Most Embarrasing moments/problems/accidents on stage

Bassmanhopkins · #1 10-29-2010, 04:15 PM

Share some stories

My most embarrasing moment was back when i was playing in a hardcore death metal band, we were playing in some back-street heavy metal club, the equipment was dying, and the PA was pretty fried. nevertheless the show had to go on! we were coming up to the final breakdown of our last song of the night (we were last on the bill), so the singer was pretty hyped up, so anyway we came up to the last breakdown, and the singer went to do a stage dive, as he ran, he slipped on the slippery beer covered stage and flew into the crowd rather than dived into it.

twas a real oh no moment, luckily me, the drummer and the guitarist finished off the song without falling over laughing. although even with that mishap, and the crappiness of the equipment, it was a really good show!

Bassmanhopkins · #2 10-29-2010, 04:35 PM

Another one was when i got called up to play a gig at the last minute, they had all the amps at the show already but their bassist backed out at the last minute, i had played for the band before so i was already familiar with their songs. the band had already transported their equipment there the night before so all i had to do was go down there with ma basses. so i arrived there to find that the bassist that they had was using an unknown bass head (i think it was a Macmillan head) with two 18" homemade speakers.

So i immediatly thought to myself ok, its gonna be one of them nights is it?

so we started off all hunky dory, went through a couple of the songs no problem, the bass sound was a bit iffy though, but anyway halfway through the 3rd song, i noticed the bass was considerably quieter, so after that song i turned it up and realised that the homemade bass cabinets had nothing to soften the vibrations, and since it was a crappy head and all the pots were really loose, the bass vibrations were rattling the volumne nobs down. so i had to keep turning it up, and to top it off, about the end of the last song, one of the speakers blew up and spat a mixture of glue, wire, and metal out the air vents to boot. all i remember was a POP from the speaker, and then finding bits of glue wire and metal littered around the back of the stage.

After the show i got my cash, said goodbye and mentioned the speaker to the guys, they were like "nah no worries, he has plenty more from where that came from". so i left with a smile on my face and a wodge of cash in my pocket

AsianVoodoo · #3 10-29-2010, 09:50 PM

Noice! I've done my share of terrible shows but nothing I can really say is SUPER embarassing. Well, there was that one time I kept falling asleep at a church gig but c'mon! Who hasn't fought off sleep at church before? Anyways, the embarassing story isn't mine but a friend's. He was playing for some school fund raiser event with a couple of other bands. In the middle of some bass jerk*** moment he stretches to put his leg up on a monitor to reveal to everyone that his "unshaven rocks" were well... unshaven. Funny thing is he didn't notice and kept thrashing around until the end of the show when he noticed all the awkward stares....

DarkArwen · #4 10-30-2010, 01:46 AM

Who wears short shorts!!!
OKOKOK, my most embarrassing moment.
We were playing a song (that I wrote BTW) and I forgot an entire section. When I realized I wasn't supposed to be singing because it was an instrumental section I couldn't remember WHERE in the progresion we were. So I just sorta played random notes until I finally remembered what I as supposed to doing. Longest 8 measures of my life.

Bassmanhopkins · #5 10-30-2010, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkArwen

Who wears short shorts!!!
OKOKOK, my most embarrassing moment.
We were playing a song (that I wrote BTW) and I forgot an entire section. When I realized I wasn't supposed to be singing because it was an instrumental section I couldn't remember WHERE in the progresion we were. So I just sorta played random notes until I finally remembered what I as supposed to doing. Longest 8 measures of my life.

Ouch, we've all had them moments

Jim Miller · #6 10-30-2010, 08:20 PM

I apologize in advance for the length of this tale.

Backstage Club, Houston Texas, summer 1989, SRO. My band used to do two sets of originals and close each set with a song that had an extended four-on-the-floor chugga-chugga breakdown vamp over which the singer would rap (I mean the “this goes out to all the hell-raisin-Houston-Texas-get-on-down-boogie-woogie-whiskey-drinkin-pot-smokin-coke-snortin-big-t#$ty-lickin-rock-and-roll-mother-f@*kers!” kind of rap, not the “yo yo in da howse” variety); one vamp in A, one vamp in E. The A-vamp in the first set ended with a snare roll that led us back into the chorus, and the E-vamp in the second set ended with the singer singing the first line of the last pre-chorus, after which the guitar and drum crashes would kick in.

We always had some drinks on stage but usually kept it well together but that night a few rounds more than normal came up and by the end of the gig the effects were being felt...

So, picture it: Second set, last song of the night, chugging the E-vamp. Singer does his rap, then he stands there while we chug and wait for him to sing the line to bring us back into the song. Nothing. We continued chugging. Nothing. I exchanged a millisecond whiskey-tango-foxtrot? glance with the guitarist, but nothing obvious to alert anyone in the crowd. More chugging. Nothing. After about 15 seconds, which seemed like an eternity with us looking at the crowd and them looking back at us, the singer turned around, puts his hands over his head and began screaming and gesticulating very animatedly, making no effort at all to conceal his frustration at what had by that time become painfully clear to me: he had confused the last song of the second set with the last song of the first set and was waiting for the drum roll to bring us back into an entirely different song! He had no idea that instead he was actually supposed to sing a line that cued us back in; we were waiting for his vocals but instead he was up there having an ostentatious tantrum. The spectacle was embarrassing. I was surprised he was acting that way because the man had years of experience playing live.

Suddenly, I’ll be damned, even though we couldn’t hear what the singer was screaming, the drummer finally figured it out and went into the snare roll of the last song of the first set! As if we had rehearsed it a million times, the guitarist and I followed flawlessly. It wasn’t as smooth as it sounds, though, because we had to shift gears without a clutch from E to A, and this snare roll led into a section during which we executed some Warrant-esque choreography that we still scrambled to do but pulled off half-assed because we weren’t on our marks. So we started with one song and ended with a song we had already played—imagine AC/DC playing Sin City but then after the bass/vocals breakdown Bon Scott had a ostentatious tantrum and then the band morphed into Shot Down in Flames for no apparent reason, which they had already played.

After the song we did our Beatles-bow as usual and I did my best to pretend that we had planned it that way, but I walked offstage red-faced and humiliated. In the dressing room the singer was fuming by the time I arrived, by then aware of his charlie-foxtrot but roiling in an embarrassed rage that his drunken ego used to attempt to blame us for the mess. He was cursing and hollering and wiping out tables of drinks, etc. All this led to an intense band argument and some ugly minutes that nearly resulted in fisticuffs. It was all so damned Spinal Tap. A horrible end to an otherwise great evening.

Bassmanhopkins · #7 10-31-2010, 04:38 AM

Wow, at least you held the song together and didnt let it fall apart! that would have been a LOT worse!

delta7fred · #8 10-31-2010, 05:02 AM

In the 80s I played lead in covers band, the singer/rhythm guitarist (Pete) was the nicest guy that ever walked this earth but so laid back!

We played 2 Searchers songs, Every-time You Walk in the Room, and Needles and Pins. I started the lead riff intro for one (can't remember which one), they were probably in the same key Pete just strums the chord and started sing at the correct point.

The trouble was he started singing the wrong song so after the first line he shuffles over to me (still playing the riff) and asks 'what is the first line'. Well having heard him just sing a line I repeated it to him. He moves back to the mic and sings the same line again, realises it is still wrong so goes over to ask the bass player who unfortunately repeats the same line, which he sings again.

I am still playing the riff, and getting pretty bored with it, fortunately it is also the outro as well, so I glance at the drummer and we finish the song. To our amazement the audience applaud as if we had done nothing wrong, but we were pretty embarrassed. Crazy.

mongo2 · #9 10-31-2010, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassmanhopkins

so after that song i turned it up and realised that the homemade bass cabinets had nothing to soften the vibrations, and since it was a crappy head and all the pots were really loose, the bass vibrations were rattling the volumne nobs down. so i had to keep turning it up,

Once our guitarist/singer got a wee bit schnockered and played the intro to one song and then started singing a different song. That was a bit confusing, especially since the songs are in different keys.

sef · #10 10-31-2010, 08:39 AM

Back in the early 90's I was playing in a hair band so you know you have to make a cool entrance. Anyways, we start the intro to the first song of the night offstage, then me and the guitar player come running out from opposite sides of the stage and we are supposed to cross in front of each other.

That didn't happen, we ran into each other.

I took a nice chunk of wood out of my bass, broke one of the knobs off and cut my pinky finger open.

His damage was 3 busted strings. He got the better end of the deal.

Not the best way to start off a show.

MikeyFingers · #11 10-31-2010, 03:01 PM

When I first started playing with my former funk/ska band, we had this gig at a local bar. It was only my 3rd or 4th time playing with them and I was just beginning to get comfortable with the songs and stage routine. In the course of a 20-minute set, I managed to step on my own cable and unplug it from the amp THREE times. Not such a big deal, but embarrassing enough when I have to stop mid-song and fumble around on the floor to get it plugged in again.

Another time, about a year later, we were playing a substantially bigger venue in the city. We all went into rock-star mode and "pregamed" pretty hard. In short, we were drunk before we even got on stage. Needless to say, I was dancing/jumping around a lot more than usual. At some point, I got tangled in some cables, lost my footing, stumbled backwards a few feet, and bumped into my amp. I almost knocked the whole thing over, but instead of knocking the amp over, I wobbled around the amp, and fell flat on my back taking the drummer's crash cymbal with me. Fortunately that song was almost over, so I just stayed put and finished the song laying on the floor.

Joel_bass · #12 10-31-2010, 03:30 PM

Every now and then I do an acoustic gig with a couple of friends at a local bar. At the last show a Bachelorette party came in, which is usually a good sign that the crowd will be fun. During a set break I was at the bar to get a pint and one of the bridesmaids tapped me on the shoulder and said 'You have to give this to the bride'. Without looking too carefully at the object I took it at turned to give it to the bride who was standing beside me. It was then that I realized that the object was a wand with a plastic d*** on the end of it.

Ha ha ha, they all had a good laugh. I wish that was the end of it.

During the next set the girls asked if we could play a Journey song and have the bride sing along. 'Sure' we say, could be fun.

About half way through the song I become aware that the more than slightly inebriated bride had given up on singing and had decided that the plastic d*** needed to share my microphone with me. It was really hard to sing with that thing being shoved in my face, but I think I kept my composure

Instantly I notice little flashes from everyone's Blackberrys. Yep this wonderful, not awkward at all, (a sarcasm font is needed) scene has been forever immortalized.

m_bisson · #13 10-31-2010, 06:53 PM

Hopefully it was a clean dildo and not a used one

Skeevenmac · #14 11-01-2010, 07:45 AM

Hopefully it was well used!

PJSShearer · #15 11-01-2010, 09:05 AM

We were playing a song (that I wrote BTW) and I forgot an entire section. When I realized I wasn't supposed to be singing because it was an instrumental section I couldn't remember WHERE in the progresion we were. So I just sorta played random notes until I finally remembered what I as supposed to doing. Longest 8 measures of my life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassmanhopkins

Ouch, we've all had them moments

... so often that I'm surprised you think it worth mentioning

80'sRocker · #16 11-01-2010, 09:15 AM

Falling over and landing on me arse, forgetting my bass, smoking a cab at my 1st gig, leaving after sound check only to have the van die. The worst was when I overslept for night #2 of a 3 nighter - thank god the gear was all set up and my singer could play bass for the first set!!!

iamoldschool · #17 11-01-2010, 09:16 AM

Our lead singer often gets mixed up between "Rock Around the Clock" and "Blue Suede Shoes". We have to wait until we hear "1, 2, 3 O'Clock" or "1 for the money" until we actually know which song is going to come out. Fortunately, they are nearly identical, so not a problem really, but it's always a mystery until he actually starts singing.

jaspercbass · #18 11-01-2010, 10:50 AM

At a gig back in August, I was outside smoking a cig before the gig. I see a cab pull up and inside said cab is an ex-girlfriend. Through some roundabout turn of events, she was invited by my guitar player and I was not warned about this at all. I said hi, walked inside and proceeded to drink as much beer as possible. I hadn't eaten dinner at all, so after 3 beers in a half hour or so, I was feeling pretty good. Then I had to play....

Everything was going alright until a song I really didn't know to well came up. Couldn't remember any of it for the life of me. I fake my way through miserably and was relieved when the song was finally over. Fortunately I was drunk, so it wasn't that embarrassing at the moment, but later I felt pretty bad about it. Drinking before playing doesn't happen anymore because of that night.

Oh, and in a drunken stupor, I ended up flirting with the ex the rest of the night, ended a 2 year relationship with my current gf the next week, and now no longer talk to the ex. I really hate women....

TolerancEJ · #19 11-01-2010, 11:53 AM

Many years ago, I had an opportunity for a bass solo. I had rehearsed the solo at home hundreds of time without a problem. I don't know what happened at the show. Maybe stage nerves? Without a doubt, it was the worst crap I ever played in my life.

DarkArwen · #20 11-01-2010, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJSShearer

... so often that I'm surprised you think it worth mentioning

Well of course, I felt like a major idiot, but reading other people's stories helps.