Bands u have been in, Pro and Cons etc

I was just talking to a former band member of mine and i got to thinking of all the crazy bands i've been in over the years. some good, some shitty, some very awesome

Was wondering what experiences people on here have had in bands.

First band i was in, i was 17 years old and we had a few originals and played mostly covers... im trying to remember, i know we'd play Green Day, Creep by Radiohead, Patience.. its been awhile so i forget

but it was decent.i was pretty new on guitar, so i mainly just played rhythm and didn't have a giant contribution to this one.

2nd band, was a hard rock, metal type band called Nocturnal Emissions. I didn't find out till like a year later what that meant! LOL!

anyhow, we actually played some gigs and even made a record... funny thing is, no one has it anymore.. every single person seems to have lost it, so its like the giant missing piece of art from my life.
once again, i had limited duties, rhythm guitar basically, didn't get to write anything

3rd was myu own band called "D", i play guitar sing, my friend would play bass and i had a really awesome drummer who now does death metal shit... lol far cry from my soft weird stuff.

anyhow, i of course write and play everything on what ive recorded... www.myspace.com/donniehoward

then, when i moved to a new town, i got a job at this awesome hippie type health food store. everyone there was a musician and in a band.
i let a girl on lunch here a couple of my songs on my Ipod and she let her boyfriend here it.. he loved my guitar soloing ability and said he formed a new band and needed a lead guy.

i went and listened to this band expecting it to suck.. cause lets be honest.. 90 percent of people who say they are in a band suck and its just 3 power chord city with shit lyrics etc etc

when i stepped into the practice area.. holy shit i was blown away... next part is gonna sound exaggerated, but let me tell u, i had a feeling that i just discovered one of the greatest bands no one had ever heard.
musically it was like Appetite GNR meets Kill Em All Metallica mixed with punk... it was loud, kick ass, melodic and each song had multiple riff changes with no structure.

i was extremely intimidated the first time i plugged my guitar in...... but anyhow, we clicked like hell, reminded me of how Slash said he felt when he played with GNR the very first time how he just KNEW it was right.

our drummer was like a mix of Steven Adler and Tommy Lee, our bass player loved Death Metal and Ozzy so he had an interesting bass thing.. rhythm guitar guy loved GNR and mostly punk stuff, so he had the punk vibe and then u mix that with my blues based/hairmetal/arena rock thing and it was just gold.

Unfortunately we never found a proper front man.. i am convinced if we could've found the right front man, we would be signed and doing some shit right now.. but as everybody knows.. frontmen are few and far between.

our band was the real thing though and my first experience with people doing drugs,drinking, doing crazy shit etc..

we eventually broke up after a little while cause we just weren't stable enough to keep it together.. our drummer decided that since his girlfriend dumped him and kicked him out of the house, that it would be a great idea to hitch hike to NYC!! this is from Chattanooga TN!

so i hope he is still alive.. Lord knows I haven't seen him since.. we thought about replacing him and keeping on.. but I got into a great program in college.. the other guitar player had another band and he kinda drifted into it...

I am still holding out though for a phone call to start it back up.. and hopefully we will record it and ill have something to share.

Pros:
i am way more creative playing with a band
My skills go to a whole nother level when playing with a band.. if i am just playing around in my room alone, i can play but when i am in a band situation, my speed, creativity and just everything seems to amp up by 10.

Cons:
finding a frontperson *I have a rule, to be my frontman, u have to be better than me.. if u can't write or sing better than me, forget it.
dealing with egos and people's drug/alcohol habits

anybody want to share?