NWBasser
June 12th, 2013, 02:09 PM
I had one of the worst and strangest gigs recently.
The drummer contacts the booking agent for a gig at the World of Beer and sets us up to play there on a Thursday night.
We then receive a poorly-written e-mail from the agent, Todd, that outlines the venue rules such as everyone going through the PA and a setup time.
We arrive at the designated time and begin setting up our gear. Next is a sound check. During the soundcheck, I'm told to turn my amp down to a whisper where I can't hear myself over the drums.:thwap
Guitarist couldn't hear himself either. Believe me, neither one of us plays loud at all. Todd told us that we could turn ourselves up later on. Once we started playing, things went off-the-wall weird:
As I was playing the first song, Todd came up and told me to turn up the bass on my passive jazz.
During the first set break, Todd tells me that he can play alto sax better than I can play bass. I replied that I can play much better when I can hear myself...
Without any discussion or permission, Todd comes up on stage with his alto sax and starts playing with us.
Later on, Todd told me that I play too many notes. That I should stick to quarter root notes...for jazz/fusion...
After the gig as we were packing up to go, Todd tells me that I'm deaf because I couldn't hear myself and was being unprofessional.
Also, after the gig he told the drummer/band leader that I should be fired. Drummer told him to stuff it in so many words.
Later on Todd leaves a voicemail with the drummer telling him how great we were and that I sounded like Jaco:rollover
In hindsight, we should have packed up and left when we realized what a control freak he was. We won't work with him in the future and he better look out if I ever catch him in a dark alley.
The drummer contacts the booking agent for a gig at the World of Beer and sets us up to play there on a Thursday night.
We then receive a poorly-written e-mail from the agent, Todd, that outlines the venue rules such as everyone going through the PA and a setup time.
We arrive at the designated time and begin setting up our gear. Next is a sound check. During the soundcheck, I'm told to turn my amp down to a whisper where I can't hear myself over the drums.:thwap
Guitarist couldn't hear himself either. Believe me, neither one of us plays loud at all. Todd told us that we could turn ourselves up later on. Once we started playing, things went off-the-wall weird:
As I was playing the first song, Todd came up and told me to turn up the bass on my passive jazz.
During the first set break, Todd tells me that he can play alto sax better than I can play bass. I replied that I can play much better when I can hear myself...
Without any discussion or permission, Todd comes up on stage with his alto sax and starts playing with us.
Later on, Todd told me that I play too many notes. That I should stick to quarter root notes...for jazz/fusion...
After the gig as we were packing up to go, Todd tells me that I'm deaf because I couldn't hear myself and was being unprofessional.
Also, after the gig he told the drummer/band leader that I should be fired. Drummer told him to stuff it in so many words.
Later on Todd leaves a voicemail with the drummer telling him how great we were and that I sounded like Jaco:rollover
In hindsight, we should have packed up and left when we realized what a control freak he was. We won't work with him in the future and he better look out if I ever catch him in a dark alley.