So that didn't end well

. . . But the bassist has a request, he wants to bring a cameraman to film everything. On our first rehearsal. Where we don't even know any material. . .

^ This is the first red flag, and really the only one needed to cancel the meet-up.

Out here on the Möbius Strip, when a stranger wants to join a rehearsal and/or band, we ask for references. Even if they were contacted through CraigsList, we ask if we can contact old bandmates. We also tell them to contact our old bandmates. We’ve found some good players, but also avoided those who are unreliable, opinionated, controlling, angry, etc.
 
^ This is the first red flag, and really the only one needed to cancel the meet-up.

Out here on the Möbius Strip, when a stranger wants to join a rehearsal and/or band, we ask for references. Even if they were contacted through CraigsList, we ask if we can contact old bandmates. We also tell them to contact our old bandmates. We’ve found some good players, but also avoided those who are unreliable, opinionated, controlling, angry, etc.

Great approach. No references, no deal. It should weed out the undesirables right away I would think.
 
^ This is the first red flag, and really the only one needed to cancel the meet-up.

Yeah, I thought it was beyond bizarre that he wanted a camera guy there, and I could not believe that the guitarist agreed to this. Since it was essentially two against one, I acquiesced. But then I had a thought. I don't know of any cameramen who work for free, so I took all the money out of my wallet before the rehearsal. And it was a good thing I did, because he was asking $20 from everyone. Oops, sorry no cash on me!

So glad I'm not involved with them anymore.
 
...he was asking $20 from everyone. Oops, sorry no cash on me!

So glad I'm not involved with them anymore.

Wow. Now that’s CLASSY. A panhandling cameraman at your rehearsal? I can’t even begin to imagine how all that didn’t end up with a record deal and decades of wonderful music-making.
 
Wow. Now that’s CLASSY. A panhandling cameraman at your rehearsal? I can’t even begin to imagine how all that didn’t end up with a record deal and decades of wonderful music-making.

Don't forget, that was our FIRST rehearsal. No material, just endless "jamming" on riffs. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine jamming and making stuff up on the fly, I just don't want to pay someone $20 to film it and then have it plastered all over social media.

Though in retrospect, I kinda wish the cameraman was there for the meltdown at our final rehearsal. THAT I would have gladly paid $20 for!
 
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Don't forget, that was our FIRST rehearsal. No material, just endless "jamming" on riffs. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine jamming and making stuff up on the fly, I just don't to pay someone $20 to film it and then have it plastered all over social media.

Though in retrospect, I kinda wish the cameraman was there for the meltdown at our final rehearsal. THAT I would have gladly paid $20 for!

I realize that it takes all kinds to make a world, and that we’re all at different levels of self-awareness and spiritual growth. But...tripping on your stands and then getting all mad at you because of it? Wow. Wow.

On a related note, the bass player that my wife and two other people recommended completely flaked on the first two rehearsals for a show this past week, then threw a fit on Facebook and quit the gig. LOL
 
I realize that it takes all kinds to make a world, and that we’re all at different levels of self-awareness and spiritual growth. But...tripping on your stands and then getting all mad at you because of it? Wow. Wow.

On a related note, the bass player that my wife and two other people recommended completely flaked on the first two rehearsals for a show this past week, then threw a fit on Facebook and quit the gig. LOL

You got 3 months of drama knocked out in one week.
 
Let's face it, 99.9999% of all musicians are unreliable flakes. There's no secret to a successful career in music. Problem is that it takes work, commitment, dedication and passion, which are all in short supply.
 
People are crazy, musicians are even worse and crappy musicians live on another planet.
 
Wow, this is a seriously disturbing and scary thread. I think the old adage applies, "Don't invite vampires into your home".

I think I'm done hosting jams in my dinky little studio. The thought of something like this happening is just too risky.

Speaking of musicians gone bad, I recently had a heated fallout with a bassist who started racially abusing me and told me at one point that he'd stab me.

Seriously, all kinds of crazies out there. If you think about the basic rule for Craigslist, i.e. always deal in a public and safe place, that should probably apply to jamming buddies you meet on sites like that as well.
 
I think he had smoked or sniffed something nasty. Rehearsing in the early morning should solve that problem.
 
What a nut job! So sorry to hear you had to suffer such an unpleasant experience. Music is all about accommodation, empathy, respect, & fun. Absolutely, aggression should be met with zero tolerance & instant rejection.
 
What a nut job! So sorry to hear you had to suffer such an unpleasant experience. Music is all about accommodation, empathy, respect, & fun. Absolutely, aggression should be met with zero tolerance & instant rejection.

It was really only an unpleasant experience at the very end. Up until then, it was just a weird experience. But he got all aggressive for no reason, and it came out of nowhere. If I had started kicking his bass amp all around like I was going to knock it over, you can bet he'd have stopped playing and would have asked me what the hell I was doing.

Why he felt the need to respond by threatening me is just incomprehensible. The weird thing is, he sort of said it matter-of-factly, instead of shouting it at me. That's why I had to ask him what he said, because he kind of said it under his breath. But then he repeated his threat. And that's just not gonna fly with me.
 
I think the thing that would annoy me the most is the playing in the wrong key and not being aware of it. One of my pet hates. If that happens, I just stop. Inexcusable.
 
The whole experience is strange enough that I'd almost wonder if the whole thing was part of some kind of scam to scope out your studio to come back later and burglarize it. That's probably a stretch and I doubt it's the case, but the video thing and then almost manufacturing a reason to threaten you is all pretty strange. Then again, these are musicians we're talking about, so...
 
The whole experience is strange enough that I'd almost wonder if the whole thing was part of some kind of scam to scope out your studio to come back later and burglarize it. That's probably a stretch and I doubt it's the case, but the video thing and then almost manufacturing a reason to threaten you is all pretty strange. Then again, these are musicians we're talking about, so...

Yes, it was a weird situation, but I'm certain it was not a scam from the start. Just a couple of overly enthusiastic (and narcissistic) players. And apparently one very loose screw.
 
I think the thing that would annoy me the most is the playing in the wrong key and not being aware of it. One of my pet hates. If that happens, I just stop. Inexcusable.

I've never been in a situation where two players were in different keys and couldn't tell there was an issue within a few bars of playing. That sounds horrible. Even at an open jam that's never happened to me!

I've had a few cases where someone continued to play a guitar or whatever that wasn't quite in tune with the rest of the instruments. That grates on me pretty quick and I've stopped a few times to call for tuning to each other.
 
Let's face it, 99.9999% of all musicians are unreliable flakes. There's no secret to a successful career in music. Problem is that it takes work, commitment, dedication and passion, which are all in short supply.
FYI, that's 1 in every 100,000. I know we're bad but are we THAT bad!? LOL!

I'm a former active duty military musician, and a current National Guard musician, so I'd like to think that the Army instilled some responsibility in my approach to music, but yeah, I agree - musicians by and large are flakes.

Several years back my son, a guitar player, was jamming with some guys, and the one guy didn't really have much in the way of decent gear, so my son graciously would take extra gear for this guy to jam with.

One day he's packing up getting ready to go, and he's packing double everything, and taking the time to make sure he's got everything. He gets to the location of the jam and they are getting set up, and the other guy was like, "hey - do you have a pick I can use?" My son about came un-effing-glued! This jackwagon couldn't even bring his own PICK!?!? LOLOL!

It was the last time he jammed with him.

To the OP, I agree with everyone who said that you saved yourself a big headache and that you're better off without him there.
 
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