I have seen many omb performers, bands, etc drinking their brains out during a gig on stage... not to mention smoking while playing or keeping the cigarette in the top strings of a guitar. Well with the strict smoking laws in some states that vice is pretty much curtailed indoors,..but the drinking is getting worse and worse... people are blasted on stage in these bars, drinks on top of the amps, keyboards or whatever..and it's bad enough you have to play for drunks too !!

what the heck is going on out there......and then these people will drive home too with no concern about the consequences of getting arrested for DUI....gonna be a sad day when you have to walk to a gig pulling your rock and roller cart behind you to the job, or having someone drive you all the time and pic you up also. Only one drink is over the limit in most states!!.. I will admit years ago I was a big drinker, times and laws were different but no more,...I only drink water on a gig or mostly anywhere I go.
So are you a gig drinker ?

Well, when i wear a youngermans shoes and still played in bands it took me half a bottle of JD to get the guts to get on stage.... It helped me a lot...

Its one of the reasons i decided that live music was not my thing....

Needles to say, we mostly played for free beer and drinks and had to make th emost of it... And comming from near Amsterdam, 7" long cigarets on most stages where part of the act too

I really dont think much has changed since then, most musicians still drink, and many still smoke.. If you think it was ever different? You must have been sleeping on the job...

These days I let my Music & the interaction between the audience make me high & it's a beautiful thing!

I only drink when I'm by myself or with someone.

Gary

I don't drink or smoke or do drugs...been off them all for over 30 years. They became a major problem, so I quit.

I had played plenty of gigs under the influence, and I always thought it helped me play better...until, someone recorded the band one night...I was pretty awful.



Last year, at a dinner gig, one couple asked if they could buy me a drink, and I said, "No thanks, I'm allergic to alcohol."

"You are?"

"Yes," I said, "When I drink, I break out in spots!"

"You do?"

"Yes," I replied, very seriously, "Bars, legions, nightclubs, bootleggers, and occasionally, jail!"


Ian

What Ian said,exactly.

Let me clarify a few things here about the worlds greatest invention - BEER!

http://vimeo.com/23278902

Enjoy,

Gary

I don't smoke or spit or chew, and I don't go with girls what do.

I don't drink on gigs. People don't pay you to see you get sloshed. Years ago I would drink on jobs and it usually didn't turn ou so well. Much better to sit down and relax with a drink after the show is over.

Joe

I played a big Octoberfest gig last nite,....the German Beer was flowing big time in Steins,.....I enjoyed the great German food, Knackwurst, Sauerbraten, Wiener Schnitzel, Potato Pancakes, Apple Strudel, Blaukraut, Yummmy!!....but I only drank Water didn't want to take any chances driving home. A fun night for all!!

That brought out a good chuckle ......Thanks Gary, I needed that.

I was never a drinker, disliked the taste of beer, and for a couple years drank mixed drinks "socially"..

During those two years, customer buying drinks for the band (me and my girl partner) were statis quote...

I finally got tired of accepting customer drinks, and it made no sense to me to drink..
October 1989, a waitress bought me a drink(her treat), and I told her that would be the last drink for ...ever..

To this date I refuse to drink booze, have no interest..

When I tell this story, folks always think I must have had a drinking problem, and went on the wagon.....furthest from the truth...I just never needed booze, or drugs(never)...
My sons are beer drinkers, and my daughters and wife will drink wine..........but I still refrain...

Now icecream, that's a different story..

People are always coming up and sitting drinks on my console, which I quickly move to a safer location that's far enough away from the equipment to prevent accidental spills. Now, I'm not going to insult my customers by refusing a drink, and during the performance I may take a couple sips of ice-cold beer, or even a Margaretta, if offered. Getting blasted is something the kids do - not adults! I hope we're a lot smarter than that. If one beer, or one mixed drink, sipped during a 3 to 4-hour performance is sufficient to put you into the Twilight Zone, then by all means, you either have some sort of allergy to alcohol, or you're a drunk. Either way, you are the person that should not accept that gratuitous offering. I got blasted one time on a job - I was 18 years old and in Barcelona, Spain. After that one time, it never happened again and never will. So, yes, I will accept that kind offer of an ice cold beer or mixed drink, but it will likely take the entire night to consume it.

Bottom's up,

Gary

Usually, if someone insists on buying me a drink, I just ask for a bottle of Perrier.

Then, everyone's happy.

Ian

I usually decline the alcohol...saying I have a long drive home...and maybe accept a soft drink..

When I owned my own nightclub, lots of people bought me drinks. I couldn't refuse because the money was going to ME. I told the bartender to make me screwdrivers, but to hold her finger over the pour hole when she poured the vodka.
I know, it's a shady area, but I didn't want to insult my customers by refusing, and the club needed the income, and I wasn't going to drink the booze, so everybody won.
I even told some of my regulars what I was doing, but they said they didn't care!
Good old days! I played there, in my own place, six nights a week for about seven years.

... what Fran said. My sax men have all been drinkers , the last one chased away the best girl singer ever. Had to fire another singer for drugs and alcohol and finally closed up the band. Much happier now that I'm a OMB.

I usually don't drink when I am playing.Not that I don't want to, I simply don't have time.

I think of it this way...if I was working in a music store, or any other job dealing with the public, I doubt very much if my employer would think it was okay if I had a few drinks during work hours.

Gigging is just being employed for your musical output; it's not a night out, and just because you work in a bar, doesn't give you permission to drink on the job, even if someone is buying them for you.

Ian

Yada yada yada!

Chugga chugga chugga...burp!

Ian

I rarely drink... I only do at social situations where someone offers me a drink and it would be too awkward to decline- like if someone just poured me a glass of their prized vintage wine. I don't really enjoy the taste and I always find a way to just take a sip and discreetly discard of the drink.

As far as drinking at a gig, I don't have time for that! I have to set up and tear down all my gear and of course I want to perform to the best of my abilities. Further more, I don't have the luxury to sleep in all day to ward off any adverse effects that a night of drinking can do to ones body. And who needs all those extra calories?

At a performance? Haven't for 30+ years...I'm not that good that I can cover up the screw-ups.

Thing is: a performance is different than playing a gig where everyone at the party is a few sheets to the wind.

There's an old saying..."The more you drink, the better I sound".

But I don't drink at gigs either.

I drank bar brandy...one old fashion glass a set, with a little ice and up to 4 ounces of brandy. I did that every night, 6 nights a week for 30 years. Never bought one...they magically
appeared on my piano. Sometimes, with the drinks the customers bought, there were lots more than 4.

I did that until 1988...over 30 years. Never drank at lunch, home, after work...just on the job.

As I got older, it got harder. I always worked 7:30m AM to 4:15; then taught at college; then played a 9 to 1 job.

Finally, my bartender Irma, who I took to all my jobs, if possible (commission-she had a following), said", let's see how much you drink a night". 5 glasses, drained from the ice was almost 1/2 quart.

That scared me to death. Got a complete physical. Found out that I was not chemically addicted, but socially addicted.

Quitting took no willpower at all. Replaced brandy with decaf coffee.

The hardest part of quitting was listening to myself stone sober at 1:00 AM. Damn, I thought I just got better every hour.

NOT!

For years, I was afraid to play in bars. Every one had "regulars:, who had wrecked their lives...lost families and jobs...house, drinking.

I try not to think that I am hired to keep people around to buy drinks....even when I'm in a dining room, not a bar.

I'm pretty lucky to have survived, relatively healthy.

WATCH THE BOOZE.

Russ

The stuff that's in decaf coffee will kill you a lot faster than booze! Some nasty stuff in decaf, mainly because of the decaffeinating process and the chemicals used.

Cheers,

Gary

I thought I once had a license to drink. After all I worked in sales for one of the major liquor wholesalers and most liquor sales guy drank to promote the brands they sell.

Then, one day this guy Bill and his buddy Bob said to me, "kid if you keep that up one of 3 things are going to happen; 1. You'll do jail time 2. Wind up in the in an asylum or 3. You'll die!...................... I thought about that and accepted the fact they were probably right. Now and for the last 30 years ice cream and Starbucks coffee, bold, black with no sugar, never decaf those are about the strongest things I take part in today..........but I sure did have some fun with booze before it turned on me.