Favorite Band Drama Stories

[jeffl]

My recent experiences with 2 guys quitting our band got me reminiscing about previous "difficulties" with band situations. Maybe you've got some stories of your own. But it did remind me of a time I was playin' in a 3 piece blues band during & after college: both of the other guys were life long buddies whom I started playin' with in 8th grade. The guitar player was terrible at gettin' his parts down between practices and I was getting frustrated that we wouldn't progress on tunes from week to week. One day he and I are riding in my car and I started badgering him about practicing our tunes more between rehearsals. I got him so pissed off that he jumped out of the car at a stoplight and walked home.

[jbone1]

hm. how bout the time the husband of our new gal singer nearly ran me over in the parking lot after a gig? just "showing me his new truck"; he seemed to think his wife and i were having an affair. the slings and arrows of having a gal singer......

or the time we had a 300-plus lb bass player who stepped on the wrong board of an outdoor stage- and fell through!

or the time our lead singer/rhythm player called a break after just a few songs, and had to run to a convenience store for some super glue. he'd broken a crown on a tooth and repaired it on the spot, and we finished the gig!

[allanlummox]

Man, my band drama stories end with guys dying because of drugs and alcohol. Not that much fun!

[birddog]

I don't know, just saw this ad and had a flashback.
http://gc.guitarcenter.com/promo/bring- ... btb_bg.jpg
Had me laughing as I remember back in high school a local music store had a sale like this.
Some people thought we were hippies, but hippies had no money. We had dreams of showing up to by some new equipment. We were supposed to meet there, the bass player set his alarm for pm instead of am and didn't show, which pissed off the singer and the drummer hadn't been seen in a couple days, so that left me
I went home to look for my bong.

[De Ferre]

When we were 20 something, in Spain, we got an opportunity to play a few gigs in Belgium. Low profile work. We took the car and drove there. But the bass player forgot to "ask for permission" to his girlfriend. He just "informed her" about those gigs. This resulting in him calling her everyday and crying, because she wouldn't forgive him. After one week we got back home and all he got was a "me or the music" kind of deal. He chose her. I had to find another player for the next gigs, which he wasn't 'allowed' to play.

After six months she left him.
He never got to play in a band again.

A similar story happened to a drum player I got a year after. That time it was about a couple of gigs, a weekend in north Africa. I don't know what happened to him after that. I saw him once, when he played with me "in secret".

" You gotta choose: me or the music!!! "

[jeffl]

"Me or the music". That sounds familiar. It's nice to have a wife that encourages a time consuming hobby that occasionally takes me away from her. I always ask her if she wants to go hear me play, and she opts out alotta the time. I make it a point never to come home drunk though; that would be a cause of concern for her.

[maxx england]

Mine understands I'm actually incapable of not playing music or racing motorcycles, so she doesn't try to stop me. Parts of my life are actually quite good. Dark bits exist, but there's a lot of good stuff.

[allanlummox]

Jane supports my madness. She even put up with me coming home drunk on many, many occasions!

Previous women generally got around to the "Me or music" stage...after falling for the musician in the first place. Hey, if you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree!

[jeffl]

Jane supports my madness. She even put up with me coming home drunk on many, many occasions!

Previous women generally got around to the "Me or music" stage...after falling for the musician in the first place. Hey, if you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree!

That brings up a point Dan. I met my wife when she'd already been married once, and so had I. I know part of my appeal to her was the fact that I was a musician, and I think it still is. She has been tolerant... but like I said, I've behaved myself too (at least for the last 20 years or so,lol).

[ricochet]

The guitar player was terrible at gettin' his parts down between practices and I was getting frustrated

I am SO glad that word is "parts," not "pants."

[jeffl]

The guitar player was terrible at gettin' his parts down between practices and I was getting frustrated

I am SO glad that word is "parts," not "pants."

No, he managed to get his pants down on one hilarious occasion though: we had a great setup for rehearsing in those days. We all lived in this rooming house that the absentee owner had listed for sale. It was a converted church, with a large kitchen (duh), 2 big bathrooms and a couple smaller ones. We left our equipment set up in what was a master bedroom. We just paid the utilities and no rent. At one of our parties the guitar player was cloning himself in one of the bathrooms, with about 20 partygoers in the lounge right outside the bathroom. He came waddling out of the bathroom with his pants down around his knees and his schwantz dangling in the breeze, shouting "run, I've created a monster!"

[jbone1]

well i can't top THAT one.......

[ricochet]

[BigBadDave]

I am SO glad that word is "parts," not "pants."

Haha! I totally read that as paNts when I first saw that!

Why can't being in a band be easy?! Every single time I've got a decent band together, it's ended up being zero fun due to huge ego clashes...

[jeffl]

Well, our drummer and rhythm player tried to "bury the hatchet" with each other this past Tuesday. We had all just started setting up and they started shoutin' at each other. They hadn't had any conversations since the "blowup" about a month or more ago. The shoutin', name callin', finger pointing and rantin' went on for 15 minutes, so the rest of the guys got set up and then left the room so the two combatants could have it out. Some of us reassured them that the ugly display was OK. It seemed to help, 'cuz they made it through the night. These guys have known each other for about 40 years, so it was kinda like a coupla brothers dukin' it out. Because most of us have known each other for decades, any of our disagreements tend to take on family squabble-like overtones. It's a shame these things happen, but it's not abnormal, imo.