what gigs have you turned down (and why)

[pounce]

sometimes not taking a gig is the better answer. could be a lot of reasons for it.

i've had a few pretty neat touring offers that probably sounded good on paper, but i turned them down. it could be argued that either would provide a little more money and a little more technical challenge than my current job. however, both would keep me away from home and don't have the same benefits package i currently enjoy. so why turn it down?

for starters, i thought the two offers that come to mind most readily would both be a pain in the ass. i'd make some more money, but the novelty of those jobs would wear off in a week or two and then i'd be stuck in a hotel room somewhere sure that the extra moola wasn't worth it. plus i'd miss my house, wife, dog, bed, studio, etc.

one was for an entertainer, worked in theatres, but it was the worst of rock and roll and the worst of theatre all rolled into one. plus the "artist" was a jerk. i did a little work with him and it set my opinion right there. so i found out when he came through town instead of a little way into a tour or something. it was the first tour offer i ever had just given to me, and it was felt a little weird to turn it down. i'm still sure that was the right answer.

the next big one i turned down was for a touring broadway show. so the work would be more interesting than the first show. but i didn't like the show and the gear was pretty old and somehow i figured i'd be hating it a month into the tour. maybe it just wasnt' enought money more than i already make to be worth it.

that's also the problem with my current job - just good enough pay and benefits that any other new opportunities have to be really interesting. i already have a pretty decent deal.

that said, i'm not going to stay here forever. so one day i will find some gig to hop on over to should it be interesting, good paying, or whatnot. frankly, i've got quite an itch to make an independent film, and i may up and do that in the future. working for myself still trumps working for other people. but in the meantime, the beauty of a house gig is that i meet a lot of different people, and sometimes that presents opportunities. gig opportunities. some good, and some that are better to turn down.

so bands and techies alike, what gigs did you turn down and you are better off for having turned down?

[bunnerabb]

6 band thrash fests.

Always a clusterfuck, always boring and the promoter is always dodgy.

Club gigs with absolutely no turnout guaranteed.

Why bother?

House gigs with no production budget.

This is why this is my last year, here.

Weddings.

Not pissing off your aunt Matilda is NOT a career move for me.

[Swafford]

mmmm....there was that one with the 4 drag queens in New Orleans - no did that one.....Swine Fest on the back of a pickup truck in Kentucky - did that one too.........let's see....my label guys wedding at a Baptist resort on the Clinch River in Tenessee, no alcohol, no dancing....shit, we did that one too (and those sinners danced - who can refuse a waltz? No one, that's who).....let's see....refused a gig........hmmmmm.....lesbian club in Worcester, Ma. nope, did that one....living room show for bikers (ooooo colors!) in Jersey, scarey, but done......

Can't think of one show in 20 years I turned down. I just like to play, I guess.

However, once we did refuse to go on when the promoter did not live up to his end of the bargain (time slot). Packed our shit up, told him to go fuck himself and walked right out. Boy howdy he was pissed.

[Tim Halligan]

I just turned down an 8-day location EFP gig that was travelling overseas for a few reasons...

Had a family commitment in the middle of the gig that I wanted to get to.

Have worked with and know the "talent" before...and while I like them on a personal level...I can't bear their show.

Screwing me on rate. A day is 8 hours...or if I like you, 10. These guys wanted to run 14 hour days - outside - in a tropical climate without paying me overtime.

Pass.

Next.


Cheers,
Tim

[shlampe]

I don't think I've ever turned down a gig per se, but I have quit a number of bands. One of the most promising bands that I was working with, i was just singing lead and I was having a great time with it. That's when I found out the lead guitarist was snorting heroin, his comment to me was, "it's not like I'm shooting up!". I said, see ya. It was too bad, could've really been a great band...

[pounce]

as a band i don't think i ever turned down a gig. we sure seemed to play every one we could.

however, as a tech i've turned down a few. and in hindsight, there are just a couple of other gigs i also would have passed on. i didn't have fun, learn anything, make any new contacts, or make enough money.

and sometimes it's not about the money. frankly, after a very good conversation with my wife last night (really, i got me a smart one!) i am motivated to raise my rates and be even a bit more picky.

[Tim Armstrong]

Last year, we gigged our collective asses off all summer, took everything offered, averaged five gigs a week (lotta 2-gig days, too). Those doubles are tough, I had to tape my fretting fingers even though I have flatwounds on my bass!

Two of the places are located in marinas, and the band has to set up quite a distance from the audience (one, on the roof of a houseboat moored alongside the tiki bar, the other down on the quay about sixty feet away and one floor down from the bar). Nothing we did ever connected with the audience. We'd play the fuck out of a song, and finish to the sound of drunk conversations, outboard motors, etc. Nothing like applause, interest, or even awareness that there was a band playing music. Hell, sometimes we'd hear their house music system still playing, because some dumb fucking bartender turned it back on.

They want us back this year. We said NO!

Cheers, Tim

[jerryskid]

The only gigs I've ever turned down were gigs where we had been screwed by the promoter before....Fool me once shame on me....

[floodstage]

I don't take sound gigs if the board isn't in front of the stage.

Had a couple gigs where the board was behind or beside the mains and you had to constantly walk out and listen, go back and tweak, and then walk out and listen, etc.

If I can't touch the board and hear you at the same time, someone else can mix. I get zero enjoyment whatsoever out of gigs like that and if I want to be unhappy at work, I'll do something that pays better.




BTW, what is the word "benefits" you speak of?

[Mpeguero143]

i had this one gig that i turned down because it seemed really shady. i was supposed to be the sound recordist for a major motion picture directed by Carl Denham and written by Jack Driscoll. it turns out that the crew went halfway across the world and most of them died. killed by this horrible beast, giganic bugs and the island natives. we lost alot of really good men out there. i guess i really dodged the bullet didnt i?

[ggunn]

A band I was FOH for once had to turn down a gig for a big strip club's Christmas party (The Yellow Rose in Austin) because the idiot band leader went and told his wife who we were to be playing for. The rest of us were really pissed at him for this egregious breach of security.

[CloseToTheEdge]

anything without a stage

[blackieC]

A band I was FOH for once had to turn down a gig for a big strip club's Christmas party (The Yellow Rose in Austin) because the idiot band leader went and told his wife who we were to be playing for. The rest of us were really pissed at him for this egregious breach of security.

Pissed?


That is just the tip of the freakin' iceberg in my opinion.


I haven't been to the Yellow Rose in a couple of years, but if my tequila addled memory serves...



A gig at the central Austin den of boobies and overpriced alcohol would be worth the price of a few nights on the couch.*


*(speaking as a person who once had a "sure thing" lined up with a Yellow Rose bartender but backed out when he found out that her husband was a club owner that could ixnay a gig.)

[rockdart]

Bad paying gigs in shitholes 12 hrs away. No brainer there. Maybe it's easier to turn down gigs for us out here in Colorado - every market is so freaking far away... like 3 tanks of gas away and everyone knows what gas prices are doing.

Also turned down an opening slot for Tesla in a market we haven't tapped yet. That one hurt, but my boy was ready to be born and I wasn't going to be 9 hrs away when the water broke.

Turned down a band once when I heard their 16 songs demo. I thought maybe it was one of those sonic pest repellants. Holy crap it was bad. There's no way I'd have been able to crawl out from under that rock if I'd have gone to play with them. I remember talking to the singer about 2 months later and he told me he had "Hawk" playing guitar for them. "She" looked like Mick Mar's older brother - that had a sex change. Well, the only thing that wasn't right was the Mick Mar's brother thing. oy. They went from having to hide under a rock to just building Gimli's lair.

Beware the red dragon.

[Barska]

I usually try to avoid everything single bit out of "pro" standard. Just some months ago I quit doing FOH for 15 piece band that, even after 15+ gigs, couldn't make it to soundchecks, couldn't decide on the stagemap etc. Not to mention other problems that tend to fall on the soundguy. Bunch of muppets I say and the pay wasn't that good.

Mixing behind or on the stage is unacceptable too. Though I've done pretty high paying gigs this way - if it's rap or similar with few MCs and DJs. A band - never.

It's allways the math and the easines factor for me. Well not allways the pay if you work for someone you really dig and could get you even better gigs...:Roll eyes:

[ggunn]

It's allways the math and the easines factor for me. Well not allways the pay if you work for someone you really dig and could get you even better gigs...:Roll eyes:

I've always worked with the work - fun - money equation. If work > (fun + money), I turn down the gig.