The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Check out the last minute or so.
    Got a bit distracted at the first balloon flight but lost my place when it hit the second time. It was just unexpected. I lost my place and wrapped up the song.

    How do you handle these things?


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    If that's a kid's birthday party then yeah, sh*t happens when you play a melancholic version of Yesterday. So you return the balloon with a deft flick of the headstock and carry on..... with a different tune.
    Last edited by Peter C; 06-28-2021 at 07:27 PM.

  4. #3

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    Keep on smiling.

    Best stage advice I ever received.
    Last edited by A. Kingstone; 06-29-2021 at 12:44 PM.

  5. #4

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    If that's the worst thing that ever happens to you on a gig, you're truly blessed (or you're not playing enough). When I was in graduate school, I had two gigs a night 6 nights a week. After playing solo jazz at a French restaurant from 6 to 9, I drove 45 minutes to play lead in a fair-to-middlin' country band at a biker bar from 10 to 2. So I was a bit tightly wrapped even before the first twang. The bar was so bad that the state police were there every night, and more than one slate pool table top was broken by the head of the loser of one of the nightly brawls. The first time I played the gig, I told the leader he'd have to let me play one of his guitars if he wanted me to come back. Avoiding the patrons (many of whom had strong opinions about "good" music) was a full time job. I finally quit about 2 years later when the drummer's wife got hit in the head with a beer bottle flying through the air.

    Apart from the physical hazards of playing dive bars, the worst thing that I encountered was parents throwing parties for their kids and expecting me to let their kid play my guitar. Every time it happened, I'd see them talking to the leader and pointing to me while I was playing - so I knew what was coming. For several years, I worked for the top society office in our area, and they (we) got the highest fees in the region. Go explain to the parents AND the leader why you don't want a 13 year old kid banging on your Gibson. So I bought a Danelectro Convertible to carry as a second instrument, and I let them play that.

  6. #5

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    A balloon?

    Once I was playing in a joint where the bandstand is on the floor.
    One night there was a couple dancing on the floor in front and the guy threw the girl in the air. I opened my eyes just in time to see her heel come down on the fingerboard of my old L5. Now THAT was a distraction.
    Still have the gig but last time I brought the L5

  7. #6
    When someone unfriendly makes a request just say " We only play requests written on hundred dollar bills " Lots of drunks like to show off their wherewithal .

  8. #7
    In my fantasy world I would smile and open my coat a little more and reveal a high powered firearm and announce " Our next song will be Dead Men Tell No Tales" but thats just in my dreams. I think I read Willie Nelsons drummer always kept a firearm on him to make sure they got Paid.

  9. #8

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    I was in high school still. Playing saxophone in a soul band around 1970. We were doing a gig in a German house of ill repute that catered to young US Army soldiers. Some from rough places back in the states. I was on break and as I walked past a table a young man playing with a switchblade asked me if I thought it was appropriate for a white boy to be playing soul music. He was drunk/high and clearly feeling pretty mean. Before I could respond, an older gentleman, also Army and called 'Sarge' by others, stepped in. He told the guy to shut up and after a few more words, some directed at Sarge, and a few racial slurs directed at me, knife guy let it go. We finished a short set and left without further interaction. Being young and stupid I didn't think much of it at the time. In retrospect, it could have gone badly.

    Sometimes I want to gig. Don't think I'll face physical threats again but I am concerned about theft and the behavior of some of the whack druggies wandering the streets of Oregon in ever greater numbers. That and I don't know who I want to play for other than myself. It's important to perform. Going to have to figure it out.

  10. #9

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    My main problem when there's kids involved is they tend to be kids , run around, play with everything, etc, so they can easily mess with your gear and the gig could go south.

    So I just try to setup in a spot difficult to reach, I'll be the musician far back.. especially if I have pedals or loopers.

    I've had my share of drunk bar patrons throwing bottles at the band, wanting to fight, etc, but thankfully it's not that common here, mostly on the islands with tourists sometimes. I try to take a cheaper guitar and amp whenever there's the potential of damage or theft (so I might use a tele or epiphone with a Zt lunchbox instead of an archtop/335 with a tube amp).

    Distractions, I once had a gig in the house band at a strip joint for a while.. Was in my twenties..

    But kids gigs can be fun too, you just have to embrace chaos
    Attached Images Attached Images How Do You Handle Annoying Audience Members?-screenshot_20210629-0959162-png 
    Last edited by Alter; 06-29-2021 at 03:50 AM.

  11. #10

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    Moral: gig with a Telecaster. It's nearly indestructible and can serve as decent self defense.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greentone
    Moral: gig with a Telecaster. It's nearly indestructible and can serve as decent self defense.

  13. #12

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    I played my last bar gig in 1993. A couple days later 2 people were shot outside the bar, 1 died. After that it was no more bar gigs ever.

  14. #13

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    I played in many strip clubs. Never had a problem since they were all mafia owned. If anyone got out of line in one of those places, you'd be in the parking lot saying your final prayers. So, I never played anywhere where the audience became a problem while performing and I played in some very rough areas in Chicago in the 60's/70's. However, I did have a drunk/high woman in a very bad area(41st and State St/Chicago) "come on" to me during the break and when I didn't reciprocate, she pulled a knife and started screaming and became very violent calling me some very inciteful(to the crowd) names. Fortunately, one of the bandmembers stepped in and and calmed her down and we finished our last set. However, that experience could have been very bad and, after that, I was very careful in my social interactions in similar areas.
    Play live . . . not dead . . . Marinero

  15. #14

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    I never let a bad audience get me down. People are out to have fun and sometimes that means behavior that is less than ideal to those of us on the bandstand. I am out playing music and getting paid to do so. I am a lucky man.

    And I carry an insurance policy on my instruments, just in case my luck runs out in that regard.

  16. #15

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    In my younger days I was known to throw a pint glass or two. Usually after a shot glass came our way. Sometimes I'd just punt one to see what happened.

    Another favorite was to order a round of beers for the band and then belly flop on them Iggy Pop style, a white shirt was essential to really show off the blood.

    Don't worry, I cleaned it up the glass after the show. It was an act, not a way of life.
    Last edited by AllanAllen; 06-30-2021 at 08:52 AM.

  17. #16

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    There’s a very good reason Jersey shore bars often have chicken wire in front of the bandstand.

    My worst distraction was playing organ in my usual church. Mom and Dad were at the service, and sat almost in front of me and I could see them through the plexiglass music rack. About in the middle of a hymn I’d played hundreds of times my eyes were wandering (checking out prettily dressed females, of course, not a jeans/t shirt dress code))).
    I watch my Dad collapse! He’d been ill so this was a bad sign. I finished that hymn no problem, but really felt like a heel for deciding to complete playing the service, not following the ambulance. He passed about a month later.
    Sorry Pop, you’re not the one who taught me self importance.
    Rolling Rock, of course.

  18. #17

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    What I have done is dedicate this song to them; In most cases it gets them to lighten-up.


  19. #18

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    If you take a gig comprising a kid's birthday party,
    your competition was likely clowns and magicians.
    Use the stunt guitar and whatever happens, smile.

    Otherwise, venue owns crowd control prerogative.
    When making arrangements for the first time ask:
    Who should we signal to intervene on our behalf?

  20. #19
    Just keep playing is often pretty good advice. Remember how B.B. King named Lucille. He stayed or went back in a nightclub fire to rescue his Gibson guitar. Life threatening is where you do not want to be. The chicken wire is there for a good reason.

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by A. Kingstone
    Keep on smiling.

    Best stage advice I ever received.


  22. #21

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    The playing takes care of that.

    Wait ... did you mean the adjective "annoying" ... or the verb?

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    Wait ... did you mean the adjective "annoying" ... or the verb?
    Hmmmmm. I turned out to be pretty good at the latter, as measured by the number of complaints the office got about me. In the 3+ years before I met and married my wife, I played an average of 3 weddings and similar affairs a week. Since everybody loves the guitar player, I managed to meet (and charm...) a delightful girl on at least half of the gigs. Who would have guessed that their parents didn't want them to date a musician?


  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by jazzkritter;[URL="tel:1131486"
    1131486[/URL]]There’s a very good reason Jersey shore bars often have chicken wire in front of the bandstand.

    My worst distraction was playing organ in my usual church. Mom and Dad were at the service, and sat almost in front of me and I could see them through the plexiglass music rack. About in the middle of a hymn I’d played hundreds of times my eyes were wandering (checking out prettily dressed females, of course, not a jeans/t shirt dress code))).
    I watch my Dad collapse! He’d been ill so this was a bad sign. I finished that hymn no problem, but really felt like a heel for deciding to complete playing the service, not following the ambulance. He passed about a month later.
    Sorry Pop, you’re not the one who taught me self importance.
    Rolling Rock, of course.
    I did my first gig in Asbury Park the summer of 1992. Since then I’ve played from LBI to Highlands all up and down the sure regularly until my last shore gig in 2019. You name it, if it was in Ocean or Monmouth county including mainland gateways like Manahawkin, Toms River, Red Bank I’ve done at least one gig there.

    Not once, on any occasion have I encountered chicken wire between me and the crowd.