Forgot my bass!!!

[JimmyM]

got halfway to my gig today, and realized i forgot my bass! not only that, but i do it on a day where we had two guest guitarists coming in to sub for our ailing guitarist/lead singer. so i hightail it home, take a pee and grab my bass and head back out. the time i left was 3:54, and the gig started at 5. on a day with light traffic, mapquest estimates the drive to be an hour and 5 minutes.

i was doing fine until i got within 5 miles of the gig. it was an outdoor gig at this gigundus retirement city called the villages, which naturally means it's ok to do 30 in the left lane in a 45 mph zone. but i had made up a lot of time before going 5 mph over the speed limit and getting lucky breaks from the lights, and i made it to the gig at 4:54. oh yeah, that's high drama!

i pull over by the side, and one of our fans helps me carry my bass and cord bag, i roll my b-15 up there, and our drummer's girlfriend parks my van. i furiously start setting up the b-15, my bass, my pedals, and my amp mic, and by 5:02 we started our first song, and the mix was incredible and my monitor sounded absolutely perfect. i sung and played my little heart out, and even though the performances weren't perfect, we're fortunate that we're the biggest draw out there and we usually get a good couple thousand people there, so we had a real good energy and the crowd loved it.

man, there is nothing like a good day being turned into a really crappy day and then back into a really good one!

[capnsandwich]

You're getting old Jimmy. That's an Alzheimer mistake.

[walterw]

ha!

makes you want to buy a mexican p-bass or something and just leave it shoved into a corner on the truck.

i did the same fool thing a month or two ago, only i didn't notice until i literally pulled into the parking lot at the club (a half-hour from my house), looked over and saw that my bass wasn't on the front seat beside me

i just had time to unload my amp and explain to the rest of the band how much of a dipsh*t i was before commencing on another hour's drive .

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

You're getting old Jimmy. That's an Alzheimer mistake.

hah! i forgot my bass way more often back in the day.

walter, that's a good idea. unfortunately, everyone else in my family uses my van and they'd probably bust it up in short order. but that's a darn good idea. got a couple sx's that would work. maybe i could ceiling mount it or something, like a gun rack.

but really, the best solution, i think, is take an extra minute or two and check everything right before i leave from now on.

[The_Low_Dude]

My teacher once told me not to be surprised when that ever happens to me, cause it has happened to him too. In his professional career, that is.

*Arrive at gig*
"Where's my bass?"
"Dunno"
"Didn't you load it in?"
"No"
"Damnit, me neither. I thought you did."

[fenderfunker]

At least your bass was safe; better than leaving it at the gig, as I did once. Lucky, the cleaner put my '78 P under the stage. God bless her. Never again.

[Jaguar]

Glad it worked out.Maybe a little masking tape across the steering wheel "Do I have My Bass?"

[varunkapahi]

that almost happened to me in a dream once! but there were no fans helping me with my gear!
sounds like a fun high rush story to me. sometimes when am driving alone to a gig i often check for my bass at every traffic light i gotta stop to be sure i got everything or not lol

[5StringBlues]

My favorite part of the story is when you took a pee.


Nice to see Devo James back where he belongs.

[HailCorduroy]

I don't feel so bad now. Had practice yesterday, but had to drive 100 miles away earlier that day. Practice was at 4 and I realized when I started to head back from my trip that I had to go all the way home, load my gear and then drive another 30 minutes back and it was 2:15. For the first 30 miles coming back, the only time I got below 100mph was when I saw a state trooper sitting on the side of the road. Made it over 100 miles in 1:15, loaded my gear, including both cabinets (I just got a new head and haven't played through both cabs yet). Speed back to the practice space and was only about 10 minutes late. I realized I didn't bring any speaker cables, so all the time loading my cabs was wasted. I ended up just playing through the practice space's crappy bass amp.

[troy mcclure]

I have almost done that a few times. My bass always goes in last, cause I drive a compact car and the cab, PA and stuff goes in 1st. I always load every thing in the same order and since I don't live with a woman all my gigging gear goes right by the front door in the hall way.
I was in a band last year where the drummer forgot his bass pedal one week and his stool the next. Luckily the gig was near a buddy of mines house and I gave the guy a case of Miller to drop off a bass pedal. The second time we made him sit on a bucket we found at the bar.

[Phalex]

I had a sax player show up without a sax once. He had to sit that one out. Probably not a good option with bass!

Glad it worked out! Maybe you should look into getting a case you can handcuff to your wrist?

[mike costelow]

I've never forgot bass but forget or misplace bass strap all the time(and I have 3 of them),its maddening! After sitting one gig on a stool our singer keeps an xtra guitar strap for me(A really corny patriotic one with american flag on it),he says its my punishment!.He has a problem remembering cables so I keep a worn out crackling one for him(his punishment!). After I kiss my wife and say"Im off to the gig!" she leaves the door unlocked so I can come back in for things I've forgotten,happens everytime!

[JMarkD]

LOL. Jimmy I did the same thing many years ago. Started out for the gig and realized I had everything but the bass. Not nearly as hectic as your experience, I only got about a mile from my house. Something to be said for getting the adrenalin going BEFORE start time!

[MNAirHead]

I hear you bro... just a few months ago.. I was getting stuff done.. remembered we were supposed to do a "best of 2009 festival"

I went to the warehouse and couldn't remember where I had my gig bass and/or amps... or cords etc...

Totally forgot that I had stored it elsewhere..

80mph for an hour and got it all together.. 5 minutes to spare.

=====

I've also walked out of a venue with an empty case.. ooops.

[stiles72]

At least you didn't have to make a stop by the corner Walmart to buy a First Axe guitar for your guitarist because he left his Les Paul at home lol

[bassman0221]

I have a check list that I use before loading up for any gig. Sucks when you forget something, glad it worked out for you though!

[Doufuss]

Originally Posted by bassman0221

I have a check list that I use before loading up for any gig. Sucks when you forget something, glad it worked out for you though!

I live by checklists for pretty much everything I do because, well, I'm old. I'm also one of those OCD people that uses cable wraps.

[mytmous]

Great story. I can't tell which is worse... forgetting your bass at home, or our key player leaving his keyboard on the stage after a gig and heading home. I think that was the same night he walked out without paying his bar tab as well. Funny thing is, he doesn't drink, but he eats like a pig. (Of course, we paid his tab out of his cut and tipped the bartender 100% for his tab ) My wife used to give me crap about leaving the house for gigs 3 hours early, until I had to come home to pick up a backup rig due to equipment failure while setting up. I also get to unwind before the gig that way.

Oh and "take a pee" = TMI

[Floridabwoy]

Damb Jimmy, If I had a fliptop it wouldn't leave the house!