rogue_drummer
Gold Member
Ever have one of those jam / audition / meet and greet experiences that no matter how well you try to spin it positive just seems to tick you off? That happened to me today. Check this out:
I can't remember how I got this guy's contact info. He either found me through an ad on CL I placed or I answered an ad of his looking for a drummer.
We communicated back and forth about a day or so setting up a rehearsal spot and discussing other musicians. He had several who he had coming. A friend of his played bass. His set list was mostly country - red dirt - classic rock standards. I told him I'd show up with a 4 piece.
I get there today and there were only 2 others there. The guy I communicated with - who I'll call Phil, and the bass player - I'll call him Rick.
I get my gear set up and these guys are screwing around on the phone with Phil's wife who is upset and crying. I pass it off as family issues. No biggie, right?
That was the first red flag. Soon these guys put down their mixed drinks and set up their gear. Not sure why they weren't already set up because it was Rick's house, but anyway.... Second red flag.
I'm ready to go and these 2 guys are trying to figure out what to play. I hand Phil the set list I printed out from his text message. The response I got was that set list were only ideas he was thinking about playing and he shrugged them off. Previously he made a big deal out of making sure I got HIS set list. I spent about an hour beforehand listening to these tunes on YouTube. Third red flag.
We start playing and Phil is only playing the lead part. In fact Phil is the only one playing besides me. Rick's bass rig is all messed up and he finally says "uh...there's something wrong...it don't work." So both Phil and Rick are screwing around with the rig and I'm wondering why I even came out. Fourth red flag.
So finally Phil announces the bass rig is messed up. No shit I'm thinking to myself. So Rick picks up his mixed drink again and goes and sits on his front porch. Instead of listening to us and discussing music, the dude just walks off. This guy claims he works at a local university and helps gets foreign students in.
So Phil and I continue to play. It's obvious he doesn't play very well. He claims to have played all these songs at "killer" gigs, but he can't remember them now. Fifth red flag.
And I forgot to mention, he had a PA system, but his mom used his mics announcing a rodeo and they got stolen a few days ago, so no PA or vocals. How many red flags now? Six?
Phil stops playing and wants to "put together a set list". I rattle off about 10 tunes and get the response "dude, those are awesome! Let's play those too!"
Phil takes off his guitar and goes to get Rick on the front porch to tell him the of the set list and get his input. Turns out Rick has fallen asleep!! I then get the story from Phil that they went clubbing last night and got home at like 4 am.
And I was told several days ago that Phil was a cook and was going to cook steaks and all for lunch so we could eat, bs and discuss music, set lists, etc. Turns out they got in so early this morning they overslept and never made it to the store to get anything.
So by now it's 4 pm and I'm starving. Phil continues to brag about all the places he's played and all these musicians he knows.
I'm mad as hell and just want to leave. I make an excuse to get outta there and I start to pack up. Rick's dog starts barking, which wakes him up and he stumbles in and goes off down the hall to his room to crash. Phil looks at me and says "oh man, he's really messed up. It must have been those screwdrivers he drank this morning."
So I'm walking out to my car and I hear Phil yell something about jamming next week when he'll have more people there.
Yeah, sure. Maybe in another lifetime, pal.
So I wasted about 4 hours total today dealing with these goofy dipshits.
So that's how my day went today....
I can't remember how I got this guy's contact info. He either found me through an ad on CL I placed or I answered an ad of his looking for a drummer.
We communicated back and forth about a day or so setting up a rehearsal spot and discussing other musicians. He had several who he had coming. A friend of his played bass. His set list was mostly country - red dirt - classic rock standards. I told him I'd show up with a 4 piece.
I get there today and there were only 2 others there. The guy I communicated with - who I'll call Phil, and the bass player - I'll call him Rick.
I get my gear set up and these guys are screwing around on the phone with Phil's wife who is upset and crying. I pass it off as family issues. No biggie, right?
That was the first red flag. Soon these guys put down their mixed drinks and set up their gear. Not sure why they weren't already set up because it was Rick's house, but anyway.... Second red flag.
I'm ready to go and these 2 guys are trying to figure out what to play. I hand Phil the set list I printed out from his text message. The response I got was that set list were only ideas he was thinking about playing and he shrugged them off. Previously he made a big deal out of making sure I got HIS set list. I spent about an hour beforehand listening to these tunes on YouTube. Third red flag.
We start playing and Phil is only playing the lead part. In fact Phil is the only one playing besides me. Rick's bass rig is all messed up and he finally says "uh...there's something wrong...it don't work." So both Phil and Rick are screwing around with the rig and I'm wondering why I even came out. Fourth red flag.
So finally Phil announces the bass rig is messed up. No shit I'm thinking to myself. So Rick picks up his mixed drink again and goes and sits on his front porch. Instead of listening to us and discussing music, the dude just walks off. This guy claims he works at a local university and helps gets foreign students in.
So Phil and I continue to play. It's obvious he doesn't play very well. He claims to have played all these songs at "killer" gigs, but he can't remember them now. Fifth red flag.
And I forgot to mention, he had a PA system, but his mom used his mics announcing a rodeo and they got stolen a few days ago, so no PA or vocals. How many red flags now? Six?
Phil stops playing and wants to "put together a set list". I rattle off about 10 tunes and get the response "dude, those are awesome! Let's play those too!"
Phil takes off his guitar and goes to get Rick on the front porch to tell him the of the set list and get his input. Turns out Rick has fallen asleep!! I then get the story from Phil that they went clubbing last night and got home at like 4 am.
And I was told several days ago that Phil was a cook and was going to cook steaks and all for lunch so we could eat, bs and discuss music, set lists, etc. Turns out they got in so early this morning they overslept and never made it to the store to get anything.
So by now it's 4 pm and I'm starving. Phil continues to brag about all the places he's played and all these musicians he knows.
I'm mad as hell and just want to leave. I make an excuse to get outta there and I start to pack up. Rick's dog starts barking, which wakes him up and he stumbles in and goes off down the hall to his room to crash. Phil looks at me and says "oh man, he's really messed up. It must have been those screwdrivers he drank this morning."
So I'm walking out to my car and I hear Phil yell something about jamming next week when he'll have more people there.
Yeah, sure. Maybe in another lifetime, pal.
So I wasted about 4 hours total today dealing with these goofy dipshits.
So that's how my day went today....