I really don't want to play this gig

<snip>

I feel you pain...

What is it about a mic that sees to draw drunks who think they REALLY do a good Frank Sinatra? And, more importantly, that the whole place wants to hear it?

I'm a big believer in quickly knocking down the volume on the p.a. if some muppet from the crowd gets on the mic.

The band need to agree a policy and stick to it. It's difficult when a member of the band won't say no to a punter because they don't want to be unpopular. In my experience it's normally the singer sending people with requests to me, or wandering off and letting people get on with it if they get hold of the mic. I have made my views on this VERY clear...

My rules are simple:

1) No one from the crowd should get to sing, especially uninvited. 2) No one from the crowd is allowed to 'have a go' on an instrument, or join in on stage because they happen to have a harmonica on them!!! (yes, that point is worth the three exclamation marks). 3) A firm, forceful response, friendly at first but rapidly escalating towards actual violence if necessary, is better than having the whole gig ruined and expensive equipment damaged. Unless, of course, the crowd really do want to listen to the drunken fool because the pub is full of his mates. In which case, turning all the gear off and retiring is always an option.

Fortunately I find these incidents are fairly rare, but when you really get someone who is convinced that the crowd want to hear them and not the band, decisive action is required.

Cheers

Blackfire band website : www.blackfire.co.uk

Bristol & District Campaign for Real Ale : www.camrabristol.org.uk

Funnily enough, the best behaved audience we had was HMP Low Moss. I use a cheap guitar/amp/no effects set up for dodgy pubs. Forget about the crowd treating music as art in these places, it's more in the folky interactive tradition, which can be fun if you're drinking but you run the risk of becoming a boozing band.

What part of Ayrshire is the gig at

Bin the gig is my only advice. IMHO, a gig gets one, maybe two chances. If it doesn't make the grade leave it to all the numpties with low standards. TBH, we don't even bother with pubs any more.

This is probably a silly question, but...

How much are they paying you?

I mean, if you're on a hundred each (plus reasonable expenses and the price of your hotel room) it's probably worth it but if you're doing the gig for the price of a beer and a plate full of sandwiches and your fuel then it ain't, you're just indulging in an expensive hobby.

nice one! ROFL

I wouldn't be that happy about a punter being on my stage at all - using my mic is bad enough, they're *definitely* not touching my guitars.

The other thing I forgot to say to the OP: as you rightly say, it's too late to pull this gig now, but if it is less than fun again this time, it's surely one to drop. I know rates of pay vary from place to place, but our four-piece cover band wouldn't go out for £140 anyway and anywhere, even if it is local. For a place like you've described, we'd want £200 for the hassle, or we'd feel better off putting our feet up with a bottle and the gogglebox...

- rfb

This is turning into an interesting discussion.

One of the 'things' about our ceilidh gigs is to encourage the audience to participate. Granted - I'm not talking about p***heads getting up and strangling our guitars but we find the thing works better when the audience join in with the fun. We'll often have a bit of banter with them and we'll encourage people to dance, sing along or play some percussion.

I guess an important distinction is that we tend to play private parties and weddings and such so the 'nutter' quotient is quite low - but when we have played the odd pub both we and the audience have enjoyed it very much and we take a similar approach.

The other thing I get a lot is people who want to have a go on the drums. Most times its kids or people who are genuinely interested in the instrument and I like to let them have a little go (supervised) in the break or after the performance.

I guess it boils down to who wants to join in, what sort of state they are in and why they are doing it. P***ed up nutters wouldn't get a go under any circumstances.

I mention this because I'm interested to hear how people view the value of audience participation and how they 'manage' it.

Cheers, Steve W