Singer thanks the wrong city

crijan · #1 12-15-2009, 04:10 PM

So in November my band had a festival show in Florida that was sponsored by a city government. We were doing main support for a band that was famous for flirting disastrously in the late 70's - early 80's. I had to sub out the gig since my wife was due to have a baby any minute, but as I'm the manager for the group I was still heavily involved in getting everything setup for the show business wise.

A couple of weeks after the show at our rehearsal, my band finally gets around to telling me this story about the gig:

During our set, our singer says "Thank you" and then proceeds to mispronounce the name of the city pretty badly. They didn't say if there was an immediate reaction, but The band members get some heckling about it as they're doing the meet and greet after the show while the headliner is setting up. They did say the overall response was great as they rocked the place pretty good.

As I'm hearing this, I'm thinking "oh great, we'll never get another gig in this town again."

Well finally the headliner gets on stage and proceeds to thank an entirely different city on the other side of Florida with a similar name!

bassist4dalord · #2 12-15-2009, 04:14 PM

No worries man. Blame it on the alcohol or something! I was at the Bruce Springsteen concert where he said "Hello Ohio!" to 30,000 screaming Metro Detroiters (multiple times)

So no worries, it can get A LOT worse. Just move on and rock out dude!!

addylewis · #3 12-15-2009, 04:30 PM

Anyone ever seen "Still Crazy"?

(band start a gig - lights come up...)
Singer: "Hello Belgium..."
Bassist: "Holland you prick!!"

Check it out - BRILL film...

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...ry=still+crazy

David Pinton · #4 12-16-2009, 01:38 AM

I love this film too!

JimK · #5 12-16-2009, 05:16 AM

Sometimes...the "star" has no idea what City they're in (c'mon, some of them are not the brightest bulb in the box, right?). Sometimes the "star" has no idea of who is in their backing band...but that's another story.

Anyway-
Sometimes...an "official" will tape the City's name on the stage so the singer can read it. So, if the "official" gets it wrong or misspells it, etc.
There ya go...and I have seen it happen around here a couple of times. The crowd yells back the correct City & the singer usually laughs it off with everybody. NBD.

Bass Kebap · #6 12-16-2009, 05:31 AM

It's not that big of a problem, IMO. Our damn prime minister (tayyip erdogan of Turkey) did that mistake at least 6 times during his last propaganda tour for the municipal elections in the past spring. His party still won by far and large..

jmac · #7 12-16-2009, 05:50 AM

This happens occasionally. I think bruce springsteen did this recently.

jaywa · #8 12-16-2009, 11:06 AM

This happens around here a lot. I live in Sioux Falls (South Dakota), and 90 miles down the Interstate is a town called Sioux City (Iowa). Big-timers come through here and mix the two cities up all the time.

Much worse for the singer to not remember the names of the people in his band, IMHO.

Obe · #9 12-16-2009, 11:45 AM

Reminds me of seeing Quiet Riot back in the day (ha). Playing in Springfield, MA, they thanked Springfield, IL for being a great crowd. Laughingly corrected themselves after. There is probably a Simpsons joke in there somewhere.

DB10 · #10 12-16-2009, 11:48 AM

The Simpson's mocked this common occurrence in an episode with Spinal Tap.
Derek Smalls: But nobody rocks like .... (looks on back of bass guitar where he has placed sticker with the name of city they are playing in)...Springfield.

Then later:

David St. Hubbins: Goodnight Springton! There will be no encores!

Sherwood · #11 12-16-2009, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Kebap

It's not that big of a problem, IMO. Our damn prime minister (tayyip erdogan of Turkey) did that mistake at least 6 times during his last propaganda tour for the municipal elections in the past spring. His party still won by far and large..

Kolay Gelsin, erdogan bey

bass player 48 · #12 12-16-2009, 12:32 PM

Good night Austin Texas, wherever you are!

Steve · #13 12-16-2009, 12:41 PM

There are some pretty strange city names in Florida courtesy of the Seminole tribe.

We won't hold it against you. If you think they're hard to pronounce, wait until you try to spell them.

varunkapahi · #14 12-16-2009, 12:46 PM

crijan · #15 12-16-2009, 01:26 PM

Yeah, the headlining band did a mixup similar to the Sioux Falls / Sioux City thing where our singer did something like mispronounce Falls. It was no big deal, but a funny story that both bands messed it up on the same show!

jugglingfreak · #16 12-16-2009, 02:48 PM

Happened in "Men at Work in Concert" that was an HBO special in 1984.

Colin Hay referred to "San Fransico" a few time then the audience was shouting something and there was a bit of back and forth as he tried to understand what they were saying and then he finally said "Oh, this is Berkley!"

They just made a joke out of it, even referencing it in the credits..

Taped and broadcast for the world to see at the time..

::Saint:: · #17 12-16-2009, 04:28 PM

Never had anyone shout the wrong city.. probably because I've only ever played local gigs.. though the singer from my previous band once thanked the wrong venue and then when he realized his mistake he blurts out "Whoops, did I say Logan's? I meant Evolution.. I'm just used to playing Logan's.. what a dive!"

Kael · #18 12-16-2009, 05:11 PM

After the second week on the road, I've no freaking clue what state I am in half the time much less what city. The whole "what day of the week is this" thing gets pretty hazy too. I am smart enough to keep my big mouth shut on stage though.

Bass Kebap · #19 12-16-2009, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood

Kolay Gelsin, erdogan bey

Ahahah