Performing musicians: Last-minute substitutions in the band

Cafe Society
1

This thread over here, Why Classical Musicians Read Music, included an anecdote about a classical violinist filling in at the last minute for the regular musician who was injured on the day of the performance.

That reminded me of something I’ve often wondered about, with regard to non-classical musical performers, like rock or country music artists. What do they do when a member of the band is injured or falls ill on the day of a performance and is unable to play, yet it would be silly and/or financially unfeaseable to cancel the performance? For the purpose of this question, I’m going to exclude the following:

• bands like Rush where each individual, specific musician is integral to the band’s sound/performance - if you go to a Rush concert, you expect to see Geddy, Alex, and Neil, and so a substitution is out of the question

• injured/ill frontmen or other distinctive focal points, i.e. if Neil Diamond or Britney Spears can’t take the stage, there’s no show

So I’m talking about “side men”, basically. Those guys who back up a solo artist, or even the “lesser” members of a named band. Sure, George Strait has been recording and touring with essentially the same group of “backup” musicians for 30+ years, but the name on the marquee is still “George Strait”, and that’s who people are coming to see. What does George do on the day of a concert when his bass player wakes up and discovers that last night’s chicken must have been bad and he’s too ill to go on stage, or his drummer trips and falls off the drum riser during sound check and sprains his wrist?

Obviously, it would be impractical (and expensive) to carry around a full complement of “reserve” musicians “just in case”, so either the concert is going to be canceled or they’re going to have to quickly hire a substitute. Depending on where they are when the regular musician becomes incapacitated, it might not be possible to fly in a hot studio cat from Nashville in time for the show. So do they, or the promoter, make a hurried search for a suitable local musician to fill in for the night? Any reasonably-sized city should have any number of musicians who could do the job.

Now let’s say they do locate and hire a suitable local to fill in for the night. Because it’s unlikely that this substitute, no matter how talented, is intimately familiar with the artist’s entire repertoire, does that band carry with them some kind of printed scores/lead sheets that they can provide to the substitute so that he can keep up? Speaking for myself as a reasonably competent bass player, I could do the job with nothing more than a lyric sheet with the chords written in (which would be informative enough that I could provide a bass line appropriate to the song, even if it’s not note-for-note identical to the original recording), plus actual notation for any distinctive/signature licks that need to be played exactly. What would I actually be provided with?

2

When I lived in Minnesota, I got not-infrequent (2-3 times a year) calls from different people, asking if I could do a bass-playing gig at the Target Center or other large local venue to replace some injured/ill/whatever musician.

Obviously this was a case of mistaken identity, since I couldn’t even identify a bass vs. a cello vs. a harmonica, and certainly can’t play one. But there’s obviously a list of “local talent” floating around for such last-minute substitutions.

3

I saw Cheap Trick a couple of years ago with a substitute drummer since Bun E. Carlos was in the hospital. I don’t know if it was a last-minute thing or that he was able to rehearse.

Chuck Berry, who toured alone, was notorious for picking out his backup band the day of the concert and not rehearsing or even telling them the set list. It led to some very uneven shows.

4

Who I came in to mention. The drummer in my previous-generation mid-life crisis band played with Chuck a few times and this is exactly how it played out. Chuck showed up and expected you to know his songs. If you asked to run through any of them even once, you were ignored or told to shut up…

As for my experiences, well it’s kinda like having someone sit in. We had a decent haven’t-played-in-years guy sit in with us at a charity gig we played at over the weekend. He was on drums, so I just said “strap on your helmet and follow my lead” and he did - I play a fairly aggressive rhythm guitar and made sure my amp was on an angle so he could hear it and I just drove the bus…that happens a lot when you have to get someone to fill in at the last minute.

A couple of months ago I went to see a buddy’s band at a local bar. A couple of drinks in, the guy said “and here’s [WordMan] who’s gonna play a song with us!” Ummm, what? So I literally walked up and they handed me a guitar, called out the song and started playing. Fortunately I knew the song pretty well - and I think my buddy had to have known that. (of course, he was at the charity gig last night, so I approached him during a break and asked him to join us for a song, too, but he begged off - what’s up with that?! I shoulda just announced him like he did to me…;))

5

I’m so reminded of this (from 3:04 to 3:40)

As for the question: isn’t this one of the things roadies are for? For instance, when James Hetfield got burnt to a crisp, didn’t his roadie take over his guitar duties for a few weeks while Hetfield only sang?

6

Not always. Lynyrd Skynyrd did a benefit for Hurricane Katrina victims with Kid Rock standing in for Johnny Van Zant on vocals. I don’t know if they allowed him to sing Free Bird, but as far as I know, he sang the rest of the show.

7

Not a musician myself, but married to one (guitar player). He’s subbed in a TON over the years, and called people to sub in as last-minute replacements in his own bands.

Really seasoned – or just really talented – musicians can go with the flow, and it doesn’t particularly matter if they’ve even heard a given song before.

How it generally seems to work (from my observations):
Just before the song kicks off, someone will tell the substitute the key, the fundamental chord progressions and the time signature. The drummer may signal the exact pace for a bar or two before anyone else joins (if the drummer is the sub, the bass player does this). Seasoned musicians know how to listen as they play and tailor their performance to fit the song and the band.

Other little tricks that can help the new guy:
[ul]
[li]Another player faces him and mouths the chords when it’s time to change[/li][li]Another player tells the new guy the feel of the song[/li][li]The new guy waits until he’s heard the first few lines to join at all[/li][li]The rest of the band adapts to the level of the new guy, playing material they all know instead of their planned set list[/li][/ul]

8

A few years ago some friends had tickets to see the Charlie Daniels’ Volunteer Jam here in Phoenix. It was Daniels, Molly Hatchet and Marshall Tucker.

The singer for Tucker had the sore throat from Hell. He trouped on as long as he could, but in the end his voice was just flat giving out. The show was supposed to end with Tucker singing, “Can’t You See.” He shanghaied a roadie to run backstage and the guy came back out with the singer from Hatchet. The singer from Tucker said, “These people deserve to go home happy. Would you mind taking over for me and singing Can’t You See? I just can’t do it.”

The singer from Hatchet said, “I’ve been waiting 23 years to do that song in concert. I think I can hook you up.” They killed.

9

When the Beatles toured Australia in 1964, Ringo missed the first leg of the tour with tonsillitis. Some guy called Jimmy Nichol played drums in the early concerts.

10

I have a rather funny story about this.

I was in a band and the drummer hurt himself the day before the show. He basically split his hand down the middle between two fingers.

There was another drummer named Phil in a band that we played with a lot. He knew the basics of our songs. He filled in.

During the show Phil was following our bass player for changes. For some reason or another the sound guy was screwing with the monitors. About 4 or 5 songs in he killed the monitor for Phil

Did I mention Phil was nuts?

So the sound guy killed Phil’s monitors. All of the sudden the drums stopped. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Phil *vaulting *over his drum set. Phil then jumped over the rows of people at the stage. He ran up the aisle, *vaulted again over a couple rows of people. He jumped over the sound board and proceeded to start beating on the sound guy.

We all dropped our gear and jumped off the stage. We got to the sound board and pulled Phil off the guy. The sound guy wasn’t really hurt but he was very shaken up. We pulled Phil back to the stage. Another guy who we had played with in the past was there. He had run sound for us a couple times. He took over the board duties since the sound guy left.

We finished the show, though Phil was playing rather fast after that.

I also filled in for a couple of my friends bands. All the bands I was in and that we played with did originals. Usually I had a day or two to get the basic stuff down. Though one day I was asked about an hour before the show. I generally hung out near the other guitarist (if there was one) or the bass player and followed them. I had a rather handy skill I picked up from learning to play guitar in my bedroom as a kid. I played directly across from a mirror and watched my playing in the mirror. This was handy because I got really good at following other players.

Slee

*Somehow, being in a metal band, this wasn’t too strange.

11

That, my friend, is a story.

Drummers are nuts. The ones worth playing with, anyway. :wink:

12

Not me. I do stuff that isn’t very typical, arrangement-wise, and would sound like crap if we tried to sub someone at the last minute. With jam bands, country, blues, and the like, where the songs follow a typical pattern, it’s possible.

Of course, there’s exceptions to every rule…I once saw some friends of mine (kind of a Ramones/New York Dolls-ish band) play with a sub drummer with only one rehearsal under his belt…he had an artificial leg, weighed about 300 pounds, and played what looked like a kid-sized kit. But I swear to god, that guy hit the drums harder than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life ( I seriously thought they’d break!) and just nailed the set.

13

Most of my playing experience has been in cover bands. It is fairly easy to use a sub in those bands. A wedding reception band I was in throughout the 90s used subs a few times. We had a song list of about 150 songs, of which we only played 30 to 40 at a typical gig. Most of these songs were ones that any musician who was experienced in the pop covers niche would have heard a lot and probably played at some point. We would present the master list to the sub and have him pick the 30 or 40 songs he thought he could do the best job on, ones he knew best. We’d go through them and he’d make notes on any ways that our arrangement deviated from the popular recorded version. Add a few pre-song reminders and lots of eye contact, and things usually went pretty smoothly.

Big acts do cancel or postpone concerts due to illness of a band member. I had to wait a few extra months to see Bruce Springsteen a few years back because Clarence Clemmons had an issue with his eyes.

14

In jazz, it’s a lot more common for a leader or soloist to show up in town and perform with whoever happens to be the house band, or whoever the local presenter has lined up for him. (That’s apparently how Paul Desmond hooked up with Jim Hall and then later, Ed Bickert.) In ways, it’s less critical because it’s not like there exists a definitive, set in stone version of a given jazz standard - the band is improvising around a set of chord changes and listening very carefully so that they can expand on what each other are playing.

Yes, there are supergroups in jazz, too - I can’t imagine being the guitarist asked to step in for Al diMeola in Return to Forever, for instance - but it’s less common to encounter pieces that can only be played one way by one musician.

I remember seeing Bucky Pizzarelli last year, and he used a local drummer and bass player. There was a funny moment early on in the show, when Bucky was playing a ballad. On an ‘A’ chord, Bucky went ‘E’ - ‘A’ on that seventh string that he had, just a split second before the bass player played his low ‘A’. The bass player had this look on his face like there was something desperately wrong with his monitor, and then, the look was replaced with a look that said ‘Oh, yeah - right.’ He then said to Bucky “I forgot you had that note.” Bucky laughed and said “That’s not the first time that’s happened.”

15

In 2007 a friend asked if I wanted to go to a My Chemical Romance concert. His brother was the drummer’s technician and got us free tickets. After the show he told us the band’s bassist was ill that night and that the bass tech played the show instead. The tech had tried his best to fade into the background - he stayed near the back left of the stage all night and was never spotlighted, or even well lit for that matter. I wasn’t familiar with MCR at the time so it didn’t really register. I just thought he was doing a good job of keeping focus on the front man.

So, at least in this case, the technincians were more like understudies. My friend’s brother has worked for several well known artists and has a band of his own, so I’m sure he could stand in if needed (I didn’t ask, though - too busy checking out the tour bus. Hey look, Heineken!)

16

I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned The Who.

They famously had to ask “Is there a drummer in the house?”

They were someways into their concert when Keith Moon passed out at the drumkit, alcohol and drugged out to within an inch of his life (as usual). Pete asked the audience if there was a drummer who knew their songs. A guy did come up and give it a go. I have no idea how well it did or didn’t go.

.

17

It was at the Cow Palace in SF - you can find video of it if you do a search; can’t recall if it is on Youtube…

ETA - His name was Scot Halpin - I think this is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B92DK5zoH8

18

Phil was a great drummer but absolutely psycho. He got into a lot of fights.

His day job was as a mechanic at a Yugo dealership. He hated the job. The problem was that he kept damaging the cars and had to keep working to pay off the damage he did. He ripped the door off of one car. Another one he managed, somehow, to rip off the hood.

The last time I saw the guy was at a party years ago. By that time he was shooting heroin. I never heard of him after that. I imagine he either ended up in prison, or more likely died.

Le Ministre de l’au-delà, I can’t imagine stepping in for Al diMeola either. There are a couple players that I think could pull it off, but not many. That man has some serious technical skills.

Slee

19

Oh boy, did we have it happen!

I act in an Alice Cooper tribute. A couple of years ago we had a band explosion. First off our other actress quit cold two days before our Halloween gig.(actually the Saturday before). We threw in a friend who had seen the show a couple of times. She had to come up with her costumes and be trained in a couple of fairly complicated scenes in just one practice. As a matter of fact, she was so good that she’s still with us! Okay, the show was Saturday and we had onother booked at a mansion for Halloween night, Tuesday I think. Sunday our bass and guitar players bailed. Oh crap!

Luckily they had laid down some tracks for the rest of the guys to use in practice. We called up the owner of the place and explained that we had half a band, two actresses and a snake along with the tracks. Yep, that was fine with her - she also had an Ozzy tribute and another band coming. Just do a few songs, kill off “Alice”, pass around the snake and all would be well. A short show later we were splitting $1000 between two less band members and everyone walked away happy. Gotta love rock and roll!

20

Another last-minute replacement happened when Eddie Vedder was too sick to continue, so Neil Young came out and finished the concert (Review here). In that case, however, the original band ended up being more like a backup band. They’d already recorded an album together, so there were a number of songs they could do from that. The rest was Neil Young songs. Pearl Jam already covered Neil Young songs live, and the band likely had no trouble playing anything he wanted to go with.