Yesterday at shoundcheck, the soundguy we'd booked turned up drugged up to the eyeballs and 30 minutes late. He told us that he'd spent $150 on "stuff to get him wired for the gig". He was unable to walk straight, was slurring his speech, had cuts and bruises all over his arms and knuckles and still somehow believed that he would be able to deliver a good mix.
So, naturally, we fired him on the spot and hired someone else. Which caused a bit of confusion in the mind of the first guy, who couldn't understand what a mess of things he'd made.
After the swearing, breaking of glasses over the mixing desk and toppling of picnic tables was done with, the other guy turned up and gave us a fantastic mix at very short notice.
I have two questions:
1. Has anyone ever had similar problems with sound engineers, or any interesting anecdotes to tell?
2. Were we right to fire him like that?
By the way, the gig went off, you should've been there.
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You're well within your rights i ...
You're well within your rights i reckon, if you turn up to work work, drunk, stoned or high or whatever, you'd get the boot... if this is his job, you're his boss, he let you down, you sacked him.
yes, have been in a very similar ...
yes, have been in a very similar position - but at soundcheck, everything sounded great, the guy was awesome on the desk, completely understood our lust for clippy bass and overdrive guitar, and was making very supportive noises about working at later gigs for us, he was so into our sound. we were real happy with him ... but later, when it came time for the gig itself, he was completely stoned and made our Dunedin-sound band sound like dub with all the delay he put onto our sound. it's funny now, and we still consider him a nice guy, but at the time it was very infuriating and not very pleasant for us, the bands we'd asked to support us, or him (he was freaking out during most of it). very bad vibes. don't think we'd work with him again ...
but then again, some people are able to deliver a good mix despite/because of their inebriated state. but i do think you were within your rights.
Ah yes, the drunk soundguy. There was ...
Ah yes, the drunk soundguy. There was one guy in chch in the 90s who was notorious for turning up to the gig a little worse for wear for a day out on the booze. Thing was, as seems to be the case with the stories above, he was a *great* sound engineer, and would get us a sparkling mix in the soundcheck. Trick was to make sure he a) didn't get given permission to use the band's tab, and b) didn't get *near* the desk once the gig had started.
But, as iluvtheclean points out. some people are different, and work really well when they're trousered. Hard to know until you give them a chance. (And, from experience, the guy we used was *not* good when drunk. I remember once, before we'd learnt our lesson, standing on stage and hearing him crank the bass drum up until the whole bar was reverberating with each kick. which probably sounded wicked to him, but was making every one else feel vaguely sick).
You're just a big meanie Fud... our ...
You're just a big meanie Fud... our sound guy vomited in our sound booth room thingy, it was gross but funny ;)
but seriously...If he was too off his face to pretend to play with the sound desk nod and occasionally walk around pretending to listen to the levels... yeah giving him the flick was the thing to do :-)
i thought it was standard practise for ...
i thought it was standard practise for soundguys to get hammered in one form or another before they mixed bands.
//i thought it was standard practise ...
//i thought it was standard practise for soundguys to get hammered in one form or another before they mixed bands.
I think that's what makes some bands sound horrible.
Drummers are expected to turn up drunk, ...
Drummers are expected to turn up drunk, it's just rock and roll. :) Personally, I'm guilty of being hungover on a certain gig I did, and I'd sworn the night before not to drink, so it was my fault, and I didn't charge for the gig. If you're happy with a soundy being drunk/stoned at the desk, then it's on your own head, but you're well within your rights to tell an Engineer to leave because he's inebriated.
Technically, the ear's response curve becomes degraded with alcohol, it's a proven fact. That means you're getting substandard goods, and you're entitled to a refund or exchange of product for to the same or lesser value. :D