Our Worst Gig Ever...XD

[OPBASSMAN1994]

So I was going through some old band pics from a gig about a year ago, and it brought back this funny memory...

Before the next song began in a gig we were playing, my guitarist ran over to me, and asked me "what's the next song". I stood there, blank, searching my mind for the setlist somewhere in my head. Nothing. So, I just made something up. This iconic moment was in fact caught on camera....

Later in that gig, he busted a string on a borrowed SG (forgot his Les Paul at home...) and our drummer and the church youth pastor (it was a small lock in gig) rushed out of the building to go to the main church building (youth building and main building were across the street from eachother...) to get some new strings. During this time, me and the guitarist launched into a impromptu acoustic performance of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" After which the drummer met us at the front of the jerry-rigged stage area and asked us what he missed and what the next song was...This too was photographed.

Later, after he'd gotten the guitar back, we finished the show, and all was said and done, our guitarist's works-off-and-on guitar stand gave way, the SG fell to the ground, and a small crack in the wood from tension split the entire neck...


Needless to say, this had to be the most unlucky gig any of us had ever played...God must have wanted to test our faith.

However, we did end up with 10 more fans on facebook (there were only 14 people that stayed for our concert...), and we did not have to pay for the guitar (as it was an accident, and the crack was already there...).

[duff84]

bad gigs come and go man its a part of the whole gigging scene, it happens to me sometimes getting asked to play songs ive never heard before or listened to before and to make something up with the guitarist confusing the hell out of me showing me the stuff. All it does it makes me want to practice more now, before it made me want to give up and stuff, guess i grew up over the years. Best of luck and remember bad gigs can be seen as a learning experience, take what happened there and know next time the mistakes that happened and correct them.

[Rockmusician]

I played a 4th of July parade on the back of a flat bed truck. Every once in a while, the parade would stop and then start again. Every time we started to move, the mic stand would whack the guitar player/lead singer in the mouth. He ended up with a bloody lip and a chipped tooth. To make matters worse, there was a race car driver with his dragster on a trailer directly in front of us. Every so often, he would start the car and rev the engine sending the exhaust fumes directly at us. The worst part, we did it as a favor to friend for free.

[aaronhutson]

I know about God testing faith during shows! Ha.

One show my christian metal band played at an indian reservation south of OKC, we're from Tulsa) one the way there my van had a blowout. So i went to change it but both the jack and the crappy four way (plastic by the way) broke. So an hour out of town i called my dad and had him bring a jack and four way so i could change it. So we made it to the show, found out we were actually headlining. Not a bad performance. Then on the way home, about 4 hours away from tulsa, my van had another blowout. So its 1am and i had no spare and me and a guitarist are on the side of I-40. The rest of the band was staying with a friend but me and the guitarist had to be back the next morning. The rest of the band also decided to turn off thier phones. So we called a towtruck and spent the night in a walmart parking lot in OKC until walmart auto shop opened so i could buy a new tire.

Then once i bought a new tire and we were on out way, about 45 minutesout of OKC we came up over a hill where we saw smoke. I figured a trucker blew a gasket or something so i didnt think much of it. When we got to the top of the hill, there was a flipped over car and we were the first to it. An older lady had been speeding and lost control, rolling her car several times. So we called 911 and the guitarists dad, who met us at the walmart in OKC, smashed out her window to get the lady out. But she was bleeding too much and her seatbelt was stuck. So we had to wait till the ambulance got there. Once they did they took over and took awhile but got her out and to the hospital.

Then, after all that trouble, and a few hundred dollars later, we made it home.

By the way, it was a very low paying show...

[Ursus Tyrannus]

We played a big bar/function hall/ski resort thingy in NH. It was a huge deal for us opening for a well known local AC/DC tribute band. We were an all originals alternative rock/grunge band and figured it was a good way to get seen by a new audience. We traveled two states and three hours to get there. We shoulda stayed home.
By our third song the function hall was empty, every single living soul left the function room for the bar in the next room... including the sound guy. Five songs in, a waitress stuck her head in the double doors leading to the bar, looked at us, made a sour face...and closed the doors. A minute later the jukebox in the bar kicked in.
We finished our allotted time working out a new song. When our time was up, no one showed so we ended up working out the new song for another half hour. Finally the sound guy came in and asked how come we hadn't left yet.

We never played with an AC/DC tribute band again.

*edit* We didnt get paid for the gig.

[Marginal Tom]

The bad things that happened to you put you in position to call 911, and perhaps save the older lady's life.

[OPBASSMAN1994]

Well I just found the pics and put them on my computer. Who wants to see them? XD

and Aaron, I'm sure that the blow outs sucked, but hey, you helped save an old woman's life.

[countrybass007]

Knockin' on Heaven's Door, have used it several times during equipment failures. Some nights just seem to go from bad to worse. Look back and laugh!

[MrMeacham]

Overcoming adversity makes us stronger. God doesn't always test our faith. Sometimes he finds unique ways to make us stronger.

[OPBASSMAN1994]

I am getting so many people with serious reactions...this was a "haha-what-a-funny-time" thing.