Members Guitar Slim Posted August 26, 2014 Members Share Posted August 26, 2014 Has anyone found any successful way to get a guy who is always late to be on time? I'm in a band of 7 guys and 6 of us are pretty good about getting where we need to be at the stated time. But the 7th guy seems to always run about 1/2 hour or more behind. To be fair, he does live the furthest away from most of our gigs but he knows that and should plan accordingly. The entire band has been told when to show for a gig. No help. He's been called out directly. No help. I figure that the only way to get the guy to show up on time is to make the band's success important enough to him to change his actions. But I'm not sure how to do that. It's not like his tardiness is jeapordizing the band or his place in the band. However, it does put stress on the rest of us, particuarly our leader, when soundcheck is at 4:30, we have to be quiet by 5:30, and the guy shows up around 5. Any advice? Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted August 26, 2014 Members Share Posted August 26, 2014 Tell him be there an hour earlier than you tell everyone else. A) he's either going to be on time, or B) he's going to be waiting for everyone else and might finally understand how rude and disrespectful it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted August 26, 2014 Members Share Posted August 26, 2014 Hard to be late for a band your not in any more! We used to think of it like dog training; once they've broken the stay because they've been allowed to, it damn hard to get them to respect it again. I had a really good drummer that figured out that if he couldn't make a contracted gig, I would figure out how to cover it. From then on if he got a higher paying gig, he bailed. That happened two times, including the first one, before I ended it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted August 26, 2014 Members Share Posted August 26, 2014 Give them an overdose of anti depressants and a pink slip. Once late always late in my experience. I agree with Trev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted August 26, 2014 Members Share Posted August 26, 2014 Well I have this issue with a guy now. Nonetheless for tardiness and other things he is getting fired this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted August 26, 2014 Members Share Posted August 26, 2014 How hard does he have you over the barrel with the seat he holds down. How easy is it to replace him? I agree with the dog theory. When people figure they can fk up and get away with it the genie is out of the bottle and its pretty hard to put it back in again. Do you have a sub for his seat? I would think the cure would be If he wasn't there at down beat time ,,, have him walk in late with a sub in his seat. It might be difficult to pull off but it would be a real eye opener for him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Slim Posted August 27, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 27, 2014 To restate, the guys' position in the band is not in question. He is a terrific player and a great guy. He just has the tardiness issue but that is never to the point of being late for the downbeat; just the sound check. So firing the guy is not the answer for us. As I thought, there does not seem to be an easy answer for this. I'd considered Guido's idea but I figure that may work once before he figures out we're telling him to show up early; if it doesn't piss him off and cause more problems. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opus Antics Posted August 27, 2014 Members Share Posted August 27, 2014 There is no real answer. You can talk to him, and that will either help or it won't. Maybe there are personal reasons why. Does he have a wife who isn't 100% supportive of him being in a band, and keeps him around so he's always late. Is he divorced with childcare issues? Does he have a job that keeps him? There could be a reason he has a hard time being on time other than being a slacker. And if that's the case he's just always going to be late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MarkGifford-1 Posted August 27, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 27, 2014 You either need to adjust your expectations, or get another guy. Some folks are just late - it's virtually impossible to get them to change and they don't get stressed about it, so the key is for the rest of you to stop stressing over it. If it gets to the point where it's affecting start times and bookings, you'll have to find someone else. MG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted August 27, 2014 Members Share Posted August 27, 2014 . As I thought, there does not seem to be an easy answer for this. I'd considered Guido's idea but I figure that may work once before he figures out we're telling him to show up early; if it doesn't piss him off and cause more problems. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Yup lie to him multiple times so he shows up late (on time) when he get's pissed tell him it was done because of his past history (which is often an indicator of future behavior). Best thing after that is expose him to the rest of the band and what you are doing, make the team assist in his.her delinquincy. Also remind him: EXCUSES ARE ONLY GOOD FOR THE PERSON THAT MAKES THEM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimbo_Keys Posted August 27, 2014 Members Share Posted August 27, 2014 Hit him in the pocketbook. Let's say the gig pays $200 per man, you can call that $100 for the soundcheck and $100 for the performance. So if he shows up halfway through soundcheck he's out $50. Or you could just dock his pay $10 per minute he's late, that'd get his attention. - Jimbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vermoulian Posted August 27, 2014 Members Share Posted August 27, 2014 Yup, dock his pay. Most likely, he's late all the time because he doesn't see any down side to it. Give him a down side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted August 27, 2014 Members Share Posted August 27, 2014 Has anyone found any successful way to get a guy who is always late to be on time? I'm in a band of 7 guys and 6 of us are pretty good about getting where we need to be at the stated time. But the 7th guy seems to always run about 1/2 hour or more behind. To be fair, he does live the furthest away from most of our gigs but he knows that and should plan accordingly. The entire band has been told when to show for a gig. No help. He's been called out directly. No help. I figure that the only way to get the guy to show up on time is to make the band's success important enough to him to change his actions. But I'm not sure how to do that. It's not like his tardiness is jeapordizing the band or his place in the band. However, it does put stress on the rest of us, particuarly our leader, when soundcheck is at 4:30, we have to be quiet by 5:30, and the guy shows up around 5. Any advice? Thanks, No cure. Fire him. Believe me. Cut the frustration off now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted August 28, 2014 Members Share Posted August 28, 2014 I hate being told when to show up. I only want to know when I need to be ready to play. Biggest reason is that no one but me knows how long it will take to set up. Sometimes I need 15 minutes, rarely, sometimes I need several hours, more frequently. If there's a sound check at 8:30, by all means, that is the target time to be ready by. (And if I'm setting up PA and Keyboards, 2 hours might be a minimum with viewable spaghetti.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted August 28, 2014 Members Share Posted August 28, 2014 One more thing. Sound check shouldn't be hours before a gig. (Concerts excepted.) It really ought to be pretty close to start time. I've had empty rooms where everything sounded great only to be screwed up when the audience showed up. (And completely changed the acoustics.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted August 29, 2014 Members Share Posted August 29, 2014 One more thing. Sound check shouldn't be hours before a gig. (Concerts excepted.) It really ought to be pretty close to start time. I've had empty rooms where everything sounded great only to be screwed up when the audience showed up. (And completely changed the acoustics.) So you want to sound check with the audience present? that's pretty much called "no sound check at all" where I come from. Which is cool. We do a lot of shows where anything more than a simple line check isn't feasible. But you always do a sound check knowing the acoustics will likely change a bit when the room fills up. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted August 29, 2014 Members Share Posted August 29, 2014 The band I'm in now, even for $75 local once every month or 2 local gig (that the band leader INSISTS get's us higher paying stuff) we are required to be there for load in at 7pm...So I have to leave my house at 6pm for a bar gig that starts at 9:30!! Having run bands MY ENTIRE LIFE THIS INFURIATES ME!!!!! No matter how hard I try, I see it as I make less money because I have to be there longer! I know I know but that's how I price my gigs in my head Effort and amount of time TOTAL from the time I leave till the time I get home...Now, we do have a lightshow and a PA but we have a soundman and between everyone, it takes us no more than an hour to load in and set up...SO, why do I have to be there at 7pm for a 9:30 gig? This is VERY VERY Frustrating!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted August 29, 2014 Members Share Posted August 29, 2014 Another thing is that the bandleader is ALWAYS WAY WAY early and considers if we are on time to be late!! HAHAHA!! Im that guy who gets there just in time because of what I previously said about in my head thinking I get paid that way..That said, I have to literally be there 15 min early to be "on time" Another point of contension..I mean, I've done several 1000 gigs in my life..I think I got the time thing down...Seriously dude....CAN'T WAIT to be running my own band again!! VERY VERY SOON!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted August 29, 2014 Members Share Posted August 29, 2014 Load in and sound check time is mostly a function of the venue and the event. It's one of the things bands have the least amount of control over. You load in and set up around what they have going on. Ideally, I like to give myself 30-45 min between sound check and the gig to change my clothes, wash my hands, and generally just give my brain some time to reset from set up mode to gig mode. I also like to have some extra time built in for unforeseen problems. A bad mic cord or power issues can extend set up time greatly depending on how long it takes to trace and resolve the issue. since our gear all travels together in one trailer we always have a "be there at" time for load in. Generally it's 3 hours before the "be done with sound check by" time. If we know we have a particularly difficult or easy load in, that could change accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opus Antics Posted August 29, 2014 Members Share Posted August 29, 2014 Set up is the most stressful time of the night for me. I need to get there early so that I have time after setup to decompress and get into performance mode after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted August 30, 2014 Members Share Posted August 30, 2014 I should point out that playing with the same band and running sound for them, doesn't require the same amount of prep time that running sound for someone else does. On the other hand, making everyone show up 6 hours in advance for a sound check is just unkind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Slim Posted August 30, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 30, 2014 I can only speak to my situation but the sound check end time was set by the venue. They have a high-end restaurant there so the bands cannot disrupt their income. Sound check MUST be finished by 5pm and the show starts at 9 or 10pm. Venue provides sound and lights, feeds us between sound check and show, and it pays well. All good things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted August 31, 2014 Members Share Posted August 31, 2014 That would have me wanting to be paid for the time between the 5 PM sound check and 9 PM start in addition to the pay for the gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted August 31, 2014 Members Share Posted August 31, 2014 All factors involved with any gig should be considered when negotiating pay. But restaurants not wanting the band to be loading in, setting up and sound checking while guests are eating dinner is hardly a rare or unreasonable request. Not sure where you're playing that you get to load in just before start time and soundcheck with a room full of people so you get the room acoustics correct, but I don't know of too many places like that west of the Rockies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted August 31, 2014 Members Share Posted August 31, 2014 Yup...Typical for weddings and private events but sound checks hours before the gig for bar gigs is NOT typical and ridiculous. If you have your sound pretty much dialed in from performing regularly, just soundcheck the first song:) I know i'm not showing up 4-5 hours before a gig unless I'm making private event $$$....But everyone runs their business the way they want! THAT'S the beauty of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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