blows and no one wants that. Singer was quite angry and malicious; he admits he was drinking quite heavily but kept it private, there were times where I think he was just testing the limits of how far he could push me before I'd break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rOB Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 (edited) 1. The guitarist and I both moved away for work at around the same time. The band continued for a bit with a new guitarist. 2. Two of the members were nurses. One was able to arrange their shifts to commit to gigs. The other wasn't able to do that so booking any gigs became impossible. 3. I went to live in New Zealand for a year and got back to the UK but had to live in a different city. The drummer had multiple other projects on the go too. 4. The pandemic happened and when things opened up again our guitarist moved away. The singer lost interest and stopped replying to messages. I still jam with the drummer from time to time. All reasonably friendly. Edited June 3 by rOB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskwave Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 (edited) As some of the above really, not so much band break up .. more of the "your joking right"?. Decades ago was in a very good prog rock outfit.....Melotrone, rotos, two guitards..long hair all over the place...gnarly old school JBL, Altec, EV PA, desk etc ... tour bus and then one night after a gig I get the message that those running the show wanted 85 quid from each band member for more PA. This was 1980 and that was a lot of dosh. We'd done some demos but they werent good enough so I said, surely better to pay for more demos..."Nope, more PA is gonna make us". From then on it was never gonna work and I left....I was pretty sad cause live we were very good...just needed more time in the studio. We were Marillion before they were even a band and our tunes were more melodic and more interesting in my opinion... but hey there you go, and without sounding to smug, six months later they broke up. Edited June 3 by diskwave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 How the heck did you gig with a Mellotron ? They are huge, heavy, temperamental things ............... 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 First band split when I went away to Uni. Sadly, we didn't socialise together so I just assumed they knew I was going away. At my last gig the singer/ guitarist brought along his mate who was a much better singer to take the band forward. That was when I broke the news. We did a reunion gig in the Xmas break and stayed loosely in contact for a while. One band broke before it got going due to too many control freaks saying one thing and doing another. I mean seriously, if you're a female fronted funk and soul band why am I in the wrong for complaining about doing FOUR Stereophonics songs??? Last decent band broke up shortly after COVID. I was annoyed we did nothing with all that downtime and really wanted to freshen up the very well trodden set list. There were tensions and frustrations but I guess the time away just heightened it all too much. The drummer used to be really awkward with anyone who enquired about gigs if he didn't know them, complained about a gig forty mins drive from his home but on the other hand would insist we gig for nothing hours and hours from home because his mate had asked. As if this wasn't bad enough he announced a gig on a date he knew I couldn't do. He also assumed we could do that gig at the singer's pub without clearing it with him first. With me being the one they'd replaced with a dep after one of my kids was born it just felt like I was disposable, they would do this gig without me and get their dep in. They did the "gig" with no rehearsal and it was an utter embarrassment and disaster. They have tried to keep going, I don't know if they've actually gigged anywhere... I was offered a stupid amount of money to go back and do one gig but said No because I was gigging with my new band the next night. Two of the guys have come to see my band a few times and we meet occasionally for a drink. I never hear from the drummer at all, despite our differences of opinion in the band he was one that I got on best with. If we hadn't been in that band together but knew each other another way we'd probably still be strong friends. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskwave Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 36 minutes ago, taunton-hobbit said: How the heck did you gig with a Mellotron ? They are huge, heavy, temperamental things ............... 😎 Ha.. a great question sir. It was a bloody nightmare with the entire band lifting shoving, sweating, cursing, you name it. Funny thing is it always sounded ok...I cant remember the musician having to tinker too much, but yes the good old days really.. where you had to work for everything. Kids today got it way too easy now....he said. But I loved it back then, everything was organic, real if you like. Real kit, real gear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 1 hour ago, taunton-hobbit said: How the heck did you gig with a Mellotron ? They are huge, heavy, temperamental things ............... 😎 You mean a drummer? 🤪 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 For the uninitiated - I worked part-time in a shop in North Harrow that specialised in things musical (esp organs) - they managed to borrow one from the Beeb (Paris studio?) because they were tied up with Jack Jacksons' sons (he was a big name with the Beeb)- I actually played with thing, and very strange it was - I think the Beeb had theirs converted for sound effects use .............. 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dclaassen Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 35 minutes ago, taunton-hobbit said: For the uninitiated - I worked part-time in a shop in North Harrow that specialised in things musical (esp organs) - they managed to borrow one from the Beeb (Paris studio?) because they were tied up with Jack Jacksons' sons (he was a big name with the Beeb)- I actually played with thing, and very strange it was - I think the Beeb had theirs converted for sound effects use .............. 😎 I played a few gigs back in the day with a guy who hauled a B3 + Leslie around. Which is worse to move? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 The mellotron, the B3 can be cut in half for transport (the guys in the shop used to do this), the mellotron ran on vertical tapes, so it had to be moved as one piece. Leslies were cumbersome bits of furniture but just heavy & biggish, not really a problem. 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Too many breakups to recall, over the years, but the best one went like this: Guitarist came up to me on stage just as we were about to start our set, eyes wide like dustbin lids. "I can't feel my hands" he mumbled. He couldn't feel his feet either, as it turned out, and stumbled around looking to get a stool to sit on. We started the set with the guitarist slouched limply on his stool but still making an admirable effort to play. While our completely improvised jazz-metal explorations sometimes worked, were engaging and listenable, this was not one of those nights. It was not a great night to be going through a bout of intense paranoia in a semi-sedated state, I discovered. As we lumbered on, banter between our singer and lads in the crowd was turning serious... and aggressive. Beer was spilled, insults were issued. The rest of us were unaware of this, however, struggling to move fingers and limbs while floundering in our own mental treacle. Singer walked off-stage, out the door of the venue and out of the band, halfway through a song, followed by a couple of lads looking for a confrontation. We didn't really notice, straight away and, after we did, finished the set, regardless. Afterwards, as we struggled manfully to pack up, I truly understood the sorrow of St. Hubbins when he said "Well, I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation." Better than a whatsapp whinefest, any day. 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 18 hours ago, Doctor J said: Singer walked off-stage, out the door of the venue and out of the band, halfway through a song, followed by a couple of lads looking for a confrontation. We didn't really notice, straight away and, after we did, finished the set Reminds me of an incident in a big local working men’s club a few years ago. The resident band and compère/singer were doing their first set of the evening to warm the crowd up, before the bingo naturally. Singer tells the band to take a few solos in a song, and the band see him head towards the bar at the back of the concert room and presume he needed a beer rather urgently. After far too many solos they finish the song, singer-less. One of the band goes off to find him, check if he’s okay etc. As there’s no sign of him, he goes downstairs to check in the bar, and en route asks the doorman if he’s seen the singer, who replies ‘ Oh yeh, if you mean Dave I saw him getting into a taxi about ten minutes ago’. Great way to hand in your notice. 😆 4 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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