Help! I broke my finger, and I have two shows this week!

[Darylw425]

I'm really not sure what to do here.

I broke the middle finger on my left hand on saturday playing football (i'm a righty, so it's my fretting hand). It's in bad shape, and hurts really badly if anything touches it, so i cant use that finger at all now to play.

I have a show this wednesday night - an acoustic duo that plays 3 hours of your typical rock/cover bar songs. we've been playing there a couple times a month for the past year, so we're friendly with the management and they would understand if we cancelled.

I also have a show this saturday night with my Meat Loaf tribute band (yes, you read that correctly. it's fun). that would be 45 min of meat loaf songs. We have rehearsal (the one and only rehearsal for this show) tomorrow night.

So, I'm thinking i should just play the meat loaf show down a finger. I'll simplify the lines, play what i can. maybe we could get a sub - but not sure someone can learn those songs in that time (songs are 10 min long epics that dont repeat.). If i do play it, i'm thinking maybe i should play the acoustic gig wednesday night to help me learn how to play without my middle finger.

i'm just throwing this out there to see if anyone has advice or thoughts on this situation. Thanks in advance.

Daryl

[mjolnir]

Do what you gotta do to help the healing of your fingers, bro, even if that means finding a sub or cancelling a gig. Think long term, you don't wanna go play a gig now and damage your finger enough that you won't be able to play any more gigs later...

[Darylw425]

Yeah, that's true, but it doesnt seem like i'd be doing anything worse to the finger. it'd be in a splint, unable to move, so i just wouldnt be using it at all.

[()smoke()]

Originally Posted by Darylw425

Yeah, that's true, but it doesnt seem like i'd be doing anything worse to the finger. it'd be in a splint, unable to move, so i just wouldnt be using it at all.

can you use the metal splint as a slide?

[Hoover]

I broke the middle finger on my right (plucking) hand while on tour with Debris in 1994. Happened during a pre-show pickup basketball game in Canfield OH. Had to play 5 or 6 shows over the next 7 days, including one later that night. I basically A) spontaneously figured out how to play with my first & third finger; and B) endured a heck of a lot of pain for all those passages where I couldn't. Stupid, yes, but whaddya gonna do? the show must go on.

In hindsight, I realized that Frank Zappa was right: touring musicians & sports shouldn't mix.

[RiseAgainst]

Travis Barker (Drummer) toured for a couple of weeks with one broken arm.

With that said I would recommend toughing it out and just simplifying the bass line to basic core notes.

[Darylw425]

thanks guys.

turns out i actually tore a tendon in my left middle finger, which needs to be reattached in surgery on friday. so my hand is in a giant splint, and i've had to cancel both shows.

looks like 3 months of rehab/physical therapy after the surgery too...

[steve66]

Originally Posted by Darylw425

thanks guys.

turns out i actually tore a tendon in my left middle finger, which needs to be reattached in surgery on friday. so my hand is in a giant splint, and i've had to cancel both shows.

looks like 3 months of rehab/physical therapy after the surgery too...

That sux, feel better soon

[mjolnir]

Uy...

Well, take the healing process slow, make sure everything heals up right, and here's to a full recovery and plenty of jamming in your future. (raises glass)

[Jazz Ad]

This is one of the reasons why I play 3 fingers. It may sound dumb but if you break one, you have spare.
Is using a pick an option ?

[Darylw425]

it's my left hand - the fretting hand - that's injured.

[Bard2dbone]

I think the Meat Loaf tribute sounds like fun. I just pictured several of the bass lines on Bat Out Of Hell and had to smile, although the keyboard parts look like even more fun, I'm not really a good enough keyboardist to consistently pull those off.

[kangia]

Bummer.
Brake a leg... (for the next time)