Worst gig ever.

ghiadub · #1 05-04-2009, 12:31 PM

I would love to hear about your worst gig ever.

One of my worst gigs was a wedding. We called it the “white trash wedding from hell”. I should have been leery when they wanted to hire an instrumental fusion band for a wedding, but let it go.

Pay was food and drink and a tip jar with $100 provided by the groom. Not even decent pay, but I had no plans and it seemed like a fun gig. Wedding food is usually decent.

The groom is a bass player and had been following my then current band to a bunch of gigs so I thought we owed him.

So we get there at noon, wedding is supposed to be a 1:00. We set up and the waiting begins. The guests show up at 1:00, no wedding party in sight. Finally at 3:00 they show up saying they hit some traffic.

There were no arrangements for food at all, when asked the groom said: “it’s my wedding day, get your own food” (he was fairly drunk) Point being, he did not plan to have anyone dealing with the lack of food for the 80 guests.

An hour later, I get a burnt hot dog, on a single slice of white bread with ketchup and no plate. I was lucky, most just got a slice of generic processed cheese on some fake ritz.

This was going bad fast, we played until a cat-fight broke out between the grooms son’s wife and the brides daughters. At that point it seemed the entire event was going to break out in a brawl.

Bassman7PM · #2 05-04-2009, 12:45 PM

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!!!

middlebit · #3 05-04-2009, 12:51 PM

No pics, no worst gig ever?!?

wnelson · #4 05-04-2009, 01:02 PM

that sounds like a horrible wedding...

years ago i played in a band that had a ton of shows at this venue in dallas....we were headlining and about 1/2 an hour before going on ....the lead singer/rhythm guitarist girlfriend of 5 years breaks up with him...right there at the bar before we go on.....needless to say,his focus,vocals,playing,timing,and attitude were out the door.....and he didnt give a flying ****......i dont blame him,but i almost just walk off stage,because i couldnt bare to hear,or listen to it......

and they got back together,and remain that way today

Moe Monsarrat · #5 05-04-2009, 01:33 PM

It's hard to put a finger on the worst one ever when there's so many to choose from. We played at a club once in Pasadena Tx called the Cactus Club. On the 1st note of the 1st song a perfectly round 18" smoke ring blew out of my speaker cab. After getting the spare rig on stage we finished the set to a crowd of about 400. On the break the band went out to the van for a safety meeting. While we were sitting there the cops & the Alcohol Commission agents raided the place & searched everyone in the club. We just started the van & drove off for awhile until they left with nearly half the crowd. We finished the gig but didn't get paid because the owner was among those arrested. I have plenty more.

dmusic148 · #6 05-04-2009, 01:40 PM

'Safety meeting!'

FrknPuertoRican · #7 05-04-2009, 01:45 PM

Worst was hands down at a school function called coffee house.

Our drummer pooped out on us for no reason and our back up drummer was visiting his sick mom in Pittsburgh and our back up back up drummer was on a date that night

Anyways, so since we had no drummer we got extremely discouraged and didn't practice until the day before. I shouldn't even have to tell you how an unpracticed performance with no drummer went. The guitarist and I couldn't stay in time to save our lives and this was a show that relied on awesome instrumentals cuz we had no singer. We just made our backup guitarist sing just to fill the void and his voice sounds like a dying walrus.

ErebusBass · #8 05-04-2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnelson

that sounds like a horrible wedding...

years ago i played in a band that had a ton of shows at this venue in dallas....we were headlining and about 1/2 an hour before going on ....the lead singer/rhythm guitarist girlfriend of 5 years breaks up with him...right there at the bar before we go on.....needless to say,his focus,vocals,playing,timing,and attitude were out the door.....and he didnt give a flying ****......i dont blame him,but i almost just walk off stage,because i couldnt bare to hear,or listen to it......

and they got back together,and remain that way today

I had the same thing happen, except we were at the studio. Guitar player sat one the phone outside for four hours while the rest of the band sat and flushed money down the toilet.

tramp · #9 05-04-2009, 01:50 PM

Played for a wedding one saturday night for a friend of the band leader. Her son was getting married and they needed a band. The money was good as was the food and we were paid in cash before we started - - good thing. About 1/2 hour into the gig, the bride groom was pretty drunk and did not like the song we were playing although the dance floor was packed. He gets up in the singers face and starts yelling to stop the song. We didn't stop the song and the groom grabs the singers guitar - - and that's when the fight started. The groom went down with a right hook, his friends were upset and we thought we would have to fight our way out of the place but his mother calmed everybody down and we packed up and left.

dmusic148 · #10 05-04-2009, 01:58 PM

My favorite has to be the double-booked gig(club's fault). I drive an hour to the club to find a drummer I don't know setting up drums I've never seen(I'm usually 1st to arrive). That was real fun. Really great time.

lonote · #11 05-04-2009, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tramp

Played for a wedding one saturday night for a friend of the band leader. Her son was getting married and they needed a band. The money was good as was the food and we were paid in cash before we started - - good thing. About 1/2 hour into the gig, the bride groom was pretty drunk and did not like the song we were playing although the dance floor was packed. He gets up in the singers face and starts yelling to stop the song. We didn't stop the song and the groom grabs the singers guitar - - and that's when the fight started. The groom went down with a right hook, his friends were upset and we thought we would have to fight our way out of the place but his mother calmed everybody down and we packed up and left.

Is punching out the groom more tasteless than putting out a tip jar?

**Marcus Willett** · #12 05-04-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghiadub

I would love to hear about your worst gig ever

OK, Gig from Hell

ghiadub · #13 05-04-2009, 02:15 PM

WOW Marcus, that is pretty bad. You might be the "winner"

Good stories guys, keep them coming.
I have another good one for y’all:

We were playing a Halloween gig at the Crest Theater. We were the opening act. Our set went fine; we unload the stage and put everything into my truck which was parked out back. Then, back in for the backstage party. There was a keg of beer and some food and a decent amount of groupies (this was in 1984).

So my drummer meets a girl, asked for my keys to get the blanket out of his bass drum so he can get with this girl at a more private location. Sure, no problem. We keep partying until about 1am and the gig is over and time to leave.

Then I realized that he never gave my keys back. Well, this alley is full of homeless and the truck would have been broken into so we could not leave it. This was the days before cell phones, so calling him was not an option until he made it home.

Our only choice (me the guitarist, roadie, and sound guy) was to spend the night. None of us had eaten anything, and I think we had about 2 dollars and some change for food. The nearest store was 20 blocks away but we made the trek. Back in 3 hours with some bread and baloney and mayo packets. 5am and it was cold. While we were gone our sound guy got so cold he actually had a fistfight with a homeless for a sleeping bag, he was asleep and bloody in it when we returned. We came back and woke him up for his cut of the food, but after we cooled down from our long walk, we were all very cold. We flipped coins for the sleeping bag and me and the guitarist won. We were asleep for about an hour and we wake up to sirens from a firetruck.

Our sound guy was so cold that he started a fire to keep warm. Unfortunately, we were not camping, we were in an alley behind the Crest. So, a citation and a long explanation later, it was finally 7am. Our drummer still was not home, but my mother was and she had a spare key to my truck. I think she made it there by 9am or so.

That was long night.

J. Crawford · #14 05-04-2009, 02:18 PM

No pics, no cat fight between a bunch of drunken white trash chicks!

ryco · #15 05-04-2009, 02:29 PM

warning: repost -- so many stories, but this one is up there....

In the early 80s I was booked to play a gig in Westport, WA at a nice resort/restaurant/lounge. The band featured me, my wife, a high school buddy and a college buddy who played fabulous drums.

Westport is a famous fishing town on the Washington coast. Huge working commercial fishing fleet and a huge tourist charter boat industry. We were booked for the standard two week deal, Tues - Sat, 9p - 1:30a. Decent band house about five miles down the road in the next town of Tokeland. Nice club, good food - all's good.

For some reason the lady owner of the club had paid us for our first week Friday afternoon. To be prepaid was unheard of! She was very nice and wanted to make sure we could cash our check so we would be sure to have money for the weekend. Wow!

But that week was the week Judge Boldt handed down a fishing law granting Native Americans the right to fish and shutting down a lot of white fisherman. These hard working fishermen were pissed, needless to say and were in the mood to drink and fight.

In our contract there was a provision to have a bouncer present in the room, which was separate from the bar itself by a partition. Well. there was no bouncer present, although there was one at the front door of the bar itself . All that Friday night fights broke out and there was yelling. I was singing and an ashtray flew by my head. Then someone threw a wooden chair that skidded across the dance floor and lit at my feet. Keep playing. Someone yells out 'We know where your staying!" About midnight the room erupted and a knife flashed and there was a big scuffle. So the bouncer and the bartender finally come in, stop the brawl and the room is closed down for the night. Go home early - head for Tokeland.

The next morning, Saturday, I get up and let our dog out, a german shepherd who accompanies us everywhere. Everyone is waking up and getting coffee going. I here the dog ki-yi and a screech of tires. Some jerk has shot the dog with a pellet gun and drove off. Everybody in small towns knows where the band house is and that can be a good thing or a risky thing.

That's enough. We're pullin' out. Hell, we've been paid. We go to the sheriff's office and explain what happened at the club the night before. They knew because they were called in. We say the dog's been shot, people know where we live and we would like a police escort while we go grab our gear and head out of town. The police agree and follow us to the club. The lounge is open for breakfast so we go back and start tearing down our gear and loading it out into our trucks. A couple of big guys come out and say "Where ya goin'? You're under contract - you can't leave!" The band leader says "You broke the contract when you didn't provide a bouncer in the room, someone shot our dog this morning, so we're outta here." two cop cars were sitting right there, so there wasn't much they could do to us. We had the police escort us out of town and drove home with our eyes on the rearview mirror.

ps > the dog was fine, just a small welt on the butt

MatticusMania · #16 05-04-2009, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErebusBass

I had the same thing happen, except we were at the studio. Guitar player sat one the phone outside for four hours while the rest of the band sat and flushed money down the toilet.

HA, my wife tried calling me and *****ing at me while my band was in the studio. I hung up the **** and turned my phone off. She's my ex for a reason.

Lazylion · #17 05-04-2009, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Willett

OK, Gig from Hell

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghiadub

WOW Marcus, that is pretty bad. You might be the "winner".

Yeah, it's hard to beat Marcus in this kind of thread.

MNAirHead · #18 05-04-2009, 11:22 PM

I brought my first wife to an acoustic duo gig... we were a sissy pair.

As I look out my drunk wife was making out with the bartender.

Tough to belt out "Pooh Corner" when the Mrs is being felt up by the guy comping you drinks -

Yep 12 years agol.

Eyeshot_Bassist · #19 05-05-2009, 10:40 AM

We played a gig last summer up in Geneva, OH which is on Lake Erie. This place is totally awesome in the summer since its like a giant tourist destination. Needless to say there are all kinds of people at the show. We were booked to play a big rock festival that the club was putting on. Now, we had just driven up there from Akron, OH which is about a 2hr drive, since we played a show the night before there. My band is from Dayton, which is about 5 hrs. from Akron and 7 Hrs. from Geneva. Anyway, we get to the club and start loading in, and everything is going fine. They had about 10 bands on the bill and two stages. Each band only got a 30 minute set and they would alternate the stages so that when one band was playing, the other was setting up. Its finally our time to go on, and everything that could go wrong did. Our drummer at the time had a seizure condition, so you can already guess what happend

After he had a seizure during the first song, the rest of the set was shaky at best, and we lost about ten minutes waiting to see if he was ok. Then during our last song, our guitar player's amp comes unplugged, so we stop playing while he tries to figure out what was wrong. He gets it plugged back inand we pick up exactly where we left off.
All in all it was the worst gig I have ever played, but the experience was fun since we partied with all the other bands up there and had a good time checking out the boardwalk and everything.

BillyRay · #20 05-05-2009, 10:53 AM

That linked thread is pure win, I especially like this comment

Quote:

By any chance did you meet Serj Tankian (the singer from System of a Down). He's from Lebanon you know.

I had an American girl ask me if I knew Dave when she learned I was Canadian. When I pointed out that we were a couple dozen millions in the vast North, she just shrugged and said: "Don't get defensive, it never hurts to ask!". Needless to say, she was blonde.