Ever Show Up on the Wrong Night?

iamoldschool · #1 02-23-2008, 07:24 AM

I booked a standing gig for our three-piece band to play at a local venue on the last Friday of each month for a special dinner they have. We've been playing there since November and the gig has been going great. They like us, we enjoy the people there, etc. Myself and the g**tarist/singer both work regular jobs, so we have rehearsal on Wed. night, then meet to break down and load up on Thursday night. I haul the equipment in my Yukon XL with me to work and just leave for the venue on Friday after work. So, we show up yesterday afternoon @ 5:30 and begin to unload when the manager comes running up to us and says "Hey, you guys aren't supposed to be here until next Friday!". You know what, HE WAS RIGHT

. When I recorded the date on my PDA, I didn't think about the possibility of February having 5 Fridays. After all, February has only 28 days, right? That means 4 or each Sunday through Saturday. EXCEPT, this is leap year which means February has 29 days and the first just happened to fall on Friday! I was really embarrassed, but the venue manager was very cool about it. He had a Karaoke outfit booked, and he even called them to see if they wanted to swap Fridays with us since we were already there. Turns out they had another committment for the 29th, so we just loaded back up and took the equipment back to the practice space and set up. The other two members of our trio were really understanding about the mix-up, but I still feel really dumb for making the mistake

. In the end, I'm glad the Karaoke people didn't want to swap, because our crowd is always much larger than theirs. I guess the good news is, I didn't book anything else for the 29th!

How about it? Anyone else as dumb as me? Ever break down, load up and show up for a gig on the wrong night?

bassaficionado6 · #2 02-23-2008, 08:54 AM

Dude, that sucks. I think I would be mortified if that ever happened.

Smallmouth_Bass · #3 02-23-2008, 09:06 AM

No, but that's a great story!

BassmanDk · #4 02-23-2008, 09:13 AM

Good story! But instead of "last friday in every month" always get the exact dates!

I once showed up to a venue only to find out another band had already set up. Ok Fair enough i'd heard about double bookings before. The bar owner was sorry and cool so we got out money without having to play. As we stand there counting the dough, ANOTHER BAND WALKS IN! Ever heard about a triple booking?????

Uncle Ernie · #5 02-23-2008, 10:26 AM

Man, that's funny, and apart from the time invested, no one got hurt!

GeneralElectric · #6 02-23-2008, 10:51 AM

I had a similar set up once, where it was 2 fridays in a row, skip a friday, 2 fridays in a row, skip a friday, etc. Well anyways, I'm out having a beer with my friend and I get a phone call from the band I was in at the time, they showed up at the bar when there was no gig. I thought it was hilarious, but I went down there anyways.

peterbright · #7 02-23-2008, 01:13 PM

Go drink every night and you'll always be there when you are scheduled.

matrok · #8 02-23-2008, 01:27 PM

Not exactly, but we once drove about 15 hours to Quebec to find that the club was closed for the season. Gotta love booking agents and mangers.

Illbay · #9 02-23-2008, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamoldschool

IEver break down, load up and show up for a gig on the wrong night?

I've showed up on the right night for the wrong band.

Got my nice Breedlove 12-string, then realize "oh, ****, this aint' the acoustic group! This is the jazz trio...!"

justinmikehunt · #10 02-23-2008, 02:23 PM

I haven't showed up for one of my own gigs, but I was going to see Zakk Wylde in Boston, and after getting lost driving around the city for an hour, I get there and find out it's the next night.

And of course I couldn't make it the next night.

mccartneyman · #11 02-23-2008, 02:29 PM

My band, based out of Pittsburgh, PA, once drove to Utica, NY (about 110 miles) because the organ player wrote down the wrong date. Five of us in a van with the equipment. Another time, we showed up at a biker bar ready to play disco.

We took one look at the place and left. I think both band and bar won that night.

Another time I showed up to find out that the organ player had rented out my Acoustic 360 amp and replaced it with a Traynor. Does that count?

bassaficionado6 · #12 02-23-2008, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinmikehunt

I haven't showed up for one of my own gigs, but I was going to see Zakk Wylde in Boston, and after getting lost driving around the city for an hour, I get there and find out it's the next night.

And of course I couldn't make it the next night.

That both sucks and is hilarious.

iamoldschool · #13 02-23-2008, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterbright

Go drink every night and you'll always be there when you are scheduled.

Hmmmm.

IndyBass · #14 02-23-2008, 05:31 PM

Great stories!

I don't think I've ever turned up on the wrong night, but in one case, the advertising for the gig listed the wrong day for the show (the Friday instead of the Saturday, I think).

So we show up for the gig, along with two other bands (one from out-of-state), but any audience to speak of showed up the night before! The club was very apologetic, since they drew up the ad. OOPS.

willg95 · #15 02-23-2008, 11:35 PM

the date i got wrong was a rehearsal. i was called to play for a jazz band because they had a gig next week, (i wring for like seven bands... it's good money

) so the lead alto sax player in charge told me to meet at his house monday. so "monday" came and i'm drivin up there w/ my j-bass and my bassman400. i put the gig bag over my back, went up to the door and knocked... no one answered so (and to my dismay) i walked in cuz he said he'd be the only one there since he told everyone else to come an hour later. and right after i open the door i see him naked on the couch watching "tv."

he freaks out, i freak out, he runs out of the room with a pillow over his manhood and comes back out in pants and said, "i said MONDAY!" and i replied, "it is monday." then he took out his phone and showed me the date and it was sunday

BryanM · #16 02-24-2008, 12:55 AM

I've never showed up for one of my gigs on the wrong day, but similarly to what justinmikehunt did, I went to see this band World/Inferno Friendship Society in Chicago at the metro, so I walked about 35 blocks in the rain because I wasn't familiar with the bus system there, got the venue, bought my ticket for the show at 5:00 (doors were at 7:00) went and grabbed dinner at a Thai place and then stood in the rain from about 6:30 to 7 with a big crowd of people, but it turns out the band I came to see was actually playing the house of blues that night at 6:30 and metro the next night, when I would be on a plane home. I can't remember who was playing that night, but it was a very different kind of music if I remember correctly.

BassmanDk · #17 02-24-2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinmikehunt

I haven't showed up for one of my own gigs

...And you keep getting gigs?????

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illbay

I've showed up on the right night for the wrong band.
Got my nice Breedlove 12-string, then realize "oh, ****, this aint' the acoustic group! This is the jazz trio...!"

So you played bass jazz lines on a acoustic 12-string??? And you keep getting gigs?????

Quote:

Originally Posted by willg95

i see him naked on the couch watching "tv."

he freaks out, i freak out, he runs out of the room with a pillow over his manhood and comes back out in pants and said, "i said MONDAY!" and i replied, "it is monday." then he took out his phone and showed me the date and it was sunday

I bet that was an akward gig!!! And yea i have to say it; And you keep getting gigs with these guys?????

Brent's Groove · #18 02-24-2008, 02:10 PM

No way, man. This just happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

Whenever I get booked, I put the date on the calender in my phone, and on the calender that I keep on my wall. Well, the day of the gig I check the date on my watch just to make sure it was the same as my calenders. It was, so I hopped in the car and drove for two hours to the venue. Of course, I show up half an hour late for the soundcheck, but there's no cars there...or anybody for that matter. I found a security guard and asked him if the band was around, and that's when he told me that the band wasn't supposed to play until the next day.

As I drove out of the parking lot, I checked the date on my watch with the date on my phone...my watch was off by one day. When I realized that, I dropped an F-bomb so loud that the echo lasted about ten minutes.

fastplant · #19 02-27-2008, 03:45 PM

When my band first started out we got to a club on a Sat night and the owner comes out and says, "where were you guys last night?!?" Turns out we had our dates wrong, but it was more a miscommunication between the owner and our booking agent than anything else. Still can't figure out why no one called us. The guy was actually pretty cool and we didn't burn any bridges. In fact the guy said he had another band coming in that night, but gave us free drinks for coming down and all. Turns out it was good for me, I had the flu and didn't really want to play anyway.

Another show our keyboardist got the dates wrong but we were able to call him and get him to the club on time.

BassmanDk · #20 02-27-2008, 04:18 PM

Maybe this falls into the above catagory:
One night some of my friends had at a gig, playing 4x45mins. They usually play 3x45.
When they were about to begin the last set, the drummer was nowhere to be found.
Eventually they called him on his cellphone. He was sitting at home, having a late night snack and was about to go to sleep. He had figued they were done after the third set!!!

Phhhh... drummers ;-)