Members Coaster Posted August 10, 2012 Members Share Posted August 10, 2012 i had kind of a bad day yesterday. i went to work at 7am and some guy got real angry at me while i tried to help him with his project. he wanted some part that we didnt have and it was a real odd request so i was trying to figure out what he was up to with it and he got pissed, said i was talking down to him and stormed out. my boss sided with me and said he had a bad attitude, which vindicated me but i was still sour about it for a couple hours. its been four years since "{censored} went down" at my last job but i am still having issues with asserting myself as well as beleieving in myself. in my heart i know i am doing the right thing but i have lost my faith in humanity, in other words i have no trust in the actions of others. rest of the dayjob went fine but i was watching for the next blowup which never came. that is until my sound gig last night. HDH rig and a pair of wedges for open mic night, some house backline and a few mics, sign up sheet etcetera. i was setting up last minute cables/mics with some house tunes playing when some girl in a name tag (that i dont know) comes over and berates me for the music on my ipod, asked me to play something else. i nodded, smiled and said "OK". she then said 'are you just going to ignore me and do what you want' and i replied how am i ignoring you? i'm talking to you right now. we are having a conversation, this is not ignoring. she said she was kidding but i dont think she was, i think she was trying to make me feel small even after i complied. right after i changed tunes this older guy walks up and asks if i am using low or high impedance microphones. i thought to myself "self, what a weird question!" i said 'i am using 57's and 58's, why do you want to know what the impedance is?" this is just some guy talking to me during setup. he then backed off into some karate stance, pins his hand at my throat and shouts 'because i was invited to play tonite and i want to know what impedance microphones you are using and you respond like a god damn moron!" i'm not really sure exactly what happened next but i remember pushing my throat into his hand even harder and staring in his eyes while talking calmly and stepping forward towards him because i just wasnt going to put up with this {censored} at all from anyone and i was in kill mode with this guys hand at my throat and resented his presence on this earth, and he could kill me or hurt me or whatever but i wasnt going to fear this person at all in any way and i didnt. he backed off. later i let him play on my stage. i'm not sure why i didnt call thepolice and have this ass tossed out. i was however scared that the people in charge would think it was my fault and not hire me in the future. we will see how that plays out. today however was a perfectly normal day. nothing odd happened at all. btw i dropped the HF outs 2.5db on the dsp and i like this better. i got some comments about it from other techs present at the gig and they thought it sounded more natural as well. it was a rough adjustment and i can hear the transition between MF/HF isnt quite as right as it was before but i think i can make the needed adjustments given enough time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted August 10, 2012 Members Share Posted August 10, 2012 You're a lot tamer than I would have been, given that situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted August 10, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 10, 2012 my fight or flight was at 100 percent and the thing about me is when i get super mad i get super calm. i think this actually scares people although its not my intention. thing is, was this guy crazy? i think he may have been totally nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted August 10, 2012 Members Share Posted August 10, 2012 He sounds like a whack job to me. The calm focus you get from the "fight or flight" is scary (not a bad thing); folks read that right. You may not intend to give that message, but it shows that you are entirely ready to fight and that you are not going to waste any energy being distracted. Glad you made it through the day OK. Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al Poulin Posted August 10, 2012 Members Share Posted August 10, 2012 Microphone impedance issues are of surprisingly great importance to the typical bath salts user on open mic nights. You're lucky he didn't chew off your face... Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mogwix Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Seriously dude, I wanna meet you just to see if I can figure out why you attract these sort of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 First of all, who in the hell uses high impedance mics on a PA? Not in the last 20 years anyway. Strange question indeed. Second, if this is any indication of the type of gig this is, run away as fast as you can. In my contract, any act of violence or any threats and it's game over. This tends to cool people's jets really qickly once they realize that we have their money and they (the promoter) don't get any of it back. Works like a charm with the promoter "motivated" to act on our behalf rather than against us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueGreene Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 It could have been a lot worse. Last time I was randomly confronted and kept my cool, dude hits me in the face faster than I could do anything. Chipped a few of my teeth but I think he broke his hand... And I was still level headed... I got pissed ten minutes later but I'm honestly grateful I didn't escalate the situation. I had a losing faith in humanity moment after that. Coaster, sounds like you ARE a good person and positively affect the greater world. You ARE powerful. You have VALUE. Don't forget it. The more people radiate positivity the better. A martial artist friend of mine encouraged me telling me the guy who hit me in fact 'lost' every aspect of that interaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted August 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 this was actually my city parks gig i have had for 15 years. we have never had need for security before - i think the difference here is this one is downtown next to a bunch of bars, and there are crazies downtown too. its a 6pm to 8pm show for all ages and we had 11yo and 14yo singers/players which is fun. it just wasnt supposed to turn ugly. bluegreen - thank you. i used to think we got stronger with age but i feel like i am at a weak point and have been for a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dedmeet Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Coaster, glad to hear you weathered the storm fine, man, but the whole gig should have ended the second he put his hands on you. There is no excuse for that whatsoever. My rule - don't break my {censored}, don't touch me or my crew, and don't talk {censored} about me on my PA. Any of these is an instant gig is over situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 i remember pushing my throat into his hand even harder and staring in his eyes while talking calmly and stepping forward towards him That... is pretty {censored}ing badass. I probably would've just beat the {censored} out of him, but you just took things to another level. Who am I kidding? I probably would have run away whimpering. Anyways, you reminded me of this: [video=youtube;jQfbJuBLDak] -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 First of all, who in the hell uses high impedance mics on a PA? I wonder if he was a harmonica-player (Green-Bullet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 You let him on the stage so at that point, as the sound guy, you could have made his life miserable but that may have returned his hand to your throat or worse. Bad idea I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mental Audio Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 i had kind of a bad day yesterday.i went to work at 7am and some guy got real angry at me while i tried to help him with his project. he wanted some part that we didnt have and it was a real odd request so i was trying to figure out what he was up to with it and he got pissed, said i was talking down to him and stormed out. my boss sided with me and said he had a bad attitude, which vindicated me but i was still sour about it for a couple hours. its been four years since "{censored} went down" at my last job but i am still having issues with asserting myself as well as beleieving in myself. in my heart i know i am doing the right thing but i have lost my faith in humanity, in other words i have no trust in the actions of others. rest of the dayjob went fine but i was watching for the next blowup which never came.that is until my sound gig last night. HDH rig and a pair of wedges for open mic night, some house backline and a few mics, sign up sheet etcetera. i was setting up last minute cables/mics with some house tunes playing when some girl in a name tag (that i dont know) comes over and berates me for the music on my ipod, asked me to play something else. i nodded, smiled and said "OK". she then said 'are you just going to ignore me and do what you want' and i replied how am i ignoring you? i'm talking to you right now. we are having a conversation, this is not ignoring. she said she was kidding but i dont think she was, i think she was trying to make me feel small even after i complied.right after i changed tunes this older guy walks up and asks if i am using low or high impedance microphones. i thought to myself "self, what a weird question!"i said 'i am using 57's and 58's, why do you want to know what the impedance is?" this is just some guy talking to me during setup.he then backed off into some karate stance, pins his hand at my throat and shouts 'because i was invited to play tonite and i want to know what impedance microphones you are using and you respond like a god damn moron!"i'm not really sure exactly what happened next but i remember pushing my throat into his hand even harder and staring in his eyes while talking calmly and stepping forward towards him because i just wasnt going to put up with this {censored} at all from anyone and i was in kill mode with this guys hand at my throat and resented his presence on this earth, and he could kill me or hurt me or whatever but i wasnt going to fear this person at all in any way and i didnt. he backed off.later i let him play on my stage. i'm not sure why i didnt call thepolice and have this ass tossed out.i was however scared that the people in charge would think it was my fault and not hire me in the future. we will see how that plays out.today however was a perfectly normal day. nothing odd happened at all.btw i dropped the HF outs 2.5db on the dsp and i like this better. i got some comments about it from other techs present at the gig and they thought it sounded more natural as well. it was a rough adjustment and i can hear the transition between MF/HF isnt quite as right as it was before but i think i can make the needed adjustments given enough time. I would not have done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Ditto. And not out of any power trip move...I'd have had the guy booted from the bar for having laid a finger on me, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 I wonder if he was a harmonica-player (Green-Bullet) Not directly into the PA for sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members race81 Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 you have great patience...........I would have dropped him like a big stone.....or at least tried to. I dont like personal contact from idiots I dont know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 you have great patience...........I would have dropped him like a big stone.....or at least tried to. I dont like personal contact from idiots I dont know. Starting a fight would be the wrong thing to do because the guy just might clean your clock or worse. In this situation I think it would be best to advise him to remove his hands from you and you go find somebody handling security and have him ejected or arrested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members race81 Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 haha...Ima purty big boy...not sayin that i can whoop everybody, but hold my own, and I dont back down to anyone, especially when theyre hand is on my throat! I believe in the situation the threat was already there..the fight was already started. The throat is one vital place where serious damage could occur, the longer his hand is there, the higher the risk. Glad it turned out ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Not directly into the PA for sure... Yeah, I'm baffled why he would even ask. The only reason I could think of, is that maybe in the past, he's played a harmonica through a Green-Bullet, plugged into a guitar amps' instrument jack, and maybe thought he could do the same through the PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Yeah, I'm baffled why he would even ask. The only reason I could think of, is that maybe in the past, he's played a harmonica through a Green-Bullet, plugged into a guitar amps' instrument jack, and maybe thought he could do the same through the PA. My guess is that he knows next to nothing about PA's except for what somebody told him and/or he read on the interwebs. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 haha...Ima purty big boy...not sayin that i can whoop everybody, but hold my own, and I dont back down to anyone, especially when theyre hand is on my throat! I believe in the situation the threat was already there..the fight was already started. The throat is one vital place where serious damage could occur, the longer his hand is there, the higher the risk. Glad it turned out ok. On this we agree. A hand on the throat is an immediate threat. I'm not a fighter so in this situation I would derive a lot of pleasure seeing this guy hauled away in cuffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members race81 Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 LOL...YES!.....as Mr. Miagee would say.."best defense....is no be there!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 Woah Dude! Hand on throat (especialy after just an inoccent comment is pretty seriously crazy). I'm not sure I'd have had the temperence to do what you did. IF I didn't beat the living S**T out of the guy (I guess it would depend on MY mood at the time (I DO have a high threashold for BS but if it's crossed, I'm like a hard limiter - I get crazy my self)), or get killed trying, I'd consider that assault and have him arrested. I believe the cops would consider that assault as well. Scary gig. Are you SURE you want to do this one again? For me that would be my last appearance at that venue. Agreed. We are all professionals here and violence is NOT part of the job description. Violence like this is something that happens like once every 10 years with me (and I don't like it when it does). If the venue owner wouldn't back me up and have this guy hauled away, my gear would be packed and out the door ASAP. Freeky story. Glad I don't work there :-). may your next few years be fun and cheery (which means violence free :-). Take care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted August 11, 2012 Members Share Posted August 11, 2012 FWIW: I drove school bus and played music to put myself through 7 years of college. During my college employment days, I noticed that there were days where the kids I drove around and the crowds I entertained, those kids and crowds had their regular days, and then they had their alter-ego days. I wrote it off to weather conditions or some other localized attitude changing phenomon. Since then, my daily routine has changed, to where I deal with folks globally on a daily basis... and I've since noticed that the trends continue... being that folks globally seem to have regular days, and then as a group (a representative sample of the 6 or 7 billion of us) they seem to have Mr. Hyde days. Sometimes you gotta just... well... do this: And sometimes you gotta pay attention to the canary in the coalmine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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