Worst gig yet

Happynoj · #1 01-23-2007, 03:38 PM

This happened about a year ago...

One of the bands I am in, Maritza, got a gig at a club called Maymies. It wasn't in our city, so we didn't know anything about it, and we were quite optimistic. We all piled into two cars, with all our gear, including a PA in the back. We got there at about 5pm, and it was in the middle of nowhere, and it was all locked up with no lights on. Great start. We went and hung out at MacDonalds for a bit (the closest thing to civilisation for several miles), and phoned the person who got us the gig. He phoned the owner of the club, who said that he was on his way.

After half an hour, he turned up and let us in. We asked some questions about the gig, and it turned out that we were playing with two fairly well known punk bands called the UK Subs and the Vibrators. This would be fine, except that our music is pop-rock, and really not the sort of thing that a punk crowd would be into (you can listen to it on our Myspace - follow the link in my sig). Then we found out that we were not playing on the main stage - we would be playing in a back room after the gig - why? - i don't know. It seemed really odd.

We started setting up our gear. We were told that mics and stands would be provided for us, and that the owner knew that we would need four mics etc. We asked about the mics and were told that he didn't have any more. So we had to ring a friend and borrow four mics and stands. Then one of the PA speaker stands broke, so we had to lean it against the wall to stop it falling over.

We were set up by 6.30, and then sat in the bar and waited. The other bands didn't turn up til 7, and the doors opened at 8.30. The other bands were classic British punk bands, and so their fans all had shaved heads or bleached spikes and were wearing lots of leather and tattoos and had piercings and safety pins and stuff. They were really quite scary especially as they got more and more drunk. We were sitting, listening to them play, and it suddenly occurred to us - what if they hated us, because we weren't punks, and they were all drunk, and they trashed the stage? We had about £4000 worth of equipment between us, plus our band photographer had another £1000 worth of lenses etc, and we really wanted to leave with it all intact.

We didn't play until 11.30, so we had been there for 6 hours, and it was the worst 6 hours of my life. The wait was horrible, and we were surrounded by people who were drunk and scary. When we finally did play, it turned out to be OK - we weren't attacked, and the ones that hated us did nothing more than shout obscenities from the back of the room.

The suspense and tension beforehand was horrible though.

Anyone experienced anything similar?

Alan U · #2 02-04-2007, 05:19 PM

Yup, sure have. I once played at a pub I now can't remember, but it was pretty small and in a village.
We thought it would be a push over, but when we got there it was full of very agitated punks, who as you said got more and more drunk. By the time we went on a fair sized mod contingent had arrived and a few scuffles broke out. Halfway through the first set the front window came in when a bottle hit it from the fight outside.
That's it, we quit. The police arrive. Gig over. We never got paid.
We played The Three Rabbits in Leytonstone a few times, the floor was always covered with broken glass. Very Blues Brothers really.
For the sense of inpending menace I say when I played RAF St Mawgan, in Cornwall. The first night was the NCO's mess and went on until about 4 am. They were just loud and very drunk.
The next night was for the erks (other ranks) they were so full of testosterone and alcohol. Hundreds of them, all being obnoxious the whole time. I know what you mean about the tension. I just wanted to go asap.

Ahh, happy days.