Any gig almost kill you?

chicago_mike · #1 06-02-2009, 03:21 AM

Just wondering who out there has seriously almost died because of a gig or on the way to a gig.

Long story short: Rear passenger tire falls off on our van at 75mph, on a 2 lane highways around a curve. 8 miles south of the Kenora Canada border.

No flat, no bump, no pre-anything to tell us the wheel or tire is bad. The whole assembly just falls off.

To be honest...it was kinda cool....hadn't had much excitement on the tour and I needed a wake me up.

so in short terms,,whats your near death gig story?

PJSShearer · #2 06-02-2009, 06:17 AM

When the M/V Achille Lauro caught fire off the Canary Islands in December 1981 - two dead that night !!!.

**Pacman** · #3 06-02-2009, 06:20 AM

Firefight between Iraqi insurgents and US personnel about 100 meters outside of our rooms....

Mortared a gig....

Rocketed at two different gigs (well, technically, once was *before* the gig)

skidrawk · #4 06-02-2009, 10:54 AM

RIP Cliff.

sonic assassin · #5 06-02-2009, 11:26 AM

i had a knife pulled on me during set up because a guy didnt like my shirt..

rezin · #6 06-02-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic assassin

i had a knife pulled on me during set up because a guy didnt like my shirt..

wow, must have been one really ugly shirt

allexcosta · #7 06-02-2009, 11:47 AM

It was 1995, I was playing a "Trio Eletrico" (check youtube link) gig for more than 200.000 people and we were the only band in town. 1 hour into the show (we usually play 6-8 hours straight) the truck's generator failed and people started shaking the truck vigorously. A few instruments fell from up there and we had to hold tight to not fall too... It took around 20 minutes for the Police to control the situation. We fixed the generator and finished the gig...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBGRNmkxtXY

Bassman316 · #8 06-02-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic assassin

i had a knife pulled on me during set up because a guy didnt like my shirt..

My God- what shirt did you have on that the guy didn't like so much he pulled a knife on you?!

Zako · #9 06-02-2009, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic assassin

i had a knife pulled on me during set up because a guy didnt like my shirt..

Ha ha. Sorry i guess almost geting stabbed isnt funny, its just i have a bunch of shirts that would offend people.

I just know not to wear them a lot

Ony of my bands played Springfield, Illinois. Everyone at the show was cool, but the neighborhood around the venue was bad...
Like half the houses were condemned and boarded up, and we got yelled at by people for being white and walking down the street...

Sparkdog · #10 06-02-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic assassin

i had a knife pulled on me during set up because a guy didnt like my shirt..

Ditto the knife thing...although I don't think it had anything to do with wardrobe.

Playing a hard rock gig in Northern Minnesota many years ago, and this hardcore miner/biker type dude took a real dislike to me for some reason.

This guy was just slobbering drunk, standing on the dance floor pointing at me and yelling "f--k you man!" I have NO idea why.

Next thing I know he pulls out a large pocket knife and starts climbing onto the stage. I didn't wait to see what he had in mind, I took off the '74 p-bass I was playing and swung it into his head.

That put an end to that crap pretty quick. A couple of his buddies came up and I thought they might have a go at me too, but they said "Sorry dude, he gets mean when he's had too many" and just dragged him away!

The bass was fine BTW

Joe Nerve · #11 06-02-2009, 12:04 PM

Blowout at 80 miles per hour in a packed van on the Jersey Turnpike. Driver handled it excellently.

Jumped and split my head open on a steel beam in a club on Staten Island. Went straight down.

Played a psych center and had a pretty big dude get enraged with me for absolutely no reason. He had to be locked in a room to keep him away.

Fiddled in the back of Peavey amp that stopped working while it was still plugged in. Knocked off the stage.

derrenleepoole · #12 06-02-2009, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

Fiddled in the back of Peavey amp that stopped working while it was still plugged in. Knocked off the stage.

That shouldn't be funny, but it is!

Alas I have no such stories after 20 years of playing. How lucky/boring am I?

HogieWan · #13 06-02-2009, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparkdog

The bass was fine BTW

they don't make em like they use to

ElMon · #14 06-02-2009, 01:20 PM

I've got a few.....

1) Playing a Neo-Soul gig, fight breaks out, dude gets stabbed in the neck and sprays blood everywhere. He lived and we didn't even stop. At one point the fight went on stage, and I kicked a dude in the butt, sending him flying into three other guys. Good times.

2) Get done with a gig, go to load my gear, and some bum comes up and asks if I got any money. I said no and he replies 'I don't think you understand'. I look back, and he's got a box knife in his hand. I just so happened to have .38 reasons of why he shouldn't proceed further, and I didn't even have to point it at him. He saw it and told me to have a good night and walked off.

3) Playing in an alt-rock band, guitard decides to throw his guitar around his back, except he doesn't realize that I'm standing REAL close to him. He tosses it and the headstock smacks me square in the jaw. I black out for a second, while still on my feet, and then keep playing. Drummer said I didn't miss a note the entire time. Had a hard time chewing for the next week.

ElMon · #15 06-02-2009, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparkdog

Ditto the knife thing...although I don't think it had anything to do with wardrobe.

Playing a hard rock gig in Northern Minnesota many years ago, and this hardcore miner/biker type dude took a real dislike to me for some reason.

This guy was just slobbering drunk, standing on the dance floor pointing at me and yelling "f--k you man!" I have NO idea why.

Next thing I know he pulls out a large pocket knife and starts climbing onto the stage. I didn't wait to see what he had in mind, I took off the '74 p-bass I was playing and swung it into his head.

That put an end to that crap pretty quick. A couple of his buddies came up and I thought they might have a go at me too, but they said "Sorry dude, he gets mean when he's had too many" and just dragged him away!

The bass was fine BTW

That's the greatest advertisement for the durability of old Fenders that I've ever heard. Probably was still in tune. Not sure someone would pull the same thing with their spalted-chestnut 6 string Fodera.

scottbass · #16 06-02-2009, 01:22 PM

Mine's pretty lame:

Last summer we played a 4-hour outdoor gig on a Saturday afternoon at a biker bar during a bike run. It was 90+/90+ temperature/humidity and there was no shade, just the brim of my hat. When we finished, we loaded all the gear (including outdoor PA w/bass bins) and drove 40 miles up the road to another biker bar. Set up all the gear (including PA and lights), took a short break then played another 4-hour indoor gig at a joint that had no air conditioning. Even though it was now nighttime it was still 90+/90+ inside that joint. Finished at 2 am, loaded up the gear (again including PA and lights) and drove about 3 hours to get home. Drank 6 diet Cokes to stay awake. Only the first 3 were cold. Cramped up like crazy.

Hey, I'm mid 50's and fat! That nearly killed me!

Spinal Tapper · #17 06-02-2009, 01:28 PM

Played a packed show in the middle of August in a room with broken air conditioning. We always used to wear polyester suits and a couple of my mates had a real big thing about us not stripping off layers during the set.

Well, a couple of beers before the gig and not enough water during and I almost collapsed halfway through our set of heat exhaustion.
You know that feeling when you're dehydrated and you actually get the chills? Yeah, scary stuff...

Luckily, a friend brought a bottle of water up onstage and I chugged the whole thing just in the nick of time between songs. I didn't collapse and was able to finish the set...here's a shot of me during the set.

Yeah, it kinda looks like I fell in a swimming pool...you can see a single dry spot on the collar of my shirt.

Mike151 · #18 06-02-2009, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spinal Tapper

Played a packed show in the middle of August in a room with broken air conditioning.

I can relate as last month we had a show just like that. No A/C, High humidity, sweltering hot as h3LL.
We had fans but they felt like they were giant hair dryers.

kesslari · #19 06-02-2009, 01:42 PM

Playing with an Afrobeat band. We had a fireeater come out and perform with us.
In a very old, not-up-to-code club with extremely low ceilings.
This guy would take a mouthful of lighter fluid and breath out a huge flameball.
I was picturing "Stone the Crows" as that flameball went up to the fire sprinkler system.
Fortunately the fire sprinklers did NOT come on. Probably didn't even work...

alangoldstein · #20 06-02-2009, 01:52 PM

once we had a gig with some hardcore bands ( famous signed ones ) i wont mention here for good measure.
well a fight broke out, in the crowd, and a security guard pepper sprayed the crowd to calm down, which had the opposite effect. .. TOTAL CHAOS and people running blindly for the exit doors near our VAN.

so after the smoke cleared , someone had thought it was my drummer who had sprayed the crowd, but that was not the case.

it was a guy who plays guitar in another band. who like a pussy, sprayed it and took off b4 the mayhem broke out. )
he was also a security guard that night when he wasnt on stage.

so after the crazyness and threats to us, we noticed a lot of our gear ( p.a. , mixer, amps ) ended up outside and in the dumpster , our tour van had a pole thrown through the window glass everywhere, all for a mistaken identity.

so the cops and firemen / paramedics finally show up to treat people who couldnt breathe, and arrest the assholes in the other bands who are accusing us of what we didnt do.... and to find who threw the pole through the van.
also some punk punched the club owner in the nose and broke it!

we were watching the show after we played and wiping the sweat off of us from playing, just chilling and being polite watching the other bands supporting the main act. showing our support. when all the **** hit the fan.

anyway, yes i and others , had to defend my drummer for what he didnt do , get between him and other punks, ( playing referre) and it almost got really ugly. a few screams, and pushes and threats... it sucked and we were all scared since most the crowd was hardcore not prog metal fusion like us. and of course, calling us new metal pussies... etc.. taunting us.

anyway, yeh. be careful! lol
always have a crew with u who can defend ya
or have cops there if its to be a large crazy crowd.