Samples Meltdown The Samples 9/14/23 Jimmy's Jazz Club Portsmouth, NH

Zero bias, just a very odd show. Started 15 minutes late with 3 of 4 band members playing a few odd covers. Lead singer showed up nearly an hr late, a little out of sorts. Equipment and sound wasn't to his/ their liking and it went down hill from there....3 songs and then it ended. Staff at the Jazz Club was excellent. Who's at fault? What went wrong?

[@joshcable2394]

The Shambles

[@eloicious]

Reminded me of The Office episode when Dwight found a strange red wire coming out of the back of his computer ( Jim prank) and got all wigged out ending up climbing a utility pole outside the building LOLOLOL

[@samlane6025]

Dorks. Born in the 90s and my parents generation never talked about this band. Tired, old sad egos. Hit the lazy boy captain your ship has sailed.

[@barclaydonaldson8863]

The samples up to about 2007...were awsome...yes in time they fell....but they were crazy orginal for their time...eventually too much time in the nightlife...for SK

[@harrymccaul4980]

Did they talk about Dave Matthews Band? Hootie and the Blowfish? Because they used to open for The Samples

[@johnrpizzaguy]

Allegedly Mr Kelly showed up extremely late and extremely impaired.If you watch closely the Keyboardist leaves the stage twice to get Mr Kelly something to drink.

[@paigedeeds7504]

He didn't show up for the sound check. He arrived at 8:30 p.m. The show started without him at 7:45 p.m. I was working on this show... it was one of the most terrifying days working at Jimmy's.

[@jeffb4416]

I see the keyboardist leave once to get a drink for Kelly; I see Kelly arrive onstage 30 mins late (is this a big deal in live rock music? Hint-no. The venue had no real sound man working, bottom line

[@happycamper199]

@@jeffb4416

[@jeffb4416]

Terrifying? Please.

[@patton303]

The most frustrating thing is The Samples have the material to put together a tight 90 minute set and kill it in pretty much any town in the country. But instead they have devolved into whatever this was. Such a shame.

[@barclaydonaldson8863]

I agree...so many good tunes...seany is a loose tallented cannon...some nights he could care less about guitar quality or playing...it's sad. Andy is just awsome...I dig his solo album...sean is a striking wild card of a musician. Perhaps jeep kept him together...just currently stinks...the samples will always be amazing to me, but sean seems not rested and bizarre more than transparent special artist. He's about as likeable as Axl rose

[@atobin1342]

Super embarrassing for Sean Kelly. Worse for the people chanting to “let him play” after they tossed his ass. Slurs like that are unacceptable, especially from a has been living off a 30 year old song.

[@emrjr1975]

Was there! Was super odd

[@Thomaskloppmusic]

What the? What happened? Why did they get the boot?

[@pdtoons9121]

Very unprofessional band!

[@jamespendleton9879]

When Andy did Ozzie, Crazy Train it was over. The guy came out and unplugged him.

[@michaelbonora9095]

Where is Al?? You need Al to pull their sound together, just like back in the day!!

[@jonnolanmusic]

NOOO sound person should have to put up with this shit in any club. Bad weather make you late? Cool. Guess whose job that makes harder? Yours. Know who else? THE SOUND GUY. It looks like Jimmys is backing their man , and they *should.” Good job Jimmys. To anyone who isn’t a performer (I am) - this ain’t the sound guy or the clubs fault. This belongs to Sean/Samples 100%. Dude showed up late in bad conditions and acted without thought for the club or audience. Like picking a fight with your wife at a dinner party in front of your invited guests. Terrrrrible form. “Seany boy, better get yourself in (rehab)…”

[@jeffb4416]

Unless the sound man was incompetent. Do you disagree?

[@jeffb4416]

To me, this looked mime what we see so often post covid (for reasons I dont fully get). Every place of business struggles to hire workers let alone competent ones. I am certain this bar had a rookie doing sound for some experienced and yes kind of grumpy guys who know better

[@happycamper199]

@@jeffb4416 I can assure you the sound person is/was not a rookie. I've played that club. We had the same sound person. We showed up on time, not shitfaced, had a reasonable soundcheck and the show went off without a hitch. You're deflecting the blame to the sound person for some shit-ass, drunken behavior and prime donna attitude of Kelly.

[@dvswia1831]

Man this is cringe. Sean needs to get some help.

[@brich1273]

Zero bias??? Total Bias. The sound guy is the key to any live performance and he sucked. It wasn't just Sean complaining. It's obvious the not so sound guy was a newb who had his fragile feelings hurt and turned off the amp.

[@jeffb4416]

That’s exactly right.

[@jeffb4416]

Let’s assume Sean Kelly was impaired. Even if that was the case he was polite in asking for help in the beginning, as was the bassist. More importantly, you are a sound person at a ROCK BAR it’s not about you, its about the act, christ.

[@happycamper199]

@@jeffb4416 It's not a "ROCK BAR" ala the punk clubs of the 70s. It's a higher-end Jazz & Blues club. Though they've been known to book acts that might a little fringe to those genres. Do a KZbin search for ANY act at Jimmy's. You'll get a good feel for the type and caliber of the club and the acts that perform there. Perhaps the only error made here on the part of the venue was in booking this type of band. I don't know this, but I suspect they took a chance on hiring the band based on some reliable recommendations. But again, I don't know this for a fact. This is about the ONLY accurate statement you have posted here. You are correct. It is NOT about the sound person. It's about the act. But, like a dentist who's about to put very sharp instruments into your mouth, you don't want to piss them off. The same applies to the sound person and the act. The relationship between an act and a sound person, as short as it may be, should be a mutually respectful one. As I mentioned above, I've played the club and had the same sound person with no issues. I've also been to well over 150 shows there. NEVER in the history of the club has ANYTHING remotely like this happened. Even with their previous sound persons. And once again, my disclaimer: I have no financial interest in the club. I am a performer and frequent audient.

[@jeffb4416]

Happy Camper: maybe your favorite venue made a mistake booking a normal rock band with normal imperfections . Note that I’m describing a normal rock band in 2023, and not a punk act in the ‘70s, an unrelated image that you disingenuously drag into this conversation. (nice job repeatedly linking your act to this self-described “high end” venue by the way). It’s all there on tape, Sean Kelly was mildly late and probably drinking but the sound guy refused to take any steps, when asked very reasonably, to troubleshoot the things that a sound guy is paid to troubleshoot. It’s all there. He was asked politely and refused.

[@thebehavioralobservationsp8311]

Sean showed up after the show was supposed to start. His bandmates tried to play some cover tunes on acoustics prior to that because the crowd was getting understandably upset. Soundcheck is where these bugs are ironed out, and because Sean showed up so late, this did not happen.

[@jeffb4416]

Nope. The sound guy was entirely incompetent. The bassist asked for help from the beginning and got none. And sean kelly asked politely from the start for help and got none. Also-a drunk lead singer-get over it, this is the world in which you work. This bar was not prepared for an act that night, bottom line

[@thebehavioralobservationsp8311]

I was there that night and for context, this is not a bar. Jimmy's Jazz and Blues Club is a very high end venue. I've seen many shows there and the staff are top notch professionals. I talked to a lot of the staff since that event and to a person, they were mortified at what happened and felt terribly for all of us who paid for a show. And Sean wasn't just fucked up, he was super late. His bandmates, who were there on time, tried to entertain the crowd with some acoustic cover tunes made up on the fly. It was a total shitshow and the 'talent' deserves 100% of the blame for the outcome.

[@jeffb4416]

Baloney. If this is such a “high end venue” then they booked the wrong type of band that “horrors” drank a little and started 40 minutes late. They should have booked all the other reliable, highly popular acts that are eager to come to jimmy’s in machester nh.

[@johnmccarthy7620]

Jazz club sucks