PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic WAR STORIES (horror tales from your past music performances)

This is not about a gig, but a contract. I was labeled as the bad guy and the most heartless SOB in the area over this one.

We had a couple approach us about playing their wedding. The date was 8 months into the future. We suggested that they wait, get the venue locked down, find out about food and booze costs, etc... and then we would talk once they knew they had budget for us. They said no, we want to sign you right now so we have you. We said okay. The fee is $3000, and we need half now as a deposit. That deposit is not refundable under any circumstances. If you break up, if you change the date... no reason will get that deposit back. I explained that the policy is NOT to bilk people out of money. It is a matter of us protecting ourselves because holding that day for them would end up bad if they were to call us close to the date of the event and canceled. We would have no chance to book the band for that night, and we would be out of work. We all have rent, or a mortgage, a car payment, etc. This is our work. They were fine with that.

Fast forward to the week of the wedding. The bride called me Monday to tell me how everything was ready and they were so excited that the big day was finally here.

Wednesday night, the groom and the groomsmen went out to party. On the way home, there was a bad accident, the groom was in ICU and 2 of the other guys died. Thursday the bride called me and told me about the sad accident and asked for her deposit check back because there was a possibility that the guy would die and there would never be a wedding.

Well, enter Eddie wearing the black hat. I told her that while I could not be more sorry that this happened, that she signed a contract that included a non-refundable deposit, that it was simply not our fault that they decided to drive drunk rather than rent a bus or hire a limo. She called me every name you could think of, and no matter how I explained that this is how the guys feed their kids, she wasn't going to hear it. I offered that I would start calling around looking for a gig for Saturday, that is was doubtful I would find one, but if I did I would break a rule and refund ONLY the difference between the deposit and what the replacement gig payed. I stressed that it was a longshot that a club would not have a band booked for 2 days from now, but I would give it my best effort, but really to not expect that I could pull it off. She kept screaming at me, cold-hearted, heartless so and so.... finally I just said that I could not do any more than that, and that I was going above and beyond given that we had a contract that said no refunds.

When word of that got around, man, everybody hated me, and all I did was make sure that the guys did not have to go without a paycheck that night. That was a $550 per man night for us! When the few most vocal people who were bashing me actually talked to me and I explained it just that way, that if it was THEM in the band and the option was not making $550 or coming off as cold, they all ultimately agreed that business is business and that it wasn't our fault that the guys made that bad choice to drive. It wasn't a lot of people calling me out, but enough to make it rough on me individually and us as a band. From what I heard, the guy lived and they married when he recovered, like 18 months later, but by then I was no longer in that band and I have no idea if they played it or not. I hated that they had the accident, but I didn't buy them as much as ONE drink!