I know. My last gig I played the fretless. Bob Ross would have been disappointed with the lack of “happy accidents.”playing fretless all of the time i just can't afford to ever hit a clam....
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Bass confessions - episode π
- Thread starter cheapbasslovin
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- clam dissonance fml
Crowd of about 15k, opening for a pretty big name act. The first song starts out with the bass, setting the mood for the song. The stage is black, I hear the sticks to the down beat and go...
The spotlight comes up on me as I swoop to the first note. I'm the first thing everyone sees at the show.........
And I'm a half step flat...
I recover but I'm the butt of the jokes for the week.
The spotlight comes up on me as I swoop to the first note. I'm the first thing everyone sees at the show.........
And I'm a half step flat...
I recover but I'm the butt of the jokes for the week.
One time, a long time ago when I'd first started playing bass. Was playing a blues night jam in my college town - wasn't used to playing with a drummer just yet, and in the second song, I guess I was paying attention to my playing. The song came to a close, the drummer gave me a look - which I completely missed, continuing my "walking off a cliff" bassline. I got two bars in before resolving and shutting up. Luckily, the band did the "rock star finish", holding the last note amidst a flurry of crashing cymbals and blues guitar riffs, so at least I wasn't playing alone!
Second thing was recently - played a backyard gig with a band I just quit. We were well-rehearsed, but right before the set, the guitarist and drummer wanted to change the intro to one of the songs. (Sigh.) We played the intro, and on the final whole-note chord of the intro, I clammed, hitting the old root (G) instead of the new root (A). Nobody said anything, but I'll always know.
Second thing was recently - played a backyard gig with a band I just quit. We were well-rehearsed, but right before the set, the guitarist and drummer wanted to change the intro to one of the songs. (Sigh.) We played the intro, and on the final whole-note chord of the intro, I clammed, hitting the old root (G) instead of the new root (A). Nobody said anything, but I'll always know.
Back when I was in my teens my band had a show with a marginally better known and much better equipped band. The other band's bassist offered to let me use his stack, which I declined in favor of my Fender combo because I had some goofy feedback trick planned that I wasn't sure would work with a strange amp.
Lo and behold, we start the gig and I find that at some point near the end of our last practice I had ripped a small tear in my speaker cone and sounded like utter ass. I turned the amp down as far as I felt I could get away with and did not, in fact, do any super cool feedback tricks.
Lo and behold, we start the gig and I find that at some point near the end of our last practice I had ripped a small tear in my speaker cone and sounded like utter ass. I turned the amp down as far as I felt I could get away with and did not, in fact, do any super cool feedback tricks.
.
Best back in the day mauling was my very first gig with a wireless. Lead guitar was standing at the foot of the stage, I went for a huge Michael Anthony leap off stage intending to land next to him. At the apex of my leap he turns around, towards me, to get back on stage. For a brief moment our eyes locked and I could clearly see the "Oh crap!" look (I was MUCH bigger than him). Collision, carnage, unplugged guitars, out of tune, etc. Drummer, rhythm guitar, and singer kept going and we sorted ourselves out within a few bars. Got teased about that one for years.
My first gig in about twenty years was last month. Had only officially been the bass player for about 3 weeks. Original hard rock band, but I felt good about knowing the material. Early in the set we do one cover, an AiC tune, and I clam a single note with authority. Mid set I go completely blank on a song and wind up ghost noting for almost the entire first verse.
After the show I find out my band mates all heard the blown note, but never noticed the entire verse I muffed my way through. Food for thought.....
My first gig in about twenty years was last month. Had only officially been the bass player for about 3 weeks. Original hard rock band, but I felt good about knowing the material. Early in the set we do one cover, an AiC tune, and I clam a single note with authority. Mid set I go completely blank on a song and wind up ghost noting for almost the entire first verse.
After the show I find out my band mates all heard the blown note, but never noticed the entire verse I muffed my way through. Food for thought.....
Too many to list....
Back when we played two gigs a week, we were all pretty hard drinkers and more than a few times our singer/rg would call out a song and my mind would just go blank... I would just look at him with that confused puppy look that says, “I can’t always help where I pee, but I love you, and I’m a puppy.”
I’ve done it enough times that he usually recognized the look and would calmly call out the first few chords. This would, of course, instantly jog my muscle memory into action and I was off to the races to play a great song. Lol.
Not the most professional confession, I guess. But we always had a good time and entertained the audience thoroughly.
Back when we played two gigs a week, we were all pretty hard drinkers and more than a few times our singer/rg would call out a song and my mind would just go blank... I would just look at him with that confused puppy look that says, “I can’t always help where I pee, but I love you, and I’m a puppy.”
I’ve done it enough times that he usually recognized the look and would calmly call out the first few chords. This would, of course, instantly jog my muscle memory into action and I was off to the races to play a great song. Lol.
Not the most professional confession, I guess. But we always had a good time and entertained the audience thoroughly.
We had a TOTAL band wreck in '82 I believe. We were playing a pretty popular club, packed house. Halfway through the second set we play Lonesome Loser (Little River Band).
There's one part in the song where the chorus changes it's intro to "have" (count 2 beats) "you" (count 2 beats)....'heard about the lonesome loser"..blah blah.
We'd played that song a hundred times, but that night, half of us did the regular chorus and the other half did the paused chorus intro. It was too late. The wreck was so
horrifying, there was no way to keep going, so we stopped as dead cold as a band can stop.
It's the only time (since the 60's) I've ever had such a bad wreck which caused the entire band to instantly stop at the exact same moment.
There's one part in the song where the chorus changes it's intro to "have" (count 2 beats) "you" (count 2 beats)....'heard about the lonesome loser"..blah blah.
We'd played that song a hundred times, but that night, half of us did the regular chorus and the other half did the paused chorus intro. It was too late. The wreck was so
horrifying, there was no way to keep going, so we stopped as dead cold as a band can stop.
It's the only time (since the 60's) I've ever had such a bad wreck which caused the entire band to instantly stop at the exact same moment.
I've gotten pretty good at smiling off my mistakes instead of getting angry or frustrated. Usually my mistakes are swept under the rug and no one's the wiser, but very occasionally EVERYONE KNOWS. This is one of those times.
We were recording a demo for our band. Same songs we played for months without a problem. One part where the song stops and the only note heard is the open E string I hit the A instead. If looks could kill...
OK lets be honest here. I've never dropped a clam on the opening tune before, ever! Oh no; I gotta drop a big fat ugly pile-o-bricks. When I suck I suck really loud!!!! Being human just plain blows sometimes.
Should have segued into "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (with the staggered vocal call and answer) then into "Cool Change". The audience would be so confused they'd think you did it on purpose.
You’ve just described why I don’t mess with alternative tuning.
Been there. My wife and I did a live to air radio performance and interview. Somehow - still don’t know how - my B string is 1/2 step low. I realise well into the song and start compensating by playing a fret higher but it’s too late. It’s gone to air and I’m looking good in first grade egg.I make mistakes all the time but I'm usually pretty good at hiding them.
This one though, definitely belongs in the confession file.
I had a wanna-get-away moment just last month at a county fair gig. First song I play one passing note on the D string just two times. Something sounded odd but with my bad monitor mix I couldn't tell who it was. I was in tune for the line check so it couldn't be me. Second song I play an upfront bass line with many notes on the D. The monitor mix is still not dialed in but now I know it's me. Go to the tuner and my D string is perfectly tuned to C#. Apparently tuning key got bumped between line check and downbeat. The recording documented the faux pas as it was loudly broadcast through a big sound system to the large crowd.
Ahh the benefits of senility. I’ll bet you have a lot of new friends too.
I like that! The cavalier rocker "we meant to do that". Totally grab that when you can.There we were, getting ready to play Kashmir by Zep. The drummer gives the typical four clicks and he dives right into the drum beat perfectly, including the double bass drum thumps. The thing is, none of the other band members were ready!The drummer stops playing, I quickly look at the crowd and say into the mic: "oh....did you wanna hear Kashmir?" The crowd cheers with a big "yeah". The drummer clicks four and we all come in together and rock the house!
Fun times!
