And the drummer played on...

Oren Hudson · #1 02-23-2010, 08:54 PM

Another gig story from the mid 60s. My junior high/high school band played often at a place called Barr's Swim Club. Mostly teenagers in attendance. The area where the band set up had one electrical outlet for our usage, and it was located nearly as high as the ceiling. We had lead, rhythm, bass guitars, keyboard and drums. I think you can guess what happened next. Someone accidentally trips on that one extension cord, so out it comes from the socket.

What a weird feeling to be playing and singing along so nicely, then - all you could hear was the drums. So the drummer just keeps on with the drum line while someone plugged us back in and we got fired up and rejoined him and continued the song. The first and last time that ever happened.

Drop-the-One · #2 02-23-2010, 11:21 PM

hahaha, you learn your lesson the fun way

That happened to me @ a party in '08

... only I hand-built a stage and rigged some lighting to go with instruments and a full PA on one 110.... NOT cool!

The_Low_Dude · #3 02-24-2010, 01:33 AM

I had a power outage on a gig a few years ago.

It was a really crappy gig. The gig was outside, we seemed to be the only band on that stage, so no-one turned up, it started raining about the time we had to start playing. And even though the stage was a small truck, the PA-guy thought it was a good idea to stuff about all the lightning-equipment he has in there, so we barely had enough space to get our instruments up there.

And to make it all worse: during the guitarsolo at the end of our last song, the generator gives up, so all of a sudden it's dark on stage and all you could hear were the drums. Before we could even start packing our things, the PA-guy closes the truck to protect his stuff from the rain.

Definitely one of the worst gigs I ever did, but I still had a bit of a good time.

jgsbass · #4 02-24-2010, 03:05 AM

Had a similar but opposite outcome happen on a clubdate once. I had to leave early to make my evening gig. The keyboard player was to cover me with left hand bass while I was packing up. I went to unplug my amp from a power bar and the power bar switches off killing all the music . The drummer plays one or two more beats, then apologizes for missing the ending of the song. He thought we finished the song because it sounded so tight. I felt like poop for stopping the band.

Meddle · #5 02-24-2010, 05:10 AM

Had this happen at a recording session on the weekend. Had my pedals and amp power down. I was too busy checking my pedals incase something happened to them and didn't notice my amp go down.

Bard2dbone · #6 02-24-2010, 05:24 AM

I had one of these back in 1982 or '83. Everyone eventually trailed back to one wall plug. Of course I was the one who got blamed for tripping the breaker.

We also had a major power failure while I was playing this one kind of cheesy bar in '89 or so. Everything went black and several people immediately started trying to work their way to the door. But the weather was so bad that it was better inside the bar. The waitress gathered a whole bunch of those little candle-in-a-jar from the tables and set them around us. The keyboard player and I went out to the van and got the acoustics we used to kill time/write on the road. The four of us sat on the front edge of the stage with two sixes, a 12-string, and a tambourine and did an acoustic set with the customers crowded up close mostly sitting on the floor.

It was cooler than it sounds.

Also they quit charging for the beer because the registers died with the power.

need4mospd · #7 02-24-2010, 07:34 AM

I thought this was going to be about the odd stage platforms your drummer has played on.

KrisH · #8 02-24-2010, 07:58 AM

I the early '90s, a basement band I jammed with did a regular annual "trout camp" gig -- a big beer blast down in the woods the weekend before trout fishing season opened. It was always well attended (some years in excess of a thousand), with an elected "mayor," security "police," volunteer EMTs and such. Huge bonfires, several kegs stations and a large stage built of cast-off pallets, 2X4s, plywood and plastic tarps, all powered by several portable generators. A real redneck Woodstock.

The setup alwys worked well until one year when we took a break and someone powered down the generators before I had a chance to turn off my amp. Poof! went my Bassman head. It never souned another note. Fortunately, I'd dragged along an old Marshall head I had and finished the night with that. I don't think I ever did any more trout camp gigs after that, but mainly because paying gigs got in the way.