A little tale

[NWBasser]

No, I don't mean "tail".;)

First, excuse me if I stray off a bit as I'm rather tired ATM.

So, last night the drummer, singer, and I went to check out this open mic show in Seattle at a little dive bar. (Steve, it was the Blue Moon)

The "crowd" consisted of a few "musicians" and a greater number of, um, ne'er-do-wells typically found in these sort of establishments. It seems several of the signed up acts didn't show and so the host opened things up and I volunteered to do some bass playing.

Well, this guy comes up with a very nice and new looking Les Paul faded studio and I offer my services (bass, that is) which he gladly accepts. He asks if I know Green River, which I don't, but replied "yes, I do". Hey, it's a simple tune I know I can fake. Some young guy jumps in on drums (very good) and all goes rather well for the tune, all things considered.

Now things get a bit weird though. After finishing the song, he launches into Carry On Wayward Son and I follow into it since I know it well. But then he just starts playing bits and pieces of it in odd and random order. I usually try to do a good job of adjusting on-the-fly to make the guitar, drums, etc. sound better if I can. There was no way of saving this trainwreck though and after several starts and stops he launches into something resembling Don't Fear the Reaper and again I put the bass line there for him as an attempt at a lifeline. No luck, he kept rambling around.

I'm trying to give this guy something that he can work with and start Roadhouse Blues with the idea that it's fairly monotonic without drastic changes and a straight beat. I tell him to play in E while the drummer and I hold it down for him. The hostess of the event is on keys and singing. The hostess, drummer, and I are doing our level best to make this guy sound as good as we can, but all he could muster was a few misplaced, off-time note patterns.:thwap

At the end, which came much too late for me, he was quite thankful and appreciative.

While it's a great idea to play with other musicians as much as possible, if you're just starting out, it's not such a good idea to do it in public.

[Eric]

Stories like that always make me wish there was an accompanying video. I think it's partially because I find videos of trainwrecks interesting, and partially because I have trouble reconciling someone as that dumb/bad, so I want hard evidence or something.

Anyway, interesting experience to say the least, huh?

[FrankenFretter]

That's awesome. Probably something like the time that Heywood and I "jammed".

You should have bought him a pitcher, and then proceeded to talk him into selling you his LP Studio for $49.99.

[NWBasser]

You should have bought him a pitcher, and then proceeded to talk him into selling you his LP Studio for $49.99.

Hellz yeah, I should have!

Damn, coulda, shoulda.:thwap

Oh brother, where were you when I needed your brilliant schemes?

[NWBasser]

Stories like that always make me wish there was an accompanying video. I think it's partially because I find videos of trainwrecks interesting, and partially because I have trouble reconciling someone as that dumb/bad, so I want hard evidence or something.

Anyway, interesting experience to say the least, huh?

Morbid curiosity Eric?

[Eric]

Morbid curiosity Eric?
Something like that, yeah.

[bcdon]

Hellz yeah, I should have!

Damn, coulda, shoulda.:thwap

Oh brother, where were you when I needed your brilliant schemes?

And then you guys could put an ad in the local paper advertising his car for sale (cheap!!). :)

[Katastrophe]

I played at an open mike night a while back where all us musician types would get together and jam on different songs. Dude gets up there with a nice Gibby acoustic and asked if I would play. He did the first song pretty well, and launched into another at the end. I tried like hell to play some good lead lines around him and some accents and fills, but he was all over the place. At the end of that song I said, "Gotta go get a drink," and walked.

He kept going after I left, but at least he was on his own.

[Brian Krashpad]

Some folks don't play well with others. It comes naturally to some, but for others if you go outside of a fairly narrow comfort zone you're looking at good trainwreck potential. Part of it is just being smart and keeping to relatively simple material in that sorta sitch. Some folks learn those skills, others never do.

I really should try doing something like that sometime. Then again, the last time my "hippie" side band gigged (without having practiced since our prior gig), our lead singer included some cheats of new covers, and we went for them with no problem. So I guess that's as close as I've come to that sorta thing.

[sunvalleylaw]

Fun story. Though I loved the idea of the Blue Moon (awesome classic neon sign, great biker dive look), I did not go there much when I lived in Seattle. I would love to stop in sometime when I am back up there, but you would more likely find me at the Elysian.

[NWBasser]

Fun story. Though I loved the idea of the Blue Moon, I did not go there much when I lived in Seattle. I would love to stop in sometime when I am back up there, but you would more likely find me at the Elysian.

Mmmm Elysian :beer: :beer:

[sunvalleylaw]

Mmmm Elysian :beer: :beer:

LOL, Yeah! But last time I was in Seattle, I ended up at the Duchess instead. It was a college reunion, so the old college tav was the venue. Dantes could have worked for that too.