Gig pet peeves... List them

I hate when I get on stage and the lights are too low. I can't seem to make sense of my amp settings. I can't see the fret markers then I struggle to strum the correct strings. Just as I find my groove I realize I'm on stage in just my underwear...

Oh wait, that never happened. That was just a recurring dream I had years ago.
 
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My last show was in a theater setting; with the stage lighting up and the house lights down, I could hardly see the audience. I try to make eye contact with the audience, but that is hard when you can't see their eyes.
 
Honestly, I hate everything about playing gigs. I'm much, much happier woodshedding new tunes, recording, or just jamming. I only play live because most other band members expect it, I really think the Beatles were onto something post-'66.

mongooz said:
yea....i think you may be a bit confused.

people come to the club to see ME play my art, damn it.
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That's why I go to see live bands, YMMV.
 
I'm in a great setting right now with a bunch of adults who like making music, like practicing, like getting it right, and like putting on a show. The only things left that bug me are when other members make bad judgement calls and my own nervous habit of noodling the intro of a song before we actually start it, particularly at the start of a set.

If we're playing a whirly gig with other bands doing single sets, or festivals, it drives me crazy when I see a band switching instruments. You've got 45 minutes. You are your own tech. Don't spend three minutes of your time setting up a mandolin you're only playing for one song.
 
Ive had a longer think about this from a dj perspective

- can you play X? Here hook my phone up if you haven't got it.

- can I use one of your sockets to charge my phone?

- leaving anything - shoes, bags, drinks near my rig for people to trip over

- placing drinks on my booth which is full of blinky flashy, quite clearly electricity type things.

- can I sing a song?

- what do you mean its not karaoke? Just let me sing

- can I have a shot of your decks, I'm a dj too

- can you play (insert ridiculously inappropriate tune for the gig at hand) then get belligerent when I dint play it.

- I'll give you (5,10,20) quid if you play my request. [I'm warning more in these four hours than you have all week, I don't need your money]

- can you play my request next, I'm leaving.

- you haven't played my request yet [that's because I'm not an ipod on shuffle, I'm not going to drop your Abba push into th wee old skool mix imin the middle of]

- you haven't played my request yet [yes I have, no I won't play it again because you were out for a smoke]
 
Flamencology said:
DJs.
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zing

The reason I got into DJing is because I got sick of stressing about 3 or 4 other useless reprobates being able to keep their shit together to a. get to the point they could gig and b. get through the gig.

It's going great so far :embarrassed:
 
Band Members who buy a new piece of gear the afternoon of the gig and decide to Try it out the night of the gig. This pisses me off the worst as it usually results in endless noodling or volume spikes


Club Owners that want to become Sound Critics .In my rack i have a piece of equipment with three roll knobs that lights up and looks VERY important but isnt connected to any thing. When i have a PITA club owner that wants to mix the sound i tell them Knob A controls vocal volume, knob Two is for Drums,Three is for guitar and 4 is four bass. I never fail to laugh to myself when i see them turn the knobs ,step out front and say THIS is how the band should sound

People who wont drop any bills in the tip jar yet expect us to be their personal jukebox

People who show up two songs before the end of the night and expect us to play later because they just got there.These are the same people who dont grasp the concept of teh Tip Jar

Female Vocalists

Club owners who make us wait forever to get paid.

Band members who bring no PA equipment to the band whatsoever yet want to bitch and moan all night about "the sound" or their monitors,and tell me what I need to buy to make the PA sound better

Singers whose monitors are louder than the FOH but still need "more me" in the monitors

When I come off stage on a quick break and need a beer or to piss and some asshole wants to tell me how much better his friend's guitar/band/drummer/everything else is
 
Scott Powell said:
People who show up two songs before the end of the night and expect us to play later because they just got there.These are the same people who dont grasp the concept of teh Tip Jar
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When I was doing my performance art thing in the 80s, I had a program that was about 75 minutes long. SOme folks would show up midway through and then tell me, "The program was nice, but too short." I'd look them in the eye and say, "When you come on time, it is just the right length."
 
Mark Wein said:
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Wow, that's pretty bad. Maybe it's time to integrate some trippy video backgrounds into your show. :wink:
 
Gary Blanchard said:
When I was doing my performance art thing in the 80s, I had a program that was about 75 minutes long. SOme folks would show up midway through and then tell me, "The program was nice, but too short." I'd look them in the eye and say, "When you come on time, it is just the right length."
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We've had that happen at a four hour gig where the bar was really sparse for the first two sets, and then a bunch of drunk people show up for the last set (some of them bartenders getting off work from another place) and jamming out for the end... and wanting us to keep playing till 2am (scheduled to stop at midnight). If the crowd is happening (and the tips are flowing) we will play for an extra half to 45... but after hour 5? Shit, we want to be "off work" too. :wink:
 
baimun said:
We've had that happen at a four hour gig where the bar was really sparse for the first two sets, and then a bunch of drunk people show up for the last set (some of them bartenders getting off work from another place) and jamming out for the end... and wanting us to keep playing till 2am (scheduled to stop at midnight). If the crowd is happening (and the tips are flowing) we will play for an extra half to 45... but after hour 5? Shit, we want to be "off work" too. :wink:
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Earlier this year I had a gig at Luthier's Co-op. The schedule three acts - the first for a half hour, the second an hour,and the third for 90 minutes. I was scheduled second. The first guy wanted to wait for some of his friends to arrive; he got royally pissed when he was informed that he was eating into his 30 minutes and would not be allowed to go over time. Right before his last song, a couple of his friends showed up. After that song, the woman got up and addressed the sound man who was organizing the show and demanded that the guy be given one more song because they just got there and it was their anniversary. The sound man gave in. The singer then stood there and retuned to an open tuning, fooled with a foot pedal, and went into a tirade about how he was being treated. Ten minutes into my hour he was done, then went off stage to talk to his friends leaving all of his stuff on stage, making it hard for me to get set up. I lost 20 minutes of my time, plus he and his friends had loud conversations the whole time I was performing.
 
Gary Blanchard said:
Earlier this year I had a gig at Luthier's Co-op. The schedule three acts - the first for a half hour, the second an hour,and the third for 90 minutes. I was scheduled second. The first guy wanted to wait for some of his friends to arrive; he got royally pissed when he was informed that he was eating into his 30 minutes and would not be allowed to go over time. Right before his last song, a couple of his friends showed up. After that song, the woman got up and addressed the sound man who was organizing the show and demanded that the guy be given one more song because they just got there and it was their anniversary. The sound man gave in. The singer then stood there and retuned to an open tuning, fooled with a foot pedal, and went into a tirade about how he was being treated. Ten minutes into my hour he was done, then went off stage to talk to his friends leaving all of his stuff on stage, making it hard for me to get set up. I lost 20 minutes of my time, plus he and his friends had loud conversations the whole time I was performing.
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Well, there are quite a few entitled assholes out there. Many of them musicians and fans. I would have told the guy to get fucked and learn how to read the itinerary for the event.


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