[Harp-L] now i understand...

[Garry <harp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

...why people hate harmonica players.

so, i'm at a friend's gig saturday.  he invites me to set up after
the first set and sit in the rest of the night.  we're close to the
next break, starting up Texas Flood, when the owner/manager
walks up with this kid (25 years old or so?), pushes him into the
midst of the band, where he grabs a vocal mic from the singer,
takes his one harmonica out of his pocket, and starts screeching
and squawking and huffing and puffing, seemingly randomly.  no
concept of the song, or the key, or what anybody else is doing.
just noise.  step on a cat's tail kind of noise.

seeing that no good can come from this, i heard my drink calling me,
and sat back to watch the rest of the band, wearing pained frozen
smiles, trying to get through the song without laughing.  my friend is
trying to humor him without offending him, the owner, or the large
crowd of his friends and family at the far end of the bar.

that song ends, he yells, "follow me" and starts off again.  the two
guitarists take off their axes and walk off.  the bass player and
drummer (my friend) mostly staring in horror, playing a little
behind him.  eventually that stops.  they beat a hasty retreat,
"we're taking a short break.  be right back".

if only.  the kid than sits behind jim's drums and starts to play them.
gets a nasty look from jim, then the owner seems to realize the problem
he's caused and coaxes the kid away.  gives him a beer, like he needs
any more alcohol.  the kid then spends the rest of the break following jim
around, asking "what are we gonna do next set?"

jim goes to talk to the owner, who argues with the kid.  finally says,
"they're done.  they're packing up".  so we do.  kid storms out, but
it's already over at that point.  we pack up and split.

the whole thing was amazing.  we had this great little gig going, the
band was hot, the crowd into it.  this kid brought the whole thing to a
screeching halt, then killed it dead.

i was bemused, and aghast, and annoyed.  embarrassed to even be
associated with that.  the bass player said it wasn't that he was a harp
player, but that he was an idiot that was the problem.  but you never
see guitar players do that.  or bass players.

in any case, yeah, now i understand why people hate harmonica players.



--
We make a living from what we get,
but we make a life from what we give.
- Kathy Moser