This past Friday night I was in a restaurant/bar (some might say pub) that has an adjoining patio. I was seated inside but had a stage in my sights out on the patio. A band was setup there and I knew they’d be playing soon, which, of course, raises a curious eyebrow, given my more than 15 years running Now Hear This.
It was a four-piece band: drummer, two guitar players, and a bass player, with all but the drummer also singing. It was unfortunate for us all that one of the three sang because it contributed to one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch. And here’s why it’s important that this problem not be ignored – it brings down everyone in the place. Consider the many different perspectives.
Other band members
Let’s face it, the other guys in the band know that this guy can’t sing. Maybe they feel bad for him. Perhaps they are trying to decide who should be the one to tell him. There’s also a chance that they have tried and he won’t accept it. He appeared to be on the older side, so a possibility exists that they think he’ll just retire soon anyway. Regardless, it can’t give the rest of them the enjoyment and confidence they’d like to have.
Patrons
You know that the band is bad when I was longing for (a) the songs that he didn’t sing on, and (b) their breaks so we could hear music from TouchTunes instead. A good comparison would be that he sounded like someone getting up to try their hand at karaoke. Maybe some patrons thought, “Cool, I’ll give this a shot. Where do I sign up?” Only to find, of course, that this wasn’t the case. I actually considered writing a note to drop in the tip jar saying, “The old guy guitar player with the gray hair can’t sing,” but couldn’t find it in my heart to do that. (And, with my luck, he’d be the guy who empties out the tip jar.) I finally asked one of the bartenders about who books the music there and handed over a business card saying that I have clients who could perform there. And that led to…
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The staff
The bartender who I had the above conversation with said that while the person that I’d need to speak to was out of town, this employee had already taken it upon themselves to text that individual to say how bad the band was. Later on, unsolicited, the same bartender came back to me and spontaneously commented again about how bad the band was.
Image problems
Someone might not go back to that establishment because of that band. Similarly, I’m writing a blog saying that the band was bad, meaning, this one performer is bringing down the whole band. Full disclosure, without him, they would not have been fantastic. One of the other singers was okay; not great, but compared to the prime offender, anything was an upgrade.
The bad singer
He has to know. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t. My conclusion was that it’s his band and so he’s not going anywhere. It made me think of the 1978 movie, “Heaven Can Wait,” where Warren Beatty’s character is a millionaire who goes and plays quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. Essentially, it’s, “Hey, I can do whatever I want.” (If memory serves me correctly, he had bought the team.) So, can any of the other three guys tell the bad singer that he’s fired from his own band?
Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. Realize that, as much of a cliché as it is, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And if you’re in a band, please do everyone a favor and step forward and tell that awful singer that y’all are just going to have to move on without him or her. A lot of people will thank you for it.
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