Gig pet peeves... List them

1. Someone - anyone - another band member setting a beer down on top of my amp or any amp.
2. Noodling a song that isn't even on the set list between songs.
3. breaks that last longer than 15 minutes
4. People insisting to come on up and play a song because in 5th grade they played guitar or bass
5. People who want to help pack up at the end and wrap cables around their elbows - totally improper
6. When another band member farts
7. Full band setting with music stands
8. Did I tell you how pissed I get when a beer is set down on my amp?
9. to much dead space between songs.
10. arriving to the gig and having shit parking 1/4 mile away
 
Venues that have poor or non-existent electrical in the stage/playing area.

Venues that leave flat screen TV's on playing sports behind the band while they are playing.

Venues that treat musicians as an annoyance as opposed to a vendor.
 
I hate it when you're playing at some dive bar and between songs someone sneaks up behind you so you don't notice and then when you start playing the next song they come up behind you and pull back on your pants and dump an entire box of Cocoa Puffs into your underwear. Who hasn't had that happen? So annoying
 
smurfco said:
I hate it when you're playing at some dive bar and between songs someone sneaks up behind you so you don't notice and then when you start playing the next song they come up behind you and pull back on your pants and dump an entire box of Cocoa Puffs into your underwear. Who hasn't had that happen? So annoying
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Really? I kinda like when that happens...that's just me though...
 
Mark Wein said:
My thing about singers is that it's your job. Learn the songs. Perhaps practice them like any other instrument. The way to be able to sing songs on a gig without the lyrics is to....sing the songs on the gig without the lyrics. This is a pretty big pet peeve of mine.


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Yeah. It's the difference between looking like a professional and looking like a karaoke singer.

Not to mention that connecting with the audience is absolutely a part of singing. It's like acting.
 
singers who explain what each song is about before they play it. bitch... this isn't storytellers.


promoters who don't do shit and expect the bands to sell all the tickets.
 
The lyrics thing is big with me. Granted - I generally only sang 4 - 6 songs a night, but I always have my lyrics down. The lead singer in our last band had the music stand thing - which drove me crazy. Then he went to the iPad (much better), but still spent half the set staring at the iPad while singing. There is a old country band that plays out a lot and even there promo pics show everyone in the band with music stands in front of them. No way I would ever go see a cover band that did that.

One other major pet peeve - not working your craft to put on a better show. Our lead singer refused to work on stage banter. There is more to being a front man than ("here's a little Tom Petty tune", "Here's a little Bob Seger tune", etc). The other guitar player never practiced or adjusted his pedal board prior to a show so at least twice during the show he has to stop between songs and 'fix' his pedals for about two minutes. Both the bass player and I were big on being prepared and trying to put on a great show for the audience but that was lost on the rest of the band (aside from losing the music stand.

One other that is big for me at least - have the tempos at least close to correct. Our drummer was quite good overall, but he would start a song 15 BPM too slow way too often and it just killed the song and the mood. I have worked with drummers who had every tempo written down on their set list to remind them of about how fast they should be playing for each song.
 
smurfco said:
Singers reading lyrics off of anything, period
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I have been in that situation once. The crowd called out a song and we had never played it so we gave it a go. The person who called it out pulled up the lyrics on her phone so our singer could sing it. If it is a song on your list, unacceptable.
 
gtrjunior said:
The one exception for me is when a singer uses a tablet for lyrics. I couldn't imagine memorizing lyrics for 50 songs.
That said, I'm not referring to somebody that is reading lyrics all night but rather using it as a cue...and they need to keep it out of view as much as possible.
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Why can't they memorize the lyrics for 50 songs? You remember the chord progressions and solos for 50 songs.
 
Mark Wein said:
Venues that leave flat screen TV's on playing sports behind the band while they are playing.
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Seconded.

DSC_0518.jpg
 
I can't cheat w/lyrics. My vision is too bad up close, can't read a tablet, much less a sheet of paper in the dark, so I have to memorize. But the music stand to me, more than anything, is just in the way. It's taking up the space of a person, a person who doesn't move. I've gone ass over teakettle more than once falling and tripping over them.
 
Flamencology said:
Yeah. It's the difference between looking like a professional and looking like a karaoke singer.

Not to mention that connecting with the audience is absolutely a part of singing. It's like acting.
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Motherfuckers need to understand that they aren't "musicians" once they step on a stage in public. They are "entertainers". That's what we are getting paid for at least.


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Denverdave said:
The lyrics thing is big with me. Granted - I generally only sang 4 - 6 songs a night, but I always have my lyrics down. The lead singer in our last band had the music stand thing - which drove me crazy. Then he went to the iPad (much better), but still spent half the set staring at the iPad while singing. There is a old country band that plays out a lot and even there promo pics show everyone in the band with music stands in front of them. No way I would ever go see a cover band that did that.

One other major pet peeve - not working your craft to put on a better show. Our lead singer refused to work on stage banter. There is more to being a front man than ("here's a little Tom Petty tune", "Here's a little Bob Seger tune", etc). The other guitar player never practiced or adjusted his pedal board prior to a show so at least twice during the show he has to stop between songs and 'fix' his pedals for about two minutes. Both the bass player and I were big on being prepared and trying to put on a great show for the audience but that was lost on the rest of the band (aside from losing the music stand.

One other that is big for me at least - have the tempos at least close to correct. Our drummer was quite good overall, but he would start a song 15 BPM too slow way too often and it just killed the song and the mood. I have worked with drummers who had every tempo written down on their set list to remind them of about how fast they should be playing for each song.
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Here is a supercut of my stage banter from the last Bird Index show.

 
Mark Wein said:
Motherfuckers need to understand that they aren't "musicians" once they step on a stage in public. They are "entertainers". That's what we are getting paid for at least.
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yea....i think you may be a bit confused.

people come to the club to see ME play my art, damn it.
Totally_jammin_out
 
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