thepurpleblob Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 I've learned some valuable lessons over the years... Glasgow, ten years ago maybe. I was looking for a new band and had put an ad in Scumtree and got contacted by a dude. Let's call him Robert. They were putting together a new covers band and just needed a bass player. They were all experienced, mature musicians, was I interested? I explained that I probably wasn't as experienced as them but had been gigging a lot with the usual suspect covers and should be fine. So Robert says, "great come along to our next rehearsal and we'll see how we go". I asked him for a list of songs. He replied, "don't worry about that. Everything we do are standards (sic.) so you'll know most or, at worst, some of them". Should have seen the big red warning light there. Got to the rehearsal, three guys much older than me (and I'm not that young) turns out all were peripatetic music teachers and had years of experience. Oh well, it's never been a bad thing playing with people better than me. Starts calling out songs. One after the other. Never heard of them. Who is that by? Who? Played a bit of each one. Not a clue. Whatever a "standard" is it clearly isn't "Wishing Well" or "Freebird". "Not to worry - we'll try some and I'll shout you the chords - see what you can do". So he starts playing and making these weird hand gestures at me. I stand there looking - rabbit in headlights. "What are you doing?". Turns out that there is some convention of hand signals for chords? Never heard of it. Never seen it before. Never since. Packed up and left. Lesson learned 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 4 hours ago, thepurpleblob said: Not to worry - we'll try some and I'll shout you the chords - see what you can do". So he starts playing and making these weird hand gestures at me. I stand there looking - rabbit in headlights. "What are you doing?". Turns out that there is some convention of hand signals for chords? Never heard of it. Never seen it before. Never since. My guitarist mate had something similar. "Funky guitarist wanted" did not mean "can you play a few chic riffs?" In the case of the ad he replied to it seemed to mean "can you play the most complex chord sequences based off telepathic signals from other people on the room without so much as a clue in advance?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegateNaarifin Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 6 minutes ago, uk_lefty said: My guitarist mate had something similar. "Funky guitarist wanted" did not mean "can you play a few chic riffs?" In the case of the ad he replied to it seemed to mean "can you play the most complex chord sequences based off telepathic signals from other people on the room without so much as a clue in advance?" Surely that's more a "jazzy guitarist" than a "funky guitarist"? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 (edited) Guildford, early 2000's Not exactly an audition... A mate who had a band, mainly with people he knew through work, had booked a gig without really considering that they didn't actually have a bass player. They didn't play very much and I'd never seen them, but he had a knack of playing pubs near work on Friday nights so their mates (apart from me) and everybody they worked with would come along, the pub would sell a lot of beer and the band would go down pretty well. He was the BL, and being a mate I said that I'd come down to a practice, see if we gelled, and assuming no disasters I'd cover for the gig... The lead guitarist had been to GIT in LA and had lessons from Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. The BL, on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, was a triumph of enthusiasm over talent. Quite a contrast. The drummer had previously left the band to move to Spain with his wife, but having found out that she'd been cheating on him almost as soon as the plane landed, was back a year later, in a slightly fragile emotional state. It was difficult to tell if he was any good as he hadn't played the drums since moving to Spain, and was extremely rusty. There was also a female singer who did BVs and a couple of lead vocals, who was OK, not spectacular. That the drummer very obviously fancied. Really not subtle at all. And despite her being happily married. The previous bass player was someone at work who liked the idea of being in a band and owned a bass from when he was younger, but now had better things to do. I'd got a list of half a dozen covers to learn, some unusual choices but fairly mid-paced rock from the Beatles to Radiohead, nothing too trying, all in the original keys. This'll be fun... It rapidly became apparent that the position of BL was purely ceremonial, with no actual leading going on. If everybody started and stopped in more or less the same place, it was a success as far as he could see. the main problem was both his very average guitar playing, and his below par vocals. The odd song would be in the right key for him, and it wouldn't sound bad, but most of them weren't, so rather than changing the key, or letting the girl take those ones, he would screech his way through. And think he'd done a great job. We rush through the covers and the BL wants to move on. I suggest that we weren't sounding very good, how about we work on some of the issues...I politely point out a few parts where the drums were out and the BL played the wrong thing at various points, and it's really lacking in any dynamics... The drummer takes this OK, and apologises that he's a bit rusty, plus the previous bass player wasn't really one for any dynamics (his strength seemed to have been playing the root note of whatever chord the BL was playing) so he's not used to the bass trying to do any more than that. The BL concedes that he isn't playing all of his parts correctly, what with some of them being quite tricky for his standard of playing, and made more complicated because he is singing at the same time, but he thought he'd covered them OK and I'd only noticed because I'd been listening to the songs to learn the bass parts, nobody in the crowd would spot it. I also pointed out that a lot of the vocals would be better if we changed the keys to better suit his voice. Or did different songs that were better suited to his voice. He actually took that very well because he knew when his voice was straining, and was genuinely interested in the idea, but thought it wasn't worth trying right then as he'd need to go away and work on which keys were the right ones. Fair point. The BL insisted that we'll be fine with another couple of practices, and he wants to move on because he's written some songs and wanted the band to focus on playing those at future gigs rather than just covers. He shows the band how they go and we work our way through them. They are all dreadful. Nobody else in the band seems very enthusiastic, but out of politeness nobody says anything, so the BL thinks that they are dead keen to play them. The lead guitarist seemed completely bored, so I had a chat with him during a break. He knew exactly how bad the band was, but like me, the BL was a good mate, and with a couple of very young kids and a wife who clearly wore the pants in his house, this was his one excuse to get out and play his guitar. they didn't play very much, and he was happy to remain at a very low level weekend warrior level. We ran through the set, such as it was, one more time. the drummer was even worse, the girl has joined the lead guitarist in looking very bored, possibly because she is clearly the best singer in the band but only has a couple of lead vocals and none in the new songs, and only the BL is showing any sign of enjoying himself. He's given me a lift to the studio, and on the way back he asks me how I think it's gone, and would I be interested in joining full time rather than just doing the one gig? Didn't seem to mind in the slightest that I'd spent the night telling them how bad they were (actually, I did try to do it as positively as possible), my bass playing is a definite improvement on the previous incumbent and the band was sounding really good... I politely decline, say that it's not really for me but I'll do the gig if he wants me to. But I am not really very keen. He rings me the following day to say that the girl singer has decided that she'd rather stay in with her hubby than come to any more practices, certainly while the drummer was still there.. They could cope with that by cutting the couple of songs that she sings lead vocals on, but probably wouldn't need to as the drummer had decided that he wasn't in any state to be playing in a band at that time so couldn't commit to anything. They wouldn't find a new drummer in time for the gig, so it was off and I never had to return. Edited April 19, 2018 by Monkey Steve 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 (edited) Heres one from the 'shoe on other foot' camp... I recall one band I was in the band revolved around singer (well dont they all really?) who liked to keep a few backup musos on his contacts so he could always take work without consulting others and if a 'regular' couldnt do the gig he had deps ready to step in. No problem with this. So it looks like regular guitarist may be missing a few gigs due to impending birth of first child. Band leader (vox) talk up a lad who he says he's seen on video and looks the business. He turns up to a jam session and joins us for 1 song which I'm less than convinced in his performance but put it down to nerves. Therefore a proper rehearsal/audition session is booked for a couple of weeks hence so he can get to grips with our covers set (none of which are tough to play, a lot is indie stuff with a few beatles/kinks etc thrown in and occasional recent chart hits). He turns up and almost from the outset starts to struggle with even the most basic tunes. As this guy is from the personal recommendation of the singer me and the drummer look at him as if to say 'what's going on'. Some songs he just plain blanks at admitting he hasn't got round to learning. Fair enough, so we work back from the ones he says he does know. But he only half knows them and the session breaks down. Band leader calls a break, me and drummer go outside for air and we can hear bandleader having a go at the lad. We reconvene to a bit of an 'atmosphere' and after another 2 songs the budding dep declares that he's getting cramp in his hand and can't carry on any longer. We've been playing less than an hour, 2 hours of rehearsal room still booked! In the end we desperately call the regular guitar player to see if he's around (as he doesnt live too far from where we are rehearsing) and luckily he had a spare couple of hours and comes down after auditionee has packed up and sulked off ('Its really starting to hurt, honest') so we get to use the remaining room time to get a few songs a bit more polished. Edited April 19, 2018 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Leatherhead, 2002 A band I was in had fallen apart (terrible singer, drummer who was off his meds...didn't find out he was ever on meds until after he disappeared one week never to return, but it explained a lot, and gave us the excuse to sack the terrible, terrible singer) so me and the guitarist were trying to find replacements. First up a drummer. Lots of ads, no responses. Then we get a reply, so we send out some rough tapes of a couple of songs and book a rehearsal studio. The drummer, arrives, half an hour late, early 20's, looking like he's slept in a hedge. But he's a drummer, so that's not unusual. But better spoken than somebody who sleeps in hedges, and explains that he hasn't had much sleep because he was "in Camden last night, and you know how that goes". Sets up his kit, and looks like he's about to pass out. We ask him which of the songs we've sent him he wants to try first. He picks one, we launch into it, and he doesn't seem to have actually bothered listening to the song at all. Wrong tempo, not picking up any of the changes, fills in the wrong places, just all over the place. We stutter to a halt and he admits that he's dreadful, what with him having been "in Camden" last night. Do we mind if he goes outside for a smoke to relax himself? Fine. Turns out that he's not talking about having a cigarette. Rolls himself a joint in the car park (we politely refuse - I don't, and the guitarist, who usually would, is driving and not stupid). Back into the studio and he suggests that rather than playing the songs we sent him (and he clearly hasn't listened to) why don't we have a jam, loosen up, and come back to our songs? The demos we sent him were funky/punky up tempo style indie metal. he launches into a slow, stoner-y (no pun intended) dirge that drags on for quite some time. he seems very pleased with himself. We are bored beyond belief. We made up the existence of another drummer who was expected soon so we'll need to pack up now, thanks for coming and we'll let you know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Holloway 2014 Another one as auditioner, not auditionee The band had just sacked our singer - great voice, huge coke problem. We'd recorded a three track demo before the sacking and had started to get some reasonable gigs, so we posted some ads on a few websites, and got quite a good response, sent out a lot of CDs, lyric sheets and links. But noticeably a lot of people claiming that they didn't have demos or Youtube links themselves - they'd sung in hard rock bands, we just couldn't listen to them in advance. What follows took place over a few weeks, but they all blur into one after a while. Contestant #1 arrives, and has very clearly never been in a studio with a band before. English isn't his first language, and he he's extremely nervous, barely speaks, and when we ask him which of the three demo tracks he'd like to try first he admits that he only really knows one, hasn't learned the lyrics, but will try and remember them. He mumbles his way through the song, misses queues, generally makes a mess of it. We offer him a spare lyric sheet in the hope that he will be better. It is no better. rather than prolong the agony we thank him and send him on his way. Contestant #2 arrives. An Eastern European, his spoken English is much better than #1, and he is quite confident. Says he has only learned two of the three songs, as the vocal timing on the third one is tricky (which is true). We're playing '70/80's style hard rock. he bellows his way through like a death metal singer (possibly there was some confusion because the band contained a few people who are fairly well known in the death metal field). Not even good death metal, just loud shouting. Thanks, we'll let you know... Contestant #3 has sent us some links to an old band on Youtube, and while a bit cleaner cut than our ideal candidate, can clearly sing and has a great front man personality. I've very keen in advance, but some of the band think that he'll need to be a bit sleazier to fit in with the band's image. He arrives, very full of confidence, with a box under his arm containing a new vocal FX pedal that he's just bought and is very keen to try out with a band. He sets that up and spends the first third of the allotted time singing into the mic and playing with the knobs on the pedal. We're very clearly bored so get his attention and ask which song he wants to try first, has he learned all of them? Not exactly. he likes the songs and everything, but thinks he can do better than the original vocal melodies so what he's done is re-written all the lyrics and melodies, or at least he's started re-writing them, so he'll go with what he's got but we might have to bear with him as he hasn't worked it all out. He is dreadful. He can clearly sing, but is all over the place, missing queues, singing over solos, just a complete mess. I was keen to give him a talking to and ask him back, but the band member who were already not keen vetoed that idea. (I was the one who let him down and he realised that he'd made a bit of an @rse of himself, and in retrospect knew that he should just have learned the songs, shown up and sung them as well as possible...opportunity missed for all of us) Contestant #4 had also sent Youtube links for old bands - I think he was Greek and had played in similar style hard rock bands over there. The vocals weren't great, but he was clearly a good front man and maybe the live clips didn't do him justice. Came in, long hair and leather jeans, spotted that the lead guitarist was the key decision maker and started talking to him about all his contacts with promoters, how to get the band noticed, bigger, better gigs, etc. Barely speaks to the rest of us, and the guitarist completely falls for it, total bromance happening in front of our eyes. Then he sings. Has learned the songs, hits his queues, knows the lyrics. But Youtube doesn't lie, and his is out of tune, and it's not good when he is hitting the right notes. The lead guitarist was keen to get him back to try again, but the rest of the band exercised our veto. Unfortunately for this one, the lead guitarist was never the key decision maker, he'd read it all wrong. Lots of repeats of Contestants #2 and #4 followed before we lost heart and broke the band up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Back in the early 90s I was in a punk-funk band. We thought we were going places, had headlined the Marquee, supported Carter USM and Gaye Bykers on a number of occasions, when our drummer left. So we advertised for one; we had a number of assorted chancers who couldn't play, or didn't have their own gear and expected us to buy it for them, then a Dutch guy turned up... He had long hair, denim, was obviously from the 70s (!) and didn't really fit in with us (mohicans etc) but wasn't a bad drummer. His only problem was a tendency to put the "EastEnders"/Phil Collins drum bit into everything, but we felt we could perhaps funk him up a bit. He turned up for the 1st rehearsal with his girlfriend. Who was called Janine (you know where this is going!). We started teaching him our songs, and she kept stopping us to say things like "I fink the guitarist should do a little peggio there", or "what this song needs Is a flutey sound on the keyboard". We politely declined all her suggestions, then she said she'd do a better job than Mikey, our manager (and m8 of many years), and she could get us a great gig in her local pub... We managed to struggle through 1 gig with him before he left to (as she said) "join a proper rock band". 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 2 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said: We managed to struggle through 1 gig with him before he left to (as she said) "join a proper rock band". ...in Dobbly, presumably 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 6 hours ago, Monkey Steve said: Leatherhead, 2002 A band I was in had fallen apart (terrible singer, drummer who was off his meds...didn't find out he was ever on meds until after he disappeared one week never to return, but it explained a lot, and gave us the excuse to sack the terrible, terrible singer) so me and the guitarist were trying to find replacements. First up a drummer. Lots of ads, no responses. Then we get a reply, so we send out some rough tapes of a couple of songs and book a rehearsal studio. The drummer, arrives, half an hour late, early 20's, looking like he's slept in a hedge. But he's a drummer, so that's not unusual. But better spoken than somebody who sleeps in hedges, and explains that he hasn't had much sleep because he was "in Camden last night, and you know how that goes". Sets up his kit, and looks like he's about to pass out. We ask him which of the songs we've sent him he wants to try first. He picks one, we launch into it, and he doesn't seem to have actually bothered listening to the song at all. Wrong tempo, not picking up any of the changes, fills in the wrong places, just all over the place. We stutter to a halt and he admits that he's dreadful, what with him having been "in Camden" last night. Do we mind if he goes outside for a smoke to relax himself? Fine. Turns out that he's not talking about having a cigarette. Rolls himself a joint in the car park (we politely refuse - I don't, and the guitarist, who usually would, is driving and not stupid). Back into the studio and he suggests that rather than playing the songs we sent him (and he clearly hasn't listened to) why don't we have a jam, loosen up, and come back to our songs? The demos we sent him were funky/punky up tempo style indie metal. he launches into a slow, stoner-y (no pun intended) dirge that drags on for quite some time. he seems very pleased with himself. We are bored beyond belief. We made up the existence of another drummer who was expected soon so we'll need to pack up now, thanks for coming and we'll let you know... Aren't these types of mismatches filtered out by asking for details on relevant recent experience before the audition? When we were auditioning new drummers I made sure auditions we're only awarded to those who had at least a year of recent bar band experience, where they were playing 4 hour bar gigs at least once a week. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 (edited) 16 hours ago, Happy Jack said: Really wasn't sure whether or not to post this one, since there never was an actual audition. This one crashed and burned before ever getting that far! The advert was for what was clearly going to be a Dad-rock outfit playing in Herts. and the only really off-putting thing was that the guy wanted to rehearse on Friday nights, which struck me as very odd. Fantastic job asking questions. This is something I've always stressed. Asking questions before committing to an audition. Your questions revealed a laundry list of Red Flags. For anyone that's looking for a gigging band, Friday and/or Saturday rehearsals should be a huge Red Flag. Blue Edited April 20, 2018 by Bluewine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 7 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said: We managed to struggle through 1 gig with him before he left to (as she said) "join a proper rock band". Frustrating to say the least. I'm curious, how old were you guys in the early 90s? Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 13 hours ago, thepurpleblob said: I've learned some valuable lessons over the years... Glasgow, ten years ago maybe. I was looking for a new band and had put an ad in Scumtree and got contacted by a dude. Let's call him Robert. They were putting together a new covers band and just needed a bass player. They were all experienced, mature musicians, was I interested? I explained that I probably wasn't as experienced as them but had been gigging a lot with the usual suspect covers and should be fine. So Robert says, "great come along to our next rehearsal and we'll see how we go". I asked him for a list of songs. He replied, "don't worry about that. Everything we do are standards (sic.) so you'll know most or, at worst, some of them". Should have seen the big red warning light there. Got to the rehearsal, three guys much older than me (and I'm not that young) turns out all were peripatetic music teachers and had years of experience. Oh well, it's never been a bad thing playing with people better than me. Starts calling out songs. One after the other. Never heard of them. Who is that by? Who? Played a bit of each one. Not a clue. Whatever a "standard" is it clearly isn't "Wishing Well" or "Freebird". "Not to worry - we'll try some and I'll shout you the chords - see what you can do". So he starts playing and making these weird hand gestures at me. I stand there looking - rabbit in headlights. "What are you doing?". Turns out that there is some convention of hand signals for chords? Never heard of it. Never seen it before. Never since. Packed up and left. Lesson learned Big take away here for newbies looking for a band. When you ask them to provide you with 3 to 4 songs to audition and they can't. Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 6 hours ago, Bluewine said: Frustrating to say the least. I'm curious, how old were you guys in the early 90s? Blue We were late 20s. It all ended ok because an excellent funk drummer I'd played with years before suddenly became available. Which was nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 12 hours ago, Rich said: ...in Dobbly, presumably Aye! We all expected her to turn up with star signs costumes... In fact we kind of hoped she would, as we'd have probably worn them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 10 hours ago, Bluewine said: Aren't these types of mismatches filtered out by asking for details on relevant recent experience before the audition? When we were auditioning new drummers I made sure auditions we're only awarded to those who had at least a year of recent bar band experience, where they were playing 4 hour bar gigs at least once a week. And how do you check that if they say they have, when it turns out they haven't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksterphil Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 On 17/04/2018 at 13:46, Stylon Pilson said: These stories are brilliant. And you tell them beautifully, Mr Happy. I'd definitely enjoy reading a blog of this stuff. S.P. +1. A very entertaining read with some valuable lessons and advice. My audition story...... Back in the late 70's while at uni, I was in an originals band and we needed a drummer. We advertised in the local music shops (different times back then) and got a response so arranged an audition at the house we lived in (one of those big 3 story Victorian jobs with massive front rooms) and this guy turns up. As it happened the band leader of our band - guitarist and song writer - couldn't make the audition at the last minute so me and the lead guitarist did the audition. Before we started, the drummer said he was really a jazz drummer but was interested in doing other stuff. He was a very confident guy so we started up with a simple 12 bar blues jam. Holy Mother of God was this guy gooood. He had only brought a small kit, basics + 1 mounted and 1 floor tom, but the stuff he played was awesome, not too flashy, not too loud, just really really good. We suggested trying one of our original songs and the drummer said 'No problem' so me and the LG ran through it for him and we launched into it. It was like he had been rehearsing with us for months - in fact we played it the best we had ever done! He then asked us how he was doing and we said he was in, subject to meeting the band leader and getting on with him, but that we thought it would be a formality so not to worry! We jammed a bit more then finished as the drummer had to be somewhere. The LG and I were really excited about working with this guy so we set up a rehearsal with the full band. What a disaster! We started doing some of our stuff - we'd sent him a tape by this time (this was back in the day before email, mobiles and the internet), so he was prepped. He was his brilliant self, the problem was the band leader, who kept trying to tell him what to play - usually stopping mid song to berate the drummer with his requests - which was a bit akin to having Buddy Rich as your drummer and telling him what to play and when etc. The rehearsal went badly, our band leader had a face like thunder, the drummer said he didn't think it was going to work and packed up and left. Our BL said - 'He was rubbish, can't work with him'. I very nearly said that I'd rather play with him and the LG than you mate, but sadly didn't. I've always thought it was such a missed opportunity musically but the BL saw him as a threat and because he didn't play what the BL wanted, he didn't think the drummer was any good! Ego so often gets in the way of the music - we ended up with a lovely guy called Pete as our drummer - he wasn't great technically, but he owned a large van so he got the job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 4 minutes ago, ricksterphil said: I've always thought it was such a missed opportunity musically but the BL saw him as a threat and because he didn't play what the BL wanted, he didn't think the drummer was any good! Ego so often gets in the way of the music Yep, this is so true. And, at an audition, NEVER tell the keyboard player he's playing a wrong chord - even if it's clearly wrong. You'll never get the gig - you're a threat. And always look for the positives in any of the players in the band you're auditioning for - a couple of gentle favourable comments can work wonders. "Hey, Mr drummer, I like the way you didn't speed up in that number" Wow, that guitar solo was REALLY loud - I love it when my ears bleed like that!" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 (edited) Nottingham 1973 This is a band audition tale... At my first" day release " at college ( I was an apprentice plumber) I met two guys that wanted to form a band, we arranged to meet at the rhythm guitarist's garage on the following Sunday. It went well enough we just needed a drummer. I volunteered my mate who had driven me and my gear to the audition.....he had never played drums and didn't have a kit but as the rhythm guitarist's father was a resident drummer at a local working men's club, we could use his kit and rehearse in a the fabulous function room that wasn't used on a Sunday afternoons. Sounds like a recipe for disaster yes? ...not a bit of it ,Dave took to drumming like a duck to water, Six weeks after his first go he had bought a kit of his own and we did our first gig...Market Harborough Working men's club, 3x 20 mins sets, with our armoury of 12 covers...and we got paid £29.00, ok we did have a few requests to "play this song again" to get through, but no one complained. This was in the days when even a rubbish band like ours gigged at least twice if not three times a weekend; a half decent band could gig five times a weekend and pick up midweek gigs. We pottered along for six months but the (almost inept) lead guitarist/lead singer just didn't improve, in fact he got all "rock star "on us and kept missing practice without letting us know and turning up drunk for gigs. We decided to replace him, unfortunately everything came to a head at the Friday night gig of a three gig weekend and the Saturday night gig, at a pub in Chesterfield, was an audition for a new agent. Being young and brave we didn't cancel, we phoned around and got a friend, who was in a much better band than us ( they were having a weekend off), who was much more experienced than us, to come and fill in for the weekend. We ran through some songs on Saturday afternoon and everything sounded much better than before, although we needed to juggle the set list to suit his knowledge of songs and hurriedly learned a few of his favourites. When we did the gig things went very badly wrong (what a surprise :-) ) the new guy just point blank refused to turn his guitar up and wouldn't sing close enough to the mic to be heard...we missed all the cues fumbled through a few songs and after the first set decided that he was being a p*ll*ck and told him we would manage without him, we re- arranged the sets ,leaving our best stuff for the last set, and gamely went for it. During the break before the last set the landlord came up to us and paid us saying "here you are lads, don't bother going on again" We packed away in shame and drove home in silence. The new agent never spoke to us and we cancelled the Sunday gig. Rock and Roll chaps......Rock and Roll. Edited to add.... I now tell my kids and friends who complain about me "singing" along to the radio etc... "Hey I have been paid to sing and I have been paid not to sing....what have you done? " Edited April 20, 2018 by Raymondo 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksterphil Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Did you ever play Clifton Miners Welfare? We did once....proper stage, great crowd (actually sat and listened and clapped afterwards). One of the best gigs I've ever done - this would be late 70's early 80's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 1 hour ago, ricksterphil said: Our BL said - 'He was rubbish, can't work with him'. I very nearly said that I'd rather play with him and the LG than you mate, but sadly didn't. I've always thought it was such a missed opportunity musically but the BL saw him as a threat and because he didn't play what the BL wanted, he didn't think the drummer was any good! I nearly chewed a finger off reading that one - what a missed opportunity! Perhaps the balance of available musicians was different back then, but drummers who can play with groove and taste seem to be like hen's teeth these days. Maybe I've just had to play with one too many drummers who aspired to play "just like Bonham," by which they essentially meant "going at the kit like a p***ed-off blacksmith," but I've come to find few things more satisfying than locking in with a genuinely good one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Loving these stories. Solid gold. I reckon this is the best thread we've had in ages. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 never attended many auditions but, I knew one wasn't going to end well when the new guitarists said "I haven't had time to listen to any of the songs you sent , but it'll be ok I'll just wing it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 15 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: never attended many auditions but, I knew one wasn't going to end well when the new guitarists said "I haven't had time to listen to any of the songs you sent , but it'll be ok I'll just wing it" God, if I had a fiver for every time I've heard that line, or a variant on it. I'd have have several fivers by now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 1 hour ago, ricksterphil said: Did you ever play Clifton Miners Welfare? We did once....proper stage, great crowd (actually sat and listened and clapped afterwards). One of the best gigs I've ever done - this would be late 70's early 80's Yeah loads of times over the years. I get confused now because there is/was A Clifton Miners in the meadows that we played lots but I am sure that there was one in Clifton itself? They all blend into one though ....there were hundreds of Miners welfares all over Notts and Yorkshire in particular, that I have played over the years with different bands. It was a pain sometimes ,staying quiet for the bingo etc, but it was good money for part time warriors like me. I am glad you have good memories of playing there, sometimes that circuit get's ridiculed but many, many "Showbiz" stars came through from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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