Strangest gigs?

bassman1185 · #1 12-04-2006, 11:42 AM

What's the weirdest situation your band has ever played?

Mine was this weekend. My band played a bat mitzvah. Now, you might think "well, that's not terribly out of the ordainary, lots of bands play bar/bat mitzhahs." The thing about that is that we're a hardcore/metal band and we're all professing Christians. Can you say out of place? It was actually a really fun show, though.

Jimi Cleek · #2 12-04-2006, 11:53 AM

Ok I played a show with the "Joe Bob Briggs All Cousin Orchestra." It was a comedy gig and we only did maybe a half dozen tunes. This was at the Arcadia Theater in Dallas which is a very old theater with the classic stage with dressing rooms and a largish under stage area. The weird part started when Joe Bob's dance troupe "The Dancing Bovina Sisters" came out, 10 women came out on stage not one of them under 200 pounds. The stage was shaking so hard I thought the drummer’s kit was going to fall apart. A very surreal experience to say the least.

Jimi

bassjus · #3 12-04-2006, 01:06 PM

I play a regular gig at this library the next town over that holds an art show. The art show doesn't really bring in many people, and it's just in this small room of the library, but the artists are nice, it's only two hours on a sunday during the day, and they have some good snacks. We don't get paid much but we don't expect it. It's a nice thing to do for the place, and we've actually gotten some other gigs out of it, so it's all in all really good.

mimaz · #4 12-04-2006, 01:29 PM

The local TV station does a morning news show from 5AM - 7AM before the network news. Several years ago, they did a segment once a week at local restaraunts featuring the "singing weatherman". The last one I remember doing, we set up inside McDonalds around 4:30AM for an unplugged type of gig, and did all the intros/outros for the newscast, and the singing weatherman sat in with us for a tune. Strange gig, and it's damn difficult to be artistic at 4:30AM (unless, of course, it's because you've been up all night, being artistic.)

Steve · #5 12-04-2006, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassman1185

What's the weirdest situation your band has ever played?

halloween at a nudist colony

bassman1185 · #6 12-04-2006, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikertrash82

halloween at a nudist colony

So... did they wear costumes or just paint themselves or something?

TheDarkReaver · #7 12-04-2006, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikertrash82

halloween at a nudist colony

did the band nude up?

Ale · #8 12-04-2006, 10:54 PM

At a large metal/hardcore-festival.

We play free jazz

Man , did we have to run fast

BassChuck · #9 12-05-2006, 04:46 AM

About 25 years ago the band I was with played out at a farm for the (and there was a large banner for this) "Second Annual F*** Canada Dance". The people there were not Canadian, or as far as I could tell, had anything to do with Canada... it was just a name. By the second set everyone had coupled up and was out of the building and in the field having their own party. We finished, packed up and left. The guitarist had a rougher time that I since he had left his car unlocked and there was a couple in the back seat.

Steve · #10 12-05-2006, 02:46 PM

"they" wore costumes but, somehow, everyone knew who everyone was.

the band did not nude up.

and the reality and the fantasy where light years apart. I hate it when that happens.

bassman1185 · #11 12-05-2006, 02:52 PM

The general sentiment that I've heard about nudists is that they tend to be the people that you want least to see naked.

Smallmouth_Bass · #12 12-05-2006, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassChuck

About 25 years ago the band I was with played out at a farm for the (and there was a large banner for this) "Second Annual F*** Canada Dance". The people there were not Canadian, or as far as I could tell, had anything to do with Canada... it was just a name. By the second set everyone had coupled up and was out of the building and in the field having their own party. We finished, packed up and left. The guitarist had a rougher time that I since he had left his car unlocked and there was a couple in the back seat.

That sounds like something out of South Park!

W1zard · #13 12-07-2006, 04:03 PM

I'll be playing with my band on the funeral of a good friend of our guitarist. We recorded out first demo at this guys home-studio.
He died last monday and was just 23.
We play rock/funk/jazz, we will play the more mellow songs.
I don't think we can play more than 2 songs.
Damn, this is a gig I am not looking forward too.

tr68gt · #14 12-08-2006, 12:18 PM

Many years ago some friends of mine owned a winery (and that's another story all it's own). Well, they had this Bluegrass band that was playing one Saturday night, and their bass player didn't show. The oldest of these boys was 16 or 17, so needless to say, none was old enough to drink. I had been there all day helping my friends get the place ready for the evening as Saturday nights usually brought a big crowd. And, there are some perks to helping (Free Drinks All Day!). The next thing I know the band asks me if I'll sit in on the bass, "Sure, Why not". What I didn't know was it was a washtub bass. I was half snockered so I did it anyway, and it turned out to be one of the funnest things I've ever done. After about a 6 song set we took a break, and my friends came up to me and said "I didn't know you could do that". All I could reply was "I didn't either". Every time they played at the winery after that night, I was asked to play a few songs with them, if not the whole evening.

browner · #15 12-08-2006, 12:32 PM

About 10 years ago a pop/retro band I was in played at a 'folk' festival which wasn't exactly what we were acustomed to but anyway, outside the tent we were in was a puppet show (so 'tap'!) who kept on coming in to complain that they couldn't be heard....so naturally we all turned up! (to "eleven")

Delberthot · #16 12-08-2006, 07:36 PM

We played at a guy's 40th birthday party. it was held at his work. he owned a used car showroom.

The building had huge glass windows all the way round and it was on the main road on a Saturday afternoon so it was quite funny seeing people's expressions as they passed in cars and buses.

Strange moments at gigs include when some old dear sat on the stage and started playing the spoons.

One guy came up and asked to sing the Elvis track; " I can't help falling in love with you" but he never left any gaps between the lines so we were constantly having to miss parts out to catch up to him.

At the end of the song, he turned round with the mic still in his hand and said "F@&**n band don't know it". I was bent double laughing. what a buffoon.

Another singer insisted on singing "Strangers in the Night" using only the words "scooby dooby doo".

We once played a wedding in this crazy old building where the guests sat in one room and we played in the other - if they wanted to dance, they had to come through. That was the same gig some drunk guy dressed in a gorrilla suit fell on his face.

I've also done a biker's rally in a converted church with guys out the front doing donuts in the middle of the road

Poop-Loops · #17 12-08-2006, 08:21 PM

Bat Mitzvah?

DemoEtc · #18 12-08-2006, 08:41 PM

One that was quite memorable (if not strange) was playing on one of those smaller cruise ships (I guess it would be more like a 'dinner cruise' ship) that go around Honolulu Harbor and out to sea a bit, then back in.

But it was winter and a tiny bit choppy, and the boat had a round bottom hull. I remember we were playing along on the lower deck (whatever sailors call it; it's the one you first step onto when you board), and we were facing across-wise to the deck.

It started getting a little choppy as soon as we got out of the harbor, and the ship started rolling side to side, but to the point where I could see the waves on the other side of the dance area because we were rolling that far. The waves weren't high, it was just that the boat was rolling - real bad.

That was kind of interesting, seeing white water as you're trying to keep playing. Years later when I saw that B&W movie about the Titanic and how the musician's stayed aboard, playing till the end, I got a little cold chill.

Another, more cute than strange, was playing in a pickup band for a kid's talent contest on one of the Air Force bases there on Oahu. No rehearsal, no idea of what to play, but we were supposed to supply 'incidental music' for what was going on. Total improv.

But there was no pressure because nobody expected any music at all.

The fun part was that I went out onstage during this one segment (I was playing guitar, as on the boat incident above), sat on a folding chair, and then setup my music stand and placed a blank sheet of paper on it look like I knew what I was doing. Then I just improved some pretty chords, all the while staring at this blank sheet like I was reading every single note. You know, play a chord, look at your hand (even though it was like an open G), then glance at the page, carefully form a C chord, and look really into it.

Big laugh--for me, but the kids were doing whatever dance or thing they'd worked out and nobody knew the difference. Everybody had a great time.

Memorable

Still beats some of the other 'more serious' gigs I did later on, where it was 'nickel beer night' and people were throwing up on each other, drunks dancing and falling over almost on my pedalboard, radio personalities coming up and wanting to jam ("Here, use my guitar if you want" and not telling him it was left handed, lol), and the other, regular 'bar band' stuff.

steamthief · #19 12-08-2006, 09:01 PM

The very first time I ever played out live was at an AA club. The sad thing was the girl who put us on the bill didn't say that's what it was, just that it was a non-drinking venue. Assuming it was an all-ages show, we got half-schnockered while loading our gear from the practice site, arriving stinking of beer to a storefront church with about fifty bicycles parked out front. I felt kind of bad and really self-conscious, while the guitar player and the singer proceeded to go to a bar across the street and continue partying until it was our time to play. Needless to say, we sounded like crap - karma, baby, karma.

daffy · #20 12-08-2006, 09:18 PM

I have a gig coming up next year for one of our fans who has asked us to play at her wedding, which is really nice. But it will be the first same sex wedding I have ever played at, and we are an all guy band.

So much for the tradition of the band getting hammered and hitting on the bridesmaids.