GADonis
Beautifully Broken
This may go on for a bit.
The music scene here in Savannah seems to be very much geared towards "pick up" bands so on any given night any given band may have different members. A couple of days ago I was asked if I could do a fill in gig. I've done it several times before with this band and have always had a really good time. The band "leader" is a cool guy and his attitude is always "do what you do." He, like many leaders here, end up using a lot of "pick up" musicians for various gigs and he is always open to letting musicians interpret songs their way and not forcing "his way". I describe the music this band does as "blues with a punk attitude." It's blues but loud, fast and aggressive.
So I got to the gig not knowing who exactly would be on drums and bass. But there are a lot of excellent musicians here so I wasn't worried. I was even more reassured when I found out it would be his "normal" bass player and drummer. Both really good, solid musicians who know the songs and arrangements. That is somewhat important for me since I don't play the song often enough to actually retain the arrangements of all the songs. I love playing with these guys.
We get started at least 30 minutes late. Not surprising as musicians, even really good ones, aren't always the most punctual. But, the first song was a little lacking. No worries, it was the first song and it was a cold night (the band sets up next to the always open bay door). But then the second song. Before we start the song the bass player grabs a chair. I've never seen him sit down at a gig before. We start the song and I notice that the bass player drops out a couple of times. As I said earlier this bass player is very good and in the past has always been a rock. The rest of the set is pretty much more of the same. The bass player drops out and misses changes. Things are not going well. Soloing over blues changes isn't that difficult but when the bass player doesn't go to the four at the right time or completely misses the turn around, the guitar solos really sounds bad. I don't need help sounding bad. I do that just fine on my own.
Come to find out, the bass player has only had about 1 hour of sleep in the past 24 hours. Not sure exactly why but was likely due to the day job. This wasn't a "chemical" issue just an utter exhaustion issue. Of course as the night goes on it only gets worse. So he's actually falling asleep while playing. Missed changes, turnarounds, and even the occasional wrong song note progression. Really threw me off my game and my game is only mostly adequate to begin with. To add to it, I'm playing my Korina McCarty with the P90's which I haven't played in a while. I've been playing my Tele's and the 594 almost exclusively lately. For the life of me I couldn't quickly find the toggle switch to swap pickups while playing. My hand either wanted to go to the Tele position or the 594 position. I like to change pickups a fair amount while playing but doing so was a bumbling affair.
The night ended early after a shortened second set and a mostly aborted third set. So now I know what it's like to be on stage with someone in no condition to be playing. Not fun. Also, I guess I need to practice more with the McCarty to keep up the muscle memory of where the toggle switch is located.
The next time I get a call to fill in with this band, I will of course say yes as long as have an opening. And seeing the "normal" bass player's rig I will be happy and excited to play with him. But, I may offer to buy him a Red Bull.
The music scene here in Savannah seems to be very much geared towards "pick up" bands so on any given night any given band may have different members. A couple of days ago I was asked if I could do a fill in gig. I've done it several times before with this band and have always had a really good time. The band "leader" is a cool guy and his attitude is always "do what you do." He, like many leaders here, end up using a lot of "pick up" musicians for various gigs and he is always open to letting musicians interpret songs their way and not forcing "his way". I describe the music this band does as "blues with a punk attitude." It's blues but loud, fast and aggressive.
So I got to the gig not knowing who exactly would be on drums and bass. But there are a lot of excellent musicians here so I wasn't worried. I was even more reassured when I found out it would be his "normal" bass player and drummer. Both really good, solid musicians who know the songs and arrangements. That is somewhat important for me since I don't play the song often enough to actually retain the arrangements of all the songs. I love playing with these guys.
We get started at least 30 minutes late. Not surprising as musicians, even really good ones, aren't always the most punctual. But, the first song was a little lacking. No worries, it was the first song and it was a cold night (the band sets up next to the always open bay door). But then the second song. Before we start the song the bass player grabs a chair. I've never seen him sit down at a gig before. We start the song and I notice that the bass player drops out a couple of times. As I said earlier this bass player is very good and in the past has always been a rock. The rest of the set is pretty much more of the same. The bass player drops out and misses changes. Things are not going well. Soloing over blues changes isn't that difficult but when the bass player doesn't go to the four at the right time or completely misses the turn around, the guitar solos really sounds bad. I don't need help sounding bad. I do that just fine on my own.
Come to find out, the bass player has only had about 1 hour of sleep in the past 24 hours. Not sure exactly why but was likely due to the day job. This wasn't a "chemical" issue just an utter exhaustion issue. Of course as the night goes on it only gets worse. So he's actually falling asleep while playing. Missed changes, turnarounds, and even the occasional wrong song note progression. Really threw me off my game and my game is only mostly adequate to begin with. To add to it, I'm playing my Korina McCarty with the P90's which I haven't played in a while. I've been playing my Tele's and the 594 almost exclusively lately. For the life of me I couldn't quickly find the toggle switch to swap pickups while playing. My hand either wanted to go to the Tele position or the 594 position. I like to change pickups a fair amount while playing but doing so was a bumbling affair.
The night ended early after a shortened second set and a mostly aborted third set. So now I know what it's like to be on stage with someone in no condition to be playing. Not fun. Also, I guess I need to practice more with the McCarty to keep up the muscle memory of where the toggle switch is located.
The next time I get a call to fill in with this band, I will of course say yes as long as have an opening. And seeing the "normal" bass player's rig I will be happy and excited to play with him. But, I may offer to buy him a Red Bull.
