Embarassing Gig Stories

[Dave R]

Last Friday's gig. First time EVER someone in the band didn't show up. The lead singer. At about 5 min to showtime, we realized he must be in trouble, or he would've been here. He left for the gig on time...

Turned out he either had a stroke or a seizure. They're still doing diagnostics. He's mid-30s. No drugs.

Anyway, we did some surgery to the set list in that final 5 minutes. Got through the first set. Then listed all the tunes we each could sing. Made it through the gig in reasonably good order. But I sang tunes I've never sung before, as did guitar and keys. Even the drummer sang one. That's how desperate we were.

 

[standupright]

Toolie's. This happened in the late 80s, is it still there?
We also opened shows for, among others, New Grass Revival and Eddie Raven there.

cool! just did a quick search and, i don't think it's around anymore

 

[Ubersheist]

Ok, back in my younger years, I played in a church choir. We got hired to play at the graduation ceremony for a 2-year Catholic junior college in a large canvas tent on their lawn. We played most of it just fine, and had a longer break while the priest gave his sermon. We took our break behind the tent. The guitarist found an empty cardboard box, and put it on his head, and started spinning around like a top and acting all goofy.

We didn't realize this, but the low angle of the sun cast his shadow onto the tent. So, as the priest gave his sermon, there was the shadow of this goofy guy spinning around with a box on his head right next to him. Amazingly, they asked us back the following year.

Also, we had one of the first gigs for one my first bands cut short because OJ was in a low speed chase in a white bronco. The bar owner didn't let us start playing until it was resolved...

 

[Paulie Jay]

A couple of years ago I'm doing some shows for a covers band that had secured some gigs as entertainment for the end of year football playoffs in Sydney. It was all tied into a promotion where the people in the crowd could SMS their favourite song from a list and just before the main game we would play the three most requested songs.

Being a big sporting event with tight security we were all required hang security passes around our necks so that we could actually enter the playing arena. These had to stay on no matter what, with dire threats of instant eviction if the passes were removed*.

So up we get in front of a crowd of around 30,000 people. The first song we have to play is "By the Way" by the Chili Peppers - I was a little nervous about this anyway because I had only just learnt the song the night before (indeed, only heard it for the first time the night before), and as a finger player I wasn't relishing the thought of attacking this song with a pick but what they hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the song - towards the middle there is a section where the music stops and the bass plays a few solo licks. We get to that part of the song, I steady myself, get my picking hand ready...and nothing. No notes, just some kind of thwucking-scraping noise. I look down, and with horror I see that the damn security pass has fallen in front of the strings and I'm madly flailing away trying to play the pass and not the strings. Of course this couldn't happen when the whole band is playing so as to give me an opportunity to try and rectify the situation - oh no, it has to happen right when the focus is on me with 30,000 people thinking "Gee, this guy stinks..."

Embarrassing.


(*major plot point)

 

[mike.b]

during the interval the bands old bass player turns up(we don't see eye to eye)and for some reason i'm a bit nervous which is not like me at all.we start the next set and about 4 bars in we realise somethings wrong.very wrong.i'm not only playing the wrong song but its in a different key.i quickly readjust but its too late its throws the whole band out.the other bassist is grinning at me and i feel real professional.can't believe i made a stupid mistake like that.the rest of the gig was rubbish to.never made that mistake again.

 

[Jeff Martinez]

Imagine the look on my female teachers face!

Did she give you an "A" for the semester???