LOL I was a prick - but I had my reasons. I made them do things like play instruments that didn't belong to them. Under the rug, I would put things that'd make their platform uneven. I brought in my old lights that throw tons of heat. I turned the heat in that room up to like 80. I got a few to smoke pot beforehand. That sort of thing. I already knew they could play. I wasn't testing for that. I wanted to see how they'd do outside of their element, how dynamic they'd be, and how they'd accept failure. The goal was to make them fuck up. I was overly critical. I'd keep time with my foot and then slowly speed it up - while they were watching. The desired effect was seeing if they'd be dynamic, cool under pressure, and able to recover from errors without major issues. Then, I'd know what I had to work on with them as individuals. I'm not teaching them to be rock stars. I'm teaching them how to make a living with their musicianship. To do that, they must be professionals. The first three shows were make or break, more or less. They passed with flying colors. One event had a break in the middle where we had a meet and greet, and there was free booze. I, of course, made sure they all drank as much as they felt they wanted. Copious amounts of weed were smoked. All so I could see how they'd do the second set while intoxicated. I've been with a whole lot of bands, and have some pretty high standards if I'm going to come out of retirement. I'm not just satisfied with them. I'm impressed by them. I'm the lucky one. They were playing dive bars for peanuts. Now, they get fair market value and are pretty happy. They're learning.