What Do You Say To This?

[BbAltered]

I was complaining to the dance band about a recent gig. It was a multi-band event, where we were scheduled to do a sound check around 2pm, and perform at 6pm (while other bands use the stage). I didn't want to leave my keyboard on stage for hours while others are setting up, tearing down, performing, etc. I was worried my keyboards could come to some harm in the commotion.

 

The guitarist turns to me and says: "What's the problem if your keyboard gets damaged: you have another one." (It is true I have a couple of keyboards at home. My rig for this band is a single Nord Electro.)

 

I didn't say anything in response. It seemed to me that such thoughtlessness did not merit a response. But I do not appreciate the attitude, and I think I have to confront it.

 

Also: how do you look out/safeguard for your equipment during those multi-band cattle-call events?

[David R]

Something tells me he wouldn"t be so nonchalant if it was his guitar or amp that got wrecked. Is this the first time his entitlement and selfishness has reared its head in this band? I don"t have time to work with people like that anymore.

 

If it"s a venue that I know and trust, and the other artists I know and trust, I"m cool with it. A couple of surface dings here and there don"t bother me too much. But if I don"t know anyone involved or I get a weird vibe from the setup, I unfortunately stay on site, and don"t let anyone else touch my gear.

[Reezekeys]

This is my experience with multi-band events where we headline and have bands open for us: as the headliner, we set up first and get the first sound check. Then the positions of my keyboard stand are marked with tape and my stuff is moved towards the back of the stage (usually just in front of my bass amp). It's usually very safe there as the other band sets up in front of us and makes do with whatever space is left â and has nothing to say about it. That's how pros do it, in my experience. Just to add - there have been a lot of times when we're the opener, and we adhere to these same rules then!

 

PS - F that guitar player. Either he or I would be out of that band pretty quick.

[cphollis]

Some people can be thoughtless @sses. I put up with it for a while, and then give them a nice, clean shot of their own medicine to see if I can wake them up. I actually had a similar comment (different situation long ago) with a guitar player, something generally degrading about keyboard players and their instruments taking up too much space on stage, getting in the way, and shot back "yeah, I'm looking forward to tripping over your nice guitars and completely destroying them." No further comments were made. The guy was a complete @ss anyway, but I did shut him up for a while.

[Stokely]

Yeah, that's pretty asinine...I'd hope it was some attempt at dry humor. As someone else said, unless he's made of money (and even then) I doubt he'd want someone knocking over his Gibson or nice amp.

 

That's pretty rough to have to soundcheck four hours before a show. The band I'm in has had things like that but not with a multi-band event, I'm not sure how I'd feel about it. At the least I think I'd want to cover the keyboards and try to move them perhaps to a "safe" spot if such exists. almost all the multi-band things we have done are the "run on stage, set up quickly and get off quickly afterward so the next band can play" type.

 

If you've already had the sound check then I don't see the harm in grabbing the Electro (being light and compact), leaving the stand and cables if you like.

 

I'm not sure I see the point in confronting him. If he's a jerk then it won't fix him...just do your thing, grab your keyboard if you feel better doing so, and if he comments again just tell him to mind his own business and STFU.

[KuruPrionz]

Multi band gigs are too much work for too little money.

 

It's not so much that your bandmate is a guitarist, it is that he is an asshole.

 

As more or less mentioned above, if the band cannot be fun either fire the loser or quit the band.

[BbAltered]

Hello. This particular event was especially chaotic. There were I think six bands in all, at an outdoor venue with zero security. I ended up moving all my gear back into my car after the sound check, and then set it up again before our set (earning a good deal of much criticism from band leader about the delay in getting our set started). But when I watched the event unfold, I was glad I did. The act before our own was a group of 30 or so teens attending the local "band camp": with different performers getting on and off the stage after every song.

 

The band tells me they want to do a lot more of these gigs, and so far have expressed no sympathy when I point out the logistical difficulties I am facing. The attitude seems to be "this is an easy gig for us, don't rock the boat".

 

It's gotten colder, and the band is not doing any indoor shows. So the band is on hiatus: they have no further shows on the schedule. I'm thinking this would be a good time for me to find another band.

[Stokely]

"30 or so teens" oh boy, yeah that's a GREAT reason to get your Nord out of sight.

 

"a lot more of these gigs" would be a reason for me personally to skedaddle, unless they really paid above and beyond. In my experience, those have tended to not pay well or even be free benefits for various causes.

 

"This is an easy gig for US"--"US" apparently doesn't include everyone, because you are pointing out that it is NOT an easy gig for you.

[AnotherScott]

I ended up moving all my gear back into my car after the sound check, and then set it up again before our set (earning a good deal of much criticism from band leader about the delay in getting our set started).

Why this, instead of...

 

If you've already had the sound check then I don't see the harm in grabbing the Electro (being light and compact), leaving the stand and cables

?

 

Then the extra setup time would probably have been maybe a minute (to get the Nord out of its case, up onto the stand, reconnected to power/audio/pedals, and then stashing the case somewhere)?

 

Though, sure, the guitarist--if he wasn't making a joke--was being an ass. Either way, what I'd have said to him was, "No problem, as long as I can borrow your credit card to pay for the repair."

[MathOfInsects]

IMO he was clearly kidding/poking--or at the very least, it would have worked the same to proceed as if he was.

 

To echo Scott and Stokely, I think your BL was right that it defeated the purpose of the earlier sound-check to tear down completely. Next time I would just grab your board and leave the cables resting in place, ready to plug in.

 

FWIW, tucked back on stage is often the best and safest place for our stuff. Sometimes I bring a fabric keyboard cover if there will be a long down-time. You can also endeavor to get some means of traffic control in front of it--a guitar amp or mic stand. There's a slight danger that some dummy will use it as a table for their beer I guess, but on a gig with multiple bands and multiple acts, I'd be way more worried about it getting knocked over or disappeared in the chaos "backstage" (whatever that meant on this gig), than sitting in a corner I personally chose at the back of the stage. I personally would never leave it in my car if I could help it; I am too paranoid that someone would take it from there.

 

Reading your reply, it sounds like you might not have been too upset to have a reason to move on from them? So maybe this PITA was AFTB (all for the best).

[Dr Mike Metlay]

That"s the kind of thing that doesn"t sound like dry humor. Gigging musicians who want to stay in bands, and who are not dear old friends with the people that they are playing with, shouldn"t be making jokes like that.

 

I"d like to commend you for your forbearance in this situation. If it had been me, I would have asked incredulously if he was fucking serious, offered to smash one of his guitars because he would have a spare, given the whole band the big middle finger, and packed up my gear and left.

 

That kind of attitude sucks all the joy out of playing music, and I don"t have time to waste on crap like that anymore. It hasn"t changed a lot over the past few decades⦠The keyboardist is always considered a drain on the rest of the band because they take so long to set up and their gear is so heavy and bulky, and bandmembers who understand are very rare, and bandmembers who not only understand but who are also willing to help once they are set up are pretty much made of gold.

[synthizen2]

The keyboardist is always considered a drain on the rest of the band because they take so long to set up and their gear is so heavy and bulky

 

With modern multitimbral 128-voice keyboard gear (no real need for 4, 5, 6 boards, or a tower of rack-mounts), this seems to be not so much the case anymore. My recent experiences are that the main body of work is in getting the drums and the PA gear set up. The PA job is a group effort. The drummer is still responsible for setting up own kit (that has never changed), and takes as long as it ever did (unless you're Neal Peart). I usually beat the drummer by a whole half-hour when it comes to set-up, and I then get on with helping out with PA.

[Docbop]

Back in the days when keyboards had lids I would put the lid on to protect it and say don't mess with it. Nowadays I'd probably bring a one of those moving van quilts and cover up the keyboard for some protection. As for the multi band setup all depends on the size of the stage and how much off stage space is available to store stuff.

 

As a roadie usually stages are deep so headliner setups up first as far back as they want. They do there soundcheck and band before them sets up in front of headliners gear and they do their sound check. Finally warmup band sets up and put gear in front of the previous band and sound checks. So during show it a matter of peeling off layers of amps and resetting mics after each band finishes. Usually the wings of the stage are big enough as the next band starts to play the previous band's crew can get gear off the stage and pack it up. When I worked that Yes tour ,a lot of lights and special effects anything that could be removed and packed while Yes was playing was. There was a lot going on on-stage during a Yes show besides Yes playing

[allan_evett]

... I'm thinking this would be a good time for me to find another band.

 

Under the circumstances, I'd be seeking far greener pastures the minute I finished loading out from that gig.

[ProfD]

The guitarist turns to me and says: "What's the problem if your keyboard gets damaged: you have another one."

A quick sense of humor in the form of comeback or a strong left hook would have fixed that issue.

 

If you've already had the sound check then I don't see the harm in grabbing the Electro (being light and compact), leaving the stand and cables if you like.

I thought a selling point of the Nord Electro is that it's light enough to snatch off the stand after sound check and babysit until show time.

[cphollis]

The keyboardist is always considered a drain on the rest of the band because they take so long to set up and their gear is so heavy and bulky

 

With modern multitimbral 128-voice keyboard gear (no real need for 4, 5, 6 boards, or a tower of rack-mounts), this seems to be not so much the case anymore. My recent experiences are that the main body of work is in getting the drums and the PA gear set up. The PA job is a group effort. The drummer is still responsible for setting up own kit (that has never changed), and takes as long as it ever did (unless you're Neal Peart). I usually beat the drummer by a whole half-hour when it comes to set-up, and I then get on with helping out with PA.

 

Ditto: the PA, drums and guitarists bring more stuff than I do as keyboards. Two boards, one stand, limited pedals, small mixer, 8" PA units -- I'm sort of clean and simple compared to the others. I am planted in one spot, though, and can't easily move as some. Nobody has to wait for me.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

Maybe the guitar player could offer up all his guitars (surely he brings more than one!) so you could use them to build a little wall around your setup?

[KuruPrionz]

I'm thinking this would be a good time for me to find another band.

 

Yep, on to the next.

[nadroj]

I'm probably too British (or Scottish) to understand the offence behind this, but a lot of these replies seem OTT to me.

 

I can imagine a couple of people in bands I've played with recently who might say something like this, and my reply would simply be "Yeah, well this keyboard is worth £1600, so f**k you man. Why don't you leave your guitar out?" Then he'd say "oh" and that would be it. No hard feelings.

 

I get that it's a shitty attitude, but I don't think it's worth leaving the band over. IMO, you're overthinking this.

 

Perhaps we're just different personality types, though. Personally, I try to leave my keyboards setup on stage at every gig we play. If I can't, it's a PITA, but I usually leave it so that it only takes 2-5 minutes to set up a (similar to you) single Nord Electro. Keyboard is thrown in the bag, cables and stand are left out somewhere tied up ready to go as soon as the other band start leaving the stage.

[El Lobo]

Ditto: the PA, drums and guitarists bring more stuff than I do as keyboards.

Me too. And I'm doubling on sax w/ wireless sax mic, keyboard, stand, 2 powered speakers.

... my reply would simply be "Yeah, well this keyboard is worth £1600, so f**k you man. Why don't you leave your guitar out?" ...

I get that it's a shitty attitude, but I don't think it's worth leaving the band over. IMO, you're overthinking this.

I've had to stop some wanker from pounding too hard on my keyboard. I said. "Have you got $2000 you can spare?"

[gino]

Not much you can say to such a dumb comment. Unfortunately your guitarist is a knob.

[elif]

Tell him "no thanks", that your keyboards won't increase in value by being "relic'd". His guitars, on the other hand...

[wd8dky]

Things like this make me glad I just play Church gigs. Slightly less nonsense.

[allan_evett]

Things like this make me glad I just play Church gigs. Slightly less nonsense.

 

But only slightly less nonsense...

[CowboyNQ]

Are you quite certain he was serious?

 

May not translate cross-culturally, but my band mates and I say that sort of thing to each other all the time. Always delivered dead pan and always meant either in jest or at the very least ironically.

 

If he was serious - I wouldn"t waste my energy on the guy. He"s clearly an idiot. Which musician in full possession of their faculties would say that about another musician"s instrument?

 

To answer your other question: In the scenario you described I would likely do what you did. Leave everything connected except the keyboard and plug it in during changeover.

[stepay]

What a weird thing for the guitarist to say. Likely your Nord Electro is more expensive than his guitar, but still...very weird thing to say.

[Baggypants]

It sounds like a joke to me, you know, like a guitarist.

[Baggypants]

The other thing is if it's a trash gig take a trash keyboard and pocket the money. Those new Casiotones will be mlre than enough.