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This thread reminded me of something that happened over twenty years ago.
A drummer friend asked me to sub for him on a gig he was subbing on. He claimed it was a rock gig, he wasn't feeling well, talk to So-and-So when I got there and explain. I arrived at the worst dive located in the buttcrack of a podunk town. A guy at the door was all smiles, "Hey, welcome to the club." I told him I was looking for So-and-So and he said that was him. His smile faded when he realized I wasn't a patron but a drummer taking another drummer's place. As excited as I was about my first sub I immediately felt a bad vibe.
After the opening ZZ Top song the band went to straight country. I wasn't very experienced then and had very little concept of western swing. By the third song I realized it wasn't the gig my friend made it out to be. So-and-So was the bassist; he and the guitarist were only good enough to be playing to an empty house in a dump like that. Drumming for them was torture. The only people there were a few friends of mine who'd driven out to see that travesty.
A friend of mine sat-in on bass in the second set and I let So-and-So play my drums. When I sat back down So-and-So handed me the sticks and said, "I don't know how to play them. Either." I ignored him, soldiered on and finished the gig like I thought a professional should.
But it wasn't worth the money. Ever since that night I made up my mind to IMMEDIATELY WALK if insulted like that again.
I'm no longer friends with the drummer who knowingly misled me about the nature of the gig, but my western swing has improved a hundredfold. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ February 25, 2005 09:58 PM: Message edited by: Five Eight ]</font>
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Here are a few thoughts that may help:
- Play it like it's your gig. People who make themselves feel good by picking on others sense their insecurity and jump on them. If you play the gig like it's yours - which, for the moment, it is -- they won't sense that element and will behave.
- They called you. Ergo, they want you to play it like you hear it. If they don't, they shouldn't call you. In the meanwhile, you're there and this is how it'll be done. Next?
- No one respects weakness, particularly in a drummer. Loud, confidant and wrong is usually better than correct and timid. Go for the throat. And don't let go.
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Great advice Riddum...
"Go for the throat". It's always important to be confident and solid, but make sure you retain in your mind that there is a fine line between confidence and cockiness...
MP
