Anyone here ever FORGOTTEN to take their instrument to a gig/performance?

Fassa Albrecht · #1 12-30-2010, 02:03 PM

I've done this. Forgot to take my bass to an audition (had to rush to class, needed to take bass with me for time reasons, didn't pick it up) and ended up playing a friend's Squier bass with the high action and the too heavy strings on it....and I was meant to be playing slap.

Anyone else?

jimmy rocket · #2 12-30-2010, 02:07 PM

yeah, luckily it was just across town and I was way early so I had a chance to go grab it, but it was a pain in the butt.

slaps76 · #3 12-30-2010, 02:08 PM

How about leaving it sitting in the parking lot at my rehearsal space?

The practice room is in this huge warehouse type of building, that's 2 floors of rehearsal rooms, and another 3 or so floors of storage units. So there's people in & out all the time. I left my Warwick Corvette $$ sitting in it's case right on the ground of the parking lot. Went to a gig, was there setting up/hanging out for 1.5-2 hours, and before we're supposed to start, realize I don't have my bass. Flew back, and it was gone. I chalked it up as a lost bass....incredibly, someone turned it into the office. I got the name/room number of who the room was under, left a note, left a voicemail trying to give a reward, and no response.

Fassa Albrecht · #4 12-30-2010, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slaps76

How about leaving it sitting in the parking lot at my rehearsal space?

The practice room is in this huge warehouse type of building, that's 2 floors of rehearsal rooms, and another 3 or so floors of storage units. So there's people in & out all the time. I left my Warwick Corvette $$ sitting in it's case right on the ground of the parking lot. Went to a gig, was there setting up/hanging out for 1.5-2 hours, and before we're supposed to start, realize I don't have my bass. Flew back, and it was gone. I chalked it up as a lost bass....incredibly, someone turned it into the office. I got the name/room number of who the room was under, left a note, left a voicemail trying to give a reward, and no response.

Yowch, lucky...

BagelBruin · #5 12-30-2010, 02:17 PM

No, but I forgot to bring a speaker cable to a gig making me completely useless.

TheVoiceless · #6 12-30-2010, 02:20 PM

Yes, must have been 17-18, played an half hour away from home. Got to the gig then realized, drove fast there in back in time for the gig. First and hopefully last!!!!!!!!!!

Phalex · #7 12-30-2010, 02:23 PM

Nope, had a sax player forget his sax once. He sat that one out.

Art Araya · #8 12-30-2010, 02:29 PM

Bass, no? LOL

Strap yes. So I had to scramble around for a strap. Drove to a local Radio Shack, called friends, etc... Eventually had to use a strip of carpeting that the guitarist converted into a strap for me.

Winnb · #9 12-30-2010, 02:32 PM

Not me, but our guitar player did once.

We live in Richmond Virginia, but we used to play a few places up and down the East Coast. One place was a club down in Nags Head North Carolina. I think it was called The Foolish Frog. It had a frog on the sign dressed like one of those court jesters.

It's about a 4 hour drive. In a giant van. In the summer. No A/C. Not much room. 4 piece band. And all that gear...

We get to the club. Unload. Start setting up. Then our guitarist utters the words that have become entrenched in our minds for all eternity:

"Hey, anybody seen a red strat?"

He forgot to pack it. His other guitar was an acoustic. It was past closing time for any music stores, if there were any nearby, so we were screwed. We sucked it up and set up a mic and sent out a plea throughout the club for anyone that lived nearby and owned an electric guitar. Fortunately someone did. Guy went home, got it, and let our guitarist play it all night long. It was a knockoff, but it sounded sweet that night.

Great moment. A bit scary at first, but oh so great to relive later...

Fassa Albrecht · #10 12-30-2010, 02:35 PM

Another one: got asked to play violin at a party. I somehow managed to forget a bow.

Pizzicato FTL.

jnuts1 · #11 12-30-2010, 02:36 PM

played a very late night gig & in the morning went & played a street fest with ZERO sleep. packed everything up so me & the drummer could take our gear to the studio so the guys could party. the next day we get together to jam & no one can find my buddies 72 mia strat. the panic sets in when no one knows where it could be, even thought maybe it was stolen. WRONG! we were dumb & left it sitting on the loading dock. luckily someone turned it in to the office the NEXT morning.

delta7fred · #12 12-30-2010, 02:55 PM

When I played guitar I left that at home one night and only realised once we had got set up and it was too late to go back for it. Fortunately a guy who I worked with lived about 10 minutes away and had an old Tele copy. He even brought it round for me. It was filthy and the strings were not quite rusty. It had an action you could drive a bus under. It was a challenge to play but it was better than no guitar at all. I took it home and after I had stripped and cleaned it, put new strings on and set it up it was not bad at all really. He didn't believe it was the same guitar when I gave him it back.

Another night I forgot the mixing desk. I had time to drive home and pick it up.

In the early 70s our guitarist had just got a new Les Paul gold top. He left it (in it's tweed case) lent against a wall next to the loading door in full view, after a gig, . He didn't realise it was missing until the next morning, went back and it was still there. Talk about lucky!

lsabina · #13 12-30-2010, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phalex

Nope, had a sax player forget his sax once. He sat that one out.

Selmer "tray pack" cases were made to accommodate a flute and clarinet in addition to the sax. The case was super heavy. You would never know by picking it up which horns were in it. I knew a guy who got to a gig without the sax in the case!

Showing up to a gig without my instrument is actually a recurring dream/nightmare of mine!

JumboJack · #14 12-30-2010, 03:20 PM

I forgot to bring my skates to my hockey game once....

jruberto · #15 12-30-2010, 03:23 PM

Yep, forgot the axe once.

However, I played with a drummer who always seemed to forget one thing. My favorites:

- his drum throne. He did the gig on a dinner chair, about 6 inches lower than he's used to. i kept asking him if he wanted a lollipop or if he had to go potty.

- his SNARE DRUM. Awesome. He got by with a pandero from his percussion bag til his wife showed up with his snare. He did have to give his wife his full pay for the gig to get her to run this little errand. Hilarious.

GeneralElectric · #16 12-30-2010, 03:26 PM

If it were me, and someone forgot to bring their instrument to a gig, barring special circumstance, I'd forget to call them for the next one. I can't imagine playing with people who don't have the common sense to pack their own gear for a show. How much do you really have to bring?

jansenh · #17 12-30-2010, 03:31 PM

I play in two different bands, using basses with different tuning. So, I have on two occasions brought the wrong bass to a gig. And once, we had a minor car-accident getting to a gig, and had to use a rental car for the final 60 minutts drive getting there. And, I forgot the bass in the wrecked car . . .

So, yes. It has happend. And I am afraid it can happen again...

Fassa Albrecht · #18 12-30-2010, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jruberto

Yep, forgot the axe once.

However, I played with a drummer who always seemed to forget one thing. My favorites:

- his drum throne. He did the gig on a dinner chair, about 6 inches lower than he's used to. i kept asking him if he wanted a lollipop or if he had to go potty.

Reminds me of a run-down recording studio a band I played in used to use. Our drummer used the kits provided...most of which didn't have stools and so he usually ended up with a computer chair.

Quote:

- his SNARE DRUM. Awesome. He got by with a pandero from his percussion bag til his wife showed up with his snare. He did have to give his wife his full pay for the gig to get her to run this little errand. Hilarious.

His wife isn't daft...

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneralElectric

If it were me, and someone forgot to bring their instrument to a gig, barring special circumstance, I'd forget to call them for the next one. I can't imagine playing with people who don't have the common sense to pack their own gear for a show. How much do you really have to bring?

Come on, we're only human. Hell, I once played a performance where I was playing four seperate instruments (piano, bass, drums and violin). That was hell trying to remember stuff for that one...

CannyBusDriver · #19 12-30-2010, 03:34 PM

I dont get how you manage to forget something as important as an instrument anywhere, some of you guys are real lucky with the returns and stuff. Some people wouldnt return a $$ Corvette.............

jruberto · #20 12-30-2010, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneralElectric

If it were me, and someone forgot to bring their instrument to a gig, barring special circumstance, I'd forget to call them for the next one. I can't imagine playing with people who don't have the common sense to pack their own gear for a show. How much do you really have to bring?

well, it's called being human. we're not totally infallible. you ever play a wrong note? god forbid.

i'm getting close to my 1,000th gig (that i've kept track of).

Once, I forgot my axe. I went home and got it and was back on time. (It was a solo gig anyway, a mile from home)

Once, I flubbed the time of a gig and missed it. Once.

So, that's a 0.1% failure rate. Not too bad.

Conversely, I can't count the number of times that I've been the guy who saved the day by having a spare battery, cable or pair of drum sticks in my bag (or macgyver-like ability to fix something that broke in the middle of a set). Yes, I pack a pair of drum sticks, and yes, they have saved the day more than once.