Here's a good example of ego gone bad:
My wife and I have been planning a fundraiser for a local grass roots breast cancer charity (my wife is a 2 time survivor). We had everything donated...the club, food, door prizes, and other bands (mostly friends' bands) offer to perform for free. All proceeds going to the charity. All the venue asked was to keep the bar $. We had asked a popular local/regional band if they would headline the event, hoping they would draw a larger crowd than the rest of our bands.
From the beginning this band was difficult. They were rude the night we asked them, looking at us like we were people just after autographs or something. Then they called us and said they were sympathetic to the cause and wanted to play. Great. So I called the bandleader and asked about technical aspects, and to explain what would be provided. I had volunteered the use of my 6-piece Gretsch USA Maple kit, my Mackie PA, and had a good friend to run sound. He's a pro that's been running sound in Charlotte for 10+ years. Remember, this is for a charity event. They said they needed 6
separate monitors and individual mixes, a 4x12 bass cabinet, a separate aux send for the lead vocalists' in-ear monitors, and complained when I said I didn't have a subwoofer (at the time). When I tried to explain to him that we didn't have that much equipment, and this was going to be a small venue and a subdued evening, he made a comment along the lines of "...well, REAL musicians need this type of equipment". That p*ssed me off. I called my wife and told her what he had said, she called him and said thanks, but no thanks.
Well, he backtracked again, apologized and said they really wanted to play. So ok. I spoke to my sound man and he told me what we had to work with equipment-wise and that 6 monitors w/ separate mixes was out of the question for this gig/room. So, I again told the bandleader what he could expect, what time I saw them starting (9:30-9:45 and play til 11:00) and that we'd need at least one band rep there before 6 to get stage plot, etc.
Day of the event, trusty sound man calls bandleader to ask instrumentation, etc. Bandleader again insists on 6 mixes. He's getting 2. Soundman was steadfast in what we had to work with, the size of the room, and that it was for a CHARITY event. The event started at 6, first two bands went without a hitch. My band was playing 3rd. We got about 1/3 of the way through, went into an instrumental and my wife(the singer) left the stage. The bandleader begins hounding her about when are they going to start. She said that we had just started and they were the next band. He went on again about his players having to go to work Monday morning, she said lots of people at the event had to go to work Monday. He threw a bit of a tantrum. She comes back to the stage during the song and tells me this. I said to send them home. She relayed this, they didn't listen.
After the song was over, I found the bandleader and asked what was going on. He made it seem like it was an innocent question about when they were starting. I found out then from my wife what had been said, and I again sent them home. They left this time. I found out later from the club manager that they had asked for a free bar tab since they were playing for free. They hadn't brought a single "fan" with them. None of them came. They had done no promoting on their own, didn't even bring their wives/girlfriends.
We'll never book them again for anything, or recommend them. We plan on making this event an annual October event. Guess we'll just have to be the headliners ourselves
