Where do you draw the line at playing a gig when you're sick? This past weekend I was coughing so hard I thought I would pass out sometimes. Everytime I'd try to sing I would just sound worse than ever between the coughing. By the end of the night I could barly pick up my amp to haul it to the car. If I didn't show, the other 3 guys are out of work, and I really didn't feel that bad until we started unloading the trailer. As the night went on, there wasn't enough medicine or alcohol around to help. If we weren't playing so far from home. and if I knew anyone around, I could of called for a sit in guitarist. Man sometimes it ain't worth it.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

What I like to do in that situation is go through the setlist on my own, doing all my parts.
If illness affects me in anyway during that, I cant play the gig.

A friend of mine recently tried gigging whilst feeling absolutely rotten. All I can say is that it's lucky he's in with the promoter.

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No no and no

Wow...this one can be really tough. Clearly when you agree to do a gig, you've made an agreement with the owner or management of said establishment so typically you want to fulfill that obligation. Conversely if you get on stage and you're in that bad of shape, it is going to be a reflection on you as the performer and the band as a whole.

Personally I can relate...back in early 2002 I was the drummer for my own band and I had been in a bad car accident. We still had a couple of gigs booked so at the time I popped my pain meds, muddled through as best I could and by the end of the night I was literally in so much pain I sat at the edge of the stage just sobbing. Looking back at that, I really wish I hadn't of played because not only was I in considerable pain, I -know- we, as a band, sucked that night. I also knew a bass player once...not really a "friend" per say but I knew members of the band pretty well and so I knew this guy...he got up on stage the one night and my friends had told me that right from the start the guy didn't look good....just leaned on his stack the whole first set. About the middle of the second set, the guy just dropped on stage...he had a heart attack and in fact died on the way to the hospital. The interesting thing there was another friend of ours was in the audience that night and after the ambulance took Ernest away (they didn't know he died in the ambulance until well after the who), Mark picked up Ernest's bass and finished the show for him.

So with that I guess the question is where does one draw the line between "professionalism" and "taking care of number 1"?

The logical answer to me is to be as prepared as possible ahead of time and have a "back up plan". Whenever I go on stage, I try to have some sort of backup equipment for everything...if something happens to my guitar amp or a guitar, I have a spare. If we blow one of the mains (which has happened), I can pull a stage monitor. If we blow the power amp, I can reroute things through one of my guitar amps (the spare) if necessary. Spare cables, cable tester, tool kit with circuit tester and soldering iron...I try to be ready for anything. Before a gig I'm always thinking about the "what if's". As far as the equipment goes, I will also do a "dress rehearsal" a night or two before the gig to MAKE SURE that all of the equipment is working. That said, the same goes for personnel...band members as well. Unfortunately I've worked in situations where someone said they'd be at the gig then didn't show...and yes, once where a singer showed up with laryngitis, so what do you do? First you have a list of "session players" who you can call on an hour's notice...yea, it may cost the whole gig take to hire them but at least the show can still go on. Second to that, you have an alternate list of tunes and alternate ways of doing those tunes. Drummer didn't show up? You break out the acoustics and do a night of "unplugged" music instead. Keyboard player quit the night before the gig and now you can't do that awesome Pink Floyd tribute you've been working on for months? Break out some blues tunes that you can just jam to and fill out the time. Singer has laryngitis? You have alternate tunes that the rest of the band can sing...even if they can't do the tunes well, again at least the show will still go on. In my own case, while I'm the guitar player in my current band and we have a really great lead singer...if for some reason something happens that she can't perform, I try to make sure I know most of the tunes myself. I may not be able to sing them as well but at least there's a backup plan there.

Respectively this also works if that someone should show up but clearly can't perform. I can look at the singer and say, "sit...take an Advil and go rest for a while...we got this". You can build up a lot of respect from your "co-workers" by being able to cover for them like this in a pinch.

This is also another reason...a BIG reason why I suggest that folks keep things "professional" in a band, particularly when you decide to leave a band. You singer craps out on ya and you had the good sense to stay in contact with the singer from you're last band...you know he/she knows most of the tunes you're doing so you call 'em up and say "Hey...our singer's in the hospital...wanna make some money tonight?". If you've been playing for a few years, chances are you have a "circle of friends" so to speak...and hopefully you have your little phone book in your gig bag or you have those number programmed in to your cell phone!

I've actually been on the opposite end of this as well. A good many years ago a buddy of mine was in a band and his bass player got busted for driving under the influence a couple of nights before a gig and had to spend the weekend doing "penance", LOL! I got a call the day before the gig and was asked to sit in. Now in this case I honestly didn't know most of the material but fortunately it was actually a blues band...give me a few lines and I can usually fake it pretty well. We also swapped a couple of tunes in their set list around...my wife had came with me and is a great singer in her own right, so I jumped on guitar, my buddy jumped on bass and we did a few tunes that their band normally didn't do. It was an "interesting" evening to say the least but the show did go on...I made a few bucks on the side for sitting in and the regular bass player was back the next week...and my buddy ended up owing me a -BIG- favor .

The same goes for yourself as well. Obviously no one likes working when they're sick. When it comes to a gig I think that most of us will usually try to just "muddle thru" the best we can. That said, there -can- come a point where you're just too damned sick to play. If you plan ahead of time though...maybe have a few people you can call in who can at least get the job done or at the very least someone you can call who can do a few tunes and take some of the load off, then the rest of the band...and the club owner...don't end up hating you. Even if the band isn't exactly in "top form", you'll still make a better impression than you will be canceling the gig completely.

So...for the future...the best I can suggest is to simply be prepared, have a backup plan ahead of time and be flexible.

Just my $.02 worth,
Jim

I did something similar to what Iomitus suggests back in band days. We always had spare hardware (it breaks) and the drummer and I were fairly handy with a soldering iron and basic electronics.

We didn't know too many other people who could sit it, so we did what I do at work when you have a small department, no replacements are possible and you can't shut down except for dire circumstances -- we "cross trained" a lot.

For instance, although I was the lead guitarist, I also knew all the rhythm and bass parts. The rhythm player could pick out simple leads and he was also our backup lead singer. Our lead singer could play a just barely passable rhythm guitar but he could also just get by with a simple steady beat on drums. If our lead singer was out, the rhythm player took over the singing chores and I did simple backup harmony.

The bass player could also sing harmony "if he had to" and could also keep a steady 4/4 beat going on drums. The only person in the band who didn't back up at least one other person was the drummer.

But as Iomitus also says, you need a flexible set list. If our drummer was out, no way could we do anything with complicated percussion work. Likewise, our backup lead singer couldn't carry the real challenging songs nor did he have our normal lead singer's "moves" on stage. But at the same time, we'd have to have 2 out of the five of us out to pretty much preclude getting through a gig.

Now to be fair, we did almost no songs that required two or three part harmony with the singer. We did almost no songs that "had" to have lead solos (for high schools, bars, etc.) and we even played on several occasions with no bass for a lot of the songs. We could even go all acoustic if we had to, which thankfully only ever happened one time.

It's the same technique I've used for years working for small companies where all functions are vital and there are no backups available. You have to "get by" if at all possible and that means everyone having a second and even third role sometimes along with their key specialty.

alot of folks would have stayed at home. at least you showed up and did your best. in my book, that counts big time. maybe your band mates should practice vocals for this kind of situation. good job.

Got the flu and a high fever new years day and had a show that night. The fever broke two hours before the show. I laid on the tile in the back room until we had to go on. Not our best show but we kept to the agreement.

i look forward to the day when I am sick of playing at gigs because that will mean i am actually "good enough" to play at a gig!

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

I played a gig once while suffering from a bad flu and was on a medicine that you weren't supposed to drink alcohol with(Ididn't read the label) I had a couple of Screwdrivers and got blasted out of my mind-what a gig that was.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I'm playing a gig Saturday night with a spare drummer and a second guitarist instead of keyboards (Both main and backup keyboardists unavailable) I do it all the time. I host jams with different people every week that involves several Axe men and a few drummers and a couple other bassists besides me. We're always mixing it up so gradually EVERYBODY has gotten to know a lot of everybody's tunes around these parts. (Pulp Mill town isolated by Ferries) I guess we're the exception..... Learning a lot of "Standards" helps. If you don't want to play "Some Kind of Wonderful" when the dancers are waiting and you think you're better than that you might be in the wrong business. Or at least the wrong part of the business. I have never booked off sick. Since 1973. I have taken double doses of Antihistamines (Sudafed) to battle the worst colds. I have slept 6 hours before a show (I sleep 2-3 hours before shows without fail) to be sure my health is all it can be. Long hot baths....I played gigs with Tendinitis in the wrist and sucked it up until it healed weeks and weeks later (Was lucky to be in a country band with less intense playing) I have in fact been so sick a couple times in my life I was bedridden but had no gigs at the time. I guess you need a backup plan as many of my players just call me while some arrange they're own replacement (Pre-authorized players). I had one guy cancel 5 times in a row. He doesn't get the calls anymore from anyone. Too many people know when you do that. Oh and if you have kids....you have little disease factories making it harder for you to be "Sick day free" As a band leader I know this is fact. Perhaps refreshing this knowledge would help with combating the issue. Astronauts don't get to hug their families days before going into space and no-one calls them "Monsters". In my world guy/gals that sing while they play get the call a lot more than the player only. There's only one guy in my world who sings while drumming and that's me. I'm a Bassist/Guitarist/Sax/Singer. Drums is a side skill/ability but I can still sing lead and harmony while doing it. IMO everybody in the band should sing something until it's established that your a hopeless case........


In short there is and always has been a code. If you don't show up a hot player had better be there in your place.

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2010 American Deluxe Jazz V Sunburst
Cheap SX 5 string P-bass. Laney RB-9 300 watt head with 4 x 10 and 1 x 15 cabs Fender Blackout Telecaster 1997 G&L Tribute Strat 2007 Epiphone Dot 2009 Pro Jr 2X12 Monstrosity Sunn Solarus Head 40 watt 1969