1 (edited by Grah1 2018-02-05 08:33:15)

Topic: Rough bars

I thought I'd got past this. Last Saturday I was booked to play a town centre bar in a town where I've played many times before.Great I thought there will be plenty of people I have met before and friends from the area.Reality some friends turned up and we had a good warm audience for the first set.Sadly at 10 the bar round the corner  closed and the towns entire population of idiots walk in.The place changes from a quiet music appreciating bar to an animal house .There is aggression and negativity sure they still  want me to play but they want 60s sing along stuff I get pestered to play house of the rising sun by this woman for ages.So I finish early before it kicks off my wife grabs my guitars before some idiot trys to steal them We load the pa back into the truck I get paid and we leave.Not a great experience and certainly not the place to sing a set containing left wing political songs  defiantly not a place to go back to.

Re: Rough bars

It usually works the other way for me. I do mostly 60s and 70's covers, but I keep getting asked for songs by people I've never heard of! And as you say the aggressive little termites that want to take on the world after 2 pints and a couple of shots. Which is why I haven't taken on any shows this year and seriously considering retirement after 46 years. It's a wrench and makes me sad...but maybe it's time for me to become one of the pot bellied beer swilling critics that I've been entertaining all these years?

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

3 (edited by Tenement Funster 2018-02-05 11:58:55)

Re: Rough bars

Sounds like a rough experience, Graham ... I'm so glad you got yourself and your gear out of there intact.

I packed in performing decades ago, because very few people want to hear (or usually know about) what I like to play. (acoustic Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, etc.) It's not party music and I'm not a party person, so I really can't blame them. The last song I ever played publicly was Floyd's "Julia Dream" at an open mic coffee house in the late-70's ... got blank stares as a response, before someone asked if I'd play America's "Horse With No Name". I just left ... never again.

Re: Rough bars

Tenement Funster wrote:

Floyd's "Julia Dream"

I love that song ...

-[ Musician, writer, guitarist, singer ]-
Bandcamp     https://richardmortimer.bandcamp.com/follow_me
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Re: Rough bars

Grah1 wrote:

I thought I'd got past this. Last Saturday I was booked to play a town centre bar in a town where I've played many times before.Great I thought there will be plenty of people I have met before and friends from the area.Reality some friends turned up and we had a good warm audience for the first set.Sadly at 10 the bar round the corner  closed and the towns entire population of idiots walk in.The place changes from a quiet music appreciating bar to an animal house .There is aggression and negativity sure they still  want me to play but they want 60s sing along stuff I get pestered to play house of the rising sun by this woman for ages.So I finish early before it kicks off my wife grabs my guitars before some idiot trys to steal them We load the pa back into the truck I get paid and we leave.Not a great experience and certainly not the place to sing a set containing left wing political songs  defiantly not a place to go back to.

Sorry you had such a bad experience ... the last gig I played was at a New Years eve gig in 2005 ...

http://neophytte.mine.nu/photo/2005-01-01-NYE/images/100_3455.jpg

-[ Musician, writer, guitarist, singer ]-
Bandcamp     https://richardmortimer.bandcamp.com/follow_me
Discogs          https://www.discogs.com/release/29065579
YouTube         https://www.youtube.com/@RichardMortimerMusic

6 (edited by Russell_Harding 2018-02-05 13:24:23)

Re: Rough bars

I have played some really tough gigs throughout my musical life including a band involved fist fights the worst was in Lahaina Maui our temporary drummer made a racial insult to a Philipean customer and all hell broke loose the entire audience came after the band! punches and kicks everywhere till the bouncers stepped in and order was restored he (the drummer) left the island and it was a while before we could get back to peaceful terms with the locals

"Growing old is not for sissies"

Re: Rough bars

Neo, you had a guy in the band that played a bottle?

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Re: Rough bars

Phill   
The bottles are on the shirt I believe LOL

Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but what your mind can imagine.
Make your life count, and the world will be a better place because you tried.

"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except only the the best." - Henry Van Dyke

9 (edited by Grah1 2018-02-06 13:58:08)

Re: Rough bars

Most incidents I've had have been quite amusing with no real aggression  unlike Saturday's gig.
One time that comes to mind was the French guy who tried to get on stage  with us, 4 times the bouncers  threw him out in total,. It was only when he leaped on stage knocking stef the bass player and rme back  into the drum kit that they got really tough with him and hurled him through the doors like a stunt man in a western movie.Elpida our backing singer picked a mic up and kept the song going throughout.We still laugh about this when we speak.

Re: Rough bars

Phill Williams wrote:

Neo, you had a guy in the band that played a bottle?

Nah, played harmonica, as TIGLJK pointed out, the bottles are on his shirt - I haven't seen that guy for a while, but he used to brew his own beer ... which have several stories that are never to be repeated ... tongue

The guy with the curly hair next to me, we played in about 3 bands together over the years - I remember we did a gig out at Kellerberin, in outback WA (if you see the picture on that page, that's pretty much the whole townsite, all they are missing is the petrol station and the pub, which are on the main road through), which was attended by the majority of the town - in small country towns they rarely get a band in - due to this fact the locals all rocked up at about 3pm, and began heavy drinking. so they were quite pickled by the time we went on at 7, there was no 'stage', we were just in a corner and set up the PA and foldbacks to try and make a barrier - but because they were inebrieted some of them still came up and said "I like your f*cking guitar, I f*cking play guitar, do you f*cking know '[insert well known song]', ya f*cking c*nt?" - they weren't angry, this is how they talk ... anyway about an hour later we're well into our set, the whole pub is overfowing with people, I look down at my bass while concentrating on some part in some song, look back up, and the whole pub is nearly empty ... a song later the whole pub is full again. I was thinking I must be imaging things, but it happened about 4 more times through the night, full, empty, full, empty .. we finished up around 1 and I got into a chat with the keyboard player and publican, as we were getting paid and he was talking about how good it was, and asking us if we'd like to come back - anyway, he was saying about when the pub was emptying, there were fights outside, and everyone went to see that, then they would come back to see the band, and he said that from the 'few' number of fights, they must have enjoyed us ... we got paid pretty well, but we never did go back, I think the band broke up fairly soon after that ...

That was probably the roughest gig I played ...

-[ Musician, writer, guitarist, singer ]-
Bandcamp     https://richardmortimer.bandcamp.com/follow_me
Discogs          https://www.discogs.com/release/29065579
YouTube         https://www.youtube.com/@RichardMortimerMusic

11 (edited by Phill Williams 2018-02-06 10:37:56)

Re: Rough bars

I did a Christmas Eve gig when I was bass in a duo. We were warned as we set up not to bother with the people on the other side of the room as they were "trash". Then we got the same story from the "trash" keep away from them over there!
All went well till the last song when the whole club errupted. Within minutes there wasn't a whole table, glass, window or door. I now try to avoid playing on Christmas Eve. Who wants to go through Christmas with a black eye and missing teeth? And some in jail? It takes all sorts I guess.

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Re: Rough bars

Phill Williams wrote:

I did a Christmas Eve gig when I was bass in a duo. We were warned as we set up not to bother with the people on the other side of the room as they were "trash". Then we got the same story from the "trash" keep away from them over there!
All went well till the last song when the whole club errupted. Within minutes there wasn't a whole table, glass, window or door. I now try to avoid playing on Christmas Eve. Who wants to go through Christmas with a black eye and missing teeth? And some in jail? It takes all sorts I guess.

Quite an experience, Phill ... did you happen to be playing Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz"? big_smile

Re: Rough bars

Tenement Funster wrote:
Phill Williams wrote:

I did a Christmas Eve gig when I was bass in a duo. We were warned as we set up not to bother with the people on the other side of the room as they were "trash". Then we got the same story from the "trash" keep away from them over there!
All went well till the last song when the whole club errupted. Within minutes there wasn't a whole table, glass, window or door. I now try to avoid playing on Christmas Eve. Who wants to go through Christmas with a black eye and missing teeth? And some in jail? It takes all sorts I guess.

Quite an experience, Phill ... did you happen to be playing Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz"? big_smile

in actual fact it was elvis' wonder of you....funny how you remember little things? like when the fight starts you pull your mic stands in, take your guitar off, pull the speakers down and stand well back

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.