thepurpleblob Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 (edited) I was asked to come and try out for a local function band tonight, just as I was leaving work. One hour (effectively) to learn the four songs they want to do. And one of them is.... wait for it.... Mustang Sally!! Of course, that's the one that's tripping me up. I've never listened to it before, never mind played it. I get the idea but to get all the little runs and things in will take more than the 10 minutes I've got. Oh well I'll let you know when I get back!! Edited December 21, 2009 by thepurpleblob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commando Jack Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 How'd it go?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepurpleblob Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 [quote name='Commando Jack' post='691388' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:00 PM']How'd it go??[/quote] Fine! Nobody noticed me hashing my way through Mustang Sally Need to learn it properly now. It's all quite a difference from what I'm used to. Musicians who don't seem to be alcoholics and a real girl doing the singing (and very well too). I think this has some promise. No email telling me to f*** off yet either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 "Musicians who don't seem to be alcoholics"- that's a good sign, I got so sick of being in bads that were tight in rehursal and sh1t live due to the presence of a bar. Personally I adopted a "don't go over the drink drive limit before or during a gig" rule and 9/10 don't drink at all until the gig is over these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='691389' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:03 PM']Fine! Nobody noticed me hashing my way through Mustang Sally Need to learn it properly now. It's all quite a difference from what I'm used to. Musicians who don't seem to be alcoholics and a real girl doing the singing (and very well too). I think this has some promise. No email telling me to f*** off yet either [/quote] A real girl....had you used to play in Rocky horror show band ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepurpleblob Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 [quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='691399' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:12 PM']"Musicians who don't seem to be alcoholics"- that's a good sign, I got so sick of being in bads that were tight in rehursal and sh1t live due to the presence of a bar. Personally I adopted a "don't go over the drink drive limit before or during a gig" rule and 9/10 don't drink at all until the gig is over these days.[/quote] I dunno.... I don't drink at all so I'm careful not to come over as being preachy. However, I've seen (and been in) a lot of pub bands where it's all been significantly about knocking back the drink. This is Glasgow of course, which (unfortunately) has a well-deserved reputation for hitting the bottle hard. I've come to the conclusion that it's not a particularly good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepurpleblob Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 [quote name='6stringbassist' post='691405' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:17 PM']A real girl....had you used to play in Rocky horror show band ? [/quote] The last time I tried to audition a female singer the guitarist's psycho girlfriend told him he wasn't allowed to play in a band with a woman in it. I've heard a very similar story a number of times since too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I like a drink, but if I'm being payed to play music I'm not being payed to get wasted (if such a job is ever advertised I will be applying) I don't make a big deal of it with other band members , it's up to them. My brain needs all the help it can get. Having said that the last gig a played was walking distance from my house and the only drink on sale was mulled apple juice.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='691410' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:20 PM']The last time I tried to audition a female singer the guitarist's psycho girlfriend told him he wasn't allowed to play in a band with a woman in it. I've heard a very similar story a number of times since too.[/quote] I've had a similar experience too many years ago. I don't drink either, but I've been in bands where people do, and it does affect their performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munkonthehill Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 [quote name='6stringbassist' post='691436' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:49 PM']I've had a similar experience too many years ago. I don't drink either, but I've been in bands where people do, and it does affect their performance.[/quote] theres also the fact that i you do have a drink then you may have to leave your gear behind and pick it up the next day, now im not saying i dont trust the places a play, BUT......................... So i usually have a pint o cider at start of night after setting up all the gear then once thats gone its either energy drinks or irn-bru. after gig i am first one packed up and im usually in the house for 1ish in ma jimmy jams having a cuppo tea ROCK 'N' ROLL BABY YEAH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commando Jack Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I've noticed a trend in people who drink while playing. After the first drink, they seem to actually get better, ranging from a bit better to a whole lot (depending on timidness/nerves when sober). This upward trend continues until the optimum drink, when the person is fully relaxed, but not tipsy. This point, and how long they stay at this point varies according to a person's alcohol tolerance and speed of drinking. Inevitably, IF the person keeps drinking, they will fall off the cliff and take a nose-dive in their performance ability. In a very short time the person goes from confident mastery of their instrument, to being unable to hold the thing! I'm thinking of deriving an equation for the shape of the curve as it seems to be a law... I thought i'd found an exception when I started playing with a singer who just got better and better with each drink, never seeming to suffer for it (always bang on pitch at least, and seemed to know the words for anything). However, I realised that his slope on the way up was just very long, and when he started on the way down, he literally crashed head first into rock bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarhead Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 +1 to the above, I've also found some musicians improve under the influence. Some, mind you, one of my old guitarists couldn't handle his drink and was falling over himself after a couple of bottle of WKD. Considering my generation appears to be shaping up to be the worst/best for drinking, pretty poor turnout really Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Congrats thepurpleblob - those horror stories of older bands sound all too familiar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockbassix Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='691410' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:20 PM']The last time I tried to audition a female singer the guitarist's psycho girlfriend told him he wasn't allowed to play in a band with a woman in it. I've heard a very similar story a number of times since too.[/quote] Yep too common i got refused an audition because the singers girlfriend had a problem with a girl playing bass in the band.The guy was pretty embarrassed as he had asked me to audition then she flipped out and he got the job of explaining this to me. FFS i want to play bass not pull someone elses bloke! Congrats on the new band Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='691410' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:20 PM']The last time I tried to audition a female singer the guitarist's psycho girlfriend told him he wasn't allowed to play in a band with a woman in it. I've heard a very similar story a number of times since too.[/quote] Hmmm, when I was trying to find a girl singer for a folk-rock band, I found a likely candidate on Bandmix only for my girlfriend to say "you're not having anyone that pretty in your band" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickH Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Why is it girlfriends get all weird about this? I mean, if we went for a daytime 9-5 job they wouldn't be all "You're not working in an office with someone that pretty!" would they? (Or would they? Post your horror stories here!) An ex of mine tried to get similarly anti when we were trying out female singers for my old band. She was really off on one until I pointed out that she can't stop me encountering women in all parts of my life, and if she has so little faith in me that she thinks I'd cheat, she certainly can't stop it by monitoring who's in my band. She saw reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Don't bother learning Msstang Sally... it is basically a 12 bar. Just do what you do in synch with the rest of the guys otherwise it will sound the same as everyone does it. For audition purposes, it is basically to see if you can play, and it is only a filler on gigs.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fede162162 Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Regarding the Alcohl matter, my band of London and I would drink just one shot of Rhum. (you call it dutch courage,don't you?) THE PROBLEM WERE THE GIRLS! During a gig at Proud Galleries the drummer's girlfriend hit the bottle so hard she became very annoying and really affected the performance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepurpleblob Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 [quote name='fede162162' post='694195' date='Dec 27 2009, 12:14 PM']Regarding the Alcohl matter, my band of London and I would drink just one shot of Rhum. (you call it dutch courage,don't you?) THE PROBLEM WERE THE GIRLS! During a gig at Proud Galleries the drummer's girlfriend hit the bottle so hard she became very annoying and really affected the performance! [/quote] The same psycho girlfriend described earlier once nearly started a fight with another woman who had asked our guitarist (psycho's boyfriend) for our contact number - to make a booking. Brilliant. We're like, "look, you can't bring her if she's going to carry on like that" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 About a year ago some friends of mine, in a covers band, had to do a gig that night but their bassist had let them down. They asked me to fill in and I spent the afternoon in their reheasal room learning over 30 songs (not very well frankly but good enough to fake it). As we went through the songs I diligently wrote down the chord charts and stops and starts and any other relevant info because I realised there was no way I could learn so many songs by memory in such a short amount of time.We got to the gig and set all the gear up, then I opened my bass case to have a last look at my notes..........and guess what ......they weren't there.! I'd left the effin things in the reheasal room 50 miles away. I felt like such a complete numpty. Amazingly, I managed to get through the gig without too many cockups. With the guitarist and singer giving me the key changes and a few winks and nods along the way it didn't end up the disaster I expected. By the way, We didn't do mustang sally (pity, cos I know that one). And as for drunks in bands............don't get me started!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 ha ha ..drinking and roastings at gigs... One of my first pretty formal dep gigs was backing Wee Willie Harris and Don Lang with a very very good piano player who liked a drink. The two acts who were big in the 50 &60's - apparently, on shows like 6-5 special..!!!!! - didn't bring pads with them so it was down to our rushed notes made in the dressing room. Even the drummer wrote out his parts to read. The keyboard player took me under his wing and said, it's rock'n'roll standards and if things get hairy, then just to follow him. Anyway, Don Lang wasn't a well man at this time so his set was a struggle for all concerned, but Wee Willie was a maniac and once he got a reaction from the crowd he just went with it..with manic hand-signals and prompts which we had to guess... The set went right out of the window and I recall the piano player..who LIKED a drink...gulping down his lager with one hand and throwing up the music notes into the air with the other.. Once that lot was out of the way it was follow that tune..where-ever it went and I must say that Wee Willie must have been quite a performer in his day to get away with that............ Thank god for great piano player's left hands..!!! Needless to say the piano player got very drunk, Wee Willie got even more manic, the drummer backed it all up and I got away with quite a roasting.. so nothing really fazes you after that sort of baptism... I would have killed for the chance to play Mustang Sally in that set though !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoulding Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Ive discovered having about 2 pints before i play, seriously increases my confidence (im not confident and i shake alot when i play) and i play alot better. Obviously if i had about 10 more it would be different. It was the last time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) The first sense that alcohol dulls is the hearing. [url="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6815/7/4"]Alcohol induced hearing loss[/url] There's a proper bass line to Mustang Sally? I never knew that! Edited December 28, 2009 by TimR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepurpleblob Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 [quote name='TimR' post='695259' date='Dec 28 2009, 11:20 PM']There's a proper bass line to Mustang Sally? I never knew that![/quote] I think there's probably several!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 [quote name='thepurpleblob' post='695263' date='Dec 28 2009, 11:27 PM']I think there's probably several!![/quote] Which one is the proper one then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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