Your worst gig ever!

GreyBeard · #1 08-12-2007, 09:48 AM

After reading about a guys gig from hell I decided that a description everybodies gig from hell might be a good thread. Mine was about 30 years ago at the Army Navy club in South Caralina. The club was OK, it was me who had the problem. We had been traveling from Iron mt. MI and had no time for sleep before we had to play. When we got to SC we stopped at a bar and started eating boiled schrimp and drinking beer. We got setup and began playing at about 8:00. At about 8:30 the beer and schrimp started to turn over in my stomach. I lost it on stage. The club emptied and we got fired. That was my worst gig ever.

MoSlevin · #2 08-12-2007, 10:05 AM

My worst gig was in 1997 at a festival called the Buttercup Summer Jamboree at a club in Calgary. We were a last-minute addition to the bill, so only the last round of posters 'round town had us listed. In addition, since we were a last-minute add, they placed us last on the roster in order to be "fair" to the other acts.

There were 12 bands, and each of us were supposed to have 30 minute sets and 15 minutes for teardown/setup. The club owner didn't realize that every group would want to use their own gear, and some of the acts thought they were better than the 30 minute limit- ending up with each band taking over an hour to do their thing.

Anyways, we ended up getting on stage around 5AM, with only the club owner and 2 or 3 of our friends left to hear us. We played terribly, almost lit ourselves on fire from the candles on stage, and we didn't even end up getting paid.

It wasn't puking on stage, but it was pretty terrible

GreyBeard · #3 08-12-2007, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoSlevin

My worst gig was in 1997 at a festival called the Buttercup Summer Jamboree at a club in Calgary. We were a last-minute addition to the bill, so only the last round of posters 'round town had us listed. In addition, since we were a last-minute add, they placed us last on the roster in order to be "fair" to the other acts.

There were 12 bands, and each of us were supposed to have 30 minute sets and 15 minutes for teardown/setup. The club owner didn't realize that every group would want to use their own gear, and some of the acts thought they were better than the 30 minute limit- ending up with each band taking over an hour to do their thing.

Anyways, we ended up getting on stage around 5AM, with only the club owner and 2 or 3 of our friends left to hear us. We played terribly, almost lit ourselves on fire from the candles on stage, and we didn't even end up getting paid.

It wasn't puking on stage, but it was pretty terrible

Thing is, today puking on stage might considered entertaining in some clubs (well maybe not)

rockr4Christ · #4 08-12-2007, 10:15 AM

meh. i guess it depends on which clubs huh?

Stegre · #5 08-14-2007, 01:00 AM

I definitely remember mine.

It was whan I was a senior in high school. We rented a hall, rented a security guard, rented bigger gear and were terrible. It was raining that night and the old custodian had to go find a bunch of buckets to collect the rain coming through the leaky roof.

We were so bad people demanded their money back. We had to call the bass player's Dad to come and escort back home (the next town over).

What I'll never forget is one guy (who I ended up doing a ton of playing and recording with, yelling at us "Play something you know!!"

In the end we did make $7 each... and we got out alive.

Stefan
coverbandbook.com

JimmyM · #6 08-14-2007, 03:34 AM

Today's gig will be the worst ever. Just a hunch.

Dkerwood · #7 08-14-2007, 09:34 PM

Our worst gig ever (that I can recall, at least) was a favor for our drummer. He wanted us to drive out to his hometown and play for this dance after an annual rodeo.

I should mention that we are a Christian alternative rock band, and we were to play during the break of the country band that was made up of guys that he grew up with. It reeked of disaster to me, but he assured me that "his town" would welcome him and the band. Since it meant so much to him, I agreed. Hey, I had been wrong about situations like that before.

So we drive something like three hours to get out there. We were going to play a half hour set at 9pm and then immediately head back. We arrived at 8:30, and the country band was already drunk. Thanks to some technical issues (compounded by the alcohol), we didn't hit the stage until 10:30 or so. We used their backline (which was all WAY too old), and started into our first song.

By the end of the second, we literally had cowboys shouting, "Play something country!" Well, the closest thing we knew to country was Sweet Home Alabama, and that had been the country band's set closer right before we came on. Finally, after our third song, some teenagers requested "I Want You To Want Me," and we faked through it (we had never played it before, but we figured the gig was already a bust). We decided that was enough embarrassment for one night, and didn't even play our last two- usually our most popular songs.

I think it was the only gig I had ever played without even a "good job" from an audience member. We just packed up our guitars and headed home.

The funny thing is, less than a week before, we opened for a national Christian artist. I guess it really outlines the highs and the lows, huh?

knumbskull · #8 08-16-2007, 06:23 AM

OK...we were booked onto our first tour - pretty exciting.

then with a week to go, our drummer was admitted to hospital with a pretty life-threatening condition (he's alright now, thankfully).

we talked it over and, as we wanted to keep the tour organisers sweet, i agreed to fill in on drums, in patchy but passable fashion. already, things were not ideal, especially since there would be NO BASS. anyway, the first date on the tour was a a pretty full, 200 capacity all ages show. we got up, plugged in and were just about to our set.

'good evening,' yelled the singer, 'we are -' and suddenly the doors at the other end of the venue slammed open and a little kid ran in, yelling, 'Fight! Fight! You guys, there's a fight outside!'

The entire audience stampeded out of the door within the space of a few seconds, as did the sound engineer and the merch guy. Our singer looked like he was about to cry.

Thunderfly · #9 08-16-2007, 06:29 AM

Before our band was formed, the singer and guitarist used to do acoustic sets in local pubs in England, and one time they actually got offered more money from the crowd to stop than they were being paid to play as the Grand Prix was on the telly

Excellent!!!!

Trevor Morbid · #10 08-16-2007, 06:35 AM

When I was in high school, I invited people to come and watch my band play in the evening in an empty classroom. The room was packed....but the only problem was that we had no songs

and there were girls too

popular girls

Hizzoner · #11 08-16-2007, 06:49 AM

we had a problem every time we gigged and they usually resulted in a good time had by all
1. in the opening song the drummer hits me with a stick and proclaims "I'm too drunk to play"

2. The power goes out 4 times while trying to play "Alive", so we restart the same song 4 times(we were playing outside in a thunderstorm)

3. At a village festival we literally opened for a german polka band after a puppet show had gone on before us...drummer was heavy into to booze then too...

4. Opening a "day of music" festival at 11:00 AM in the parking lot of a grocery store in a farm town...no one in the parking lot except farmers coming into town to go to the Piggly Wiggly...and we were not a country band! I think the singer had some good one liners about blue light specials....

5. Singer disappears off stage in a brawl with some guyu who was talking to his gal...

etc etc etc....I miss those days!

MB

DWBass · #12 08-16-2007, 07:39 AM

Late 90's at the restaurant atop the World Trade Center. I had the worst cab coupling to stage hum I've ever experienced. It was so bad I had to do the gig without any sound from my amp it was so bad and could not be eq'd out. I was not educated at the time and didn't know all I had to do was raise the damn cab directly off the stage floor! Gah!

Another time (more recently) we had our drummer show up late, make it to the door and then turn around and disappear for another 20 minutes while he took his GF back home because 'she didn't feel like hanging'! Bitch! She had him whipped so bad! She was 18 or 19 and he's in his late 20's! Meanwhile, the venue owner is truly steaming because we had to start an hour late!

cjazjef · #13 08-16-2007, 07:53 AM

I would label my worst gig most of the venues I play in Connecticut. There are so many great musicians around and the club owners pay us dirt and the people at the bars wouldn't know what the hell was going on anyways until you played some crappy cover song they could all relate to and act cool sipping on their flirtinis.

MarchingPig · #14 08-16-2007, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor Morbid

When I was in high school, I invited people to come and watch my band play in the evening in an empty classroom. The room was packed....but the only problem was that we had no songs

and there were girls too

popular girls

So you thought "Let´s invite people to a concert, but let´s not learn any songs, because no one is going to show up anyway." Sounds like a good idea..

QORC · #15 08-16-2007, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dkerwood

Our worst gig ever (that I can recall, at least) was a favor for our drummer. He wanted us to drive out to his hometown and play for this dance after an annual rodeo.

By the end of the second, we literally had cowboys shouting, "Play something country!"

What about the theme from "Rawhide"?

double-muff · #16 08-18-2007, 10:59 PM

My worst gig was past July in a local metal club, i was playing at about 23:30, i was terribly sick and wasn't feeling well, i played every song half assed and made a total fool out of myself and the band completely ruining the gig.

Then i went backstage and slept for about 2 hours and went home.

mike.b · #17 09-13-2007, 03:23 PM

we did a freebie gig at the guitarists mates wedding.it was the hottest day of the year(we roasted and sweated continually)speeches over ran in to our set up time.rushed to do that.tempers were running high.after second song the dance floor emptied right up till last song of 2nd set.while we were packing up the dj started & the dance floor filled up and went crazy.there's a lesson here some where.tempers are now running higher and as we did't get paid i wanted something in return.ie to stick my 5 string up the guitarists backside cos he organized the gig.definitely one gig to forget. ;-)