BL moved the goalposts!#$&!

[dkelley]

sorry... but $20 as a tip and expecting you do play ANYTHING extra for that? I mean, MAYBE one extra tune, but asking for anything is a heck of a thing anyway to actually expect you to do. So both of you should have been like "thx, we will try to play one more song" to the customer, not doing anything more than that. Tips are tips... not paycheques.

But for the small amount of money you earned.... and that drive.... well.... I'd do two sets, max for that, and I'd expect gas money.

 

[Pocket Dave]

I'm always surprised and saddened to hear what other bass players have to put up with.

OP doesn't have to put up with it.

No one does.

It's a choice.

 

[Bassic_desires]

@Lance Bunyon ”What you permit, you promote” - Studer.

 

[MtManiac]

I’d drive 80 minutes for gig that put $100 in my pocket *if* it were going to be a fun time. This does not sound like a fun time. I’d have a hard time driving 15 minutes for a gig like that.

It’s work - rehearsing, learning songs, hauling gear, setting it up, spending an evening away from my family… it’s worth a lot more to me than $100.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Greetings!
BL and me get along pretty well. In the past year, about half our gigs have shifted from trio to duo based on cheap venues with no room and a drummer who hits like John Bonham.
Last night was one of those duo shows. We were contracted to play 7 to 10 for $200 ($100 apiece).
During soundcheck, a patron dropped a $20 bill in BLs guitar case and asked us to extend the soundcheck by 2 or 3 songs.
BL turned it into a 4th set!

When I jestured for soundcheck to end he wanted to negotiate on mic through the PA.
I backed off, I've been gigging 30 years and we don't air dirty laundry on mic over the PA.
Throughout the evening BL treated me like a crippled octogenarian. "Do you need an actual break? I can just stay here and play solo if you need an actual break..."

Dude needs major lessons in managing other people. I've been playing with him for over 7 years and I'm aware of his disconnect - he's deeply afraid that if we sit down all the patrons will leave the pub.
I need to have a talk with him without yelling (or choking him lol!).
By the end of the gig I expressed my thoughts a little. Clocks were changing and I sing Mass in choir and I had an 80 minute drive home (cause I needed to fuel up at BK on the way home).
This isn't the first time he's pushed the boundaries way beyond the pale.
I'm almost 58 and I really don't want to start over with another band.
Thing is, in the trio version of our band the drummer and I keep BL in check.
I gotta set a boundary but I don't want to quit...

I'd quit based on him getting a 3 hour gig for 200 dollars. Besides everything else.

We get 350 for 45 minutes.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I'd quit based on him getting a 3 hour gig for 200 dollars. Besides everything else.

We get 350 for 45 minutes.

They don't pay here (Metro Charlotte).
You wouldn't work here.

 

[DrSteve]

After your talk, it shouldn't happen again. If it does, let him do the extra set alone.

 

[friskinator]

So, let’s say your sound check was at 7 and actual start time was 8. Someone drops a $20 and you play from 7 to 8 rather than hang out and enjoy the pre-show time to yourself? Your half of the $20 is $10 for an extra hour of playing? Is the band leader smoking crack or does he just love the sound of his own voice that much? I’d have walked off the stage and said I’d be back at 8.

I used to play with a singer like this. He was a narcissist and loved praise, even if we were playing a dive with 20 people in the audience. "One more song" always ended up being another hour. He didn't care about the money.

I've always been an advocate of sticking to the contracted times. It's one thing to do a couple extra if the crowd is tipping, but not an entire additional set that goes overtime.

 

[Geogio]

One of the rules of show business is always leave them wanting more. Adding a set is going the wrong direction.

I have another rule... and it is literally the same... always end on a high. If the audience is totally wrapped up and dancing their butts off and everybody is like a whooping it up... and you have maybe one song left... don't play it. I know that sounds weird but people love ending the evening on that high, because then they'll go out into the night and finish the evening off in any manner of different ways, usually in a way that you cannot provide any additional input.

They'll be back!

 

[Five or Six]

Lance, first you are right. NOTHING is done over the mic. Even any issue that takes place is not addressed on stage or even in the venue at hand. Its handled one on one in a neutral space. Band business is conducted in person and not by freakin text! That's kid . If a person can't do a one on one and address a problem they won't work in the same band with me. They need to grow a pair! Don't let it fester. You have the right idea.

 

[IanStephenson]

I used to play with a singer like this. He was a narcissist and loved praise, even if we were playing a dive with 20 people in the audience. "One more song" always ended up being another hour. He didn't care about the money.

I was in a band with that guy too!!! One bar we played was a really fun gig. Played there every month for 10 years... but... most bands there played two 50min sets finishing about 11:30. We were popular there and owner liked us to start late and finish later. We'd start the second set around 11, and it would often play until 12:30. But the great audience we had at 11:30 started to think about going home around 12 - when the bar would normally have closed. We could still hold a decent audience until 12:30 but it was thinning, and everyone was tired.

One night the singer was drunk and he had some friends in, and we were still playing at 1am. The audience was now very thin... he started inviting his friends up to sing... he started suggesting we jam some songs (we'd played the two planned sets, plus an extra hour)... We were not sounding as good as we had 1.5 hours previously! I called time, he refused, I put my bass in its case, and walked out to get my car. Last I heard he was trying to persuade the guitarist to keep playing without me. Got some evil looks (from singer and bar owner) when I got back to load out my amp.

Got a text from the guitarist two days later kicking me out. Picked up a great new band a few weeks later and never looked back. Not spoken to the singer or guitarist since. Didn't go back to that bar for 3 years. When I did (for a friends gig) I was expecting cold looks. The bar owner ran over and gave my a hug and told me how much she'd missed me, and what asked where I'd been!

For a gig I want to know what I'm getting into. When am I starting, when am I finishing, how much am I getting paid. If its a crazy audience and everyone is having fun, then a couple more is fine but when it goes beyond that it stops being fun.

 

[Ostie]

Being professional means showing up on time, playing the agreed upon number of sets, and not criticizing, arguing, or coaching anyone, even the audience, over an open mic.

If the crowd and the venue want you to play longer, and they tip you, or you’re just plain having fun, that’s ok, if all are in agreement. But sometimes the venue wants you outta there so they can clean up and go home. They’re tired too.

Edit: it’s okay to engage with the audience, you should, but not criticize or scold.

 

[roccobass]

Never had a pre-set situation. Thank goodness. Got requests them at the back end and the tip for that was always much better than $20.

When I had my upright, my BL, several times, used to not take breaks when it was a crowded night at a winery or brewpub. He used to say “we can’t lose the crowd”. Well, my bladder had issues with that statement. When he used to do that, and my bladder alerted me, I would lay down my bass and say “play a long intro to the next song” and go to the john. We got along much better with that arrangement.

 

[NC_Rob]

They don't pay here (Metro Charlotte).
You wouldn't work here.

North of Charlotte is just as bad if not worse. I don't mind too much if it's close but if I have to drive over an hour each way plus setup and breakdown? No way.

Most of our gigs are within 15-20 minutes driving.

 

[epinson]

I’d do an extra song/request for someone who tips $20, but not a whole set. And as others have said, those discussions happen off-mic.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

North of Charlotte is just as bad if not worse. I don't mind too much if it's close but if I have to drive over an hour each way plus setup and breakdown? No way.

Most of our gigs are within 15-20 minutes driving.

I'm in Belmont and they're in Rock Hill and Pineville respectively. I don't mind the drive.
Saturdays show was in downtown Monroe, an hour each way.
Being hungry and needing a drive thru after the show didn't help

 

[MultiScaleMale]

"Do you need an actual break? I can just stay here and play solo if you need an actual break..."

He's playing you, it's your choice on what to do.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Greetings!
BL and me get along pretty well. In the past year, about half our gigs have shifted from trio to duo based on cheap venues with no room and a drummer who hits like John Bonham.
Last night was one of those duo shows. We were contracted to play 7 to 10 for $200 ($100 apiece).
During soundcheck, a patron dropped a $20 bill in BLs guitar case and asked us to extend the soundcheck by 2 or 3 songs.
BL turned it into a 4th set!

When I jestured for soundcheck to end he wanted to negotiate on mic through the PA.
I backed off, I've been gigging 30 years and we don't air dirty laundry on mic over the PA.
Throughout the evening BL treated me like a crippled octogenarian. "Do you need an actual break? I can just stay here and play solo if you need an actual break..."

Dude needs major lessons in managing other people. I've been playing with him for over 7 years and I'm aware of his disconnect - he's deeply afraid that if we sit down all the patrons will leave the pub.
I need to have a talk with him without yelling (or choking him lol!).
By the end of the gig I expressed my thoughts a little. Clocks were changing and I sing Mass in choir and I had an 80 minute drive home (cause I needed to fuel up at BK on the way home).
This isn't the first time he's pushed the boundaries way beyond the pale.
I'm almost 58 and I really don't want to start over with another band.
Thing is, in the trio version of our band the drummer and I keep BL in check.
I gotta set a boundary but I don't want to quit...

Unless you need the money, it’s not worth it. Maybe the reason you are seeing more Duo gigs is so the BL has more control? Think about it.

Before agreeing to a gig, I would make it clear what time you need to stop. If he choses to go past the scheduled quitting time your charge goes to time and a half. If he doesn’t agree, don’t take the gig.

 

[The Diaper Geni]

Not a fan of “playing over”. Once the agreed upon end time comes to pass, that’s MY time.

You’ve got me on the agreed upon arrival and gig time. But once the gig time is up? I may decide to play some more. Might not. Because it’s….repeat after me….MY time.

 

[getrhythm]

58 years old ain't the end of the road...says this soon to be 68 year old with a couple of things still in the works.