This blog is meant to be honest. So here's how I honestly feel:
PISSED OFF.
What is it with bands that cancel gigs a few days before they are due to play? Gigs that have been booked for months. Usually, they give a good reason. Usually. Though there was the time a singer told me at the eleventh hour that his band couldn't do the gig because his lead guitarist had just informed him that he was going to see Jeff Beck play instead.
Usually, a good reason, as I said. It's whether you believe it or not. And whether you feel the band has made enough of an effort to avoid last-minute cancellation, and ultimately letting you down. Remember, total cancellation can be avoided by an acoustic performance, for instance, or by turning up and playing without the Jeff Beck fan, the injured or the unwell.
When you pick up the phone to your band contact five days before the gig to check that everything is alright, and the voice on the end of the line answers, in a pleasantly surprised tone, "Oh, hi, I was gonna ring you today actually...", you can't help feeling that the gig has never been terrifically high on their give-a-shit list.
The primary reason for this gig cancellation is an injury incured by the band's bass player. Secondary to this, and as if to preempt any suggestion by me of a solo appearance by the physically intact singer/guitarist to salvage the gig, comes details of how the singer/guitarist is currently in the midst of an overwhelming personal and domestic situation.
An offer is made of the contact details of a friend's band that may be able to fill the headline slot. "Okay", I say, "I'll work on finding a replacement today and get back to you if I can't get one myself". No thanks, though, is what I think. Only if I'm desperate. And I ain't. I got my own musician friends and bands, and I can rely on them, thank you very much. I only wish I could have said that on the phone.
Karma. As Colin Gillman will tell you, is a powerful thing.
This is the type of band that it is not worth dealing with. The sort of band that makes me wonder why I bother.
In return for the booking, I asked them to sign up to the Bands, Fans & Industry site. Nothing.
The gig wasn't even on their MySpace. Still, that'll save them calling round all their friends to tell them not to bother turning up.
Unfortunately, with hindsight it's too easy to see the clues.
4 comments:
Sounds ever so familiar! But they'll be complaining that you haven't given them any gigs next month tho!
Had one email me asking if I had any gigs going when I'd booked them 2 months previously to play that week and spent the past month doing posters, flyers, press releases, etc! I was of course privileged when the guy said they were available for that week's gig after he went away and asked the other band members, and then asked me if I'd be able to do some posters and 'stuff' for it. Grrr, etc... :)
You know I don't get it. I'd love to be in a band but have found it highly difficult to get something together. However if I did I'd hope that it'd be on a better basis than that - if you have a booking you turn up... simple!
So sorry this happened. Life presents itself with the odd disappointment every now and then. But who am I to speak? I shall get around to updating some sites regarding "that gig" asap. Oops!
I'm a solo artist and have no one else to rely on. When I get sick or have throat problems and have to cancel a gig it really gets me down. The worst part is feeling you've let the venue down and even though it's a genuine reason, you still feel like everybody thinks youre blagging it. Sometimes it's better to cancel than put in a terrible performance but cancelling just to watch another band perform is well out of order.
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