Seeing your old band playing live

DesVegas

I did this today for the first time today. It was their first gig since the shit went down at christmas. I absolutely recomend it; you remember why you left that band but also why you were in it.

lloyd

DesVegas said:

I did this today for the first time today. It was their first gig since the shit went down at christmas. I absolutely recomend it; you remember why you left that band but also why you were in it.

I played a gig with my new band that my old band organised and played on a couple years ago...they were embarrassingly bad, I mean really terrible. They had gone backwards since I left. While I'm not saying that I am an exceptional player or anything-far from it.

I think that one of the (many) reasons I left was that I was constantly driving us (literally and metaphorically to practice) and wouldn't play songs live that I felt we weren't playing to a good  standard and had to threaten to pull gigs because people didn't know their parts...Their view was that it would be alright on the night, despite not nailing a song once in rehearsals...it wasn't!

freakboy1610

I went to see my old band several years ago. I got there a bit late and they were already playing. When I walked in I saw that the singer's wife had replaced me on bass and was playing slowed down, stripped down versions of my bass lines. She immediately went wrong as soon as she spotted me but was OK after that. I spoke to them afterwards and it turned out that, having been unable to find a suitable replacement, they had decided to teach the singers wife to play rather than calling it a day. She was a much poorer bass player than me but much nicer to look at!

digitalscream

I actually played with my old band a couple of weeks ago - it was great fun, actually. My replacement couldn't make a gig that they really wanted to play, so they asked me to step in.

I'd left because of a mountain of shit in my personal life, which meant that a little disagreement in the band got way out of hand and - to be completely honest - I flounced. We all stayed friends, though (most of us were mates before the band, and my brother's the drummer, so it couldn't go any other way really), and my current band have played a few double-header gigs with them.

If I'm being honest with myself, I think I may have enjoyed it a bit more than my current band's gigs lately...

slacker

I've been in and left or in one case been fired from many bands over the years. I've always felt that regardless of improving or degenerating without me, it always gave me a sense of closure.

 

 

Teetonetal

I played sax in a folk/ska punk band for a couple of years, left because I got a bit burned out and then I moved away from the UK. 

Then 1 year later the bass player left as he and his wife were expecting their fist kid, as I was back in the uk for a month and they had 10 gigs booked I stepped in and played bass for them. One of the most fun things I have done, it was really nice to have to intensely learn something and I saw the band from a whole new level. I also had never appreciated just how good the drummer was till then.

 another band I was in sort of fizzled out, we never split up, just some how stopped playing.. then one night I went to a gig and the singer was there with his new band. Also gave me an appreciation of how good he was..

I just like it when people stay interested and keep making music. It's also eye opening to see who can't be bothered..

not_the_dj

Teetonetal said:

 a folk/ska punk band 

A what????  8-}

monquixote

A former bass player of one of my bands described it as like watching someone sleeping with your ex girlfriend.

I however have been to my old bands gigs and quite enjoyed it.

p90fool

There's nothing more boring than watching two people sleeping, except perhaps watching my old band.

Teetonetal

not_the_dj said:

Teetonetal said:

 a folk/ska punk band 

A what????  8-}

That sort of thing was all the rage in the early 2000 (in south east england anyway), Band line up was drums, bass, guitar, banjo / mandolin, violin, saxophone ( also 2nd guitar) and french horn.

We were into the Sex Pistols, Dropkick Murphy's, Less than Jake, Floggin' Molly, NOFX, The Levellers and Fairport Convention..

Depending on your outlook it was either eclectic or shit. 

stickyfiddle

I'd really like to see my old lot play. The originals band broke up, but I'd have really liked watching us, and the covers band are now a 3 piece (I like to think they struggled to find a replacement guitar player up to my level, but I suspect it's more so the money only gets split 3 ways...!)

Handsome_Chris

monquixote said:

A former bass player of one of my bands described it as like watching someone sleeping with your ex girlfriend.

I however have been to my old bands gigs and quite enjoyed it.

Pervert!

gazzauk

I'm just about to do my last 3 gigs with one of my bands....I'll definitely be going to see them when I've left, always wondered what we sounded like out front! I expect it to be very interesting. 

DesVegas

Well i wouldnt say it was like watching an old girlfriend having sex thats for sure. It was a cover band so i'd heard most of the songs a million times before, they had a few new ones which were brilliant, jonny cash and gimmie shelter.

I do however think it'd be a different experience watching your old originals band play live and i guess thats where the exgirlfriend analogy comes from.

koneguitarist

None of the bands I had carried on after I left?

EricTheWeary

I was replaced in the Damnbusters and they did a few gigs with the new guitarist before collapsing. There is a clip on YouTube but I can never bring myself to watch it. Not a very guitary band so you probably couldn't even hear him in the mix but I do kind of hope it is shit.

DesVegas

man up and watch it @erictheweary

english_bob

monquixote said:

A former bass player of one of my bands described it as like watching someone sleeping with your ex girlfriend.

I can't say I've ever had the...er... Anyway. I was in a band with a singer-songwriter for several years back in the day. He left the band to move to London in search of fame and fortune and as we had been playing his original songs exclusively the band folded. I saw him and his new band- same lineup, different musicians- a year or so later, playing the same songs, but with new parts and new arrangements. He was every bit as good as he'd always been but the band were bloody awful- felt like they weren't listening to each other, or to the songs- and I told him so. Weird feeling. I didn't want my ex-bandmate back, but I didn't want to see "our" music like that.

Stevepage

My old band never did another gig after I left. I did hear a track they done though and my god it sounded awful. Reminded me why I left like I did.

viz

I left the Queen tribute band I was in and they got another guitarist - a real Queen fan - and then they invited me to join them all as a guest at a charity festival thing, doing Queen and non-Queen songs and it was bloody excellent, he was really REALLY good. Sounded exactly like Brian May, not like Viz trying to sound like Vai trying to sound like Brian May.

Paul_C

I might well pop out tomorrow night to see an old band, mostly because I don't get much chance to catch up with them and they're playing about as close to me as they ever get (and the pub does great food too )