General Music Chat

Goose canceled the gig.

Thanks for the heads up . I was really trying to make it up this eve. But things dont allways go as you hope. I had a freind I havent seen in a long time drive up yesterday and we jammed till early am, so Im a bit wasted this afternoon. The wife and I are planning to stay home now and try to catch our second wind after the party we threw my oldest daughter for her b-day yesterday. It got kind of crazy here. Ill keep my eyes open for another show I might be able to make, or ill let you know the next time Im up near home and maybe we can get a little jam going.


And its another day in Paradise !!!

I know this was not addressed to me but I feel compelled.
We played a show Friday evening in the sweltering Texas sun.
(Bet ya,ll didnt know Texas owned the sun. )
Our bassest, despite news of a family tragedy, that probably would have left me sobbing in a dark room, came to the show and put in a stellar performance. His dear wife, well she was there to support him and us.
All I can say is put on a diaper, carry a bucket, and hang an IV from the mic stand. The show must go on!!

The show must and always goes on here !

Ita another day in Paradise !!!!

I have cancelled 2 gigs in over 35 years of performing. Once cuz I was in the hospital after being bitten by a copperhead, & once cuz I flooked up & dbl-booked (I had a choice between doing the solo gig & letting my bandmates down, but I called & cancelled the solo, cuz it was my fault, after all, even though I lost over a hunnert bucks because of it, but my bandmates appreciated it).

I've played one helluva lot of gigs in my time, & I think that's pretty good.

I have, however, had a gig bumped because of a bandmate for no good reason, & more than once, & that pissed me off so bad I fired the guy (& it wasn't even my band!). I'm still trying to replace him...

Yeah, I've done the gig with the trots, the flu, bronchitis, even pneumonia, once. I've played with blisters between my fingers after getting drunk on my b'day doing flaming shots & getting all burnt up. I've played in a restaurant with blood running down my arm from a cut finger on my left hand. I've played with a cast on my foot. Those are the most memorable, but there have been more...

What would you do for a gig?

(deleted)

Wow! And this is his second cancellation in this fashion

Must be stage fright or something.

That's one of the toughest things for bandmates to understand. Playing in a band, you are counting on each other to do what is reasonable AT LEAST MAKE THE FRIKKEN GIGS! this is whats causing me to wind down our band. I will give someone the benefit of the doubt the first time, but I WILL NOT stomach it a 2cd time. I say kick the selfish little twirp to the curb and find a replacement as this is obviously a case of (I just want to rehearse for the rest of my life and have fun. I really don't want to get serious but I am not gonna tell you guy's).

Or, how about the opposite. Band members that want to play the gig and make the money, but never seem to make it to rehearsal? I had a bass player drive about 50 miles to practice here and just before he got here, the drummer who lives 20 miles away called to say he couldn't make it. (But he could make the gig and the money). I still play with this drummer some, but don't keep him busy like I used to as I have other drummers for some gigs. And when it comes time to put together a serious band again, his name WON'T be on the list. It's a shame because he's a really nice guy and a good drummer and I've been playing with him off and on for over 25 years, but once someone shows their colors, it's hard to forget when deciding on a permanent member.

I agree, ratsass - had to fire a drummer for the same reason. He was good, too, so that sucked!

Been in a rut trying to find ppl for a long time, now. How DARE they let life get in the way of the music! More often, though, it's an inability to follow through, or attitude prob's, or just plain laziness! No reason to make allowances for those personality quirks!

Rats,

You guys actually rehearse? Im just kidding but my band hardly ever rehearses anymore. Once in a blue moon me the drummer and bassist get together just to go over stuff.

I think is someone has made a habit of cancelling a gig at the last minute a coupld of times I would move on.

Over the past year my group has cancelled 3 gigs. I had scheduled a gig for valentines day and our singers woman threw a fit. I cancelled it 2 monthes in advance. We had a show scheduled at a VFW club and the main guy called me the week before and read me the riot act. No cussing, no beads, all sorts of rules. He was going to get up before we played and tell the audience all this stuff. I told him that the best thing to do was for us to cancell. If we went in there with our crowd and told them that, they would act up more than normal. I also cancelled a show outside of our area recently. I made a couple of trips to the venue and there was absolutly no built in crowd. 2 weeks before we were supposed to play the manager called me and said that we would have to work for the door after having an agreement on a set amount for a couple of monthes. So I cant say that Ive never cancelled a gig.

I hear the old saying the show must go on, but really if there is something going on thats going to really hurt the performance of the band it might be in your best interest to cancel gigs. Im just playing devils advocate here. Of course when you do cancel a gig you may never get a gig there again. I guess Im getting a little older and dont care as much as I used to. I think hteres nothing wrong if you give someone plenty of notice so they can replace your band. If this is your only gig and you havent established a reputation yet, it might be a problem.

I very rarely cancel a gig, but it happens. Usually due to double bookings but that doesn't happen as much with the band as it does with the club. If I have to cancel a gig for some reason, I'll do my best to find a replacement band for the club. They shouldn't have to go to that trouble if it's my fault. I don't cancel a gig for higher pay. Many times, I've had someone call with a last minute gig that paid twice what I was booked somewhere else for. I politely declined and, if possible, lined them up with another band. My bandmates weren't too happy with me for keeping the lower paying gig, but at least they know I have principles and that I'll look out for them just as I will for the venues.
Usually, when a club double books, one of the bands is just SOL, but there's a little bar in Altus that used to have bands every weekend. One weekend I was off so I went there to hear a friend of mine's band. I got there and there was another band playing and my friend was sitting drinking a beer and listening. I asked him what happened and he said the bar owner had accidently double booked them and a band from Oklahoma. The bar owner said that since the other band had come all the way from Oklahoma, he'd let them play, but since it was his fault, he'd just pay both bands full price. This is a rarity and I've been friends with that owner ever since and have the utmost respect for him.

I wanted to delete this thread and start a new one with the resolution to this cancellation, but I don't know if I can or how to. So, here it is: the resolution and my apology.

Goose and I spoke during my break on my full-time job. We have come to an agreement about respect that each of us are due. He apologized to me again for everything, I apologized to him for airing my laundry out on this forum when I should have gone to him.

It is difficult doing business in music because sharing music and playing music with other people causes you to put so much of yourself into it. Things that should remain business become personal, because we put ourselves into every note that we play. For that reason, the cancellation was personal to me. I worked hard on this project, as did Goose. I didn't take into consideration how Goose felt about it, so if anyone is an @ss, it is me. I'll take this experience and learn from it, as will Goose.

Bottom line: I was wrong for venting my personal frustration about a business affair on a forum without going to my client first. If you read this Goose, I apologize (in writing this time ) for my actions. I want things to be professional in this highly personal art that we do, and I'm glad that we are both able to let this experience be as water under the bridge.

GROUP HUG ???

Make that a GROUPIE HUG and ya got a deal.