So what is it about being a musician that makes people think we are some sort of public property?
I was out at a session this weekend. Nice little gathering of half a dozen musicians in a small pub. Music was great for about 2 hours, until this very drunk and overly enthusiastic man arrived. Clearly the first time he has seen trad music, so he pulls a chair right up to us and proceeds to annoy us and intrude into our personal space. Beginning with taking loads of photos and videos on his mobile phone (with a bright flash I might add). Then whooping and hollering and needing to shake hands with everyone after every set of tunes finished. Then he became even more intrusive, getting up and putting his arms around people, etc. until the enevitable happened and he knocked a drink into someone’s lap (not mine thankfully).
All this was going on in full view of the manager, and the musicians were clearly unhappy about this man’s presence. We stopped playing at several points and sort of looked over for some assistance. Yet the managment did nothing. If we had been a group of six friends sitting around having a meal or a drink, and this guy came up to us and started behaving like this, I know the management would have escorted him out immediately. But somehow because we are six friends who happen to be sitting around a table with instruments, it was almost as though this was acceptable and expected as ‘part of the job’. Now like most of the players there, I’m not getting paid to come to the session. And I’m paying for my own drinks. And I certainly don’t intend to act as a bouncer as well as a piper!
Anyway, suffice it to say I packed up and went home early. And I suspect others were close behind me. Shame as it was a good night up until then.
Thus ends my Monday morning rant! Hope others had better sessions this weekend than I did.
hi rick,yes it is frequently the case that a session is ruined by a knobhead.the bloke can count himself lucky that a piper like finbar furey,paddy keenan or john rooney was’nt there or he would have had a very quick departure.press on.allan.
Count yourself lucky he wasn’t armed with a bodhran.
Seriously though, just tell the bar staff you don’t want that sort of thing happening again, and if they don’t do their part and get rid of tossers, you’ll take your session elsewhere.
Just because a pub is hosting a session doesn’t necessarily mean that the staff there on a given night understand what it’s about. If they’re not intervening appropriately, then you need to educate them to exactly what you described above, and then act. Most are happy to oblige. If there’s a session host, that’s part of their his/her responsibility. Drunken louts are inevitable, but if you just sit there passively and let them spoil your session, then you get what you get.
May I ask why nobody asked him politely to stop annoying you? Drunks are allways annoying, but most of them backs off if they are told to relax. It dont need to be a problem.
True true. Dealing with drunks is part and parcel of playing in pubs. And I agree in most cases is easily dealt with. A word in the ear usually does the trick. But what if that doesn’t work?
Perhaps my first post was unclear, in the sense that my issue wasn’t with the drunk guy. It was with the pub manager who sat by and allowed him to harass the musicians to the point people stopped playing and left. Surely it’s not our job as sesson players to police the pub, and confront people and/or eject them from the bar. And surely the fact that we are playing (most of us for free) is good for business?
I just had to wonder. If we were customers sitting there without instruments and were being harassed by a drunk, I have no doubt the management would have intervened. But because we were musicians (who were also customers as we were buying our own drinks), are we supposed to put up with it?
In any case, I have talked to the session leaders about it. So hopefully they have talked to the owner.
