Horrible. Absolutely mortifying playing experience last night.

[Joe Bfstplk]

I always warn the people running the sound system multiple times that I'm giving them a line level signal NOT mic level through the XLR's. 1/3 of the time, I hit my first note and it's obvious that they didn't listen or understand what I was saying.

Listening to understand is rare. Most listen to respond, if they listen at all....

I was going to audition with a band until they found out that I was using an Axefx III..."we're just a plug into a few pedals into our amps kinda guys and we don't think you'll fit in". Stupid is as stupid does.

Sometimes you get lucky and can "step around it"....

 

[aens]

Last summer I came across a ghosting FOH tech in a festival. Right after the first sound check he said that he felt like he’s about to catch a cold and just left. He did not bother to find anyone for replacement. He just left. He was also in charge of the stage tech for that stage.

The first band had to play their show without a FOH tech. Luckily their guitarist was one and he just stayed there for two days mixing all the bands on that stage.

When I first walked onto our stage I just cringed. Sound, lighting and backline was all chained from the same power outlet and the stage looked like someone had spilled their spaghetti on it. Without asking anyone I redid the stage power myself. I mean, there was no-one around to ask anyway.

That happened in 2021. Yup.

 

[la szum]

To the point of maybe the modeler was too powerful frequency wise for a crappy PA, they had a freggin Nord plugged in. Not many musical instruments are capable of producing the brown sound. A Nord can have you involuntarily crapping your drawers with one low C note. I have a better Soundguy rant from last night (this just keeps getting better and better).

So we don’t have our regular guy for my 80s tribute and hire a very capable yet expensive Soundguy for an average bar. My band follows a pretty dead business model of always using pro sound, even for a bar where a small PA set up and controlled from an iPad would be fine. So, I knew this guy has the personality of 30 year old grandmas wallpaper going in, I didn’t want to push it and just wanted to try and have a good gig, get my money and get out. Simple enough.

My wife who sings in the band sets up with a Voicelive III, which is all her vocal FX but even more important, harmonies. She puts her FX unit down, its not even on a freggin board and has no footprint to speak of. His words exactly “what are we going to go back and forth now”? It’s XLR in, XLR out. This is not hard. Why be this big a dick? I think he made 400-500 bucks on a fkkn bar gig, you think 2 cables is asking him like we bounced the check. Why take the gig if you don’t want to do it and are going to be this level of miserable? Not only that, but where is the “back and forth”? This was only the “forth” part.

If I buy a PA and start doing live sound, do I get to be this big of a dick, too? As a guitarist, I’m not sure I’d have many teeth left with this attitude.

When we are young we brush it off. When we are older we ponder whether or not it is worth it.

Statistically speaking, you should be good for another 5 to 10 years before you encounter an
equivalent asshole. Not sure how Jersey odds might factor into the over/under on that, though.

 

[EJ James (Street)]

Reading through this thread makes me glad I ditched playing live a long time ago. Too many ass-hat bar owners, sound guys, and even 40 year old adolescent alcoholic band members showed me I'm not made for bands anymore. You could say I'm the common denominator, and frankly I wouldn't argue, and I'm ok with that. =)

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Reading through this thread makes me glad I ditched playing live a long time ago. Too many ass-hat bar owners, sound guys, and even 40 year old adolescent alcoholic band members showed me I'm not made for bands anymore. You could say I'm the common denominator, and frankly I wouldn't argue, and I'm ok with that. =)

It’s really the exception not the rule, these situations. When you work with professionals (or just responsible decent people) on any kind of level these things just don’t happen often.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Reading through this thread makes me glad I ditched playing live a long time ago. Too many ass-hat bar owners, sound guys, and even 40 year old adolescent alcoholic band members showed me I'm not made for bands anymore. You could say I'm the common denominator, and frankly I wouldn't argue, and I'm ok with that. =)

This ^^^^. Maybe it was just a string of luck, but this was my experience also. Then again, I have an ancestor named Murphy, so there's that....

It’s really the exception not the rule, these situations. When you work with professionals (or just responsible decent people) on any kind of level these things just don’t happen often.

Some people seem to be flypaper for assholes. Sadly, I seem to posess this "skill"....

 

[dr bonkers]

I was born in Lodi NJ and until March this year, was still in the Bergen County area for a majority of my life.

The Hilltop Tavern is a shithole, plain and simple. There's only one area pro that I know that gigs there and only for a yearly benefit. Rather than bringing his Headrush or a Fractal, he brings his 5150 half stack to that particular place.

Other than this person, the Hilltop usually gets the C level bands in the bar/cover band circuit.

Never get upset with naked stupidity. They do you a favor by letting you know their mental defects openly and publicly usually. By doing that, you can make informed decisions that reduce your stress rather quickly.

As such, it's better than the people who are equally stupid, but hide it under a veneer of deception, which will unpleasantly surprise you once you discover it, usually at the most inopportune times and it will usually cost more time, money, and frustration.