Whats the strangest gig you ever played?

dman_113 · #1 11-06-2007, 08:31 PM

I was sitting around the other day thinking about the first band I played in we were a southern rock cover band so we played a lot of biker bars and the like, anyhow one of the lead guitarist friends killed himself. Well the dead guys brother starts having all this weird stuff happening at his house doors closing and opening, noises at all times of the day and night, his brothers childhood room(the living brother lived in the home they both grew up in) would stay very cold no matter what. So the brother and his wife contact a phychic and she tells them its his dead brothers ghost and the he cant cross over, so to help him they need to A) Have a birthday party for him and B) hire a band to play it. Need less to say we were said band, I don't think really anyone else at the party knew this they thought it was some kind of memorial, we actually didn't find out until after the fact. So in effect I've played an exorcism. Any way thats the strangest gig i ever played, just wondering if anyone out that had any stories of the unusual.

P.S. I know this is very weird but I promise on all that is bass that it's true.

Stay Gold 1337 · #2 11-06-2007, 08:35 PM

we played at a YWCA and the show got shut down half way through our set because the old folk's home across the street complained about the noise. a lot of the kids really wanted to see us finish so this kid's like "oh you can play in my basement" so we go over there and the house is super dirty and there's cats and dogs everywhere (one cat is eating from this big pile of food on the kitchen counter). anyways, we go down into the basement and the room we're playing in is painted all pink and it's full of junk so we start putting all the junk in this other room. we get into the other room and it smells like complete poop... so i turn on the lights and the floor is lined with news paper and the floor is covered with animal poop... like this is where the family has all the animals go to poop, not in the back yard, on the floor in the basement. our set went good and all the kids had a good time, but i'll never forget that poop room.

Saetia · #3 11-06-2007, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stay Gold 1337

we played at a YWCA and the show got shut down half way through our set because the old folk's home across the street complained about the noise. a lot of the kids really wanted to see us finish so this kid's like "oh you can play in my basement" so we go over there and the house is super dirty and there's cats and dogs everywhere (one cat is eating from this big pile of food on the kitchen counter). anyways, we go down into the basement and the room we're playing in is painted all pink and it's full of junk so we start putting all the junk in this other room. we get into the other room and it smells like complete poop... so i turn on the lights and the floor is lined with news paper and the floor is covered with animal poop... like this is where the family has all the animals go to poop, not in the back yard, on the floor in the basement. our set went good and all the kids had a good time, but i'll never forget that poop room.

Which show was that and where?

I truely wish I would have been there lol.

I'll take this to PM now

Peace

-Benny

Stinsok · #4 11-06-2007, 08:47 PM

Played a Native American Arts/Crafts/Dance fair. It was a 4 hour gig, but we played 15-20 minute sets (told to by our contact.) Duing this gig, our contact had all kinds of crazy things she wanted us to do (likedrag our speakers to the door to attract people driving by (didn't happen.) The event was not advertised well enough and poorly executed. The person that hired us wanted to blame us for low turnout. After they gave us the sign to shut down, it was like being let out of prison.

fenderhutz · #5 11-06-2007, 08:49 PM

We played in a beef cattle pavilion at a Fair once as a Christian Metal Band.

Tslicebass · #6 11-06-2007, 08:52 PM

Midway airport in one of the terminals...talk about a bad load in...even had to go thru security. It was last minute pickup gig electric bass drums and sax and it was the worst sounding area i have ever played in.
Then at the end of the gig the sax player gives me twenty bucks and says "here is for parking...thanks for coming out" I almost strangled him.

Spoiled Grape · #7 11-06-2007, 09:44 PM

KFC parking lot.

cricketfever32 · #8 11-06-2007, 09:47 PM

wow i wanna hear about this kfc parking lot

Boltbaby · #9 11-06-2007, 10:02 PM

My all-female blues trio played at a wedding reception in the bride's mother's backyard and after the gig the mother (who was a biker mom) tried to get all of us in the hot tub with her.

We respectfully declined.

NKUSigEp · #10 11-06-2007, 10:05 PM

Strangest gig - I filled in for a band that was playing an outdoor art festival. It was all original tunes and was a combination of classic rock and middle eastern music. Interesting to say the least. We rehearsed a couple of times previous but when I got there the "band leader" says to me, "hey man, I think if you just improv'd the whole night it would be really cool! I was digging what you were playing in warmups". So basically I just soloed the whole night. It was about 35 degrees, windy, raining, and there were about 5 people there other than the artists making sculptures and paintings.

So that was pretty strange for me.

benthughes · #11 11-07-2007, 12:41 PM

I've got 2 that stand out foremost. First was when my band played at a green party convention. Our setlist went from funk/rock/jamband kind of stuff to classic rock and old timey country. I'm not a huge fan of the green party, the whole thing seemed.... I dunno, anyone ever see the South Park and the huge cloud of smug Along those lines

The second one and possibly the best. I was asked to sub for a bands bassist because he was in jail. The band was this crappy little blues group who were playing at this dive native bar called the elbow room. I show up and I'm the only white guy there besides the guitarist/singer who looks like Doc from back to the future. We set up and I'm playing through this old Acoustic 360 rig, which I was quite happy with. I'm assigned a girlfriend for the night who was this little native lady who looked to be in her 40's even though she probably wasn't. She was wearing huge owl glasses and a white sweater with a huge sequin christams tree ( it was march). We start playing and it's all classic rock/ 12 bar blues Proud Mary, Mustang Sally ect kinda stuff. This dude gets up on stage...plastered.... and gives us 80 dollars so he can sing a Wooly Bully/Blue Suede Shoes medly. So of course money talks and we're off. He's randomly switching between the 2 songs and whenever he forgets a line he jumps straight to the course of the song that first comes to mind. It kicked ass. Our drummer was an angry midget, well, not a midget, but really small and angry and loved to do the fist pound thing and let everyone know when he nailed a song. Halfway through the second set my assigned girlfriend is making out with someone who looks like a coal miner which crushed my heart to this very day. Anyhoo, I got paid and made it out alive. The wierd thing about this, the crappiest bar I've ever been to? It had those automatic motion sensing toilets in the bathroom. Whoda thunk it?

Cristofre · #12 11-07-2007, 02:17 PM

Shoot I don't think I can top playing at an exorcism! LOL

Note: The following mess can mostly be attributed to consumption of massive quantities of alcohol.

This was at the former ski slope/ lodge in Sky Valley, Georgia.

We were playing outside on a deck over looking the ski slope for the last day of the season. The club had set up a bar made completely of snow and our rhythm guitarist/singer went over and stole a couple of bottles of Jagermeister or something and being that we were so cold, we all drank copious amounts to "keep warm". We also got stoned out of our gords. I think I over did it, ok, maybe we all did, we were kids and being crazy.

I remember playing about three or four songs and then things got fuzzy and I didnt know where I was. When my eyes cleared I and my bass were laying on the deck wedged between the bass drum and the railing around the deck (the deck was only about 5 feet wide)
The other guys were playing a song and trying to get me up.
I get up and start playing, but I can only remember a song or two more.
The next thing I know I open my eyes and I am COMPLETELY ALONE on the deck, its night time. The band is gone, the skiers are gone, everyone is gone, but all of our equipment is still set up and powered on outside on this deck.

I spotted an extension cord going into a window of the ski lodge behind the drums, so I walk over and look in- no one in there either, I open the window and climb in. I found myself in the lodge's kitchen.

I had planned to unplug our extension cord and climb back out, buut....
After warming up a bit, I realized that I was hungry as a bear so I look in the fridge and find some nachos and other things to eat.
I ate a big pile of nachos and some other stuff and while I was munching away I look at the lids on one of the things I was eating- it was dated from like a year before!!!
Suddenly my "eyes were opened" and I started looking at all the stuff I had snacked on and realized that it was old and had fur growing on it,etc.

I immediately started feeling sick and managed to run to the bathroom, where I managed to make a pretty bad mess.
At this point I was cold, hung over,sick, and angry for being left behind and generally miserable so I drove home leaving all the equipment laying where it was.

The next day (Sunday) I go to the lead guitarists house and pull him out of bed and make him go with me to pack up everything in my truck. He told me the rest of the story, well, what he could remember:

We actually played for about 3-4 hours (though I only remembered maybe 7 songs) then it started to get dark so every one walked over to a club nearby. They thought I was either with them or had went home.

I have never been that drunk again, if anything, that experience made me quite cautious with the drink.

Chazinroch · #13 11-07-2007, 02:25 PM

I played at a Sufi service (Eat Dance and Pray). They wanted a repeating low frequency note to be played during the service. Try playing even whole notes on a open low "B" for an hour!

Cristofre · #14 11-07-2007, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chazinroch

I played at a Sufi service (Eat Dance and Pray). They wanted a repeating low frequency note to be played during the service. Try playing even whole notes on a open low "B" for an hour!

Thats where one of those looper/samplers would have been handy!

El-Bob · #15 11-07-2007, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoiled Grape

KFC parking lot.

i work at a kfc, you should come play my parking lot

misrule · #16 11-07-2007, 03:03 PM

This isn't strictly my gig but I was there. Some friends of mine in an Irish band got a gig in Loos prison in Northern France.

It's a grim, Victorian-looking place with old, dark landings, cast-iron bars and cell doors recessed into the brick walls.

It's where English crooks caught in Europe choose to do their time because it's better than English jails but close to home.

Guards searched every piece of gear as we carted it in.

I was disgusted to see the food being slopped out to prisoners in their rooms -- nasty looking cabbage in huge metal tubs and french bread.

We set up in a large hall, with a curtain behind the stage. Their roadie, who had driven all night, then fell asleep on the floor.

The crowd filed in -- a load of dubious guys in shorts, many of them holding hands. My mates played the gig and all was going well.

Suddenly, the roadie started screaming. Guards rushed in, sirens wailed, heavy metal doors clanged shut.

He had got tangled up in the curtain in his sleep and had a nightmare that somebody was strangling him.

We packed up and legged it. Nobody searched the gear on the way out -- just as well, because one of the PA cabs had a large chunk of hash in it.

A French friend who was with us explained that it's far easier to buy drugs inside their jails than on the outside.

Cheers

Mark

Chazinroch · #17 11-07-2007, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cristofre

Thats where one of those looper/samplers would have been handy!

Duh! I wish I would have thought of that. It never occurred to me to do that. I'll know better next time...

heavyfunkmachin · #18 11-07-2007, 04:19 PM

in fact, i would have enjoyed the sufi concert. in a john cage style.

i mean it.

Drucocu · #19 11-07-2007, 04:23 PM

my band was invited to a festival in belgium, called the graspop metal meeting....we thought its a little festival made by some weedheads... :-D we were terribly wrong!!!
we played at 12 o' clock in front of 10'000 people audience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that was hot!! I met the guys from Mastodon, Zakk Wylde, Kerry King to name a few...!

Mr. Majestic · #20 11-07-2007, 04:31 PM

The strangest gig I played was in the parking lot of a small town Wal-Mart. Not weird enough? I live in Louisiana? Still not good enough? This gig was the night before Katrina hit, we weren't in New Orleans but we had so much wind and rain that it almost blew the stage away. We were playing for a church that was having a back to school deal and the wind did blow there tent away! What fun!