4. They Didn't Play That Song! What An Awful Night
Poor sound quality; phoned-in performances; a hostile or disinterested crowd; injury; death; boredom a lot of things can make for a bad gig. But one thing that absolutely doesn't is the absence of one specific song from the setlist. It can be immensely dispiriting to go and see your favourite band only for them to not play your favourite song. But, first things first, let's put things in perspective. How many songs has that band got? How many
fans has that band got? How many of those fans were in attendance at the show in question? How, then, could the band
possibly please everyone, unless they simply stood there taking requests every night? The more extensive the band's back catalogue, the more ridiculous this complaint becomes. OK, it's disappointing that they didn't play that song. But how were the
other 16 or 17 songs in the set? Unless it's a truly terrible gig, it's likely that the band have just spent at least an hour putting everything they have into a painstakingly rehearsed and refined set of songs. And, if you bought a ticket and stood in the room whilst they played,
they ostensibly did it all for you. If your best friend cooked you a three-course meal, would you complain that they served beef when you wanted chicken? Of course you wouldn't. Unless you're one of those horrible people that I've been hearing so much about. So if you leave a gig and your sole complaint is that they didn't play
that one song, then know that you haven't really got a complaint at all. What you're feeling is disappointment, and that's fine. But if you let such a thing ruin your night and worse, your subsequent relationship with the band then you're doing humanity itself a grave disservice.