Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Let's vent! Mine is people who come up and try to talk to you while you're playing. What are they thinking? I'll be wearing a guitar, playing keys, singing in a mic, have an earplug in my ear and somebody will come up and try to make a request. Huh? Don't these people have jobs? Do they NOT hate it when people trying to talk to them while they are busy on the phone or with a customer or otherwise obviously engaged? Why do they think musicians can play/sing a song and carry on a conversation with them AT THE SAME TIME? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toober Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 It's understandable if they wait for the end of the song to tell you something. But it should be obvious that they are waiting for that moment. But yeah, I've seen it. And well, people are stupid. The sooner I learn that fact, the happier I will live the rest of my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Let's vent!Mine is people who come up and try to talk to you while you're playing. What are they thinking? I'll be wearing a guitar, playing keys, singing in a mic, have an earplug in my ear and somebody will come up and try to make a request. Huh? Don't these people have jobs? Do they NOT hate it when people trying to talk to them while they are busy on the phone or with a customer or otherwise obviously engaged? Why do they think musicians can play/sing a song and carry on a conversation with them AT THE SAME TIME? That same person, usually an over-privileged female of varying ages, will come running up to the band and try to get you to stop playing whatever song your playing right in the middle of it, simply because she doesn't like it and she felt we were her own personal juke box. Almost always accompanied wild and over exaggerated hand jestures. The first few times (along time ago!) I thought somebody had been stabbed or something. I don't fall for it anymore. I did subbed for one guy who stopped the band and put everyone's attention on one of these ladies saying, "Lady, somebody had better be dead or dying for you to interupt MY show like this." After a couple of really long minutes of nothing but silence, she skulked back to table and with a quick count in, "three, four-" we picked it right back up and never heard a peep out of her the rest of the evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloolight Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I had a bartender come up to me in the middle of playing a song--just at the start of my solo no less--and tell me that I should announce that there was a special on jaeger-bombs going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Let's vent!Mine is people who come up and try to talk to you while you're playing. What are they thinking? I'll be wearing a guitar, playing keys, singing in a mic, have an earplug in my ear and somebody will come up and try to make a request. Huh? Don't these people have jobs? Do they NOT hate it when people trying to talk to them while they are busy on the phone or with a customer or otherwise obviously engaged? Why do they think musicians can play/sing a song and carry on a conversation with them AT THE SAME TIME? I usually give them the finger with my lazy left hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Drunks that want to talk but are incapable of putting a coherent sentence together. People asking to sit in. Pathological liars. There's usually somebody that used to jam with Eric Clapton. People that blather on about how good some other band is. I don't care. DJ/soundmen at clubs that play really loud hip hop during breaks, but keep the bands volume really low. TV sets. Guys that want to talk about guitars while girls are coming up wanting to talk girly stuff. Sorry guys, I'd rather talk to the girls. Bars that don't comp the tab, or at least part of it. Venues with serious volume restrictions. Drunks dancing really close to our equipment Places have tables and customers seated in the area the band is supposed to set up and don't clear them out till 15 minutes before you're supposed to start. Bars that file 1099s. People in general trying to talk during set up and tear down. Can't you see I'm busy. People that see you carrying heavy speakers into a place but don't get out of your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 yeah, it's that guy who walks up while you're setting up, asks what kind of music you'll be playing then won't go away. Just keeps talking demanding that you answer his endless BS questions. Sometimes I make sure he's not in any way related to the club management before I tell him to "f" off and let me do my job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PRSJim Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Don't these people have jobs? Do they NOT hate it when people trying to talk to them while they are busy on the phone or with a customer or otherwise obviously engaged? Tell them that the next time you stop at their work, you'll step on their mop. :^) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Tell them that the next time you stop at their work, you'll step on their mop. :^) Or knock the burgers off the grill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Or knock the burgers off the grill Then again....it seems to be girls who do this more often than not. And stop by the nail-shop sometime. Those girls can usually give a manicure, talk on the phone, text and eat lunch all at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Heh heh heh - fun stuff... People who think you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flogger59 Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 That same person, usually an over-privileged female of varying ages, will come running up to the band and try to get you to stop playing whatever song your playing right in the middle of it, simply because she doesn't like it and she felt we were her own personal juke box. Almost always accompanied wild and over exaggerated hand jestures. The first few times (along time ago!) I thought somebody had been stabbed or something. I don't fall for it anymore. I did subbed for one guy who stopped the band and put everyone's attention on one of these ladies saying, "Lady, somebody had better be dead or dying for you to interupt MY show like this." After a couple of really long minutes of nothing but silence, she skulked back to table and with a quick count in, "three, four-" we picked it right back up and never heard a peep out of her the rest of the evening. I had her come up and scream "If you don't play my song, then you're a bunch of PUSSIES!!!!" "{censored} is your job, dear." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 "{censored} is your job, dear." now that's a sig line waiting to happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I just copied some of GCDEF's because he pretty much nailed it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Another big one that drives me nuts is when you start a song and someone walks up immediately to get a "request" in. Really??? You're going to stand next to me for the next 5 minutes, not even listening to what I'm playing, just so you can request a song? Seriously lady...everyone is looking at you wondering what the hell your doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Feud Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Other bands that start loading their gear onto the stage before I've taken my gear off the stage.Guitarists that take 10 pedals without them mounted on a pedal board, and take ages to set up. Seriously, buy a pedalboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I'm convinced that the vast majority of people who ask for requests simply just want to make a request for whatever degree of power or feeling of participation that gives them. How many times has some girl asked for a request and, after you tell her you don't do that song, immediately starts racking her brain to think of OTHER requests. Until she finally comes upon something you do and then says "yeah! do that one please!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Because I'm far less tolerant the older I get, I am allowing myself to play regular club gigs less and less, preferring to stick to privates and events as much as possible. I just don;t have the patience to deal with the utter and complete {censored}e one must swallow with a smile when playing most clubs any more. PRIME piss-me-off issue is... The venue that prides itself on being super-supportive of live music. They love live music so much they have bands 5-7 nights a week. They love live music so much they have 4-5 bands on a bill each night. They love live music so much they'll go so far as to have an early all-ages show with 4 bands followed by an 18 or 21+ show with ANOTHER 4-5 bands. And the total area in the venue they will have available and dedicated to performance space for the band that's on at any given moment, never mind allotted for storing gear and deads (for example) for all the bands that AREN'T currently on stage, as well as for parking all the vehicles which belong to each and every one of the 4-10 bands performing at their venue on a given evening will be exponentially disproportionate (to the negative) to how much they crow about 'supporting live music!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MusicalSchizo Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I can't stand it when people get near my mic stand. In fact, I hated it so much I started using a headset mic, the "parachute pants" of microphones (for musicians who stand and are mobile - drummers and keyboardists are exempt). But I love it. I just need some curly blond hair to drape around it like Rick Savage or Sammy Hagar. I also hate when people get actively mad that you won't play their song or genre of music when it's obvious you can't or wouldn't. It'd be like asking a funk band to play "Free Bird". Admittedly I did a funk/disco version of Free Bird at a show once. I really wish I had it on tape, because it was pretty funny - the crowd was laughing their asses off. Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 People who want to help setup and ask you 20 questions and the only way you can work is to ignore them or be a prick, otherwise your rushed during setup. Kids. For some reason the equipment entices them, they see the mic stand it's like flies to {censored} of course they have to touch it, it's all in the look to get them to put it down, I just look at them and shake my head. All the while the parents are looking on thinking it's "cute". Just this last weekend had a wedding dance, had to run my main cable across this stage that was behind the rig, the brides kid kept running on the stage and kept looking at the power cord, and I said please don't touch that cord could you stay away please? Of course the lil *ucker has to so oh I can just jump over it....and keeps jumping over the cord...oh how f'n cute. This other show, show up late due to snow, Set up the truss, got it lined up, go get some lights from the trailer, and the ex roady is moving the truss (not a good idea for just one person) when I come in, and I ask WTF are you doing? There is some L-USER from the crowd telling him where to put it...dude put it back where it was please, of course she walked away pissed off..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Leftcoast123 Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 a headset mic, the "parachute pants" of microphones That is utterly hilarious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MusicalSchizo Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 That is utterly hilarious. It was that or "Member's Only jacket". And I liked the alliteration of "parachute pants". Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mr3lions Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 It was that or "Member's Only jacket". And I liked the alliteration of "parachute pants". Brian V. You Sir could have worked for Hallmark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 People who want to help setup and ask you 20 questions and the only way you can work is to ignore them or be a prick, otherwise your rushed during setup. That pisses me off too because I'm really not a prick and that is the only way to do it. Ya know..we're kind for a minute, I'll talk to you for a second but leave me alone while I work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 People who want to help setup and ask you 20 questions and the only way you can work is to ignore them or be a prick, otherwise your rushed during setup. That pisses me off too because I'm really not a prick and that is the only way to do it. Ya know..we're kind for a minute, I'll talk to you for a second but leave me alone while I work. I also find this amazingly annoying. Generally it is someone who kinda knows me or has been to a few of our gigs and chatted me up during break. They show up while I am intently (and intensely) working to get the PA fully up and functional. They'll even come on stage and stand in front of me as if to say "hey..I'm hear...even a bit early..now, entertain me!". I try for what seems like eternity (and is probably 2 mins) to be polite and then I start charging ahead with my chores. I often look for a less busy band member to pawn them off on. If all else fails I end up saying something that I try very hard not to sound "dickish" but probably does....you know..."Hey...I gotta get back to making all this stuff work and I really suck at talking while I do it so...did I mention I really appreciate you coming out...but uh..." and by the time I get to this uncomfortable place in my monologue they get the hint and go grab a bear and a seat and I feel a bit awkward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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