Article was removed from Facebook now....
Anyway.... Great topic about gigging while they
keep the TV on behind you on the wall on stage in a bar etc,..throughout your show!
so distracting to the band and disrespectful also.

Thoughts?

Link not working

I don't care, I have no need to resort to Facebook.
Ray

bernie somehow it's gone from FB ?
but I posted what it was about..

That happened to me at an Elks club I played every Sunday afternoon. It so happened that a new bartender took over that shift, and would have the TV on when I came in to set up. I pleasantly told him that I started playing at 2:00, and the TV would have to be turned off as it was too distracting. He muttered something and went about his business. I finished setting up and at my scheduled time, I went over to the bar to tell him I was ready, and please turn it off. He said no, he was watching the game. I went back, apologized to the patrons at the tables, packed up and left. That was the last of the animal joints.

WTG Bernie I can't blame you......
why have music if they are gonna watch the game?

ITs totally disrespectful but has become the norm to have TVs on whild live music is being performed. Its everywhere.
--NYE 2000 - playing in the corner of a restaurant with a TV right over my head ( no sound ) and everyone watching to see what would blow up at midnight.
--Playing with my duo in a bar and the bartender asking us to turn down so he could hear the Hockey Game sound familiar Bernie
--Playing solo Piano in the bar section of an upscale restaurant and the TV over my head is on all night. It was a fill in gig so I didn't say anything, played , got paid, and never went back.
NYE at a place I did for number of years. Had to take a long break around midnight so they could roll out the 6' TV and watch the ball drop in NYC. I didn't care, never liked that night anyway.

I played one restaurant for several Saturdays where they had 3 tv's on at bar while we played. Football season. Hated it. Had music playing which one bartender shut off for us first week, following weeks they left it on.. Also had another band come in for the late shift and gave us half hour to get off and tear down. Their fans weren't ours and changed the atmosphere as they came in, and the band hauling their stuff in and stacking it up was a huge distraction. Other than getting paid, the last set was a bad experience. They also had an outside tournament event one day and those people came trudging through the room constantly. We were supposed to be the attraction, and should have been rescheduled for another day. Thankfully they moved us into a dining room the next year. I haven't pursued that client since.

There are actually a couple of things that come into play in these scenarios ...
Sparky said that his band was supposed to be the attraction, and if that is the case all other 'attractions' should be eliminated ...
The reality is that most of the time - especially in a restaurant setting - the music is an 'add-on' ... perhaps some people are there because they know the person or band that is performing, but most people are there for the food, so we have to 'rein in' our egos and accept that as fact ...
In a lounge/bar setting more often than not there is going to be a TV with some sports game on, especially if it's the local team ... This is the situation even in the upscale Italian restaurant I sometimes sub at ... In the lounge, there is a small TV in a corner, in eyesight of about 95% of the room ... the TV is always on, but the sound is off ...
It's never right for the sound to be on while musicians are playing, because while some may want to WATCH the TV, others may want to HEAR the music ...
One thing that should be known by the musicians at the outset is 'who is in charge of the TV', and whether or not the sound is going to be on ... for the bartender to decide this is improper unless he/she is the manager or proprietor ...

You have to really start worrying when they drop down a Cyclone Fence in front of the band on the stage!

I Don’t like it but it’s the norm at most venues. I’m OK as long as the sound is off...

I recently quit performing at a nursing home because whenever I got there the
TV would be blaring. The activities director never seemed to be around and I would be the one who had to turn it off. Some of the more senile residents would get agitated..... I tried to tell them very nicely that I was there to play music for them and I had to turn off the TV, but some of them didn’t want me to interrupt the Gun Smoke” marathon!.... Tuff crowd!

If the TV isn`t switched OFF when you`re about to start playing,
sit down and watch it with the rest of them,I`m sure someone
will soon be tapping you on your shoulder.

"You have to really start worrying when they drop down a Cyclone Fence in front of the band on the stage! surprised"

When I first started play out, my drummer got us a gig in a real redneck bar. Our only requirement was to play plenty of Hank Williams. What we didn't know was that there was chicken wire accrossed the stage. Sure enough, about an hour into our gig the fights started, with beer bottles flying everywhere. They liked us alright, but we passed on any more.

Congrats Bernie. You are truly one of the Blues Brothers.
Keep them dogies rollin', RAWHIDE

For a scheduled activity there should be an employee there to run things such as turning off the TV. Stuff like this is one reason I quit. Once I played a place (Nursing home) and they had no employees there at all. One woman was asking me to get her a blanket and I tried to explain as nicely as possible that an aide should be along to help with that, but the woman continued to complain loudly during the rest of the activity. At a later time, the AD called and wanted me back and I said I would not come back and explained why. She agreed with me and said if I returned that she would make sure the activity was properly supervised. And she made good on her word but that was probably the exception.

But yes, turn the TVs off!

I have been co-existing with TV's for 50 years. One restaurant puts me on the lounge to the left and even with the place for my equipment. The TV is on, behind the bar. Diners at tables with tablecloths eat and can either watch me or the TV, on UK ball game nights.

That's the way it is in "Big Blue" country.

Dealt with Monday night football at a Holiday Inn lounge for 4 years. The way I looked at it, when the football players worked, I didn't have to and I still got paid.

GO TEAM! (Don't follow sports...usually, I didn't even know who was playing).


R.

Only had to compete with the TV when I worked the bar circuit, and they kept the volume turned off all the time. Then, of course, there was new year's eve when some damned fool would turn on the TV to watch the ball drop. I played NYE the same location for 15 years and put a stop to the TV by turning off the circuit breaker that fed the TV plug. After a couple years, no one even tried turning it on on NYE. I always turned the breaker back on before leaving to go home.

Gary

Today's New Year's Eve parties people want to see the ball drop in Times Square at midnight... they will put a screen down right in front of the band what alive c c t feed nobody cares about what's going on on the stage it's a whole new world out there on
New Year's Eve... And finally when the screen goes up everybody went home by then...
Guy Lombardo is turning over in his grave!