not the worst rockstar attitude you've ever seen at a show, but the worst rockstar attitude you've run into from a band you're sharing a bill with.

i just learned firsthand something that doesn't surprise me in the least, that if you're a big enough crybaby supporting an album on a big enough label, you can get the order of the bill changed during soundcheck with only a half hour of whining and five or ten phone calls. i even took one of the fliers from the venue, which clearly indicated he was going on first. on HIS flier!

oddly enough, this behavior somewhat fucked every single band on the bill. because we had to go on first instead of second, some people missed our entire set, while others were fortunate enough to catch the last 2 or 2-1/2 songs. because he had pulled such a rude move, none of our band nor our fans wanted to hear more than a couple notes from him. the room mostly cleared out for his set. and then everybody pretty much stayed out in the bar area for the remainder of the night, with the headliner playing to the smallest crowd.

if we had played in the support slot as it had been set up, there would have been at least another five or ten people there for the headliner, and at least some of those people were likely to enjoy the headliner's music. not to mention those people who caught the end of our set would have caught the end of his, instead of wanting nothing to do with it.

nice job, rockstar baby!

this event dethroned Jonathon Fireeater, who, between songs, greeted the audience with such rockstar banter as "fuck you. sorry."

so what's the worst bullshit you've run into from a bill-mate

While the vast majority of bands I've played with have been civil if not amicable, I remember years ago when my old band was touring, we played somewhere and the (abysmal) geriatric rockabilly band who were supposed to open INSISTED on headlining. I think I was kind of annoyed 'cause I was about 16 at the time but the joke was on them: powercut in the middle of their second song which could NOT be fixed. Ha!

I think TMH's post is funny because it illustrates a really retarded misconception, i.e. that playing second rather than first or third rather than second really makes a shit of difference, as if a reasonably intelligent audience member would share the delusion that because a band is not opening, they consequently must be a better band. Also, the sheer ego-trip of it. Ugh.

In the worst example of "friend rock" that my band has dealt with, a band that was scheduled to play after ours, the singer of which was friends with the venue's booker, and which singer "wanted to go to a gallery opening that night after the set", got the booker to announce over the PA that she was cutting our set four songs short. She made this announcement when we had five songs left in our set. (Note: we got our revenge by playing an "extened" version of our last song, including 15 minutes of feedback at the end.)

I'll spare the tiresome story (for once), because I know I've posted it here, but it was easily when my band opened for the Secret Machines a couple of years ago. They were really obnoxious/pompous, and their music was/is crap. The show was in the basement of a coffee shop, and there were maybe 20 people there.

I wonder if they've been dropped by whatever major they're on.

Never really played with bands that could even begin to pretend they were rock stars. But have played with a few bands who wouldn't let me us their guitar amp. Drums? Fine. Bass amp? Fine. Guitar amp? Ooh, sorry, I've got it set just how I like it.

The rule for small pub gigs is that the main band brings the equipment. Any band that opens for us, the first thing I do is approach the guitarist and ask if he wants to use my amp, even if he has his own.

When you're in the corner of a dirty little bar you dont need 2 drumkits and 5 amps on the "stage".

Rotten Tanx wrote: Ooh, sorry, I've got it set just how I like it.

It's that whole 'tone' thing; guitarists are such insane gear-bores that they become convinced that they not only bring their writing and playing to the band, but also their 'tone'.

To a guitarist, asking whether you can borrow his amp is akin to asking whether you can borrow is riffs or his fingers.

Guitarists are the pits.

I am a guitarist.

But so am I and if someone changes my settings, I change them back!

Anyone thats obssessed with their "perfect" tone should know the settings off by heart anyway.

Rotten Tanx wrote:But so am I and if someone changes my settings, I change them back!

Anyone thats obssessed with their "perfect" tone should know the settings off by heart anyway.

Dude; it's how you set the settings.

It's the magic in your pot-twiddling fingers!

You and I could set the setting exactly the same, but it would sound a world apart!!

Seriously.

A world apart!

Embrace the mojo!

Rotten Tanx wrote:
When you're in the corner of a dirty little bar you dont need 2 drumkits and 5 amps on the "stage".

I end up using other people's drum sets in a lot of situations and I dislike it very much. Not because i'm some elitist, but because my set makes me feel comfortable. Many times using someone else's set turns me into a nervous wreck. This is much less a problem now than it was even just a few months ago. The more i play to less antsy i get about the drum set.

So maybe some of these guys are not assholes, maybe some are just sissy pants with more on their mind than needs be.

wait a minute...
have to side with the musician not wanting to lend shit out....
my band has been in the situation many times. you lend your beloved guitar head that you starved yourself for years to buy so some motherfucker can turn it to ten and accidentily mosh into the input and break it.
or maybe you lend a guy a microphone and the buck-toothed bitch sticks it down his pants during his set.
I know this reality all too well. I am sorry for the mishap in your set but I have been burned by assholes too many times.
If this makes me a prick then i am the biggest prick you know.