Argh!! I've had enough of this!!

Well I've just got home from a gig tonight which was lets say in a very dodgy part of town!! First spot went fairly well, we finished off with an acoustic spot with just me and the singer which went down a storm.
Then the 2nd spot kicked of with a fight and a number of people having to be ejected!! Ugh!
Then the band just starts to fall apart!!! We have been having problems with the drummer for sometime - this is where the sticky situation starts!! The drummer is our front mans Dad, the front man is great - works the crowd, great vocalist etc. The drummer on the other hand is shocking!!! Always off time, his fills sound like falling downstairs with a load of pots and pans and after half an hour he is exhausted!!

But the rest of the band put up with him! My patience is starting to wear thin with him now! I mean I get on great with the the rest of the band and I don't really want to leave the rest of the guys, but I just can't hack it anymore! He is not a guy that takes criticism, we have tried being diplomatic but he just doesn't get it.

And to top off his lack of drumming skills, he seems to have absolutely no spacial awareness!! We played a cramped stage tonight and I think he knocked over or very nearly knocked over every stand in sight, stood on guitar cables, almost knocked over the bass players and my guitars! Geesh!!

Sorry about the rant folks but I just had to get this frustration out.

I think I will have to start looking for a new band, this can't go on!

I hear you, Jones.

Sounds rough. You know spatial awareness is not something a drummer should lack. Nepotism is wonderful when it works in your favor, awful when it doesn't.:lol:

Sounds like you're about fed up....it's good to rant, and since almost everyone here has been through all this, we feel your pains.

After the last band I was in I told my wife I'd had enough, I was done.

Good luck to you in the future.

Yeah sometimes it helps to vent.

In my experience it usually just gets more frustrating so I'd start hunting another band.

In my experience it usually just gets more frustrating so I'd start hunting another band.

This

"his fills sound like falling downstairs with a load of pots and pans"

You have got to have video for us man...!! Cmon I am dying to see this!

Quit now.

It's the best advice I can offer.

Let it out brother. Let it out.
If you care deeply, talk with your front man yet one more time.
Or don't and just move on.
Bringing family into a situation just complicates things: not fair to other band members, unless that person is exceptional, better than anybody else you could get in that position.

The drummer's job is to keep time. If he can't, find another drummer or find another band. Simple as that.

"his fills sound like falling downstairs with a load of pots and pans"

You have got to have video for us man...!! Cmon I am dying to see this!

Apparently there will be some stuff on Youtube, so I will keep you posted haha!

The drummer is the pulse of the band I beleive...he of all the players has to be dead on. Grab your gear and roll if the rest of the group doesn't agree with you.

Tell me this...how do you all get gigs if he is so bad :shock: What do you use as a PR sound bite to sell your band:?::?: Do you have to audition:?:

It takes a while to find like minded/compatible people to play music with.
Happy hunting!

The drummer is the pulse of the band I beleive...he of all the players has to be dead on. Grab your gear and roll if the rest of the group doesn't agree with you.

Tell me this...how do you all get gigs if he is so bad :shock: What do you use as a PR sound bite to sell your band:?::?: Do you have to audition:?:

Yeah you're right, and this drummer ain't the pulse of the band!! I've put an ad out in the local musicans free ads this morning.

No we don't have to audition, we are mainly playing small bar/pub gigs. The other members of the band have been out and asked around for these. I'm a little too embarrassed to ask for gigs.

I stuck with it because there was a lack of bands wanting musicians in my area and I got on with the rest of the guys, so I thought at least I would get out and play live. But this is taking the biscuit now!

So many drummers, so little time.
I had a drummer once that wanted to put the drum riser in front of the band!!!!
He was good but not that good.

Paul

drummers are a special breed!

Drummers are the debil.

One of our drummers played everything like 70's rock, including mellow stuff. We had an intervention and then we shot him.

Always have the drummers audition and be hired by the bass player. And Vice Versa. If those two can't lock in together, you are doomed!

if the frontman (son) is really great and talented and focused... he knows his dad sucks. Let him do the firing. If you have gigs, keep playing... the best bands I've gotten into were when they found me playing a gig with a band that had problems and they could see in me a happier future...

it is always easier to get a gig when you have a gig. play professionally, keep doing what you have been doing, smile on stage even when things go wrong, ignore the drummer and either you'll be recruited for a new band while playing with this one or the singer will fire his dad and you won't have to deal with it.

All these guys quitting bands is silly. if you have a band with gigs, play the gigs.

if the frontman (son) is really great and talented and focused... he knows his dad sucks. Let him do the firing. If you have gigs, keep playing... the best bands I've gotten into were when they found me playing a gig with a band that had problems and they could see in me a happier future...

it is always easier to get a gig when you have a gig. play professionally, keep doing what you have been doing, smile on stage even when things go wrong, ignore the drummer and either you'll be recruited for a new band while playing with this one or the singer will fire his dad and you won't have to deal with it.

All these guys quitting bands is silly. if you have a band with gigs, play the gigs.

Voice of wisdom. Listen to the man.

Yeah you're right, and this drummer ain't the pulse of the band!! I've put an ad out in the local musicans free ads this morning.

No we don't have to audition, we are mainly playing small bar/pub gigs. The other members of the band have been out and asked around for these. I'm a little too embarrassed to ask for gigs.

I stuck with it because there was a lack of bands wanting musicians in my area and I got on with the rest of the guys, so I thought at least I would get out and play live. But this is taking the biscuit now!

I think we can all agree on this...when it's no longer fun and truly becomes a drag...it's time to move on :wink:

The band I'm in now, is my brothers band...he and I are oil and water..we've come to blows in the past..but thats behind us now. But his band was in shambles when I joined last year. I made it clear..I wasn't going to stick around if they didn't get serious about practicing. They only practiced 4hrs a Month :shock::shock: Now...this band is tight and playing out...but when they start to slack..I grab my gear and start to walk...then they fall in quickly. My belief is this...Practice is no time for BS...it's hard serious work and the payoff/fun..will be onstage when playing out and everyone is feeling comfortable with their own playing..cuz they have put in the hard work.

If you want to gaff off..then you can stay in the basement and be a basement band drinking beer and jerking eachother off :cool:


http://bobbyandthejammers.wordpress.com/?ref=spelling

With my band we went through Barry(who kept forgetting we had gigs)then Erik the Viking (who we were too scared to fire:shock:)
Phil (who used to take his mum to all the gigs, He was 58:lol:)
then Louie, who i Had to sack, as he could not understand John Bonham Fills do not work in Hickory wind )
We have had our present drummer Mike for about 5 years,( mainly because we like his moustache and he looks like Lionel Jeffries:lol:)
So yes I have been through Drummer hell as well !:rolleyes:

Being in a band where you all respect each other's playing and where you get on is one of life's great pleasures.

Being in a band where you thing someone sucks and where there are arguments is one of life's nightmares.

I love life and music too much to waste time on the latter.

I think I will have to start looking for a new band, this can't go on!

Nobody is perfect, nobody knows everything, nothing lasts forever.

Keep your options open.
Never a bad idea to test the waters.
Just don't ask for Milk until the Cookie is in your hand.

Cheers

Two friends of mine got themselves a permanent gig in a "wedding" type of band. The singer/leader of the band was a woman in her late 40's and her father played the accordion. They also ran a DJ operation on the side so they either gigged with the band or as a DJ. Anyway, one day Mark(not his real name) asked me if I could fill in at one of their gigs and I agreed. I was given the music charts and showed up to play with my guitar and amp. The singer was so "flat and pitchy" and the old man had absolutely no sense of timing. The band was also EXTREMELY LOUD!!! (I play in a classic rock band with horns and we play nowhere near this volume) I said to myself "it's only for tonight". At the end of the night, I collected my $200 and went to hand over the charts to Mark and he told me to hang onto them as we were playing again in 2 weeks time.
I thought I'd give them one more try and $200 is good coin for an evening of playing. So we had a rehearsal a few days before the gig and it was the same crap, different night. I asked Mark to join me for a coffee afterwards at which time I asked him why he is playing with such poor musicians? His response...the money is great!!! Now this is a guy who studied music in University and is a high school music teacher earning close to $90K as a department head. I told him I'm embarrassed to play with these people and that this would be my last gig.
The night of the gig was horrible, we were all going thru the PA and the singer controlled it. I asked her to turn her monitor volume down or turn us all up as she was drowning us all out and the others all agreed with me. She nodded and counted in the next song without doing anything. After telling her the same thing 3 or 4 times with no response, I put down my guitar, walked over to the mixer and turned everyones monitor volumes up. It became a volume war onstage. she'd re-adjust it once I adjusted it. There was a male singer in the band (kind of an Elvis wannabe) who was also complaining to me that he couldn't hear his harmonies, like I was in charge! It's just that nobody had the cajones to do what I did!! At the end of the night I pulled the singer aside and I told her as politely as I could that she needs to listen to and respect the others in the band. They are there to make her sound good (never in 100 years lol) but they have to be able to hear themselves. After that, I collected my $200, gave back the charts and drove home with the satisfaction of knowing that I'm not a "music whore" (in other words: I'm not going to embarrass myself to make a few bucks!!)
Heck, I'm 55 and the guys I play with are not in it for the money. We enjoy playing great music and we all respect each others opinions. So I make $100 playing at bars...Life's too short to play with crappy musicians.

PS: Lifes to short to be subjected to such a long rant too!! My apologies!!

I feel your frustration, but keep the faith - there are other, better situations out there. I just signed on with a new bunch of guys after being frustrated with the old fella's for a while. I'm really looking forward to the change. Best of luck to you!