finally, we can all breath a sigh of relief
Entry posted by mark555
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A new chapter is about to begin with my band, Route 62. We are finally rid of our other guitarist and his wife, Mrs Satan. It didn't go without trouble though, but we expected it. However, the deadly duo of the Satan's sank to new lows.
We were playing a gig fifty miles from my home and it was the last one we were playing with the present line up, and it is important to state that he left because he chose to do so.
I knew that it was imperative that one of the three of us collected the fee for the night because if they got hold of it because if they did, we knew we would not see a penny of it. So I had a word with the venue manager and she made sure she gave it to me. We actually played very well and we got a return booking for when we have a new guitar player. Even Satan's guitar amp breaking down didn't ruin the set during "Before you accuse me", I just took over lead and played it superbly, the crowd really liked how I played it - think Mrs Satan didn't like that either. He got his amp changed and off we went again.
So, the end of the evening came with four encores and then we packed up. I split the money equally to the penny, and when we were all packed up and we ensured all band gear was in our individual cars and each car was locked, we then then got together to discuss the lighting rig we had all put in equal amounts to buy. We had all put £133 each in to buy a light rig. We knew we would have to give Satan something for his share, we didn't want to, but we knew it had to be done, so a couple of weeks ago after a gig, Allen, Shaun and I got together and decided to offer him £100 for his share, and not a penny more. We know that it we had to sell the lights and split what we got four ways, we would all get less than £100 each because the second hand market is full of light rigs etc.
Well, we got together after the gig in the car park (of all places) and they asked for their share in cash, as we had just collected our fee in cash and they knew we had that on us, they demanded we give them the full £133 they had paid in for the new rig. Right away Allen, our drummer, said no, that is not going to happen because the lights are now used and we were not giving them the full amount. We told them they were getting £100 and that we were being generous with that offer. Well, it's a good job our cars were locked and everything was safe. when they realised there was no way they were getting the full amount, that's when things got very nasty indeed, in fact most of it from Mrs Satan.
They could not grasp the concept of once something has been bought, no matter how recently, the value has gone down. We were extremely fair, giving them 75% if the purchase price. In the UK our equivalent of purchase tax is called Value added tax and is at the rate of 20%, so they virtually got everything back except the tax. Where else would you get that?
Well, Mrs Satan kicked off with abuse that I will not repeat here, all aimed at myself, every four letter word you have ever heard of came out with vitriol that I have never experienced before, she also attacked me for my faith, even though our church has provided free rehearsal facilities which they were more than happy to take advantage of. I have never experienced such hatred and vitriol in my life. She then turned on Allen who told her the reason this was at the stage it is is because of herself. As it got nasty, Shaun, our bass player, who always sits on the fence, just said we should give them the money to put an end to it. Allen and I looked at him in disbelief at what he had just said and we instantly said not a chance. After they had gone, I gently told Shaun that we succeed in these situations by standing together. Well, things continues for quite a while at a very nasty state, I was threatened with violence, and also that they would smash my car. The funniest thing was that they said they would sue us for £33. I just said that was fine if they chose to do so. They were beaten from the word go because none of us raised our voices or retaliated at them in an undignified manner, for which I am truly glad. They showed their true colours and it was very unpleasant. Imagine a situation as bad as it can get and there you have it.
We all feel that a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders and that we are rid of a great burden. We are auditioning new guitar players on Saturday, and each guitarist has been told in no uncertain circumstances that if they join us, their wife or girlfriend stays out of band business. Break this rule and you will be fired instantly.
So Allen, Shaun and I are very positive about the bands next chapter, on Saturday Shaun bought a fabulous new bass rig, a 200w USA built Ampeg rig that sounds incredible and looks like it just came out of a showroom. Our first job in finding a new band member is to buy some new PA speakers as the ones we have at the moment won't take a a bass drum being mic'd up through them.
So there we are, rid of a giant monkey of our backs and looking forward to moving onwards and upwards. Thanks for reading, I am sure my next blog entry will be far more positive.
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