You're Too Loud!

Ah yes, one of the band’s most favorite phrases.

The boys had been smokin’. We were playing in Oak Ridge, and we had just finished a song and the whole bar erupted with applause.

And then the manager came over. “Hey, would you mind turning it down a bit?”

Talk about a lack of awareness. Your whole establishment just demonstrated that they were having an amazing time, and you thought, “You know what we need? Less of… this.”

So, we did. A little. But wow, what a mood killer.

But I am here if nothing else, to accommodate management. Hey, if you are a musician or you have a musician friend, they’ve been in a situation where “the band” was just supposed to be background noise. I personally don’t like those kinds of gigs, but I am here to serve.

True confession time.

The situation was sort of my fault in the first place.

I had originally been contacted for a southern rock band, which is right in our wheelhouse. But after we put the date on the calendar, we were contacted again and asked if we could just be a duo.

A “southern rock” duo?

Yes.

Something told me that the place had just decided to be cheap. Which is fine. Money is money and studio time doesn’t pay for itself, although I prefer playing with the whole band.

However, as the gig approached, I thought, “You know what, screw it – let’s bring the whole band.” I decided I would just cover the difference. The place would pay for a duo, and I would pay the other guys myself. It would likely be a net zero for me – but I was itching to have a night rocking out with the boys.

In the end, it was a great night for the band and for the crowd. Many people came up to us and said that they were going to leave, but when we fired up, they decided to stay. And from a management perspective, you would think that’s what they would want as well – people stay, and the order more food and drinks.

That’s what we call in the business a “win-win”.

Well, a funny thing happened when I got home. A plethora of messages. You see, once the amp gets turned on, the phone gets turned off. I don’t want any distractions.

Messages from the person that booked us.

“Hey, I need you to call me back”

“Hey, you need to send a couple of the people back home, they only paid for a duo.”

“Hey, the manager says he can’t pay (presumably) what a band of our caliber should get, but he’ll pay ___.”

So, I called back and let her know that I was covering the difference, and besides, once guys show up with their gear, that they loaded, drove to destination, and unloaded… we’re not sending anyone home.

But that was my bad, and a lesson learned. I had not let the manager, nor the booker know what my plan was.

Everyone was surprised. You would think perhaps pleasantly surprised, but no.

The manager did give us enough so that I didn’t have to cover the rest of the band myself. However, our next gig at that venue was cancelled. Well, not “cancelled” per se, the booking manager just “forgot to write it down.”

Oh well. That’s the way the power chord echoes somedays. But what a great time that was.