I know there are people out there who say "it doesn't matter where you play, what matters is having fun playing". Well, speaking for myself, all I can say is that I don't miss playing bars...at all. I much prefer to play for sober people who are there to hear and see a good band.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Annoying things that tipsy people do at gigs...
- Thread starter donkeygrl
- Start date
I used to play in a horn section with several R&B bands back in the 80s when there was a good living to be had from touring big bars and clubs and military bases doing Blues Brothers stuff.
One gig a drunk tried to tear my sax out of my hands. When I was playing it. On stage. In the middle of a solo. He apparently wanted to “have a go” at blowing my horn (yeah, right, help yourself mate). Same band, different gig a couple of years later. Drunk right at the front pushed onto the stage, barged the frontman aside and started trying to sing, then poured beer over our frontman’s head when we stopped playing (instant train wreck: no choice) and we told him to back the f**k off. We used to play a lot of rough places. After a while, we imposed a new band rule: no more gigs in bars where the windows had been removed and bricked up to reduce the monthly reglazing costs .... But generally, if you play bars, you get drunks. Like farms and flies....
Drunk people with no barriers or sense of personal space are pretty annoying generally.
I don’t enjoy uninvited stage-stormers, which happens a lot at some of these bars where the stage is 4” above the floor at most.
I don’t enjoy uninvited stage-stormers, which happens a lot at some of these bars where the stage is 4” above the floor at most.
In Germany one time we finished our set and a large man picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, ran outside into the parking lot, plopped me down onto a sofa (in the middle of a parking lot?) and put a bunch of joints in me mouth and gave me shots of booze and made so much noise, screaming, yelling, hootin and hollerin, by the time I found my way back to the venue I was totally wasted!
Had a guy get behind us where our cooler was and help himself to a few beers, same guy also without fail comes up to the lead singer everytime and says the same stupid BS.
Drunks on the microphone
People screaming for more after 3 hours, well actually this is pretty awesome!
Drunks on the microphone
People screaming for more after 3 hours, well actually this is pretty awesome!
Drunk girls rubbing her butt back and forth on my bass strings during a song(s).
Being the nice guy that I am, I allowed it. Admittedly it is extremely difficult to play the song but the crowd loves it.
It was a fair and erotic trade off. I'm no spring chicken, more like a fall rooster... but alcohol and music brings out the outrageousness in people
Why, oh why do drunk people repeatedly request rusty old classic rock songs even if you've already played it earlier?
What do you do when beautiful drunk girl asks you for a ride somewhere after the show....
Answer: Say, "What is the address and how old are you"....(Please be over 18)
The rest is up to you.
BTW, it may be my imagination but my flat wounds have never sounded better. Perhaps the strong rub down they received by butt rubbing girl enhanced the string tone?
It could happen, nothing is impossible....
Being the nice guy that I am, I allowed it. Admittedly it is extremely difficult to play the song but the crowd loves it.
It was a fair and erotic trade off. I'm no spring chicken, more like a fall rooster... but alcohol and music brings out the outrageousness in people
Why, oh why do drunk people repeatedly request rusty old classic rock songs even if you've already played it earlier?
What do you do when beautiful drunk girl asks you for a ride somewhere after the show....
Answer: Say, "What is the address and how old are you"....(Please be over 18)
The rest is up to you.
BTW, it may be my imagination but my flat wounds have never sounded better. Perhaps the strong rub down they received by butt rubbing girl enhanced the string tone?
It could happen, nothing is impossible....
That is creepy, interesting and way awesome.
My biggest peeve is when it is obvious you have IEMS in, yet in the middle of a song, people come up and expect you to pull them out to take their requests. And then get cranky when you give them the one sec signal and march off...
Drunks who want to shake your hand and impress you by crushing your fingers. Learned quick to say "Can't do that, you might be one of those drunks who wants to shake my hand and impress me by crushing my fingers"
D
Deleted member 165050
Guest
I find it annoying that girls don't start playing with my hair, but then I'm old and I'm just the bass player. Might as well just help the crew pack up and load out... oh ok girls play with their hair as well, I'll just load the truck on my own then.
The drunk girl that has no sense of personal space and thinks she's hot enough that you'll ignore the vomit breath indicating she's just puked within the last fifteen minutes.
Maybe she meant “Chicago”. Maybe even “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, depending on how hammered she was.
Some people (drunk or otherwise) assume that because you're a covers band that you know every song ever written..... and when they request a song and you say "sorry we don't play that one" they insist that you MUST know it and even start to sing / hum some of the song as they say "it goes like this...."
some have a look of absolute disbelief on their face when you tell them you don't play 'that' song.
A few years back we were doing a gig and a guy was at the bar celebrating his stag night with his mates.... he clearly had too much to drink as he took his shirt off and walked around the bar like some sort of Macho Man. Security asked him to put his shirt back on but that only prompted him to remove his jeans also..... at this point he was being chased around the bar with people cheering him on... he ran down towards where the band were set up and he tripped over flying head first into the side of our drummers kick drum... no damage to the kick drum thankfully, but I suspect the next day he had a pretty sore head!
We were packing up after another gig once and a dude came up to me and said "you were awesome on the drums bro...."
some have a look of absolute disbelief on their face when you tell them you don't play 'that' song.
A few years back we were doing a gig and a guy was at the bar celebrating his stag night with his mates.... he clearly had too much to drink as he took his shirt off and walked around the bar like some sort of Macho Man. Security asked him to put his shirt back on but that only prompted him to remove his jeans also..... at this point he was being chased around the bar with people cheering him on... he ran down towards where the band were set up and he tripped over flying head first into the side of our drummers kick drum... no damage to the kick drum thankfully, but I suspect the next day he had a pretty sore head!
We were packing up after another gig once and a dude came up to me and said "you were awesome on the drums bro...."
Slightly drunk overzealous bouncers and other venue “security” types who unnecessarily antagonize and provoke audience members with their excessive responses. It’s usually only a matter of time before real trouble breaks out because of it.
Last edited:
The messin' with the hair thing is really bizarre. I just get aggravated by the drunks who get belligerent and want to fight. Had a gig years ago where a drunk came up on stage and took a swing at the guitarist. No prior warning, just BAM! Luckily no real damage was done. Funny thing is the guitarist is the nicest guy you ever met.
If you work clubs, drunks will be present. You can't be shocked to find there's been gambling, etc. Dealing with requests is easy for me: Talk to the boss. Jane polices the crowd too--one night at the bowling alley nine guys from a local biker club walked in, wearing colors, the whole bit. She of course knew the leader (you can't make this stuff up), went over and yelled at him "I can't have you in here you're scaring everybody to death!" And they left. It was just nuts.
Most irritating things: Drunks falling into the pedalboard. Drunks falling into the PA speakers. Drunks singing along with you who are not just in a different key, but on a different planet. Plenty of people have spilled drinks on me, but nobody has yet spilled drinks on my amp or my bass. Yet.
I, um, haven't had an issue in touching since...hmm...1989?
Most irritating things: Drunks falling into the pedalboard. Drunks falling into the PA speakers. Drunks singing along with you who are not just in a different key, but on a different planet. Plenty of people have spilled drinks on me, but nobody has yet spilled drinks on my amp or my bass. Yet.
I, um, haven't had an issue in touching since...hmm...1989?
