Comedy of Errors: a gig thread

[WI Short Scaler]

Not gear related, but....
Had a jealous boyfriend rush the stage to tell me to stop checking out his girlfriend... had to tell him I wasn't looking at her... I was looking at the good looking one behind her.

I can take the jealous boyfriend even further, and not in a good way.
Late 80's, I was still on drums and our band was playing through a local agency. They called on a Sat and asked if we could fill in for a band cancel about 2 hours away. It was an Indian Casino and we were naive on the place so we agreed. The gig went reasonably well. We started to tear down and our bassist was MIA. Suddenly we were surrounded by a group of "unhappy gentelmen" looking for him. Apparently he was off to a private spot for some "aerobics" with the leader's girlfriend. They were out for blood. We ended up stuffing our bassist into a big case I had for my drums, loaded up as best we could and got a police escort out of town, followed by a few other vehicles. The followed us a long way at speeds faster than we would have normally gone at 2am on county roads. All survived. The bassist thought it was funny, that band didn't last long after that latest gaffe on his part.

 

[HardNHeavy]

broke a string live in punk band once, but nobody noticed

 

[FatBassTone]

I don't mean this to be judgy but if you're talking about being a professional and then also talking about using a Peavey amp and Joyo wireless... To me those are contradictory. Gotta invest in good quality and reliable gear.

Some of the biggest bands in the world have used Peavey 5150s/6505s, I'd say they're just as professional as any other amp.

 

[richntiff]

My worst one (to date) was my country/pop/rock band was playing at a local establishment for an early evening gig - so my wife and youngest daughter could come see us. Yay! I was having trouble with my wireless losing connection - weird, that never happens. So, I swap to a cord. No biggie. Get back in the groove...

Then, my 8-year-old daughter gets up and starts dancing with the other kids. Wouldn't it be so FUN if I went out in the crowd and DANCED WITH HER WHILE PLAYING?? Wouldn't that be cool for her to see her dad come off stage to dance with her? Wouldn't all those other kids also think it was great, and that she had the COOLEST DAD EVER??? That would be GREAT!!!!

So, I work my way towards the stairs off the stage to go have a fun moment with my kid, and then POP as my cord gets yanked out of my bass. I totally forgot I was corded. Lead singer was ROLLING - she thought is was hilarious. Ok fine, it was. I was embarrassed. Plugged back in after sound guy muted my channel..... Super not cool dad.....

 

[richntiff]

Some of the biggest bands in the world have used Peavey 5150s/6505s, I'd say they're just as professional as any other amp.

Looks like mods (rightfully) deleted the posts slagging the peavey amp. But yeah - the 5150/6505s are regarded industry wide as some of the most reliable, absolute tone monster guitar amps ever created. They sound AMAZING. How many guys dumped their Mesa gear after playing through a 5150? The answer is - a LOT. Those amps are absolute pro level gear in every sense of the word. Now - all gear still needs to be maintained, regardless of the name on the front....

 

[FatBassTone]

Looks like mods (rightfully) deleted the posts slagging the peavey amp. But yeah - the 5150/6505s are regarded industry wide as some of the most reliable, absolute tone monster guitar amps ever created. They sound AMAZING. How many guys dumped their Mesa gear after playing through a 5150? The answer is - a LOT. Those amps are absolute pro level gear in every sense of the word. Now - all gear still needs to be maintained, regardless of the name on the front....

Struth my friend. I trust the gear that pros that make more money playing music than anyone on this forum use. By all accounts Peavey is great, and Joyo makes fine stuff too. Perhaps only one of one boutique gear is pro enough for a forum surfer

Sorry for the quick thread derailment OP

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

Some of the biggest bands in the world have used Peavey 5150s/6505s, I'd say they're just as professional as any other amp.

You really think he was using those guitar amps in this story? Really?
Those are indeed great amps, but surely not what we are talking about here. Come on now.

 

[FatBassTone]

You really think he was using those guitar amps in this story? Really?
Those are indeed great amps, but surely not what we are talking about here. Come on now.

You said “…you're talking about being a professional and then also talking about using a Peavey amp and Joyo wireless”
Last time I checked it’s the same Peavey electronics that makes the amps. You never said a Peavey bass amp, you said a Peavey amp, implying that no pro would ever use a Peavey amp.
In terms of Peavey bass amps, id say it’s bold if not a flat out lie to call Cliff Burton, Derek Boyer, Peter Steele, Simon Gallup and plenty of other bass players ‘not professionals’.

 

[FatBassTone]

In terms of gig failures, when I was in high school I was playing in the school musical, playing on acoustic bass. All my basses were active pickups so I was fiddling with the pile of batteries I had whilst waiting for some music to happen during some emotional scene on stage. The thought pops into my mind ‘what if i put the terminals of the battery on the string’. Bear in mind at this point I’m fully turned up anticipating the next song, and then BOOM! The D string pops right off, straight through the PA during this wonderful emotional scene. MD was NOT happy with me after that, but at least I learnt what happens when you put a battery on your strings. Had to play the rest of the shows with a nickel string from my backup electric set as no stores anywhere nearby had acoustic strings in stock.

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

You said “…you're talking about being a professional and then also talking about using a Peavey amp and Joyo wireless”
Last time I checked it’s the same Peavey electronics that makes the amps. You never said a Peavey bass amp, you said a Peavey amp, implying that no pro would ever use a Peavey amp.
In terms of Peavey bass amps, id say it’s bold if not a flat out lie to call Cliff Burton, Derek Boyer, Peter Steele, Simon Gallup and plenty of other bass players ‘not professionals’.

True!!!! I had not considered he was probably using a guitar amp or a vintage bass head. Great points. And very relevant too!

 

[FatBassTone]

True!!!! I had not considered he was probably using a guitar amp or a vintage bass head. Great points. And very relevant too!

He said a Peavey bass head, no need to be facetious. If you choose to assume everyone that says they’re using a Fender amp is using a Frontman that’s up to you. Peavey is known for being reliable, and your opinion of it being ‘unprofessional’ puts you in the minority. The points are relevant because you said Peavey was unprofessional and I proceeded to list lots of professionals that use Peavey gear, making it professional gear

 

[Why Nautilus‽]

In terms of gig failures, when I was in high school I was playing in the school musical, playing on acoustic bass. All my basses were active pickups so I was fiddling with the pile of batteries I had whilst waiting for some music to happen during some emotional scene on stage. The thought pops into my mind ‘what if i put the terminals of the battery on the string’. Bear in mind at this point I’m fully turned up anticipating the next song, and then BOOM! The D string pops right off, straight through the PA during this wonderful emotional scene. MD was NOT happy with me after that, but at least I learnt what happens when you put a battery on your strings. Had to play the rest of the shows with a nickel string from my backup electric set as no stores anywhere nearby had acoustic strings in stock.

I’ll admit I’ve been curious before but this is a great lesson to learn!

I’ve dropped something on my bass during a pit gig before and had the sound wong out into the audience. Fortunately not during an emotional scene.

 

[Why Nautilus‽]

My worst one (to date) was my country/pop/rock band was playing at a local establishment for an early evening gig - so my wife and youngest daughter could come see us. Yay! I was having trouble with my wireless losing connection - weird, that never happens. So, I swap to a cord. No biggie. Get back in the groove...

Then, my 8-year-old daughter gets up and starts dancing with the other kids. Wouldn't it be so FUN if I went out in the crowd and DANCED WITH HER WHILE PLAYING?? Wouldn't that be cool for her to see her dad come off stage to dance with her? Wouldn't all those other kids also think it was great, and that she had the COOLEST DAD EVER??? That would be GREAT!!!!

So, I work my way towards the stairs off the stage to go have a fun moment with my kid, and then POP as my cord gets yanked out of my bass. I totally forgot I was corded. Lead singer was ROLLING - she thought is was hilarious. Ok fine, it was. I was embarrassed. Plugged back in after sound guy muted my channel..... Super not cool dad.....

It’s been my dream to jump into the audience during a dance song and play along.

Maybe when I upgrade my wireless.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hello all you wonderful bassists.

Wanted to share the stories of my absolute messiest gig to date (well…professional one) with my cover band.

All started off well enough, sound check went fine aside from a persistent issue where my peavey head doesn’t transmit signal to the head/fx loop when the DI is plugged in.

Anyway, immediately after sound check, I am doing one last tuning check on my Ibanez headless and notice that the D string won’t hold a pitch. The tuner is maxing out trying to get the bass in tune.

Did I bring my Allen keys? No. I have the sound and lighting guy onstage with me with an Allen key and needle nose pliers attempting to re-place the string. The string core slips the winding, and I realize I am done for.

Did I bring more strings just in case? Of course not! I tune the G to a D and set that bass aside for the 10ish songs that need it. We strike one of the more complex songs from the set since I won’t have the necessary tuning.

The show starts without a hitch, aside from my playing “in my head” too much and missing some easy cues. Nothing that the audience would notice.

First half of the first set is almost over and my joyo wireless cable is cutting out constantly. I sneakily change it to a wired cable and finish out the set.

During our break, the sound guy comes back to tell me to turn down the bass. He’s been unable to play it in the monitors because it’s far too loud. Meanwhile our poor guitarist has been struggling to be heard all night. My amp was at a 4. Gain at 3. Turned both down to two.

The rest of the show goes (objectively) better and we are paid and on our way by the end of the night with another show in the books.

But now I’m going to be signal chasing and anxiously toying with my basses all week for my show next weekend.

Happy Friday the 13th to me.

What’s the worst onstage failure you’ve had?

There isn't enough bandwidth on this site to post all the crash and burns form 50 + years of being a musician. So I'll pick the dumbest thing I ever did. I drove 6 hours to a gig but left my bass at home. Don't ask....

But fortunately there was a music store 5 miles away from the gig that rented me one. We got there 2 minutes before they were to close for the weekend. Great, got a nice G&L JB equivalent, and I'm good to go, right? Well, there was no owners manual to explain the (very different from the VVT on a Fender JB) controls on the G&L so I never did get the tone dialed in. But we had a really good sound company that night so not to worry, Right?

The first set starts and the crowd starts rocking and the next thing the lighting changes and I can no longer see the position markers on the neck and the next 5 songs have a fair amount of notes above 5th fret with a ton of accidentals. The song "You're Still a Young Man" will never have a bass part like that again thankfully.

About the only positive that came out of this was we got paid, and have performed 10 more dates at this theater since. I haven't forgot my bass since.

 

[Philonius]

This happened to me just last weekend at our band's first gig at a nice local venue. We were told DO NOT BRING YOUR AMPS, use DI only. No problem, I've been wanting a DI box and picked up an EBS Microbass 3 here. ' Nice unit, and has everything I really need: compressor, EQ, drive channel, and a tuner. Now the tuner is a small display; maybe 3/4" tall.
We showed up an hour early for sound check, get everything ready for the sound guy... who doesn't arrive. "Oh, he didn't realize we had an early show, he'll be here soon." -Which meant about 10 minutes before showtime. He plugs us in and I have no sound, even though my signal shows up on his tablet. Minutes of fussing around ensue and I finally get sound through the PA after he changes out his XLR cable. The audience is already there waiting, and we're on with nothing but a basic line check.
Right away, something doesn't sound right: I'm out of tune. I'm wondering what the heck is wrong with their monitor. The drummer, keyboardist and I are looking at each other with that "HUH???" expression. I look at my tuner, it looks OK. After two or three songs I realize the E on my tuner readout is actually an E with a little teeny b (as in E-flat) after it. Holy shinola. I'm not sure who in the audience noticed, but it sure threw me off, and took another song or two for me to settle back down and feel right. Lessons learned: trust your ears, and when something isn't right, don't let the band just blindly muck ahead.
Of course the band following us rolled in with a Marshal stack and Hartke 4x10, etc. Do the rules not apply to them?

 

[Fuzzbass]

This is my current frustration with my Ibanez headless. The compartment is easy enough to access, however the battery never really lasts. I always end up using it passive. Which is fine, but also less than what I paid for/planned for when purchasing it.

Awhile back I bought a pre-owned boutique bass that ate batteries. I contacted the luthier who said "that bass is from my first run, and sometimes a screw securing the control plate will touch the jack, which prevents the preamp from being disengaged when not plugged in. You can fix that yourself by snipping the tip of the screw".

I'm not saying this exact situation is happening to you, but the point is that onboard preamps should disconnect from the battery when the bass is not plugged in. Perhaps your bass has a wiring issue of some kind.

Alternately: never leave an active bass plugged in when you are not using it for extended periods -- that'll eat up batteries. Heck, I even unplug mine between sets at the gig.

 

[Why Nautilus‽]

Awhile back I bought a pre-owned boutique bass that ate batteries. I contacted the luthier who said "that bass is from my first run, and sometimes a screw securing the control plate will touch the jack, which prevents the preamp from being disengaged when not plugged in. You can fix that yourself by snipping the tip of the screw".

I'm not saying this exact situation is happening to you, but the point is that onboard preamps should disconnect from the battery when the bass is not plugged in. Perhaps your bass has a wiring issue of some kind.

Alternately: never leave an active bass plugged in when you are not using it for extended periods -- that'll eat up batteries. Heck, I even unplug mine between sets at the gig.

I’ll look into this! Thanks for the guidance.

I recently (before this battery pack) became aware of the latter part of your comment. I’ve become hyper aware of when my bass is plugged in.

I’ve also looked into those rechargeable batteries. They hold on ok but I’m still draining at a surprising rate.

Maybe I’m converting to passive with an EQ pedal at this point, but I’ve been happy with my tone regardless.

 

[FatBassTone]

I’ll admit I’ve been curious before but this is a great lesson to learn!

I’ve dropped something on my bass during a pit gig before and had the sound wong out into the audience. Fortunately not during an emotional scene.

that same gig me and the guitarist were bored waiting for the show to start so we decided to put two batteries on top of his amp, terminal to terminal. what resulted 10 minutes later was a beautiful aroma of everything you don’t want to smell in a smell, and two very hot and dead batteries.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

My worst one (to date) was my country/pop/rock band was playing at a local establishment for an early evening gig - so my wife and youngest daughter could come see us. Yay! I was having trouble with my wireless losing connection - weird, that never happens. So, I swap to a cord. No biggie. Get back in the groove...

Then, my 8-year-old daughter gets up and starts dancing with the other kids. Wouldn't it be so FUN if I went out in the crowd and DANCED WITH HER WHILE PLAYING?? Wouldn't that be cool for her to see her dad come off stage to dance with her? Wouldn't all those other kids also think it was great, and that she had the COOLEST DAD EVER??? That would be GREAT!!!!

So, I work my way towards the stairs off the stage to go have a fun moment with my kid, and then POP as my cord gets yanked out of my bass. I totally forgot I was corded. Lead singer was ROLLING - she thought is was hilarious. Ok fine, it was. I was embarrassed. Plugged back in after sound guy muted my channel..... Super not cool dad.....

Coolest dad ever to super not cool dad in 2 seconds, it happens so fast.

You're from the area in WI's northwoods. That near-death story for our bassist was a gig at Lac De Flambeau. We were followed from there all the way to 51 south and then until the road became 4 lane, which was south of Minoqua and a long way back in 1987.

 

[jimmydean]

The keyboardist spent too much time at the bar after a gig and his buddy packed his gear for him . He's setting up his gear the next night for our gig and guess what ?.........that's right , his cables were not packed away and he can't play ! Spent the rest of the night at the bar and came up to sing a song ......yeah !