Youth Group band Horror Story

S.A.W bass · #1 03-18-2008, 12:10 AM

hello, im in my youth group praise band and tonite was our first "gig" doing music for the youth group. well everything that could go wrong pretty much did. Think im exaggerating? well here is the list of things that happened.
-Our lead guitarist and singer dave broke a string so he just grabbed his back up guitar and he broke a string on that too.
-he lost his pick no one else had one.
-Our chord charts were mis-typed,
-the monitors died,
-the sound system decided to rebel for a while,
-we had a cord and a direct box die,
-we had mics die,
-our electric guitarist broke a string,
-we had a singer not show up (she has pnuemonia apparently) -and to top it all off the output on my bass broke out of the wood.
We eventually overcame all the obstacles and played pretty well. but pretty much everything that could go wrong did.

Rattman · #2 03-18-2008, 12:20 AM

What? How many 'strings' got broken.. was it 3?? Your guitar players must be whaling WAY too hard for that to happen. Got some pretty heavy hands in that praise team I think. Sorry to hear about all those mishaps.. Maybe someday that comedy of errors might even be funny, but I know right now its just a bitter experience. But take heart.. you've already had all the bad stuff happen, its outta way .... You'll have smooth sailing from here on out!!

dmilt23451 · #3 03-18-2008, 12:26 AM

Let me tell you the truth about that situation...I have been playing in a worship band for over 7 years and more times the nights that start off as the worst or should not have gone well turn out the best...don't let this night turn you away from keeping with it...these types of "gigs" can be the most rewarding.

And remember it could have been worse.......

SpectorBass308 · #4 03-18-2008, 12:44 AM

Wow, the next gig should be a breeze.. You live and learn, you'll be able to look back on that night and laugh about it for a while.

BlackLake · #5 03-18-2008, 12:47 AM

Whoa, what a doosie.

Soooo, Dave shows up with a back up guitar, and ONE pick?

Epic!

PocketGroove82 · #6 03-18-2008, 12:51 AM

...you guys might want to start praying before the gigs!

BlackLake · #7 03-18-2008, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

...you guys might want to start praying before the gigs!

CLASSIC!

lmao

S.A.W bass · #8 03-18-2008, 09:49 AM

ya we definitely should start praying first. ya i wont let it discourage me, i actually find it funny that all that can go wrong at once. yes 3 strings between 3 guitars got broken, they werent playing that hard actually, it was very strange.

Valerus · #9 03-18-2008, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

...you guys might want to start praying before the gigs!

mjolnir · #10 03-18-2008, 10:22 AM

My general response to a gig like this is alcohol but considering yer talking about a church group I'll just say take it as a learning experience. These things will happen again, it's a fact of life, so take what you know and take steps to take care of it better the next time.

OtterOnBass · #11 03-18-2008, 10:35 AM

Our former worship leader/guitarist/singer used to break strings every time we played. It had to do with 1. the additional stress and desire to be loud that comes with performance and 2. the way he played. His style is to hit the strings with the side of his palm to mute them rhythmically. So for every measure he's pounding the strings 4 times (i.e. after every beat). It sounds great, but the problem is that he hits them just inside the bridge causing major stress and, surprise, a regular supply of broken strings. The solution has been lightening up on how hard he mutes, not to say it never happens when he plays. And keeping a spare guitar ready to go is a necessity. I've never needed a back-up bass, but for some extra-hard-playing musicians, it's a must.

Oddly enough, he seems to only own one pick as well....

It doesn't sound like this happened to you, but here's some advice from my experience. Don't let instrument/equipment failure get you down. If you're leading the worship and your sights get bogged down on equipment, the people you're trying to lead in worship will also focus on equipment & performance rather than the object of their worship. Keep sight of the big picture of what you're doing and, if you need to, just sing and drop the instruments.

joel the bass player · #12 03-18-2008, 11:07 AM

Dang. The worst thing that has ever happened to me is a battery going dead in my Stingray. The other day we rattled loose the grill or something on a subwoofer. That might have been my fault as well.

Next time I don't think you will have as many problems, but the broken strings are just a technique deal. I guess I've been lucky, cause the groups I play in it doesn't happen very often.

Rattman · #13 03-18-2008, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

...you guys might want to start praying before the gigs!

Actually this is mandatory before all of our praise team rehersals.. We don't mind one bit, and the team leader allows for more time for the sometimes long prayers. Its relaxing, bonding and a stress-relieving way to start the new material/arrangments off right.

TheDarkReaver · #14 03-18-2008, 04:15 PM

that might be god telling you to quit it.

qunndo · #15 03-18-2008, 09:54 PM

Quote:

that might be god telling you to quit it.

+1

God works in mysterious ways...

Then sometimes he just stamps his feet and makes a statement.

stranger0 · #16 03-18-2008, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qunndo

+1

God works in mysterious ways...

Then sometimes he just stamps his feet and makes a statement.

coulda always been someone else too

whitedk57 · #17 03-19-2008, 10:55 AM

Sounds like you have some issues with the equipment your youth group has, as well as some other pretty bad luck. I'm guessing that the sound system probably is the old sound system from the main praise and worship group of the church? If so, I'd ask the church to buy a few things that might help - new cables, new DI boxes (for backup purposes), new monitors, new mics, etc. Otherwise, I'd work out the issues with the equipment you do have in rehearsals so you can figure out what equipment is trustworthy and what is not.

Edit: Always remember to have extra batteries as well for the DI boxes and other misc equipment - you always need them.

mkandolf · #18 03-20-2008, 11:39 AM

I was asked to help out with a church praise band primarily stocked with PK's (pastor's kids). They were just learning and raring to do a 'concert' and after they broke numerous strings and drumheads from wailing too hard I gave up. They also had no respect for my equipment. It wasn't worth the aggravation.