Walk The Talk

[WishICouldPlay]

So, this is going to be a "I hate this guy" thread. That's OK. Just relating my reality.

Long weekend. Go down to my local haunt. Good band, really young. Somehow me and the lead guitarist and singer got into it. Not claiming innocence, but it takes two (or more) to tango.

Anyway, it ended in a "put up or shut up" moment ... well I "put up", in spades. Job done.

Sometimes these young pups need to be taught a lesson in humility.
+1 to us old fcukers!!!!

 

[Albrecht Smuten]

The other day, I took out half of a retirement home. Most of them were in wheelchairs, but I was outnumbered nonetheless and still showed 'em a good fight.

+1 to us young suckers!!!!!

 

[WishICouldPlay]

The other day, I took out half of a retirement home. Most of them were in wheelchairs, but I was outnumbered nonetheless and still showed 'em a good fight.

+1 to us young suckers!!!!!

yeah, I hear you.
that old saw ... "can't put a old head on young shoulders", is, unfortunately true.
when I was 25, 30 I could have never imagined being this old.
but don't worry, your time will come and you will feel pretty much the way I do and not be so flippant about it.

regardless, I kicked their ****in' ass. even though I may be old, some of us can still play and play really, really well.
i'm never going to pretend that I can't.

 

[Albrecht Smuten]

yeah, I hear you.
that old saw ... "can't put a old head on young shoulders", is, unfortunately true.
when I was 25, 30 I could have never imagined being this old.
but don't worry, your time will come and you will feel pretty much the way I do and not be so flippant about it.

regardless, I kicked their ass. even though I may be old, some of us can still play and play really, really well.
i'm never going to pretend that I can't.

I don't fight because I'm a coward, so I have to avoid tense situations. To be frank, I have to avoid basically everyone who knows me. But here's a story for you.

My bass player's got into a fight and though he won, he bruised his index finger (from all the face punching) so badly he couldn't come to neither rehearsal or recording for two weeks. I'm terrified of hurting my hands or teeth to the point of not being able to play or sing.

 

[WishICouldPlay]

I don't fight because I'm a coward, so I have to avoid tense situations. To be frank, I have to avoid basically everyone who knows me. But here's a story for you.

My bass player's got into a fight and though he won, he bruised his index finger (from all the face punching) so badly he couldn't come to neither rehearsal or recording for two weeks. I'm terrified of hurting my hands or teeth to the point of not being able to play or sing.

here's the thing ... guys, and it's always guys, make assumptions and judgements about other people who they don't know **** about and want to intimidate in bars. that can be really dangerous.
I've been playin' in bars for 45 years and have had to learn a few things. i'm not going to go into it but in the last year a few have made that assumption about me ... and they were 30, 35 years younger. that was not a good idea on their part.
'nuff said.

 

[justmund]

I was at a pub a few weeks back, there was a bar fight, and a guy ended up dead. No knives, no guns, just brutality. 2 guys will now go to prison for a long time.

Food for thought.

 

[WishICouldPlay]

I was at a pub a few weeks back, there was a bar fight, and a guy ended up dead. No knives, no guns, just brutality. 2 guys will now go to prison for a long time.

Food for thought.

yes, it is a very legitimate concern. I don't seek confrontation out, it just seems to find me.
I'm going to be 60 in November, I could not go to the pubs that I like, but damn, no-one is going to dictate my life like that.
... thx to my mom, I look a little younger than I am, but honestly, any 25 year old guy that wants to fight me ... it's a fcukin' disgrace. would you fight your dad, your uncle? and it happens all the time.

anywho, I have a natural affinity for pissin' people off, not intentional, but definitely there ... which is weird, I'm actually a good guy. but, I won't back down, ever. there will be a time in the next 5 years that I will have to, but it isn't now.

 

[justmund]

I wouldn't fight anyone unless they were endangering my family, my friends or myself, and it was the very last option.

I recently made friends with a guy who, as he puts it "just has a face dudes want to punch". He doesn't go looking for trouble but somehow trouble finds him. Maybe you're both unlucky like that.

 

[JustRob]

This always cracked me up.

Honestly though, I wish everyone would just quit picking fights with you. :box: What's wrong with these people?

 

[Albrecht Smuten]

Honestly though, I wish everyone would just quit picking fights with you. :box: What's wrong with these people?

You rock, Rob. This is the ugly conclusion I try not to come to every time I wonder why all my clients are a$$holes...

 

[helmi]

alcohol, bars, and fights.( i'm suprised there wasn't a female involved somewhere) imagine that. who would of ever thought. after spending half my life in a bar, i haven't had a drink in 14 1/2 years, and dont miss the drunken douche bag, a-holes who think their 10 feet tall and bulletproof when they have a little alcohol in them AT ALL! ( especially now with a CCP, it would be just WAY too easy)

 

[JustRob]

You rock, Rob. This is the ugly conclusion I try not to come to every time I wonder why all my clients are a$$holes...

Thanks Al. While it may seem ugly, it's really empowering (Damn I hate myself for using that term!). But the reality is you are the only person you can change.

Your clients may well be @ssholes, You can't change that, but you can work on how much you let it bother you.

 

[JustRob]

I recently made friends with a guy who, as he puts it "just has a face dudes want to punch".

You know Justin Bieber? :laugh:

 

[gush]

Did you ever stop to think about how stupid you will feel when a fight youre involved in breaks some poor bastards guitar in half? Got your checkbook ready? Just curious.

 

[WishICouldPlay]

Not sure how this turned into an UFC thread. There was nothing in my original post that referred to fighting.
To be clear, I didn't fight anyone. I just got up and played a couple of songs.

I remember what its like to be in your twenties, in a band, full of P&V.
It's to long and cumbersome to explain where things went sideways, all I can say is that I didn't instigate anything. They approached me and were rather drunk. They didn't believe that I could play/sing, invited me up and I was able to show that I can.
A little lesson in the blues never hurt anyone.

I don't want to fight anyone, I'm not in fights every week, in fact I go out of my way to avoid them.

Forums are essentially email without the "send" button. As such they have all the same problems as email in providing context and the nuances of human communication and interaction.
Anyway, there wasn't any fight, it's all good.

cheers!

 

[rabidhamster]

lol Oh whew I thought you were talking about kicking the guitar player and singers ass at the same time and I was going to say pics or it didn't happen. Sound like pretty laid back dudes to let you on stage with them...

 

[JustRob]

My apologies, I misunderstood also. Glad you got to show off your chops and all remain friends.

 

[László]

I'm a professional musician. A lot of my friends are also professional musicians who play on recordings, play in bands, touring shows, symphony orchestras, teach at the college level, etc.

All of us can play our primary instruments pretty well, I think.

Funny, but I don't know any pros who really believe that music is a competition.

Maybe I hang out with the wrong pros...

 

[swede71]

Sobriety helps

 

[WishICouldPlay]

My apologies, I misunderstood also. Glad you got to show off your chops and all remain friends.

Not a problem. I can learn a few lessons also, one being that I should refrain from posting this stuff.
Like I mentioned, context is very hard to relay via posts.
Last word ... summary of what happened ...

I was sitting at the bar, having a beer, minding my own business, chatting with a small group of people. I hadn't even been listening to the band.
Someone at the pub mentioned to the guitar player that I was a decent guitarist. I don't know why this offended him so much.
A few minutes before the third set starts, he and the singer approach me, totally pissed, extremely belligerent.
Guitar guy says something to the effect of "so I hear you think you're pretty hot on the guitar". I've never seen this guy before, never talked to him. Conversation devolved from there.
So it ends with me telling them that I could care less what they thought and to just leave me alone.
Couple more things and they say "why don't you come up and show us", so I did.
Played a couple of songs and went and resumed my conversation at the bar.

I don't know why these two guys were so obnoxious ... well, maybe I do. They were young (early twenties), pissed and full of themselves. I was chatting with a couple of attractive women who weren't paying any attention to them ... male hormones rage ... begs a line from a fine song via the Buckster ... "you don't know me, but you don't like me".

I'm all for supporting musicians in any situation, but that's a two-way street. I don't support fighting or brawls, but I do support Canadian Bacon and Canadian Beaver :laugh: