Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

So last night I showed up to do my solo gig, & there's 2 big flat-screen TV's with the damned WV game on pointed right at me. GRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I played a 1/2 hr 1st set - very unlike me, but all the attention in the room was on the frikken screen. When a commercial came up, they'd look at me, then it was over & so was my view of their eyeballs. There were 13 ppl in the room. I took a 20 min break.

2nd set...45 min...still they played on...ppl bitcherin' about Cincy's TD what wasn't...There were 15 ppl in the room. I got a beer & took a 30 min break...also very unlike me...

3rd set...I played 50 min...Ppl started showing up, there were over 40 ppl by now...I was having trouble cuzza my ears, but was told I sounded okay, even though I was running on autopilot, cuz I couldn't hear much...The game finished (YAY!), & ppl joined in & sang with me, I had a lot of interaction going on. (I was blamed for the WV loss by the bartender!) I took a 10 min break, & the owner said he was gonna do Beer Pong when I finished up, so...

I went back & played 2 songs on the guitar, & finished with an a capella weird twisted song to the tune of "Finiculee Finiculah" (sic)

The words -

"Tonight's the night for masturbation
For pulling your pud
You know that it's good
I think that you should.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII squeezed it teased it
Bounced it on the floor!
Squeezed it teased it
Smashed it in the door
Some ppl say that sexual intercourse is very very graaaaaaaand
But for maximum enjoyment you must always use your hand!"

They roared!

It might have been successful by some ppl's standards, but I HATE THAT DAMNED TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was a time that I refused to play with one on, but that kinda cut back on my gig numbers, & I had to accept that there's gonna be times when things just don't go my way. (A hard lesson I'm STILL trying to learn!)

Anyway, there was this cute lil thang what just kept coming up to me & getting real close & stuff - in short - making me kinda uncomfortable cuz her hubby was RIGHT THERE lookin' at me & watchin' my reactions...He musta pulled her offa me 5 times in all...which I find sort of weird, cuz I'm not what I would call all that attractive, while SHE sure was! Whoo-ee! 'Bout 22, short & shapely & just cute as hell, & she kept TOUCHING me! She made him get her a pen, & she gave me her #, cuz she wants guitar & voice lessons. Uh huh! I DON'T think it would be a very good idea to go there, for some reason...although after she sobers up & REALLY sees me, she might decide to actually get those lessons, instead of whatever else she evidently had on her lil mind last night!

I got the hell outta there (with my wife) while they started up the Beer Pong game...

Went to Wheeling today & saw my sis & a whole buncha relatives, some of whom I haven't seen since my mom died in 74. (& some I don't think I've EVER seen!) That was strange. Didn't feel like I fit, somehow...though they all seemed very happy to see me. Lots of hugs & kisses. (Awkward!)

I guess I should stay in touch a lot better. I think I'm gonna hafta go to Illinois soon to visit my sister. I feel like a bit of an ass for not contacting anyone for so long...last time I saw any of the family (including my sis) was back in 97. Sheesh!

Almost the exact same complaint was up on my friends facebook yesterday! I responded with.... "Ahh the joys of NEVER playing bars".

Years ago we played at a bar with the big screen sports TV right ABOVE US. What a pain in the ass. You're playing your ass off and everybody's looking ABOVE you. Then one night we show up and the Kansas City Chiefs are on. The bar owner wants us to NOT play until the game is over (about 11:30) then play until 1:00am and TAKE A PAY CUT. Right. We're going to set our gear up at 7:30, we can't run a sound check (game is on), wait until 11:30 (do NOTHING for 2 1/2 hours), play until closing for 1/3 the money. B.S. I tell the manager he should have called off our gig. If we stay the entire night we get paid FULL or we leave NOW. We stay, play after 11:30 until closing and he PAYS US FULL GIG MONEY and then tells us we're never playing there again. I say GOOD RIDDANCE to his face! NO MF'er gets away with screwing me out of an agreement. If you don't pay me for services rendered you're IN TROUBLE. I'll NEVER play a gig and be in the background EVER. They either get a load of me or I stay home.

Philby, almost reminds me of playing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn, you're just part of the ambiance. What B.S.

Hey, I DID get full pay, at least! And plenty of kudos.

I have never & will never take a cut for that sh*t. They contracted (hell, they conTACTED) me to do it, so it's up to them to either schedule me away from games or pay me the contracted price as long as I do my part!

I do hate playing to the backs of ppl's heads, though!

LOL

I have played in bars, where I was doing a nice slow song, & all of a sudden ppl started yelling "GO! GO! GO! GO!" when something was happening on the tv...so I go go go...offstage until they stop...or, a cpl times I just switched mid-song to a fast bluesy thing & sang either just "go go go" for a cpl minutes, or "Johnny B Goode"...LOL...I think some of them may have gotten the message...& I even got some compliments on the thing!

Ppl are rude.

Been there, done that.

Good rule to pay attention to regional professional sports teams, and avoid booking SPORTS BARS (especially) on those nights.

You can blame those patrons for ignoring the music.. but they came to the bar to watch a sporting event on a bigscreen TV.. you know? It sucks, but the bar owner ain't going to care enough about what sports will be on.. it's up to us.

So yeah, every bar has TV's, but the ones with 42 inch+ screens all over the place? Yeah, I'm checking the national and college / regional teams and making sure the gig isn't ruined.

Of course, doesn't always work out.. especially when we book a gig 10 months in advance .. ugh

neanderpaul wrote:Almost the exact same complaint was up on my friends facebook yesterday! I responded with.... "Ahh the joys of NEVER playing bars".

DITTO !!!

I quit playing "sports bars" 10 years ago, but you know there's gonna be trouble when there's a big sports event on a night you're playing, esp if you're a solo.

I suppose I should just write some sporty stuff to fit the atmosphere...maybe that'll work. "Run that ball. Throw that ball. Kick those balls. Wreck that car. If that game don't go your way to hell with it all let's WRECK THIS BAR!"

Maybe that's not such a good idea after all...

It really cracked me up when, during the final 3 min of the game, this guy told me to "go ahead & play. This game's over anyway."

I told him I was gonna have a cig 1st, & I went outside & did just that.

Here's a fond sports memory for ya!

http://www.yikers.com/video_sick_world_ ... emory.html

It would be okay if the area you are playing didn't have any screens on, gives people a choice to watch the games in another part of the bar or watch you play. But when the damn screens are on all around you it sucks. If I ever get asked to play a place like that in the futrue I'll negotiate them to turn off the screens in the vicinity of the band. If they won't do it I won't play there...

neanderpaul wrote:Almost the exact same complaint was up on my friends facebook yesterday! I responded with.... "Ahh the joys of NEVER playing bars".

Which is sooooo true, cause...

In churches the adulterous affairs going on, are usually involving church leaders and church staff, and of course, with no alcohol, they KNOW quite consciously what they are doing!

.

That was just really weird.

neanderpaul wrote:That was just really weird.

Was it? Why?

.

Glad you changed your profile pic! Cool!

It's weird because I've never seen that happen and I just donn't see the logical connection. I've heard of it happening twice somewhere else but not at any churches I've worshiped with.

Philby, I was doing a solo gig a few weeks ago and this guy I know came in playing bass. I asked if he had ever played Sympathy For The Devil, so we got the grove going and I had the crowd singing the ohh ohhs, Im up to the third verse area and the bartender came up and asked us to stop so a guy at the bar could make a long distance phone call. Really wierd, but this guy always buys beer and tips me so I took a break.

It can be trying at times. Ive been working on original material recently and playing it live, I get in the middle of a song and noone is paying attetention, it just goes with the territory.

You just kinda have to push on thru. Im taking a little break to record and do someother stuff this winter. I only have a couple of acoustic gigs a month lined up and then 2 Christmas Parties that I will sit in with another band on, so it will be cool this winter.