ok we played last night @ Rallies. Which is pretty cool, since these places you've never thought would have live acts are now down with giving bands a new place to have a good show. But yeah... the night was going great until the band before us started setting up. The sound guy was nice enough to throw our CD on while they set up (now we have a frame of time refrence). Anyways we were sitting there chillin, drinkin our beer. Before we knew it it was like 3/4 of our album played! That means it took this band (who shall remain nameless... though they actually sounded like a start up band and this was there first show for any of them) over 35 to 40 minutes to set up! WOW they didn't start playing till almost 12:15; and we still hadn't played! As you would know it, it took about the same amt of time for them to break down. We didn't get on until about 1:15. The total amt of time it took them to set up and break down was well over an hour! Seriously! There was absolutley no one there once they were done. and before they got on stage it was a pretty good crowd too. hmmm I dunno, isn't there such a thing as perfessionalism to at least try to set up your shit and tear it down within 15-20 min? At least thats what we try to do. Tell me what you think...

My sympathies are with you, Mr. Kronic. I've had a similar experience with a band who shall be named, Id and the Egos. It was there first show, and they were opening up for us. They got there early and we told them, you've got from 10:30-11:30, including set up and break down. They didn't start until 11, and they were milling about that whole time. When 11:30 rolled aroud, we told them "break it down", and they played two more songs! Moral of story, I'm sure when things like this happen, those bands may get more time that night, but in the long run will play much less.

I had the exact same thing happen with the same band. Also they badmouthed us and the crowd. Dude was drunk. Normally I'd never name a band, but just that one time...

Sometimes we are more casual than other times, but if there's five bands or something we pride ourselves in having the fastest set-up and tear down time in town. We can clear the stage in under five minutes. Although, I hate being told, "you are done," and not getting a ten minute warning or whatever. We usually ask a few members of the crowd to watch our time for us, because nobody ever tells you to stop with enough warning for you to finish on the song you want, or cut weaker songs to make room.

The worst is bands who show up "late" and expect to get moved to a later slot. I mean, MOST bands will try to push their slot five or ten minutes back hoping for a bigger crowd or whatever, but to not show up until someone else had to go on...Grrrr

How 'bout the band that spends 30 minutes tuning to start their set? Or the bad ass metal band whose drummer has a cage type drum set that takes 45 minutes to set up and toms and cymbals he will never use? When I played in Big Mud Tractor, Brain Erosion played an hour and 20 minute set before we headlined, finally, at about 1:45, despite being told by the folks who ran the place to knock off. That also reminds me of an act we played with a couple times back in the day who had stacks and stacks of Marshall amp cabs that they took the time to make walls of on the stage. Not that said cabs had any speakers in them, but they did have spooky skulls with top hats and eye patches and six guns and the like spray painted on them.

What's really frustrating to me is to see that fuckers like these somehow get Crawl slots and weekend nights at decent places despite the fact that they do not draw and keep up their awful stage tact. Why does a club invite a room clearing act back after they run off their clientele? Why?

An how hard is it to figure out that, if the crowd does not like you, is not into your stuff, is growing evermore bored and hostile, it is time to to cut your losses and let the next act on? I've been there. I've done it.

In RAMS, we always try to set up/strike in less than 10 minutes. I can understand some difficulty with this in new acts, but for folks who have been around for years, it is a horrible thing to see.

I could rant on for hours about certain bands that are utterly disrespectful to other bands. We have been cut short playing the last slot numerous times because the bands before us are either incompetent when it comes to loading/unloading gear or they continue to play 5 or 6 encore songs when they know there is another band waiting to play. All I can say is this: I have noticed that the bands which are disrespectful always seem to be the bands that should still be playing in a garage on a deserted ranch somewhere in Utah.I have yet to hear a "good" band in Albuquerque that didn't know how to respect other bands.

And finally...If I have to deal with another band that finishes their set, gets a drink at the bar, talks to spectators for 15 minutes and smokes a few cigs all before clearing the stage for the next band, I will start punching.

Concerning the show at rallies, they did they a while, I had to start taking up my Amp and stuff so they could kinda get the idea to move it!!! the drummer was slow! just stood on stage slowly undoing one drum at a time! they sound guy had to get up there and start helping them tear down! but this shit happens everywhere! not only do bands like that take forever, BUT, also some bands that play first take forever to start their set! "well theres no one here yet, we don't want to play to an empty house" Yes but theres three other bands after you, we've all played a show where there's 4 bands all together! it should be just 3 bands considering last call is about 1:30am! yes most bands think "its just Albuquerque local scene", but there should be some sort of professionalism invovled....and Pride! but to say the least it should be the bar management or booker to enforse these unwritten rules of courtesy. WORD OUT....

quote:

Originally posted by foodstamps:
if the crowd does not like you, is not into your stuff, is growing evermore bored and hostile, it is time to to cut your losses and let the next act on? I've been there. I've done it.

.

Yeah thatz every show you play, right?

Right.

http://www.myspace.com/9819842

Doesn't the sound guy usually tell bands something like, "1 more guys"? Simfonik Plague also prides ourselves in getting our shit up/off quickly, and we do everything in our power to expedite the process. E.g., we show up about 45 min. (more if we're first) before a show, and as a drummer, I know that my shit takes the longest to set. Therefore, the entire kit is assembled before we go on. I've even altered my setup to make set/strike quicker. My opinion is that every show should have should have specific start times and end times for performance. If your slot is 11-12, and you aren't set up until 11:40, you've go 20 minutes to get off the stage. The strike is a slightly different story: I was shocked to hear the Five Minute Sinner's story about the band going to the bar before striking. That would infuriate me. In defense of drummers: I don't have a cage, but there are 19 individual components to my kt. I've rigged it so that 7 components can be taken off the stage in two handful loads. I've noticed however, that folks are usually willing, of their own volition, to ask me if they can help by taking a cymbal stand or two. I try to do this myself. Also, if the stage is big enough (Launchpad, GW), why not set the amps and cabs in the corner, out of the way? So, my sympathies. I'm really curious as to who this mystery band is, but I have the tact not to ask.

P.S. Mr. Camaro Matt, Sir, your comment directed toward the venerable Mr. Foodstamps seemed a bit negative and unwarranted, especially since (at least the time we played with them) folks seemed to really dig them. Did the hippie song offend you?

Well felazzz it looks like foodstampz need his little friends 2 fight his battles 4 him 2!

Weak!

http://www.myspace.com/9819842

This Camaro Matt is a REAL tool, isn't he? He should take some time away from downin' Schaffer and beatin' his wife to work on his grammer. hehe....~B~

Excuse the FUCK out of me, Matt. If you're too fucking unintelligent to respond coherently and respectfully to a legitimate and respectfully worded question, NO FUCKING WONDER I've never heard of you. You're a fucking joke. Even more so now that I see that you can't even put together a proper sentence without replacing letters with numbers. At least the hippies are usually literate. By the way, is that a MULLET you wear? The only negativity that showed up on this thread was from you, you fucking pratt. Get a fucking life and for the sake of sweet bejeezus, the 80's ended 15 years ago. UPDATE YOUR FUCKING SOUND!!!

i guess i should put a comment down..... since this shit is the way it is... but seriously.... what the fuck dude, if you got a personal thing against RAMS... that's your problem, deal with it yourself, cuz they are awesome, they do what they want to do, and they don't give a fuck what you say, the same for all of us who are actually taking this shit honestly... cuz thats the only way to do it on the squawk.... if you don't like it, then get the fuck out! or we'll politely ask you to leave, then force you the fuck out.....

we have our ways... we have our ways

So the setting up part you can't do much about, there are always assfucks that take too long with their gear and talk to their ugly ass girlfriends after they are done about how good they played. But the breaking down part you can control. Just get the fuck up there and start taking their stuuf off the stage, take charge.

And to you bands out there that are playing to people who do not know your music yet I have one thing to stay. SHORT AND SWEET. If you have a 40 minute set, go the fuck off for 20 minutes and leave them wanting more. People have very short attention spans and don't want to hear 40 minutes of a band they never heard of. If you don't get a good response on the first 2 songs and people start leaving the room, TAKE THAT AS A HINT, don't use that time to try out new songs. Fuck, I could go one forever.

quote:

Originally posted by Kronic Obsession 420:
we have our ways... we have our ways

Oh shit are you guys gonna get all sissy fight on me? Pleaze dont lets keep it positive on the squawk.

http://www.myspace.com/9819842

Hey Matt, no sissy shit here. My name's Mike and I'm the drummer for fucking Simfonik Plague. Why don't you introduce yourself to me at a show, motherfucker? I'd go to one of yours, but, oh yeah, you're not in a band, you fucking inbred chimp.

Hey Kronic, as nice as it would be to see somone as monosyllabic as Camaro Matt booted right the fuck off of Rocksquawk, you gotta admit, his posts do provide some much needed comic relief. Keep 'em coming, Matt!! Hoot-hoot!!

Dudezzz I gotta warn you that they dont take real good to threat's here on the squawk. Now I aint never the one to back out from a head cuttin or a fistfight with any hombre but they say 2 keep shit positive on the sight and I think thats a good thing to do. You fellazzz can leave my my band out of it they aint here I mean WTF??? And so yes I do to play in a band our shit just aint all together yet. Being under house arrest is a big bitch but it'z allmost over just you wait. Were coming on with a positive furey consistAntly racing thru the fog!!!!

Fuck yeah!

http://www.myspace.com/9819842

Two thoughts on this whole topic.
1. I'd like to challenge Romeo Goes to Hell for the title of fastest setup/tear down in Albuquerque.
2. Pretty much every band that is primarily musicians with no show experience takes an incredibly long time to set up or tear down. It happens ALWAYS. I mean, occasionally there'll be bands that have played longer that still do it, but they generally tend to be exceptions to the rule, but of the rockstar variety, so they suck anyway.
Umm...yeah, I guess that's it.