• 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.

Ever been afraid for your life at a gig?

#141
It's been quite a few years but some guy Drewa gun for reasons I forget or never knew. We had one of those old style Peavey pa's, the cabinets were huge. Anyway the left and right subs and high-tops were big enough to hide behind. I learned years later that the drummers dad, who was our sound guy, always packed a gun. He was a Vietnam vet.

Other than that, no not really scared for anything. Had two guys come up to me to say that I had better stop talking to some girl. Effin db rednecks. I turned and showed them my back, which they continued to talk to, and then I walked away. Once they discovered I was in the band they apologized.

..... Craziest thing, not too crazy but... Some show the bar cleared out during a song. We stopped playing and went outside. It was a fight, two guys on one. The one broke away and went to his van and got out his dog. Then it was 2 guys on 1 + a dog. I'm laughing as I type this.... So, anyway all hell broke lose out there, I got bored and went back inside and got myself a drink. Eventually people came back in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bordinco90
#142
More than once ! I was in a rock band in W Va in the 70s. I have seen bouncers fighting to keep the fights off the "floor" stages a lot. Guns were common.We even played a PTA dance thinking it would be a calm gig. WRONG. The guy running the dance pulled his first gun on a really big guy that was under a smaller guy on the gym floor and wouldn't let the little guy loose. THEN... Someone knocked a stand up chalk board over and the room was cleared in about 14 seconds. Except for them and us trying to load the equipment as fast as we could. We passed two car loads of cops coming in as fast as we were going out... You'r right. GOOD TIMES !!!
Les
 
  • Like
Reactions: bordinco90, Mr_Moo, Econoroller and 1 other person
#144
Actually, I do have a story but it's not while at the gig but between gigs while on tour as a 19 year old.
We had the night off in Penscola Beach, Florida while touring during the summer. We were all young & wanted to save money so we decided to sleep on the beach instead of getting a spot. Well, I'm by myself & i'm half asleep laying in my sleeping bag when a dude runs up on me & starts standing over me. He goes "Yo man what you doing out here" & I'm like "Yo, i'm sleeping" & he's like "Okay cool, cool. I just bought a gun & been in some poopie I'm out here waiting for my brother" - SO, at this point i'm like F*ck, i am toast, BUT then it takes a turn, he goes "Man, all those f*ckin rich people up in those hotels wont even give guys like us a floor to sleep on we gotta stay out here on the beach" & I'm like "Yeah man, especially because we're both not trouble makers" - He goes "Yeah, I bought that gun & got locked up for it. I just got out & I'm waiting for my brother so we can go to the bar and maybe find someone to put us up for the night, you should come" & i'm like "ah it's cool man I'm just gonna stay here & sleep" - SO, about this time someone in the band sees this dude standing over me, gets the rest of the guys & RUNS up on him & I have to be like "YO,YO,YO HE'S COOL, HE'S COOL" & it gets a little weird for a second but the guy laughs if off & calls us all crazy. My friends end up telling him we're in a band and stay in the same spot that i'm in. in the morning we hear a guy SCREAMING and wake up. It's him yelling at a police officer because they're coming to kick us off the spot in the beach. He's going "YO LET THOSE KIDS SLEEP THEY'RE GOOD KIDS LET THEM SLEEP" & he ends up getting arrested over it. We got up & booked it out of there. Thinking back on it, it was kind of crazy & i could have really been F'd if he just decided to kick my ass instead of wanting to talk. He was standing completely over me & my hands were sort of trapped at my side inside of my sleeping bag.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bordinco90, rendevouz, Mr_Moo and 4 others
#147
i've never "feared for my life" but i've experienced plenty of dangerous/tense/threatening moments --- mostly in my younger days, mostly having to do with a combination of booze/drugs + women. of course: i was never a 'guilty party'. anything bad which has ever happened to me = always the fault of someone else! also: it's too easy to point to a drummer or a guitar player or a singer when attempting to deflect hostile-aggressiveness by a true fan. :laugh:
 
#148
Ever been afraid for your life at a gig?
Click to expand...
Yep. I was on my way to one of my many Sunday afternoon gigs out in the desert at a large winery. Several miles before I got there I came around a corner and saw a huge wall of fire that came right up to one side of the road. I charged through and could literally feel the heat through my side window. As were were setting up the smoke started to become very obvious. Then the fire crews and choppers started coming in. The fire was under a mile away when the evac order came in. The state highway I came in on was closed in the direction I needed to go but luckily the detour to the other side of the Columbia River was only ten miles or so. Later investigation indicated arson, which is fairly common out here. I've done my share of sketchy biker gigs but this was much scarier. I live in a famously windy area and fire is just not a predictable situation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bordinco90, barrenelly, Mr_Moo and 3 others
#149
Maverick's Flat down on Crenshaw in South Los Angeles. Not that the gig was all that scary, but the parking lot sure was. As the only white guy in a funk band, I stood out like I had a target on me, and as soon as I started unloading, people off the street started coming up to me to shake me down. I'll never forget the drummer running over from the other side of the lot to distract people by handing them cash while I could slip into the club. Surprisingly, it felt much safer at midnight when I loaded out and drove home up MLK Blvd. Almost peaceful.
The following year I played at another venue not too far from there, and it was cool, but I did notice that the building next to the venue, which was an empty business, had the words "Kill Whitey" in big red letters spray painted on the walls. That still cracks me up to this day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bordinco90, Mr_Moo and Econoroller
#150
petrus61 said:
Yep. My first dozen or so gigs were terrifying. Always a brawl or some form of fisticuffs in the audience. I’ve seen two stabbings, ears lopped off, people getting beat senseless for everything from defending the honor of their girlfriend, to brushing up against someone. Several times the band itself was threatened. One memorable moment was playing the middle of a cornfield at a kegger atop a hay wagon. The host had told all the attendees prior that we were a rap band. Imagine how we were recieved. Ever play The Chance in Poughkeepsie during the late 90’s/early 00’s?

My earliest gigs were like every “band” stereotype come to life. Fun times!
View attachment 3364057
Click to expand...
A honky tonk bar in south Alabama, late 70's. Semi automatic handgun fire during the second set. I'm not proud of it but I ran in the ladies room with our female singer (not proud but still alive after all these years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bordinco90, Mr_Moo, 12BitSlab and 2 others
#151
Back in the early 1980`s I played four or five nights per week with a pro Showband based in Dublin, Ireland. We travelled the length and breath of Ireland regularly, usually returning to Dublin after our show on those small country roads in the wee hours of the morning. We sometimes played in Northern Ireland and the early 80`s was at the height of the `troubles`. One occasion we were double booked and the other band got to play even though we were there first! When we were leaving there was a line of thugs each side of us thumping and kicking us as we tried to get our gear and ourselves into the van! But that was an isolated incident and great days (or nights I should say) when I look back on it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gunga Din and Mr_Moo
#152
In a very rural weekend gig, on the first show, our drummer at the time got hooked up with a girl that turned out to be the daughter of the owner of the place, and girlfriend of one of the "bad boys" in town. Small town gossip went through, and on the middle of the second and last night's show, both the father and the boyfriend got into the place, blazing guns and shooting to the air. Our roadie and guitar tech literally threw the drummer into the back of the equipment van and fled, while we just hid in the back of the bar while the offended individuals searched for our fleeting drummer. Later we found that one of the Marshall guitar amps aquired a "bass port" from a 9mm bullet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr_Moo and GwenOnBass
#153
Mike JV said:
I played some fantastic gigs way back when I played full time. But we spent one week playing at a particular bar that I was ever so glad to leave. It was back in '79 in Detroit at a biker bar somewhere around 6 Mile and Gratiot. We played biker bars before and always got along with them. But the gang in this bar was bad news. You could feel it in the air.

On the 4th of 5 nights in between songs one of the bikers said something pretty derogatory to us and our singer immediately had a comeback. (Uh-oh.) I'll never forget this biker as he strutted up to the stage with a cue stick on his shoulder. Pointed it right in our singers face and said "one more word out of you and you're a m***** f****** ghost." Thank God that our singer kept his mouth shut.

On our last night there they shot some guy outside the bar. We never player there again.
Click to expand...
Never afraid for my person. Maybe for my lady being alone while I was on stage. The one time I was a bit shocked was in ‘82 at a local roadhouse at the end of a break. Rushed into a toilet stall and I was in mid you know when I noticed the previous occupant had left his chrome plated revolver on the top of the toilet. Needless to say, I got out of there real quick.
 
#156
Ah, memories... in 1980 at a club (Casablanca) in Santa Fe, NM, I was playing bass with a blues-rock quartet that played fairly pedestrian music and attracted a like crowd. On our last gig there (the club closed soon after) as we were tearing down, some guy took it up with our singer over "looks" at his girlfriend or whatnot, and took a swing at him. The singer happened to be carrying his mic stand - the old-school kind, with a circular, solid iron base - and proceeded to clock the guy on the head, rendering him, um, "neutralized". I was still on stage packing up when the unconscious guy's buddy decided to take it out on whomever he thought was responsible, although the singer had left in a hurry and was long gone... so guess who he fixes his enraged stare at? Yes, this big brute rips his shirt off Hulk-style and comes after me, the first guy he sees, screaming "YOU HURT MY FRIEND!!!!". Fortunately, someone had called the cops, and two of them grabbed this guy, one on each arm, as he came after me. He actually shook them off, so two more cops ran in and it took four of them to subdue this monster and place him in handcuffs. I got off lucky - one of the first cops told me, years later, that he had his arm nearly pulled out of its socket by the enraged guy... I was very lucky, indeed, and I never played another gig with that band again!
 
  • Like
Reactions: bordinco90, Kokoman, barrenelly and 1 other person
#157
I was in a fist fight or 3 but never close to death. I was like “hey! If you didn’t like the set, you could have just booed!” My lead guitarist took a beat down while I knocked the guys buddy out cold! It was a Billy Jack wheel kick to the jaw! WhaPow!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: OldBassman
#158
Mike JV said:
I played some fantastic gigs way back when I played full time. But we spent one week playing at a particular bar that I was ever so glad to leave. It was back in '79 in Detroit at a biker bar somewhere around 6 Mile and Gratiot. We played biker bars before and always got along with them. But the gang in this bar was bad news. You could feel it in the air.

On the 4th of 5 nights in between songs one of the bikers said something pretty derogatory to us and our singer immediately had a comeback. (Uh-oh.) I'll never forget this biker as he strutted up to the stage with a cue stick on his shoulder. Pointed it right in our singers face and said "one more word out of you and you're a m***** f****** ghost." Thank God that our singer kept his mouth shut.

On our last night there they shot some guy outside the bar. We never player there again.
Click to expand...
6 Mile and Gratiot was (and to a lesser extent) remains a tough area. Anything south of 8 Mile could be a problem unless you are downtown. Even then...
I can't say I have been afraid for my life but members of the band occasionally go out into the audience when we are playing (it's all rock n' roll) to mingle and play along with those dancing. I recently had one guy who may have thought I was hitting on his dancing partner (or just wanted to play tough guy) who kept bumping into me fairly hard and giving me "the look". I just smiled and worked my way back to the stage. We have played at a fair number of biker bars and festivals with alot of biker attendees and they have all turned out to be nice guys and gals, or at least not violent. Several band members ride Harleys and make a point of wearing Harley gear at these venues which might help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr_Moo
#159
Got electrocuted 7 times through the lips via my Mic, first song I could feel current through my strings, he said it was ok, then when I sung, got zapped! After every song the sound guy promised he'd fixed the earth problem. I got up to sing and Bam! Before the last song, he found a fault in the main power supply, fixed it but by then my nerves were shot. Worst gig ever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr_Moo
#160
Yeah once..We were playing the Rockwood Motel and it was unevenful until the guy upstairs fell asleep and dropped his cigarette.We were halfway through our first set when out of nowhere smoke came billowing down the stairs near the entrance.Someone yelled "FIRE!", panic ensued with everyone headed for the front door (including us) to escape to safety.(shoulda used backdoor in hindsight)..So everyone makes it out safely,flames pouring out of the upstairs window waiting for the firetrucks you could hear in the distance to arrive..when we realized we were about to lose ALL of our equipment to some passed out chain smoker..So without hesitation we all ran back inside,I grabbed the amps,guitarist grabbed the axes and the drummer grabbed his kit and literally were throwing this stuff out the front door and going back for more.Last trip out (could barely breath) we noticed some spectator making off with a les paul(thwarted).It all happened so fast..Then we spotted the owner of the motel standing there in shock as his place became engulfed on flames,the guitarist asked him for our pay..without hesitation he ran back inside just as the firetrucks pulled up..they ran in after him and rescued him,lyed him down and with an O2 mask on he reached up and gave us our $500 fee..nobody died and we got paid..coulda been much different ending in so many ways lol (
 
  • Like
Reactions: OldBassman, bordinco90, rendevouz and 9 others

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back