ever just brain farted on a song?

[mward69]

Jesus H Christ.....I did tonight. Cover band..I have played this song for 10...15 yrs I guess. Heart - Barracuda....One of the most easiest songs in the damn world....Our new female singer wanted to try it...sure, no prob. Haven't played it in ...maybe a yr...
I Lost it...total brain fart and could NOT remember where to go in the verse {e to C} and the solo {1st one}

I had to run to the computer at break and look it up
You guys ever brain fart on a song you have played YOUR WHOLE life? God it sucked....

[jgroh]

Yup. Cept mine was helped along by about 4 beers at a gig. We were playing Sweet Child of Mine, a song we have played a million times. And during the little bass intro, I just blanked...I just started fumbling my way around and eventually caught back up. No one but me and the band noticed!

[seanm]

My band is very hit and miss at announcing songs before we start them. The guitar will just start playing and we are supposed to kick in. Quite often I will have a complete brain fart and not be able to figure out what song we are playing.... I have to fake it until we hit the vocals.

The two worst ones are Brown Sugar and Gloria. I should have learned by now that if I can't work out which song it is, it is probably Gloria

[fourstringdrums]

Brain Farts are why I don't play in cover bands generally. Most of the times I know the songs I just either can't associate a song with a name or can't remember exactly how they go.

[aus_bass]

Yup. Welcome to middle age.

[funkingroovin]

Gotcha beat..a song called "Old No.7",basic three chord blues country with bassline just bouncing R/5's..mind-numbingly simple,and we've played it every weekend for 6-7yrs. Last weekend I flaked onstage and came back into the second verse 5/R..There's literally only 4 diff. notes in the whole song,and I screwed 'em up!! At least Barracuda is a little more structured and complex,although our singer/guitarist always forgets the end of that one goes 5times and stop..

Oh well,it happens!

[Jimtoonz]

Yep - there was the time I was on stage at a club and started playing the bass line to Van Morrison's "Moondance" in A-flat minor. No problem, except that my band mates were playing in the more traditional and accepted A minor. I recovered pretty quickly after my ear detected a Thelonious Monk-style dissonance. Luckily, no one was hurt or killed by the grating noise that happened for a couple of measures.

[robzuki]

Was covering YYZ once and I completely forgot about the second bass solo. I just stood there and laughed when I realized the mistake

[klokker]

On the big entrance to "Mary Jane's last dance" I came in on the open D instead of the A one time. Gawd that sucked!

[MasterMonkeyMan]

Brain Farts is actually my bands name.

[richtea]

yep, play that funky music, one of the songs where I go and dance with the crowd. last weekend for some unknown reason I decided to play in F rather the the E that we have been playing it in for years. go figure.

[oerk]

Originally Posted by seanm

My band is very hit and miss at announcing songs before we start them. The guitar will just start playing and we are supposed to kick in. Quite often I will have a complete brain fart and not be able to figure out what song we are playing.... I have to fake it until we hit the vocals.

The two worst ones are Brown Sugar and Gloria. I should have learned by now that if I can't work out which song it is, it is probably Gloria

This (replace Brown Sugar and Gloria with Washed My Hands In Muddy Waters and Roll Roll Roll)!

[Bass SA]

yep, new year’s eve, in a party, the guitarist announced Sultans of Swing, also playing that one for a few years now but my brain just went blank, playing R for a while until my brain decided to start working again, so yep, brain fart.
I'm getting old, that's it

[cracked_machine]

Haha yeah complete mental block on Journey "Don't stop believing". I think the keys player started in the wrong key and that totally threw me off. That's my excuse anyway. Cue lots of frantic looks between us and me going "Just skip it...next song...next song!" Probably not such a bad thing.

A few months back the guitarist started Mr Brightside three steps down, so the band all came in together in the wrong key and had to suddenly transpose down to Eb on the fly. Was pretty funny actually. Transposing down to Eb on the bass isn't much fun lol.

[Rune Bivrin]

It happens to the best. It also happens to me

We do "I'll be there for you" by The Rembrants. I sing lead and play. Everything goes well until I get to the bridge, at which point I glance at the other (new) lead singers cheat sheet. Since she doesn't play anything other than tambourine she had the chords in wrong key. That's where I lost it completely.

Same gig the guitar player starts "Money for nothing" in the wrong key - and continues like that half the song before he understands what he's doing wrong. Let me tell you I was very glad to be able to sing in key with just the bass as the cue!

[Phalex]

A brain fart is where I got my immunity to the old stink eye.

I blanked out on a tune years ago. Must have been the mid 1990's......

The guitar player was one of those really "Intense" guys who's excrement smells like cookies baking in a flower shop. He was famous for the old stink eye.

Anyway, I blanked on the tune. Like totally blanked. Lights weren't even on, much less anyone being home. He gives me the old stink eye from across the stage. (This place had a HUGE stage that must have been about 5 feet tall)

Well, wouldn't you know, the old stink eye from 16 feet away doesn't do much good with me pulling out of my death spiral, so he comes over to my end of the stage, and starts yelling at me. Oddly enough that didn't fix anything either. But he kept at it, all the while trying to continue playing this tune that the bass has been absent from for the last minute or so.

I seriously considered kicking him off of this rather precipitace platform we were standing on.........

The other guitar player comes over and tells him to shut the **** up as his motivational speech is clearly not helping. (Thank you Johnny P!)

Afterwards we had a little sit down and I expressed my extreme displeasure with being yelled at on stage. Yes. I realized there was an issue with that song, and I really didn't need him to point it out to me.

I played with that guy for the next 8 or 10 years. He lost all power he had to piss me off.

And that's how I got to be immune to the old stink eye.......

[Saxn]

Originally Posted by Phalex

A brain fart is where I got my immunity to the old stink eye. ...

Hehehe nice story. I thought the "stink eye" was just used as a defense mechanism for any lead player that couldn't play the changes! I have certainly used it numerous times in the past! Blow a clam... glare angrily at the bass player... continue.

Seriously though... pretty douche move coming over and dressing down a band member onstage. I admire your self-control.

[HeadyVan Halen]

Hell yeah! I just call it improvising now..

Yeah it is embarassing when the Guitar player grabs the bass and goes "man it's like this..!"

My bad

[viper4000]

Last year I started playing Listen to the Music instead of Long Train Running. Not much I could do. Wiped the egg off, dusted off my ego and jumped back in playing the right song. We had a big laugh at set break. Oh, and I was stone cold sober.....singer bought me drink and all was right.

[Reaper Man]

yup, but luckily it's only been during rehearsal so far...









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