[How many of you have gigged with Hammond chops?]

I gigged with a chopped C2 and two leslie 145s for a few years. I bought the rig as a set from the guy who chopped all that beautiful wood off the C2 and replaced it with plywood and a separate stand made from iron pipe. It played and sounded great and never broke down but was still heavier than hell. Concentrated evil to move and, with no attached legs, you couldn't put it down to rest unless you went all the way to the floor. In the end, it would have been just as easy to leave it the way it was.

[Post your worst keyboard load in stories]

I'll go ahead and put up one. This wasn't the worst but the most infuriating. And the one I'll always remember.

 

This one is from the past. A large lounge that sat over 600. The main entrance was right next to the stage, but the owner insisted (and it was in the contract) that load in/out would be through the service entrance that was at the complete opposite end of the building.

 

We couldn't use the front even if we wanted to set up before opening. Or tear down after hours.

 

Probably the biggest jerk I've ever worked for continuously. An alpha male type who made up stupid rules just to dominate everyone around him. And I think he was a little jealous of the attention bands got, and wanted to punish anyone taking away from his time in the spotlight.

 

I had one almost exactly like this. The front door was less than 3 feet from stage left but the owner insisted that we bring everything in through the kitchen and then through the audience - the entire length of the building. That was 5 years ago and it pisses me off thinking about it now.

 

My worst was also a University Rathskellar. Loading dock, long hallways on flatbed carts, 2 freight elevators, through a working catering kitchen, length of the building to the stage. Two hours cartage plus set-up/tear-down on each end of a three hour gig.

 

[Ever hold grudge for not getting the job after audition?]

There have been short stories, songs, novels, even TV shows written about actors or musicians who were waiting for the callback after an audition. Maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought that you got the "call-back" when they wanted you to come "back" to audition again or join the band/show. "No call" meant "no show".

 

In other words, "if we want you back, we will call you back by Friday. If we don't call, we don't want you back." I always thought that this was a theater tradition that went back years and years.

[Ever hold grudge for not getting the job after audition?]

I'm a little surprised by your reaction and that of some of the posters here. You only get the "call-back" if you made the band. I've never heard of anyone getting a call who didn't make the band - unless it was on the QT from someone they knew on the inside of the process.

 

Holding a grudge about this is an exercise in futility. There could be a hundred reasons (most out of your control) why you didn't get the gig.

 

In my experience, you're better off finding out NOW that you're not a good fit rather than investing all of that time and energy into learning their show only to find out LATER that you're not a good fit.

 

There's no benefit to you in taking this stuff personally.

[Craziest thing ever said to you at a gig]

Many years ago, we were hired to play a wedding. We arrived at the same time as the caterers, et al, set-up and waited and waited and waited. No one came. Everyone was rechecking their contract to make sure we were in the right place.

 

Finally, two hours after we were supposed to start, the Mother of the Bride came storming into the Hall. She walked right up to the leader and, without a word, gave him our money. Then went around to everyone else and silently paid them all off.

 

Some fool shouted out "when is the wedding party arriving?"

 

She turned around, looked at everyone for a minute and said in this acid-tongued voice: "there was no f*cking wedding and there is no f*cking wedding party coming!"

[Craziest thing ever said to you at a gig]

I was subbing with a roots blues band in the basement blues club of a hotel on a real slow night. They play Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, James Cotton Chicago blues featuring blues harp. Real down and dirty stuff.

 

These guys with heavy NYC accents walked in wearing sharkskin suits, silk ties, thick-and-thins and cuban heels. It was like a scene out of the Godfather.

 

The biggest guy comes over to me just as we're going on break and lays a $100 bill on my piano and says "the boss wants to hear "New York, New York." The harp player, who was the leader, looks at me nervously and says "go ahead if you know it" and the rest of the band leaves the stage.

 

I ended up playing the rest of the night as a single doing every NY cabaret tune I knew at least twice and "New York, New York" at least six times.

 

I walked out of there with ten C-notes, a great story and very satisfied (if displaced) customers.