[DISCUSSION] Bad jam experiences

A buddy of mine invited me to a jam his band was hosting as payment to a bar for letting them rehearse there.

On the way there I walked past another bar on the strip with a fuckin' awful jam happening inside. Some people inside noticed I was carrying a guitar case and next thing I know they were following me down the street.

I get to the place my buddy is playing at and there is a jam in progress. So I get set up and suddenly everyone disappears to go off and do rails in the bathroom or go outside for a smoke, and I am now running the jam. The gaggle of people that followed me down the street were all jammers that wanted to play. So I am stuck running the stage, and by the time I got off of there I had played Sweet Home Alabama, Rocky Mountain Way, fuckin' Turn the Page, some Neil Young and finally Little Wing (while yelling the changes into the ear of the drunk 'playing' bass) with a guy crooning the lyrics like Pat Boone and demanding guitar solos.

My buddy and band mates finally re-appeared after like an hour of this shit, so I pack up and leave immediately. Walked back past the first bar, and someone comes out and starts begging me to join the jam. I actually ran to get away from them. Lol.

Most jam experiences are fun, even if people aren't that great or whatever. I hosted a jam/open stage with a buddy every week for a solid year and a half at one point, and it was always a gas because we made it that way. It is up to whoever is running the thing to ensure that max fun is had and it never gets so bad it might drive people out.

Make the most out of any opportunity you have to make music, even if it's with weird, deluded people who can't actually play. Look at it as a challenge and it can be as rewarding as any other jam. But don't let anyone like my buddy talk you into "dropping by" so you can do their job while they get wasted like big rock stars who play wing joints often do.

: /

/r/Guitar Thread