Drunks at the Bar & Grill

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 16 Mar 2008 10:26 am

I took my 12 string Sho Bud out for the first time last night. I was nervous because I just don't know the guitar well enough yet in terms of how well it travels, hold its tuning etc.

A typical NYC 4 band line-up, I got there good and early and set up up the guitar in its case, legs up. There is an area, front of house, for band gear but this St. Pat's weekend, the bar was simply jammed. You just couldn't move, it was so packed, spilling over into this designated area.

I stayed near the guitar but at one point I looked over and there was this kid who looked like freakin Travis Bickle talking with his buddies while idly fondling the A pedal sticking up in the air, pushing it up, down, sideways. I ran over "YO YO YO!!!!" over the too-loud music---the guy was pickled. I said "PLEASE!! LEAVE THAT ALONE!!! PLEASE???!!!" It's not that I'm a pussy---it just wouldn't be good form to get into it with this guy in such a crowded bar if I could just get his attention and get him the hell away from my gear. The tone of voice of his girlfriend----nervous, scared and pleading with him confirmed the bad feeling I had about him---he stared at the wall and would not meet my eyes. A total freak. I said "OK?" "OK?" and he sort of grunted and that was it.

Time to hit the stage, I carried the guitar through a zillion people, banged a lot of bodies, stood the guitar up and found the A pedal rod severely bent. I was able to straighten it out pretty well but I wasn't in best frame of mind. Man, I don't like drunks. Especially drunk kids who don't know how to deal with it. Only thing worse than this kid is the frat boys.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 16 Mar 2008 10:54 am

Jon I agree with you. My formerly pristine 3 neck stringmaster now has a gouge in it, courtesy of a drunken bar patron.

Forum rules prohibit my from using the kind of language that best describes how I feel about drunks in general, and this guy in particular.

Papa Joe Pollick · Post by **Papa Joe Pollick** » 16 Mar 2008 11:08 am

Been there,done that,many,many times.Smartest move I've ever made was to put the slop chutes on my off limits list!!!PJ

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 16 Mar 2008 11:22 am

Yeah. I'm not at all moralistic about drinking (and I do drink although driving to & from gigs keeps me very seriously regulated as to intake) and I do accept that hanging with drunk and happy people (sweet in its own way) and drunk and stupid people (too often the case) goes with the territory and I'm not anywhere near to off-limiting it. I got plenty accustomed to it in my Hank's weekly residency and had cracked out folks dance-staggering into mike stands that I caught inches away from my lacquer Carter causing me to scream, red-faced at the crack-ho's until they left the bar, convinced that I was more bent than they were.
But there was something about this guy not knowing that he had no business touching my guitar, let alone mangling it. My bad for not keeping a closer eye on it & him but still.....

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 16 Mar 2008 11:25 am

In-town gigs here are like this a lot, and St. Patrick's Day is especially ugly most of the time. But we also have big Penn State football games, various celebrations, arts festivals, and so on, and things get insane a lot. The gigs pay well, but - well, you earn your money. Did lots of these kind of gigs for years. I'll do 'em occasionally now, but mostly I play other kinds of venues. It just isn't worth the annoyance, to me. I'll do them occasionally if the band is really hell bent for leather on one, but I'd just as soon skip it.

We played "State Patrick's Day" a couple of weeks ago - a new State College tradition caused by Penn State setting up spring break over the week that included March 17 last year. So now we have TWO celebrations, I'm thrilled. But I was shocked that we had a really nice gig - nice large crowd of cool people, younger students and not so young locals both. That was pretty much a first for me - St. Patrick's Day gigs are usually painful.

On my equipment - I am ferociously protective. They're gonna get a 200 lb 6'4" guy in their face if they start messin' around with my equipment. That ain't good enough if the interloper happens to be a 300 lb PSU linebacker or something, but usually those guys are cool. It's the "St. Patrick's Day Amateurs" I have a problem with.

Brad Malone · Post by **Brad Malone** » 16 Mar 2008 11:33 am

Hey Jon, Where is the chicken wire?..you need some separation between the band and the drunks.

David LeBlanc · Post by **David LeBlanc** » 16 Mar 2008 11:37 am

I hear you Jon. I`m not a steel player yet(a 2 year newbee), but I`m in a duo that plays the local club scene and a couple of years ago while we were on break a drunk lifted up the monitor and knocked the mic stand over and it came crashing on my guild guitar

You can still see the print of the mic on the front of my guitar.Talk about "Road Rash"

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 16 Mar 2008 11:45 am

Brad Malone wrote:Hey Jon, Where is the chicken wire?..you need some separation between the band and the drunks.

Yeah---tell me about it.
But one the urban realities in NYC---I have no experience gigging in other cities so I don't know how they compare----is that most venues were never designed as music places. Loading in can be a total drag, setting up when you are one of four or five bands playing a single 45 minute set, getting off & getting on in 15, tripping over the last or the next band, it's pretty much like the musicians are necessary nuisances to be accepted by management as long as they don't disturb the paying (drink buying) customers.
There are absolutely exceptions to this model but this is unfortunately all too typical.
The few times I've played outside the city where I drove up to a free-standing building, parked in back and loaded in thru the back door felt positively decadent, like I died and went to musician heaven.
So this means that you are often storing your gear in a vulnerable area, made all the more dicey when it is a mad-house like last night.

Jonathan Cullifer · Post by **Jonathan Cullifer** » 16 Mar 2008 11:54 am

I don't like being a jerk, but I have walked out of places before because the venue was shady (I couldn't get my stuff to the stage, and when I did, there was no time and no place to set up). I do my best to avoid places like that.

Jim Walker · Post by **Jim Walker** » 16 Mar 2008 11:57 am

Our St. Patties gig wasn't wall to wall but they were quite intoxicated and with only a 1 foot rise for a stage it was inevitable that I would get socked in the mouth with a microphone as I have many times before. It's almost like it happens in slow motion, you see the spinning girl coming at you but in the middle of harmony it's hard to back away, then BAM... Bloody lip.

JW

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 16 Mar 2008 12:08 pm

at a multi band function at a large moose lodge one day, i walked into the hallway where my zum was set up with cover on it, to find a girl sitting crosslegged right on top...and she was no skinny paris hilton...if you know what i mean.

amazingly...no damage

the lodge burned down shortly after that....(not me)

richard burton · Post by **richard burton** » 16 Mar 2008 12:24 pm

I use a cheapo steel on my (few and far between) gigs, as my ZB and Emmons PP are not easy to replace.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 16 Mar 2008 12:39 pm

I think that some of the disrespect that people have for our instruments comes from the word "play." Play is what children do with toys. We WORK.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 16 Mar 2008 12:42 pm

i rarely play at home....i would want a good steel at the gig......

Jim Walker · Post by **Jim Walker** » 16 Mar 2008 12:43 pm

That's right Mike.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 16 Mar 2008 1:01 pm

chris ivey wrote:at a multi band function at a large moose lodge one day, i walked into the hallway where my zum was set up with cover on it, to find a girl sitting crosslegged right on top...and she was no skinny paris hilton...if you know what i mean.

amazingly...no damage

Chris, if you didn't have to retune your guitar after that, I want one.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 16 Mar 2008 1:33 pm

i walked into the hallway where my zum was set up with cover on it, to find a girl sitting crosslegged right on top ... amazingly...no damage ...

Chris, if you didn't have to retune your guitar after that, I want one.

Andy, I think ya' gotta get in line. There's a couple ahead of you.

Of course, it's best if there's a good, protected stage area with its own load-in area. Otherwise, chicken wire, rope separators, a line of monitors, and so on, can help some. But if you have a sardine-can room with no stage and 3-5 bands going on and off stage from the crowd area all night, there's no good way to deal with this. A lot of people I know bring along a gorilla or two - or work with the club bouncers - to help them look after their equipment.

These kinds of gigs are a lot easier to do on guitar. A Telecaster is portable and doubles as a defensive weapon if it comes down to it. Plus guitar players can often use each others' amp rigs. On a real crazy gig, I sometimes just use my Pod into someone else's amp - set as clean as I can get it - and/or the board.

I'm glad I don't do these kind of gigs much anymore. I have often wondered how things got so crazy. I guess in NYC, and a lot of other places, there are an awful lotta bands out there that want to get heard.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 16 Mar 2008 3:03 pm

Jon, what you need is this guy along on your gigs.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 16 Mar 2008 3:04 pm

Yeah, Mike - that's what I'm talkin' about.

Jeff Hyman · Post by **Jeff Hyman** » 16 Mar 2008 4:05 pm

Man this brings back memories. About 20 years ago I was playing a gig at the Halifax Hotel in Halifax PA. What a freakin' blast this place was! ... until one night a drunk fell toward my steel. He had a drink in his hand too. I stood in front of my PSG still someone, anyone, moved that drunk far away from my gear. I told him if he got any closer he and I were going to dance. I would have no problem getting as physical as necessary to protect my gear.

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 16 Mar 2008 5:03 pm

No St. Patty's gigs this year, played Fado's in Chicago years past in Celtic bands and they were always the most insane gigs.

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 16 Mar 2008 11:20 pm

I had no trouble with drunks messing with the steel at a gig but one time I parked in front of a club and unloaded my gear and I didn't notice that the drummer left the window open on passenger side of the van. Some drunk went out front and stuck his head in and threw up on the seat. No problem it was on the drummers side but after listening to his #$&*%!@ for 50 miles and the smell I wish the drunk had broken my Steel instead.

Jani Peter Sandvik · Post by **Jani Peter Sandvik** » 17 Mar 2008 12:54 am

Like my grandpa use to say to me when i was a kid that wine and liqour are for wise men.... Are there any wise men then ?? Havent seen many.

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 17 Mar 2008 1:28 am

Whenever I am out for a gig, I am always closely watching my equipment. I don't like anybody touching the instrument w/o my OK. Look - yes, touch -no. Another problems are afternoon family fairs and picknicks, with lots of small kids around the stage. The last thing I need is a little one breaking a string , hurting himself/herself and all of a sudden the parents will sue me for a couple of millions...

Maybe I should put a big sign listing all the riks right next to my steel, just to be covered.

Kind Regards, Walter

Ric Epperle · Post by **Ric Epperle** » 17 Mar 2008 2:52 am

Hey Shef, where do I get one of those dudes??

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Drunks at the Bar & Grill

Drunks at the Bar & Grill

Chicken wire works but does not look good.

Re: Chicken wire works but does not look good.