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Got the idea for this thread from Romanza's Tomatito post! (And need an excuse NOT to do the work I initially turned this computer on to do) Anyone like to share their most annoying people moments in flamenco situations? Here's two for starters:
1. The drunk woman who threw up all over the stage just as I was about to start dancing tarantos at a boozy club in Nottingham where, for some reason, they had booked a flamenco set.
2. The 'obviously foreign tourist' who clapped very loudly and out of time all the way through a cante set in a very small bar in Madrid leaving me (the only other obviously foreign tourist) to try and indicate through facial expressions alone that HE WAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!
There was this flamenco forum where everyone got along just fine until a really annoying guy came and started talking about totally irrelevant things like singing and dancing and everyone just hated him.
Seriously;
Sound engineers can be a real pain, either they havent got a clue about mixing acoustic music and pretend that they do, or they think you are a primadonna when you dont want it to sound like the classical guitar they are used to mixing, and use up their time trying to get it right.
heh the 2 girls that sat at the front of table and were talking all the way trough the dance even tho the light were off, and the spotlight was on stage and everyone was quiet. and in the orst places like after a displante when theres quiet place before silencio. really obvious.
after the show i went from stage straight to theyr table sat down and with a smile said What the F** was that ? did u not notice there was a F**in show on ? why the F** sitt at the front ? congratulations you are the rudest f***in people i ever playd in front of in my life.
everyone in my group was like " Yeah good on you florian !!! tell em !! I am glad you did it !!! that should teach em a lesson.... until we got in trouble with the management ... lol then i was on my own, " -That was wrong florian, shouldnt have done that"
If I could only count the times that people say to me 'oh are you Spanish, Oh you're not. We were having a bet to see if you were!!!' I'm really sick of the one!!
Actually, Karenanne, the "obviously foreign tourist" clapping out of time was me, and the woman who threw up on the stage was my girlfriend. But we know when we're not wanted...
Jb
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¡Si esto no está en compas, esto no es el Flamenco!
My favorite was when i used to play a weekly restraunt gig, solo, just doing some flamenco solos, and classical pieces.
Went over great.
But once every few weeks, i would get "that guy". You know "that guy".
He comes up to me, when im in the middle of playing, and starts waving his hand at me,
"Hey!! You!!! playing the guitar!!! HEY!!! EXCUSE ME!! YOU!! With the guitar, HEY!!! DUDE!! Play something i know for Gods sake! Hey man!! Can you hear me!!??""
As if we're in a loud sports bar. And we're actually in a VERY quiet little restraunt. We're talking a formal place too. The staff is in Tuxedos. He expects i'll just stop playing, and carry on a conversation with him i guess. Of course, he's dead wrong
I just keep playing, and not making any eye contact. He's eventually escorted back to his table.
He's very quiet and polite to everybody else there.
Once I played with a rock band. Then all of a sudden a bunch of "those guys" lifted the PA system and turned it towards the stage. Very funny. Of course we quit playing.
Oh, I've got a few of them, but my favorite was the homeless guy who crashed an upscale party in a retail store and whipped out his business right in front of me as I was playing. The same night a rather attractive woman offered to do me all night. Guitar must have sounded good that night. Flo, I wish you had a you tube of you telling off those rude ladies. Here's my revenge-I'm playing for a wedding reception and as the party comes in, I start playing the only thing I know they will know-the malaguena riff. They start dancing and clapping in time, doing a sort of conga line as they are coming in. Feeling a bit annoyed, I transition right into bulerias-it was hilarious how the clapping just fell apart and the dancing sputtered to a halt.
For gigs? Nothing. I dont gig anymore. I may do another solo concert at Maryland Hall next year, but no more Bars and Restraunts for me. Its too depressing. :) Im getting enough studio work to pay the bills, and its great, becuase now, technically, i play guitar for fun only. Wich of course, makes it, more fun!!
Tonite? Not too much. So i might make some silly guitar videos or something. Ive been working on this picado run run run run run echo echo echo..........................
That's a shame Todd, because as well as you play, it's a crime your not out there all the time. What sort of studio work do you do? Production for others or guitar stuff?
That's a shame Todd, because as well as you play, it's a crime your not out there all the time. What sort of studio work do you do? Production for others or guitar stuff?
Production for a number of things. From TV spots, to local musicians.
Ricardo has been doing some recording here. At the moment, im producing demos for 2 country artists. Wich is alot of fun. Playing lots of different instruments etc etc... Its great not having to gig, unless i feel like it. I actually feel like playing guitar much more, than when i used to gig 5 nights a week. Ive been very fortunate, and im having a blast.
I hate flamencos who act as if they're the wisest around and that they're in a league above everyone else and able to tell who's really "flamenco" and who's not. People who put themselves and flamenco on an unreachable pedistal because they want to feel special for doing something nobody else can.
I know people who do this and they all have massive problems with their self-esteem. Could be they're good as musicians, but they suck as people and colleagues. You can usually tell the really good musicians because they're the ones you're most likely to get along with best, no matter which level you or they are on.
And I do know "That guy". He comes up to me on the street and ask me to play something he knows and I either just ask him for money up front or talk with a fake southern accent: in Germany that scares people off real quick
"That guy" and people talking during a performance are why I now only play for money or people who know and have an interest in flamenco. My company asked me to play at the Christmas party but I politely declined...
In all honesty, I have to admit to really being one if these "annoying people". At least on one occasion. after leaving an Eduardo Niebla concert at the Barbican (London), I met 2 Spaniards busking outside the tube station. Having had a few drinks that evening, I struck up a conversation with the guitarist and asked him if he knew how to play and PDL or Sabicas songs. Surprisingly, he did- I think it was "Rio Ancho" and some of the other ones. The singer with him also did some palmas. I was so impressed (and drunk) that I gave him my personal copy of PDL's "Fantasia Flamenca" CD, which he claimed was "better than getting money". It was surprising because his set-list of songs was mainly stuff like "Blue Moon", etc. So perhaps our little diversion was a positive one (or perhaps not?). Anyway, there you have it. I'll try not to interrupt musicians in future.
Jb
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¡Si esto no está en compas, esto no es el Flamenco!
Hey Todd, That's awesome. From hearing your uploads and reading your posts, it's clear you have a lot of knowledge and skill with recording and it's nice to know there are guys out there like you who are getting to tweak in their studios and make money doing it. One guy wrote on a recording forum that he wished his copy of pro tools came with a million bucks, so he could stay home and mess with it all day. I can relate, as I have a copy of logic and a g5, but little time to mess with it. The tools out there today are incredible.
quote:
ORIGINAL: ToddK
Production for a number of things. From TV spots, to local musicians.
Ricardo has been doing some recording here. At the moment, im producing demos for 2 country artists. Wich is alot of fun. Playing lots of different instruments etc etc... Its great not having to gig, unless i feel like it. I actually feel like playing guitar much more, than when i used to gig 5 nights a week. Ive been very fortunate, and im having a blast.
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ohh 
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