The rock & roll band I’ve been in for about 20 years was originally a 4 piece band. We had the guitar player/singer, bass player, me on drums and a female vocalist/keyboard player. We had this configuration for a few years, until one day.
We had a gig in Sun Valley. We met at the singer’s house to pack the gear and car pool to the gig. One problem: The female singer was nowhere to be found. We tried to contact her and waited as long as we could. But eventually we just took off for the gig without her.
The gig in Sun Valley was one of the most kick ass gigs we’d had to that point. We found that we weren’t dependent on this chick whatsoever. We were tighter too. And the last great positive of doing the gig without her…we split her share of the dough up.
Let’s see here… Tighter band, less headaches, more dough. No brainer.
We came back into town from Sun Valley and played at one of our regular spots in town which was the premier live music venue. That night we kicked ass and clicked better than any gig we’d done to that point. That show confirmed what we’d expected would be the case: She was out of the band.
For about the next 10 years or so, my band would be the hottest band in the state. Playing as many as 30 gigs per month and sometimes playing two gigs in one day. We performed for hundreds of thousands of people and made tons of dough. All of this without the female singer.
The lesson here? Don’t bail on your band mates or it may end up being your last gig.
