Formed a band in August ... got three gigs lined up ... hooray!

[RocknRollDave]

Sure I've told this story before but years ago the drummer of the band I was in went to see Paul Mccartney, his idol. He came back and said the Macca completely screwed up the start of Blackbird, told a joke and started again. After that our drummer said he wouldn't ever feel so bad about making mistakes live again.

I saw James Dean Bradfield do the same with Slash n Burn when I saw the Manics once - Kicked in with the guitar intro, messed it up, went to start it again, messed it up again cos he had a mental block on it by then...I seem to recall it took him at least 4 goes to get it going, and not before he'd made some reference to some darts player who couldn't let go of the dart or some such story that I am sure someone else will remember better than I do...

[Close2u]

UPDATE

And excuse the swear words ...

I'm really xx--xx pissed off and angry.
The band has imploded.
Apparently I've been xx--xx sacked!
A xx--xx mutiny led by a right ego-driven wanker of the first order.


Here's a brief summary.


Through our keyboard player, via an ad he placed for the band on a website, we were offered a last minute booking with the need to say yes or no asap. We said yes. We met up this week to discuss what we had to do etc. Only then did the full story become clear.
It was for a Christmas Party of a local branch of a huge company ... one of the most high profile and well known retail companies in the country. Their previously booked function band had let them down. It was on Sunday 16th from 7-12pm with us having to get in about 5pm to set up and play two one-hour sets through the night.
The organiser asked our keyboard player how much money we would want. £220 he replied.
Remember, at this point we had played two unpaid one-hour gigs.
As we sat and talked and we listed all the songs we knew or could possibly play, it hit me more and more that this was the wrong gig at the wrong time. We didn't have two hours of material. We had about a 50-50 split of up-tempo songs that were danceable and slow songs that were definitely not. We knew no Christmas songs at all.
So, afterwards, I raised my very strong doubts in an email and sent this message ...

“Hi guys
Time for some quick thoughts now I’ve had a moment to stop and think. You know I’ve been working 60+ hours a week lately and had no time to stop, think, take time over much at all. I was working until 10pm last night on interview prep and looking over reams of paperwork for my solicitor. And that has been typical of my last couple of weeks.
So, when the message came through about the gig yesterday, I was unable to give it proper thought. I just thought, great, a gig.
I now think we should have said no.
I think we should still say no now.
There’s lots of issues.
We honestly and truly do not fit the bill of a party / function band yet. We will, but not yet.
Seriously we don’t.
And for a Christmas party people want high entertainment from start to finish.
We don’t have that. We truly don’t have enough songs of the type needed to do this gig justice.
So, there is a high possibility of being disliked, ignored, etc etc by the crowd …
And first impressions count.
Add to that … we are still a little sloppy in places (even with a few more practices we’ll not be as good as potentially we will be in a few months) and not really tight and proficient … they will be expecting a seasoned and professional band – even though they’re paying bottom dollar … the party-goers won’t know we were drafted in last minute on the cheap – they will have paid good money for their tickets.
Add to that … £220 to play a Christmas party, the last full weekend before Christmas, at short notice, when asked by the organiser what our fee is. 'Xxxxxxx' (our keyboard player), I’ve got to say you missed a trick there. I think any time someone asks us about our fee in future, we must put it to the rest of the band and come to agreement first.
And for that money, the time commitment is going to be huge. The actual day of the gig will see us out from 5pm until well after midnight. A 7-hour shift at least. And we would definitely need, as we discussed, three full rehearsals and time practicing at home.
I’m thinking we have to withdraw.
If necessary, we’ll say our bass player has a bad back!
Or some other excuse.
But we have to turn this one down.
It’s great to get a gig but it has to be the right gig, at the right time, one that we’re ready for.
I’m also thinking, as an alternative, if we really do want a gig this side of January, but without that pressure and time commitment, let’s take up the offer received tonight of a gig at the pub on Saturday 15th instead. Two 45-minute sets … for a pub crowd - which we more or less have in the bag as of now anyway. And the songs we have right now fit that sort of gig to a tee.
It will be more comfortable, less hectic and probably better received.
We’ll receive the same fee!
We hope to build a good relationship and get regular gigs there so we could start now.
They’re giving us free practice space – it’s fair to help them fill a spare night when they want a live band isn’t it.
And we’ll probably enjoy it a lot more.”
Richard


'Xxxxxxx's reply …
“ you can ring the organiser and tell him, because I'm certainly not, His name is JD Tel no xxxx xxxxxx”

Our drummer's reply …
“I don't think we should cancel without the majority decision”
Our singer's reply …
”Guys, I can appreciate Richard's point about the expectations of the 'very big well-known company' party goers and yes we still have a long way to go before we can confidently play to a high standard... We have to remember that we are in this band for enjoyment, not because we have to and not for the money so when we do gigs they have to be enjoyable events and the audience need to appreciate us and we have to want to entertain them.”

Then next came this ... a message from our singer giving me the sack …
“Richard,
After numerous discussions with Xxxxx, Yyyyyy and Zzzzzzz this morning we fully appreciate your situation regarding your work commitments and we feel that its probably best to part company and review the existing band line up.
We may decide to look for another guitarist and form a new band so we are willing to offer to buy the monitors from you if you want to sell them.
On behalf of the rest of the band I would like to thank you for your involvement to date and we wish you every success for the future.
Regards,
Wwwwww.”


WTF?
Where did that come from?
xx--xx!

I rang them all in turn.
The drummer told me that he just went along with the consensus opinion, he was the last to join so agreed with the majority. What he didn't know when he got the call from the keyboard player was that he was the first to be called, there had been no decision made to agree with, because noone else had been called. He was used. He stands by it now though telling me he was part of the decision making.
The bassist told me he didn't know I was going to be 'sacked', he spoke only with the keyboard player and told him we should all meet up and talk.
The singer told me he could see two sides ... the gig could have been a step too far at this stage, but could also have worked out well. He told me that the keyboard player asked him to write the message on their behalf.
The keyboard player ... the prime mover, the one that made all the phone-calls ... would not answer his phone to me.
xx--xx wanker!
He has been politicking and manoevering for weeks to gain control.
Now he has control ... but control over nothing ... there is no band ... it has imploded and ceased to exist.


And, do you know what makes it even more bloody ridiculous ... at our last rehearsal ... a promoter / agent came along to see us, took is on to his roster of artists there and there even though he saw and knew we were still quite new and getting it together, telling us we were really good and he would be able to get us loads of gigs in the new year, and functions / weddings / parties etc in spring / summer if we chose to go that route.
One week later, bang goes Mr Ego's ego - taking personal offense at the idea of turning down one gig because he got it for the band.

[ESBlonde]

Sounds like you could take most of the band and start your own.

[Si.]

Sorry to read that.. it's shitty when this happens but unfortunately it's all part of being in a band.. I've been in loads of bands that have folded, imploded or sacked people. Just keep at it, look for something new and start again.. eventually it will all come together.

Personally I believe you were right.. we've refused good gigs because the timing wasn't right. there is nothing wrong with that.. It's better to politely refuse a gig than to take it and not be ready.

[Not_the_DJ]

Sorry to hear that. It's obvious from your other posts that you were really excited about all this, and it seemed to be moving in the right direction.

I also think you were right about turning down the gig....and that fee is ridiculous. He's an utter fool for agreeing to that.

Shame it all fell apart because of this, but I suspect it would have happened at some point anyway, and this just brought it to the surface quickly, so maybe you'll be better off out of it...and then you can concentrate on finding/forming/joining something else.

[nickp]

maybe you can sort the rest of the guys out?

We have been doing this now for about 10 months. Had a singist change near the beginning as it wasn't working out with the original vox. We have an enthusiastic and able guy now who has no experience, but we are getting there.

had a guitarist change as well as the original "other" guitarist needed to cut his committments. The replacement axe weilder doesn't get on so well with the rest of the band and it can get a bit uncomfortable at times but we are sooo close to getting just over an hours worth of fairly well rehearsed material and with another 3-4 songs we will be a giggable proposition.

to to get back on topic - pick yourself up, dust down and either look for a band to join, try to get your old guys back and tell the keys to go and play with his moog, or start again - it is soo much fun when it is going ok.

But in the circumstances you were absolutely on point to voice caution about taking a gig underprepared - if you had taken the gig the resulting carnage from a poor performance would have probably caused a whole lotta grief.

imho etc

and best of luck!!

[Close2u]

Thanks all for the kind words of consolation ... although of course it is no consolation ...

I was really excited about this ... and now am disheartened ...

But, as you recommend, I can always try again and see what else comes along ... and I'll be more experienced and wiser too.