Well I hope that despite getting paid late you at least you got paid!
Yep I know these back handed compliments... my mom called them "left-handed compliments".
Reminds me of some recent remarks that were made about the band I'm playing in.
We were trading sets with another group. First their keyboard player checked out our equipment and laughed and made loud digs about our keyboardist's gear. I guess he doesn't have all the newest stuff. Likewise our drummer's set looks like a pile of crap, and I think kindof is.
After we played, the other band quit laughing and their remarks changed.
Then we heard remarks from them that we "must be using backup tracks". I'm sure this is because our keyboardist, for having only two keyboards, does a fantastic job of switching sounds all during the songs, he's always got his keyboards split and with his near-instant patch changes, it is pretty hard to believe one guy is doing all those parts. His keyboards sounded 1000 times better than the other band's state-of-the-art stuff.
Our drummer with his "pile of crap" is also one of the most knocked-out drummers I've ever come across, just has natural rhythm and tons of chops.
I'd rather play with guys who have old beatup gear and play the heck out of it, play from their hearts, than all the bands with shiny new stuff who still don't know how to use it.
We've gotten the "must be using tracks" remark several times since, too.
A compliment and insult, at the same time.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 10 October 2006 at 10:45 PM.]