Band Issue: Sick members and cancelling showcase gigs

[dallasmopar]

I wanted to see if anybody else has had this issue before. Background: My band is fairly new and we have been fortunate to get some really good gigs in our area. We really feel the momentum. We are an all original song heavy rock band and have gotten great responses where we play and people really like our CD. We are always asked back to play.

 

Issue: Our drummer got sick and let us know about the seriousness of it today. No doubt the guy is sick. We have two big shows this week, first tomorrow night at what is considered to be the best club in the city. We were told that if they like us and we bring in a crowd (we do), they will have us back on a weekend - and they often have local bands open for national acts at this venue on weekends. Second show is opening for the biggest band in the city on Saturday night.

 

We have been debating all day as to whether ask him to buck it up and play, or cancell the shows - these are both big deals. I have already cancelled the show for tomorrow night, but not the one for Saturday yet. The question I have is have you guys ever pressed members to play when they are ill? What was the outcome? Resentment perhaps on the part of the guy who is not well? My opinion is unless you have a high fever and are near death, in ICU, have blood spurting, or bones sticking through your leg, you make the big gigs. The band is split on this issue - not to the point of us breaking up or anything. I'm trying to keep emotion out of this and let him heal (he is a friend as well and I care about him), but damn it I'm not happy about it! I'd cancel the {censored} hole gigs in a heart beat, but again, these are huge opportunities. Your thoughts?

[Scheming Demon]

If you're a professional band or at least want to be perceived as one and act like one, then you do not cancel gigs, even so-called {censored} gigs.

 

If you book it then you have made a business committment. However, people do get sick and depending on the severity you may have to reschedule. That is a fact of life. I would be more inclined to reschedule if the ill person were the lead singer and his performance would suffer to the point where it would reflect badly on the band.

 

The other musicians can get away with being mildly ill and should be able to suck it up, especially for an important gig.

 

If it's a serious illness where a band member cannot physically perform then you have to reschedule, otherwise each band member should know they have to play sick without you having to force or cajole them. I would make it very plain that members are expected to perform sick unless they are "very" sick.

[jwag]

Not sure why you use the moniker dallas when from ft. worth but what the hey:D

 

Our band, in which I sing primarily and play keys, jammed last Sat. night at a club we consistently get calls back to play again. I think our music is pretty good (jam-bandish), but we usually pull big crowds into it so I think that's a significant reason for why they call back (of course, eh?).

 

Anyways, that last week I felt pretty crappish, meaning, I had allergies all week and started to get a tight throat the day of the gig. I still sang and played my best regardless of my med problems.

 

That said, I agree that if perhaps your drummer of bass player (mainly if they sing) feel sick to the point that you believe them, drop the gig and don't look back if you think you'll play there again without any real struggle. We've had gigs where we've had to cancel because of last night out-of-towns that hurt alot more than just sickness.

 

If the situation knocks you down to the point that you don't feel comfortable, don't play, it'll save you from humiliation or much worse, coughs or sneezing from the mics;)

 

-J.

[dallasmopar]

I use Dallasmopar becuae I used to live in Dallas and that has been my "Web name" since 1995.

 

We cancelled the show and the booking agent was not thrilled being last minute and all. I actually went up to the club and spoke with them. Oh well, tried to smooth it over best I would, not sure how it will turn out.

 

We have an even bigger gig on Saturday and we had to decide that we need him well for that, so 2 more full days of bed rest and we hope he will be ready. He really felt that he could not even play, so I have to go with that. He is a good, solid guy.

[redclaymusic]

We have been playing out for four years and have NEVER canceled a gig. I am the lead singer and have fought through colds and it made my voice raspy. (just had to sing between chloroseptic pops.) We need to let our yes be yes and our no be no.

 

The best thing you can do is to have backup plan B for essential band members. We have a huge gig Sat and our drummer couldn't make it so we got a replacement. If it were the trumpet guy it wouldn't be as big of a deal.

 

MelK of Red Clay:p

[redclaymusic]

Check out our song on mp3.com at http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/437/red_clay.html

 

MelK:D

[BlueStrat]

I've never cancelled a gig in my life. When my keyboard player had back surgery, he gave me some names to call. I got a replacement for a couple of gigs and did one without him. That said, let me try to put thingns in perspective:

 

You are a local band. You are on an upswing, to be sure, but still, in the grand scheme of things, none of us are really any different than the 20 million other bands out there. So, the reality is, if you cancel a gig because someone is sick, the world will still spin tomorrow. The people who booked you will likely get someone else, and your career prospects are likely not going to be any different one way or another a year from now. Hell, even a month from now, no one's going to give it another thought except you, because our natural tendency is to overestimate the gravity of things we regard as important. As musicians, we tend to look at every opportunity as the last one, or at least as the one that could be THE BIG ONE. In truth, it's just another gig, playing to a room full of drunks, showcase or not. I've learned that my guys are more important than that. How you regard your band members speaks volumes more about your character than whether you cancel a gig. Ask yourself this: when you're old and laying on your deathbed, will you be saying, "I wish I would have treated people better and shown them more respect love", or will you be saying "I wish I would have played that one last bar gig." I think you already know the answer. I'd cancel the gig. The sun will come up Sunday.

[dallasmopar]

Blue Strat -- you are absolutely correct. I am a business person and I don't even expect my emplyees to show when they are ill. It is best that they get better because I need them later on. After our emotions subsided, I think we did the right thing by cancelling the show and letting him heal. The band is something we are very passionate about and that passion tends to get in the way of our decision making at times -- I don't think thats a bad thing either, it means we go balls out for everything. Its why we are having success and have been gigging since April. A tight band is like a brotherhood, and we are lucky to have that, we argue and fight, but damn it, have a love for each other at the end of the day

 

Getting a last minute replacement for what we play is not an option, we have long, complex arrangments in our songs that would make doing that a disaster. I mean, we play a full set with 7 songs (full set in a big city competitive club scene means 30 to 60 minutes.) Drumming is a big part of our sound, and this guy plays like Keith Moon, insane, gives 110%, and with a lot of showmanship (without the precise timing, but not a big deal).

 

Thanks for the comments guys! I personally will make shows when I am sick, but I need to respect the other guys - I don't have to beat drums when I play though, just beat the hell out of a guitar. Always lessons to be learned...

[sgguitarzz]

I was just curious how this worked out for you. I have been through this as I had some health issues for a while. When I first got sick it was the night before a "big" gig. I knew there was no way I could do it Several of my so called "friends" in the band couldn't believe I was letting them down etc etc. One guy did not speak to me for 6 months!!!!! This was someone who was one of my closest friends for over 20 years at the time. Our friendship has never been the same. It tells you a lot about a person when a situation like this comes up. Gigs come and go and every one seems like the most important one. Real friendships are hard to find and good one's usually outlast most bands. I hope your situation worked out for the best.

 

 

Dennis

[dallasmopar]

Worked out for us -- we got over it and the booker even called back last week and offered us another show. We were even offered a bigger show by another group booking at that venue. We got over it after a few days. We all felt let down at the time but you are correct, friendship in a band should be deeper than than just the band itself and trying to push someone to do something they feel they can't will only breed discontent and break things up. Because I feel like I can play in any situation for the most part, not everybody is like me - I tend to take things to a level where most people would not.

[sgguitarzz]

I am very happy to hear that it worked out so well.

[Bassyeti]

It seems that there are many many for and against replies to making band members play if they are sick, in my limited experience you have to have a plan B for everything, be it equipment, set lists or band members. I agree with bluestrat and that if you cancel then the world will keep turning, however the gigs that you are looking to dropout from seem like a big deal to you and proberly to the organisers too so if your going to cancel do it sooner rather than later to give them some kind of notice, otherwise suck it up play hard go off stage betwen songs to throw up and think about the story that you can tell your grand kids about your worst gig ever

[StratKat]

In my opp it depends on how big the deal is. For example, if you are doing show cases for club owners and someone gets too sick to perform you call them and apologize and try to reschedule. If you have put out bucks you eat it.

 

But lets say you are trying for a label or a backer with a history of success. Someone much higher up in the music food chain. In that type of scenario I would prepare standby players for the showcase just in case something happened to anyone in the group. That amounts to another band learning your material, showing up possibly and being paid to do nothing if everything works out ok. Ive only had to do this myself one time. For that particular instance i agreed to allow the BACKUP band to perform as a warmup act to the band i was currently in. It was agreed ahead of time that their members would fill in in an emergency. But that we were paying them by letting them have some major attention that COULD take away from us. They liked the idea, we were prepared with several nights of rehearsing ours and their material (because of course, they would want US to do them the same courtesy if one of theirs was ill.) And it all worked out fine....

 

...except we didnt get anything out of it but the experience and a huge bar bill from the guests...

 

But the point is, you prepare for the worst and insure you have backup equipment and players for the truly MAJOR opportunities that you cant reschedule if possible.

 

Sometimes these opportunities only come ONCE. Sometimes they come more... The band i was in said later it was a major waiste of time, money, effort, to include the other band. But i still think if the heroin addicted guitarist or the crank lovin drummer had od'd or crapped out it would have been worth it to me and the other guys.