Most pitiful thing youve ever seen a bassist do live

[ErikT]

Tuning my bass at à half note too low while using à boss tuner, then playing I wish, and trying to play the song half note up! It was a mess!

[TNCreature]

Originally Posted by The Owl

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THAT

No excuse in my book for a perfectly good bassist to do that. Thankfully the bassist I knew that did that (in an effort to sound like that over-produced crap on the radio) ditched the synth bass altogether, THANK GOD!!!

you guys are overreacting. It is just another instrument. Another tool to acomplish what you want to accomplish. Try not to feel so threatened.

[Tituscrow]

This thread has turned into a keeper

[sandmangeck]

I threw up twice on myself in the middle of a song. Didn't miss a note!

[RobbieNuke]

Battle of the Bands contest;

Bassist got drunk then got lost during some sections of complex songs (Yes, Crack the Sky, etc). He was playing good and all that most of the time, but it was very obvious when he got lost! He struggled to get back on cue and had a really pissed-off expression!

Anyway, in mid set he totally lost it... threw his bass on the dance floor still plugged in... then walked off stage screaming. Later when the band left the stage (they went on playing a few songs without him... good for them) the bassist came back to throw his amp head onto the dance floor as well! Security removed him at that point and the band took his gear outside to his car. Yeah,... he got fired for that stunt!

Unbelievable nothing broke. I didn't catch the brand name of the gear.

[playbassistplay]

I once saw a "bassist" just jump around with an unplugged MIM jazz while the rest of the band actually played. It hurt my heart just a little bit.

[dreads311]

Originally Posted by sandmangeck

I threw up twice on myself in the middle of a song. Didn't miss a note!

Impressive, sir!

[edpal]

Originally Posted by guitfiddle0409

Maybe this incident doesn't quite fit the criteria of the OP but I can't resist telling this story. I was once minding my own business trying out a bass in a music store when some oaf decided to sit right down next to me and "audition" the bass of his choice. He chose some rather hideous looking five stringed monstrosity and decided to violently flop and rub his thumb and fingers on the strings while doing something completely out of context with his left hand. The result effect sounded like a helicopter running out of fuel and desperately trying to make a difficult landing. All the while this moron was staring directly at me with some kind of air of superiority to get my attention and adulation as well I suppose. After ignoring him for a few minutes and gently playing a few blues and reggae patterns to see if I liked the neck, the aforementioned oaf beside me started to say things like "Is that all you can do? Can you slap, man?" I looked up at him and he proceeded to do more percussive burping noises and I finally started to take pity on the poor defenseless bass that he was maligning so mercilessly. There was nothing more to say. I smiled politely and put the Geddy Jazz Bass back on the rack and hoped it would be spared the carnage that this moron was inflicting on the last instrument.

If they speak to me I alway have the same question/responce : do you know any songs?

[Jazzfretless]

An embarrassing situation, but not bad bassmanship necessarily.

All setup was done. All gear was tuned and warmed up. I was set up behind the Yamaha Electric Grand. Suits and ties perfect with matching pocket hankies. Ready to go.

Time for us to play. Calm cool collected, pick up bass, no sound from the amp.

Started sweating profusely, looking around, asking keyboard player if the outlet was working, everyone was ready to start and the audience was in full anticipation of the first note. Felt everyone's eyes on the back of my head and my ears were burning.

Finally realized it had to be the amp's fuse. No spare fuses to be found anywhere. I just happened to have a silver stick of gum wrapper in my pocket, wrapped it around the fuse and put it back in VOILA success!

The night was saved, but I lost my confident composure and sweated profusely through the whole ordeal.

[Schmorgy]

Originally Posted by Jazzfretless

An embarrassing situation, but not bad bassmanship necessarily.

All setup was done. All gear was tuned and warmed up. I was set up behind the Yamaha Electric Grand. Suits and ties perfect with matching pocket hankies. Ready to go.

Time for us to play. Calm cool collected, pick up bass, no sound from the amp.

Started sweating profusely, looking around, asking keyboard player if the outlet was working, everyone was ready to start and the audience was in full anticipation of the first note. Felt everyone's eyes on the back of my head and my ears were burning.

Finally realized it had to be the amp's fuse. No spare fuses to be found anywhere. I just happened to have a silver stick of gum wrapper in my pocket, wrapped it around the fuse and put it back in VOILA success!

The night was saved, but I lost my confident composure and sweated profusely through the whole ordeal.

And added the potential for pyrotechnics to the show!


Maybe I'm bitter, but the most pitiful live show I've ever seen featured a bassist demonstrating his mastery of one-finger-fu on his fretting hand on the E string for the whole show and using the same thing with his right hand.


Oh, and it was on a Ric 4001 he was bragging about his parents buying him for his birthday after the set.

[sandmangeck]

Originally Posted by dreads311

Impressive, sir!

My band mates were passed no one videotaped it.

[dreads311]

Originally Posted by sandmangeck

My band mates were passed no one videotaped it.

Awwww. That would be some interweb gold!

[The Owl]

It's bad enough when Michael Anthony would do his amateurish "bass solo" onstage, but OMG, this guy Cronos (from Venom) makes Michael Anthony sound like a virtuoso by comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN3JKXTj7gw

[Benton]

Halloween party at "Eagle's" club. It was an old social club with bar downstairs and hall upstair. We had all these halloween lights and decorations fog machine. We set up and and all looks good until I flip the standby switch. (Sunn 300T) Every thing went dark. The entire upstairs in the club must have been on the same circut. The surge put it over the edge. We eventually got it all turned back on and had a great time. It turned out a 6550 had shorted and blew a 100 miliamp fuse.

[thedudebrah]

Originally Posted by The Owl

It's bad enough when Michael Anthony would do his amateurish "bass solo" onstage, but OMG, this guy Cronos (from Venom) makes Michael Anthony sound like a virtuoso by comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN3JKXTj7gw

If you close your eyes, it sounds like someone revving a weedwacker!

Feel free to post that video in any "how can I relic my bass" threads. That spiky armband should do the trick!

[Nashrakh]

Originally Posted by thedudebrah

If you close your eyes, it sounds like someone revving a weedwacker!

Feel free to post that video in any "how can I relic my bass" threads. That spiky armband should do the trick!

It was 1985, man. Dudes weren't ready for that. I think in one passage he is actually trying to imitate a chainsaw...

Most interesting thing about the whole video was the fretboard, half fretless... Not sure if that ever was any use to him.

[IngerAlb]

Originally Posted by The Owl

It's bad enough when Michael Anthony would do his amateurish "bass solo" onstage, but OMG, this guy Cronos (from Venom) makes Michael Anthony sound like a virtuoso by comparison

Venom is all about playing the most distorted, chaotic & raw metal ever - and they certainly manage that It's a metal show, not a bass clinic The crowd seemed to get that from the get go, and that's all that matters. If you fire up the audience - even with a "goof" - then it's the right thing to do. There's always a bit of parody in most metal live acts and the audience knows it

[edpal]

Originally Posted by The Owl

It's bad enough when Michael Anthony would do his amateurish "bass solo" onstage, but OMG, this guy Cronos (from Venom) makes Michael Anthony sound like a virtuoso by comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN3JKXTj7gw

And Even for a metal act he sets a new low. At one point it sounded like a dirt bike getting rev''d - too bad they couldn't have just cut to a cover of Montrose's Bad Motor Scooter.

[IngerAlb]

Originally Posted by edpal

And Even for a metal act he sets a new low.

Are you implying that metal is somewhat inferior to other genres?

[edpal]

Originally Posted by IngerAlb

Are you implying that metal is somewhat inferior to other genres?

Not inferior (I play a lot of metal), but I would say there is more stupid genuflucting in metal than almost any other genre. He though he was being cool making faces and pointless noise - I "had" a brother-in-law who would do the same thing on our piano - one day my son shut the lid on his hands, hard.