How to get over a bad gig?

[ProfD]

On 4/10/2023 at 1:09 PM, Stokely said:

The only "bad gigs" I've had in recent years were due to bad attitudes...

 

I got to where I dreaded gigs...

That's when reminding folks that *playing* music which does require a certain amount of *serious* work should still be *fun*.

 

Any number of things can happen to make a gig go sideways especially factoring in logistical hurdles.  

 

Therefore, even pick-up gigs using mercenary musicians, it's important for the *band* to function more a *team* on stage.

 

Diplomacy resolve most issues when dealing with bandmates and bad attitudes. Sometimes, s gym membership and/or a strong left hook is the great equalizer.🤣

 

I'm not advocating that musicians go around beating folks up. Just be able to let folks know their instruments are to be played and not another human being. 😎

[Iconoclast]

Be a Goldfish, happiest animal on Earth

-Ted Lasso

[Outkaster]

We need a thread on how to get over a dysfunctional band.

[ProfD]

15 minutes ago, Outkaster said:

We need a thread on how to get over a dysfunctional band.

That's easy. 

 

Quit the band. 

 

Seek professional counseling if the split causes any lingering emotions.😎

 

 

[yannis D]

With a good alcoholic beverage

No kidding

A bad gig will be forgotten by everyone included, in days. The next good gig will erase it from the collective memory of your band. 

Music is a trial and error situation, you can't really escape bad gigs, no matter how well prepared you are. 

 

[TJ Cornish]

Shout loudly “Ha! I’ve screwed up way bigger gigs than this! What are you looking at?” And keep playing.

 

In all seriousness, nobody died and probably few noticed. Dust yourself off and do the next show. 

[RABid]

Well, I had my worst practice ever and was so glad it was only practice. I volunteered to sub for the drummer at church a couple months ago. Turns out she is getting married and wanted time off so this next Sunday will my my 8 Sunday playing drums out of 10 weeks of being the sub. In November the music director told me there may not be many drum parts during the December Christmas season. I volunteered to set up a synth behind the drums and cover bells and chimes on songs with no drums. He jumped on that and said he would get the music. The only extra practice for the Christmas season was just after Thanksgiving. I got to church, set up my new Yamaha MODX6+ with great FM bells and chimes, and he informs me that I will be covering horns. He had planned on having 8 to 10 horn players during the Christmas season. We ended up with a single sax. The music director informs me that I would be covering horns, then he hands me 4 weeks of music, sheet music for the "Synth Brass Reduction" for the Christmas hymns. I looked over the music and quickly felt a rush of shock and overwhelming panic. This was no simple bell and chime music. It was three and four note chord progressions for each hand plus occasional melody and counter melodies. I had not read music this complex in 40 years, and even then I would have practiced for a month before doing them in public. I told myself "calm down, simplify the parts, and focus on making one or two horns sound good." So we start playing and the next problem pops up, my keyboard is not coming through the in ear system. (They are using a Behringer system that so many people seem to like.) I could faintly hear my keys over the overheads but when other people played I could not tell what I was playing. Turns out they exceeded the 16 channel limit for the individual monitoring system but did not figure that out for a couple weeks. This was by far my worst experience ever. I had never been defeated by music before this. Trying to play so many parts at once with no preparation and while not being able to hear. It was too much. Woke up the next morning with a headache and TMJ from grinding my teeth. I contacted the music director and told him I would not be covering horns on my keyboard and would just stick to drums. He was at church with the techs trying to figure out why my synth would not come through the monitors. He told me he understood, then an hour later he asked if I would rather play tuned percussion like bells and chimes and offered to get the music. I was quite mad because this is what I offered in the first place, but, I chose not to reply while mad. Turns out that I have played drums on all but one song.

 

The night my band was to play our middle set live on Louisville's biggest radio station and my amp went out during the last song of the first set, I sucked it up, played every song while imagining I could hear the parts in my head, and got through it just fine.

 

The night the singers in that same band told me that I would be replaced because I was not letting them tell me how to play my stack of keyboards, and then the next night the bass player and drummer informed me that the manager was there with three possible replacements, I told myself "ummmm, fresh meat" and showed everyone I was by far the best musician on stage. The manager ended up telling the singers that they better keep me happy.

 

The night I walked into church and was handed the "synth brass reduction" for 15 songs and was expected to play them with no preparation, I fell apart. Never want to go through that again. But, you pick yourself up and move on. Focus on the positive experiences.

[miden]

Pack up and go home - move on, life is too short

[CEB]

Man who makes no mistakes never did a hell of a lot. 

[D. Gauss]

A mistake is a bad gig? Jeez, I wish! 

-Ever been shocked due to faulty guitar amp grounding, resulting in being thrown across the stage and passing out for 30 secs while opening for the Psychedelic Furs? 

-Ever had 2 bandmates (brothers) be notified right when they got to your big-ass gig that their mother had just suddenly died, they leave, and you have to play the show without them.. (no drums. no lead gtr)?

-Ever played in Hoboken, (a town known for extreme flooding), as a flash flood wall of water comes down the entry stairs mid-set, and you're suddenly standing in 6 inches of water and sewage with multiple amps, etc plugged in and on?

-Ever had the stage collapse whilst playing on it and watch your gear tumble down a hill?

-How about late night drunken patrons fighting and smashing bottles on each other, resulting in a huge puddle of blood on the dance floor being mopped up by the owner's elderly mother in true David Lynch fashion?

 

i have and i still wouldn't consider these "bad" gigs per se, just um, "interesting."  Certainly better than any gig where no one shows up. now, that's a bad gig.