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So what do I need to do to be band-worthy?


phaeton

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tribute band" type ads? What does it take to be band-worthy or gig-worthy? I don't know a whole catalogue of songs in any category, but I am confident I can learn stuff quickly enough to be effective, given some time to practice it out on my own. I haven't played a gig since the mid-1990s. Hopefully things have changed.



Any responses welcome.

 

 

What is wrong with being around weed? It is x1000 better than alcohol for you... :freak:

 

Weird thing to say.

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a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, groupies, a gig.... lol! j/k

sounds like you are ready! and like Incubitabus said stage presence. The bass player that I..well, the one I knew, he would just stand there and wiggle one damn leg only. He'd look at his bass, or the TV or at me sitting (and dancing). He didn't have much character on the stage..it is a wonder that I fell for him!

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yes. i have met many a person who can't learn 20 songs in a week. i call these people...singers.

 

I can't learn 20 songs in a week. That's why I don't bother with cover bands, I just can't absorb that much info that quickly, no matter how hard I practice. I don't know 20 total cover tunes and I've been playing bass for 12 years.:D

 

Phaeton, if you are as prolific as you say, you should have no problem finding a band.

C7

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What is wrong with being around weed? It is x1000 better than alcohol for you...
:freak:

Weird thing to say.

 

I was a longtime pothead and I don't like playing in bands that smoke alot of pot, even back in the day. It annoys the {censored} out of me; getting high just takes away from the energy of the music.

At least with alcohol everyone is social, to a point, and nobody is falling asleep.

C7

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Not at all. Unless you're playing hippie jam music, weed can suck the energy out of a performance in a way booze can't (as C7 mentioned)...

 

I guess everyone's different... I've written my best stuff for my band (Progressive rock) while high as a kite. :confused:

 

 

 

Plus that's an ignorant thing to say about not doing drugs when you drink... alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs out there, and most addictive. The hypocrisy... it burns.

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Plus that's an ignorant thing to say about not doing drugs when you drink... alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs out there, and most addictive. The hypocrisy... it burns.

 

Ignoring the fact that I'm a law abiding citizen, and that automatically disqualifies drug use, I'm wondering how alcohol is more dangerous or addictive than illegal drugs. Please explain. :confused:

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I guess everyone's different... I've written my best stuff for my band (Progressive rock) while high as a kite.
:confused:

 

Or at least you think so...others might not have the same opinion.

 

I personally don't play with anyone markedly under the influence, since no matter what they think, it makes the sloppy.

 

Plus that's an ignorant thing to say about not doing drugs when you drink... alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs out there, and most addictive. The hypocrisy... it burns.

 

As mentioned, there is another difference, namely that one is legal and the other isn't...

 

It may have nothing to do with the substance and everything to do with not wanting to be around people committing misdemeanors and/or felonies....

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Not at all. Unless you're playing hippie jam music, weed can suck the energy out of a performance in a way booze can't (as C7 mentioned)...

 

Yup, like at every one of the practices my band has had of late.

 

:(

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Yikes! I've opened a river here. About the pot thing- I'll give MY reasons for wanting to avoid it. Nobody has to agree with me and we can all stay friends. I'll leave the legal and health aspects out of it, and just talk about the social aspects.

 

First off, I'm familiar with the effects of marijuana. I was a pot head all through high school and stuff. I know what it is like to be high, and to play/listen/write music while high. It's a different experience and different result for everybody, to say the least.

 

Second, I don't think any differently of anyone that DOES smoke pot. You live your life I'll live mine, and we can still get along in the middle. *shrug*

 

Now, marijuana (and some psychedelics) are at the center of a sort of anxiety issue that I have. I don't blame anyone, it just is. Long story short, if I get a whiff of pot it means at least an anxiety attack for me. If it's fairly strong or if I can't get away in a couple of breaths it becomes a full on panic attack. Not only do I become useless as a bandmember for the next couple of hours but it's also one of the worst experiences I can ever have. Sucks.

 

Now, I see where people can see the hypocracy of my standing there drinking a beer and telling someone else that if they light up the joint I'm going to leave. I agree that it is unfair, but here's the thing- If I set a glass of beer on the table right in front of you, you pretty much have to put your face down in it or pick it up and take a drink for it to affect you. If you go puff on a bong in any enclosed building, it will eventually seep into the whole structure. All that "in the bathroom with the fan on" and stuffing towels under the door doesn't work, sorry. You could go outside, but that has its own set of implications for the smoker (you could get busted, the weather might suck, who am I to make everyone leave, etc). Unfortunately, I can't tell you how many times I've lived out this scenario in band after band in the mid-90s:

 

practice 0: "oh yeah that's cool we won't smoke around you. In fact, we won't smoke on practice days"

 

practice 1: "Well, we're almost done so we can go light up outside."

 

practice 2: "Hey man we all showed up early so we roasted a bowl out in the garage, but it's gone now"

 

practice 3: "Oh yeah, we got high in the practice room earlier, but that was at least an hour ago, it's gone now"

 

practice 4: "Hey man we can just go into the bathroom and turn on the fan. We'll keep the door closed and it will stay inside"

 

practice 5: "Hey man we can just open the windows and blow the smoke out the window, you won't smell a thing!"

 

practice 6: "Yeah I know we smoked a couple of bowls already, but we can run out real quick for a sneak-a-toke and finish up"

 

 

Everyone has the best intentions, but they slowly, steadily end up smoking in the practice space like they always wanted to do, or always did before I showed up. As much as I wanted every band to be different with this, they never were. It's just human nature.

 

The difference is in the exposure potential. That is more important to me than anything else. I'm fine with not drinking beer while practicing or playing if that's what keeps things fair, but it never works out like that. Thing is, I could drink myself dead and it won't affect anyone else 10 feet away from me the way it would affect me if they took one teensy hit.

 

---

 

There are other things. I hate arguing about the differences between pot and alcohol. They are both drugs, and continued and repeated use will change the people that use it, no matter how much they want to deny it or hold some sort of elitism over the other substance.

 

When drink alcohol it {censored}s up your motor skills, makes you sick to your stomach, etc, so there is a pretty fast and effective indicator to you how effed up you are getting. It's easier to know your limit.

Pot doesn't really do any of that, so people tend to get higher and higher and higher until their brain completely ceases to function rationally. I know. I've been there, and it was fun. Unfortunately, they are usually convinced that they have some "incredible perspective" on everything. Usually, no. Sorry.

 

So yeah, like people have said, pot (and alcohol too) can waste a lot of practice time.

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Maybe that's how one would learn 20 songs so quickly... 1,2,9,20.
:p

 

 

Haha!!

 

No really...the other ones were pretty lame things to say, so I removed them (trying to keep it simple)> In my enthusiasm I failed to renumber it.

 

 

I once knew a self-proclaimed "classically trained lead singer" who would just skip the parts of songs she didn't like, and expect everyone to follow.

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You shouldn't have to explain yourself for why you don't want to play music with stoners. I can't stand it, and like I said, I was the captain of the Bonghitting Squad in high school 4 years straight.
:D
C7

 

It would have been five, but he was redshirted as a freshman...

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You shouldn't have to explain yourself for why you don't want to play music with stoners. I can't stand it, and like I said, I was the captain of the Bonghitting Squad in high school 4 years straight.
:D
C7

 

 

In spite of our differences, we sure do have a lot in common sometimes.

 

 

How's that for a groaner of a statement? :blah:

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