Wasted my time....

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....
 
Yea, it does seem that if it weren't for your bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck at all, lol.

Dennis
 
First and biggest mistake of all, you answered an add on Craigslist. It took me three times of going through similar scenarios to NEVER again answer an add from Craigslist. Thank god I am in a steady great band with great drama free musicians and I do not have to go through the search process right now. Good luck, I sincerely feel your pain..
 
Once you set yourself a standard that you work to you need to stick to it at all costs, even when you're presented with a situation where you're with people who have scant regard as to how to conduct themselves in a decent and professional manner.

From what you've said; you prepared well, you turned up, had the patience to put up with the ever increasing issues, played well and left in a polite, dignified manner. Although it seems like a waste of time, you could look at it as a test of your personal professionalism and hey! you passed it with flying colours!

Hope you're well,

Kev
 
I've had some really good experiences through CL. I've also met a few goof balls too, but even like today, I'm gonna jam with 2 quality players I met through CL. One guy I've known for about 10 years, and the other I just met this year. I'd say the positives far outweigh the negative experiences. You learn how to screen out the ones you probably wouldn't click with over the e-mails and phone calls.

I sure wouldn't contact those guys again.
 
You won't want to miss this movie event. Gather the kids, get yourself some popcorn and prepare for the most laugh filled and zany journey of your life.

Now playing in full Cinemascope glory...

The Misadventures of Rouge_Drummer..

Travel with us to the heart of Texas as we join rouge for countless bad auditions and feel his pain as he desperately tries to find some decent musicians to jam with. With a hilarious cast of deluded, and seriously crappy musicians, who have more issues than Life magazine....

With guest appearances Billy, Frank and Dusty, just so they can tweak his nose.
 
sorry to hear such a nightmare story...maybe he was being honest......but just didn't finish the sentence...the "college" he works at is " clown college" that's the only explanation for this guys lack of professionalism.
 
That sucks Rogue_Drummer. Remember that you can't score unless you take the shot so chalk it up to experience and keep at it. Hang in there!
 
Jeez Rogue-Drummer....you do have the worst luck. I sure hope it gets better for you. I've had my share of experiences with the CL try outs. But man, none have been like the one's you described. Better luck on the next one's!
 
I just read through all the prior threads of your ongoing journey to find a band/home.

Stick with it. Most of your previous auditions were with people whose desire and standard aren't where yours is, but some of what's happened is typical.

It might make a good reality TV show you know. Larry might be on to something.
 
You won't want to miss this movie event. Gather the kids, get yourself some popcorn and prepare for the most laugh filled and zany journey of your life.

Now playing in full Cinemascope glory...

The Misadventures of Rouge_Drummer..

Travel with us to the heart of Texas as we join rouge for countless bad auditions and feel his pain as he desperately tries to find some decent musicians to jam with. With a hilarious cast of deluded, and seriously crappy musicians, who have more issues than Life magazine....

With guest appearances Billy, Frank and Dusty, just so they can tweak his nose.

I'd buy a ticket! (no butter on the popcorn please...)
 
You won't want to miss this movie event. Gather the kids, get yourself some popcorn and prepare for the most laugh filled and zany journey of your life.

Now playing in full Cinemascope glory...

The Misadventures of Rouge_Drummer..

Travel with us to the heart of Texas as we join rouge for countless bad auditions and feel his pain as he desperately tries to find some decent musicians to jam with. With a hilarious cast of deluded, and seriously crappy musicians, who have more issues than Life magazine....

With guest appearances Billy, Frank and Dusty, just so they can tweak his nose.


ROFLMAO! Great one, LarryAce! Too funny!
 
This is why I said in prior thread, you need to have a web presence, and check out these people on their web presence BEFORE going to meet them. It would save a lot of headaches.

Things like:

He claims to have played all these songs at "killer" gigs, but he can't remember them now. Fifth red flag.

Phil continues to brag about all the places he's played and all these musicians he knows.

Things like this would be on his website/myspace/facebook/whatever if he had one. So you'd have a chance to check it out and see what he's really about before hand. If he says he doesn't have this, it's sign he's not that serious. As he didn't, it showed he wasn't.
 
This is why I said in prior thread, you need to have a web presence, and check out these people on their web presence BEFORE going to meet them. It would save a lot of headaches.


I understand what you're saying DED and agree. Unfortunately not every serious musician has a web presence rignt now, at least around where I live, especially in this economy. In a perfect world, yes. FB and MySpace are good, and that's a good place to start. (I shoiuld have asked.) It's just getting it done and/or being able to afford and maintain your own .com site that can be a pain. But it's a musician's online business card and that is important.

Not making excuses here - my fault for not checking out his - their - bios or listening to anything they have recrorded. My problem that's dogged me for a while is trying to find the time to get a site up and running or getting decent recordings of myself playing, expecially for us "weekend warrior" types.

But I agree 100%.
 
Similar has happened to me a few times, best thing to do is meet up a couple of weeks after initial contact but speak to them every couple of days to really understand where they are coming from, what they want and if you think it's worth it.
 
I laughed out loud at this story, but I'm not laughing at you - just laughing because I can relate. You tell your experiences in such great storybording fashion. Maybe you should write a book of your experiences, and make money to compensate for all the time you've wasted with these people!

So why did you give up counting the red flags? ;)
 
I laughed out loud at this story, but I'm not laughing at you - just laughing because I can relate. You tell your experiences in such great storybording fashion. Maybe you should write a book of your experiences, and make money to compensate for all the time you've wasted with these people! )

I agree, it may have been a bad experience as a musician but it does make for a good story with some interesting characters!
 
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