Most embarassing stage moments

[Goatee220]

We were playing at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia for the Philly-area finals of the Lucky Strike Band to Band Combat competition in 2000. We were up against 2 very good bands, so we had to make sure we played well that night.

Normally during our last song there was a drum solo, where the rest of the band left the stage for a few minutes while it was going on. Since we were on a time limit (and you lost points if you went over) we decided to cut out the drum solo. Or, should I say, THEY decided to cut it out, adn no one told me. So, needless to say, when it was time for the drum solo, guess who walked off stage? Yep - me. I turned around and the rest of the band was still on stage. I felt like a complete idiot. We didn't win that night either, but I hope it wasn't because of that.

 

[ashtray]

Most embarrassing for me was in my last band, every gig we would specifically prep the set list into 3 sets, designed to start slow and end with a bang. And each gig we'd spend about a minute between songs waiting for everyone to be ready for the next song. (this is simple classic rock stuff!).

Ultimately, halfway into each gig, based on audience reaction to the previous song, there would be a 3 minute discussion what to play next. Dance floor packed but the next song was supposed to be slow? Change it up! But it took so long to figure what to play that everyone would just sit back down. Cant tell you how many times I stood there waiting for the monkeys to figure what to play next while the crowd yelled at us to PLAY SOMETHING!

That's embarrassing.

 

[Billnc]

Not me, front man... We're getting ready to play in the finals for quite a few hundred people at a blues competition. The singer is wearing a garish outfit, purple suit with an orange shirt, but tailored! Well, right before we go on I tell him your fly is down with a flag (shirt tail through pants fly) he looked at me and said "Cool Let's GO!" After the second song he looks down, and in horror realizes what I told him.

 

[Ubersheist]

I was playing "Natural Woman" at a wedding last week. At the end of the chorus it's just bass and vocals for a few notes. My battery (active pickups) decided to die on me right at the moment where its just the bass and singers. So when they sang "like a natural woman", I sounded distorted and my bass crapped out. Even more frustrating was the fact I replaced the batteries that morning- i got a dud.

It's not the same, but one of my old bands had an embarrassing time at a wedding a while ago.

The singer was a great frontman in that band - charismatic, and engaging. He started going on autopilot with our act, even though we were at a wedding. At our regular club shows, he usually said some cheesy lines about "finding someone to go home with," and "make sure you're not alone tomorrow at breakfast," or some sort of corny/horny stuff like that. The rest of the band was like "Dude! This is a wedding! That's my 12 year old cousin out there! SHUT THE HELL UP!" We didn't say anything until the break, and the singer was appologetic. He just sort of went on autopilot.

Ok... another story....


Years before that last one, I played in a church band. We played one May evening at a graduation ceremony for a local 2-year Jesuit college. It was set up outside on a hillside, but with a huge tent covering the alter, priest, and the attendees.

While we were on a break behind the tent where we thought we were hidden from the crowd, the guitarist/band leader found an empty cardboard box. He put it on his head and started dancing around, being really goofy.

He didn't realize that the low angle of the sun cast his shadow onto the canvas of the tent immediately behind the priest as he spoke. Lots of chuckles in the audience ensued...

 

[TheRealKong]

30 years ago it wasn't usual to have a mixer with lots of channels. As I had (have ) always big gear (one fullstack minimum!), this was not a real problem for me. I just turned up the bass until everybody was able to hear me.....

Once I had a new amp, a Gallien-Krueger, don't remember the model, it happened 30 years ago. My cabs did not change, a 215 with a 212 on top (for the brilliant high tones), the two cabs were 1,50 m high. The GK had, for this time, incredible 300 Watt @ 4 Ohms, and so there was a whole hell of bass-sound going on.

From one second to the other there was no bass at all, like someone switched it out. I looked at the bass, felt for the cable in the socket, everything was OK.

As I turned around I found my whole full stack fallen on its back. There were too much vibrations on this wooden hollow stage with big resonance. So we had to stop the whole thing to rebuilt my full-stack.

This happened 30 years ago. But until today I allways put some black cellular rubber between my cabs to avoid vibrations and moving cabs...

 

[klokker]

Some back up vocals in our band are truly embarrassing. I've forgotten the words once in a while and made up dorky ones. Once in a while our lead vocalist gets too into it and makes a fool of himself and us.

We played one gig where the path to the restroom went right by me and the way we were set up I got bumped around all night. Sheesh.

 

[Stilettoprefer]

I play guitar at church

I'm opening a song (first time with an opening) and I capoed the WRONG fret!!!! After playing the whole intro the band came in in a different key and I had to stop and move my friggen capo!

Another one at church

The other guitarist and I are standing there and he ends up with a mic cable wrapped around his leg and asks me to get it off. So I grabbed the mic off the stand and bent over to untangle him from the cable and me being stupid I forgot the rule "never place a live mic directly in front of a monitor", resulting in massive instant feedback and the entire congregation staring at us as I screamed and jumped about 30 bagillion feet into the air and the bassist and drummer were laughing harder than I though possible

Those are my stupid moments. Thankfully I can look back and laugh

 

[Jim Miller]

Posted this elsewhere and another it's still long I'll put it here.

Backstage Club, Houston Texas, summer 1989, SRO. My band used to do two sets of originals and close each set with a song that had an extended four-on-the-floor chugga-chugga breakdown vamp over which the singer would rap (I mean the “this goes out to all the hell-raisin-Houston-Texas-get-on-down-boogie-woogie-whiskey-drinkin-pot-smokin-coke-snortin-big-t#$ty-lickin-rock-and-roll-mother-f@*kers!” kind of rap, not the “yo yo in da howse” variety); one vamp in A, one vamp in E. The A-vamp in the first set ended with a snare roll that led us back into the chorus, and the E-vamp in the second set ended with the singer singing the first line of the last pre-chorus, after which the guitar and drum crashes would kick in.

We always had some drinks on stage but usually kept it well together but that night a few rounds more than normal came up and by the end of the gig the effects were being felt...

So, picture it: Second set, last song of the night, chugging the E-vamp. Singer does his rap, then he stands there while we chug and wait for him to sing the line to bring us back into the song. Nothing. We continued chugging. Nothing. I exchanged a millisecond whiskey-tango-foxtrot? glance with the guitarist, but nothing obvious to alert anyone in the crowd. More chugging. Nothing. After about 15 seconds, which seemed like an eternity with us looking at the crowd and them looking back at us, the singer turned around, puts his hands over his head and began screaming and gesticulating very animatedly, making no effort at all to conceal his frustration at what had by that time become painfully clear to me: he had confused the last song of the second set with the last song of the first set and was waiting for the drum roll to bring us back into an entirely different song! He had no idea that instead he was actually supposed to sing a line that cued us back in; we were waiting for his vocals but instead he was up there having an ostentatious tantrum. The spectacle was embarrassing. I was surprised he was acting that way because the man had years of experience playing live.

Suddenly, I’ll be damned, even though we couldn’t hear what the singer was screaming, the drummer finally figured it out and went into the snare roll of the last song of the first set! As if we had rehearsed it a million times, the guitarist and I followed flawlessly. It wasn’t as smooth as it sounds, though, because we had to shift gears without a clutch from E to A, and this snare roll led into a section during which we executed some Warrant-esque choreography that we still scrambled to do but pulled off half-assed because we weren’t on our marks. So we started with one song and ended with a song we had already played—imagine AC/DC playing Sin City but then after the bass/vocals breakdown Bon Scott had a ostentatious tantrum and then the band morphed into Shot Down in Flames for no apparent reason, which they had already played. :scowl:

After the song we did our Beatles-bow as usual and I did my best to pretend that we had planned it that way, but I walked offstage red-faced and humiliated. In the dressing room the singer was fuming by the time I arrived, by then aware of his charlie-foxtrot but roiling in an embarrassed rage that his drunken ego used to attempt to blame us for the mess. He was cursing and hollering and wiping out tables of drinks, etc. All this led to an intense band argument and some ugly minutes that nearly resulted in fisticuffs. It was all so damned Spinal Tap. A horrible end to an otherwise great evening.

 

[Jimbo010]

Time to bring this thread back from the dead zone. I'm sure that I, like everyone that gigs regularly has embarrassing moments. But my most memorable happened about 10 years ago. My band was playing at a popular rock club in a Buffalo NY suburb. The place was jam packed, people were squeezed right up to our monitors and the crowd was really into the music that night. We ended the first set and my good friend comes up to me and says "hey I just got some killer bud you want to go outside and partake?" Well as a rule I never smoke weed on gigs because I zone out and forget what I am playing. In this instance I broke my own rule and went out into the parking lot with him and got high...... really high. The first song of the second set if I recall was by the Goos and the bass didn't come in until after the intro guitar, drums and vocals. They start playing and I swear I had an out-of-body experience! I was standing there watching them thinking to myself...these guys are really good. And then it was time for me to play (a song I had played out hundreds of times).... Well I was still zoned out and forgot where to come in and how to play the song!! The guys in the band just started laughing their asses off at me which kind of snapped me out of it and I recovered.....but not until the second verse!! Luckily most of the crowd was really drunk and didn't really notice however my friend has never let me forget that night.

 

[John Swartz]

My most embarrassing moment came a few years ago playing at a private party. The crowd was fairly subdued (unlike when we played there the previous year and everyone was up and dancing), so about midway through a set when one couple came up on the dancefloor to dance, I decided to join them - I had a wireless unit. I ran to the dancefloor, which was elevated about 3 inches, and my toe caught the edge of the stage (I know - really? Couldn't left your foot 3 inches off the ground?) and I fell forward - not an immediate face-plant, but one of the seemingly slow-motion falls where you keep trying to catch yourself, which only makes the fall last longer - and ... BOOM - sprawled out face-first on the floor with my bass underneath me.

No injuries (other than a few scratches on the bass), and when I quickly got up, I was surprised to find the bass still playing and in tune (was expecting the wireless unit to come off with batteries flying at a minimum, not to mention a broken bass or broken bones).

Nobody wanted to get on the dancefloor after that (including me)...

John

 

[wideload]

Worst? Opening for George Strait, playing all originals to a very accepting crowd. Get to end of the last song, and the drummer (recent hire) misses the ending and keeps playing. So we played another chorus, first half just drums and vocals, then came in for a (second) gran finale, Few probably noticed, but to do that before George (he had picked up Entertainer of the Year at an awards show in LA the night before) was embarrassing.

 

[Chuck Chill-Out]

I wasn't playing at the time, but the choral group I was in was on tour in Lexington N.C. The Civic Center had new carpet and we had new shoes. The group came running down the aisles to the front and as I attempted to turn the corner to reach the stairs, my shoes lost traction and SLAMMED into the Plexi surrounding our drummer. As I stood up, I heard and felt the Velcro I my pants loosen (we made our own outfits - still in therapy)as I stood up. I ran up the steps pushing the Velcro together, or so I thought.
Standing on stage as the soloist sang, I started to sing and so the choreography (seriously - therapy!) and...
pants dropped to the floor.
I jumped off the back of our risers, correctly fixed my pants and jumped back up on stage.
I couldn't sing for two songs, laughing too hard.

 

[Das Jugghead]

Circa 1989 playing a small all-ages club out in the boondocks of southern Indiana in a glam-metal band to a fully packed house (maybe 200 people inside) with people standing outside still trying to get in by the time we took the stage. Very small stage built into one corner of the building. Lead singer took a head stock to the forehead from the lead guitarist in the middle of the first set. Lots of blood from a head wound. Singer had to sit down the rest of the show with a towel to the forehead while the rest of us ran around like the fools we were. He had dents in his forehead from the tuners on the guitarist's head stock.

 

[dbase]

Not embarressed by my self but by my drummer....

I was 14 and it was my first gig. Durring our third song in the lighting guy kicks on the fog machine which is positioned directly behind the drums. The drummer stops playing mid song, jumps out from behind his drums and starts screaming, FIRE!!!! His mother, perfectly sincronized with her son, rushes the stage screaming, FIRE!!!! The guitarist and I keep playing while watching in total dismay.

You did the correct thing. The band should always keep on playing to keep the audience calm and not panicking.... kinda like the band on the Titanic

 

[Jmilitsc]

Bar gig in a trio a few years ago: first tune of the night, everything was great, crowd immediately happy, got up to dance, vibe was perfect. Second tune of the night, turned up the volume on the bass... then there was no bass. Hmm. Toggled to passive, no bass. Tune continues with the other guys staring at me. Ugh.

I proceed to check/replace all the cables, take pedals out of the chain, plug directly into PA, no bass!

Holy #*%*%][#!

Luckily the other guys work a duo together every day and the singer/guitarist is also a fine bass player and he played some low note bass under lines under is own chords (he's really good), so they covered for me sonically and just kept playing. Sigh

So I left the room, tried replacing the battery, which is under the pickguard and requires 4 stupid screws to be removed... no bass!

Finally sitting in my car right in front of the bar window where the guys are playing, I took off the pickguard for all the electronics and whaddya know - the wire from the output jack had disconnected!! Which then reminded me that I was earlier thinking before tune #2, "that's strange, the jack faster seems loose, I'll just tighten it a bit by hand." Oh yeah and the battery was HOT, like almost burning.

%^*%! Again. I hate myself, lots of music happening thru the window while I'm scrambling here...

Crazy glue was all I had on hand, and well that doesn't seem to work like solder I learned. Note to self. So I ran into CVS and got some electric tape and somehow managed to secure all the wires. Went back in, plugged in, finished the last song of our first set with the band (yup, missed the whole #%%*^'ing first set). The guys laughed pretty good at me, so we were cool. Some dancing woman moved her way up to me while we were playing and said "smile!". Which of course hearing that after everything that just happened did NOT make me want to smile.

So that night sucked - I refused to accept $$, I was so embarrassed.

 

[Garret Graves]

Bar gig in a trio a few years ago: first tune of the night, everything was great, crowd immediately happy, got up to dance, vibe was perfect. Second tune of the night, turned up the volume on the bass... then there was no bass. Hmm. Toggled to passive, no bass. Tune continues with the other guys staring at me. Ugh.

I proceed to check/replace all the cables, take pedals out of the chain, plug directly into PA, no bass!

Holy #*%*%][#!

Luckily the other guys work a duo together every day and the singer/guitarist is also a fine bass player and he played some low note bass under lines under is own chords (he's really good), so they covered for me sonically and just kept playing. Sigh

So I left the room, tried replacing the battery, which is under the pickguard and requires 4 stupid screws to be removed... no bass!

Finally sitting in my car right in front of the bar window where the guys are playing, I took off the pickguard for all the electronics and whaddya know - the wire from the output jack had disconnected!! Which then reminded me that I was earlier thinking before tune #2, "that's strange, the jack faster seems loose, I'll just tighten it a bit by hand." Oh yeah and the battery was HOT, like almost burning.

%^*%! Again. I hate myself, lots of music happening thru the window while I'm scrambling here...

Crazy glue was all I had on hand, and well that doesn't seem to work like solder I learned. Note to self. So I ran into CVS and got some electric tape and somehow managed to secure all the wires. Went back in, plugged in, finished the last song of our first set with the band (yup, missed the whole #%%*^'ing first set). The guys laughed pretty good at me, so we were cool. Some dancing woman moved her way up to me while we were playing and said "smile!". Which of course hearing that after everything that just happened did NOT make me want to smile.

So that night sucked - I refused to accept $$, I was so embarrassed.

This is a good story, and lesson on why to bring a backup bass- you really needed one!

 

[Jmilitsc]

Yup I've been bringing two basses more often since I upgraded the pups in my old Jazz Special. Not very compatible with my laziness tho!

 

[Garret Graves]

My most embarrassing- 1990 or 91, Fullerton College. The rhythm section of the main Big Band was honored to accompany a faculty singer for the evening concert of the Jazz Festival- I'm the bass player. She was not able to rehearse with us beforehand, and had the music with her, flying in from Florida and arriving to the venue last minute. We were to meet her 1/2 hour or so before curtain and get the music and talk through it. I had a bad feeling about it- we were good enough that we could play and sound good, but we could crash and burn too, for difficult stuff. Well she comes with 4 tunes, three standards that were two pages each, clear and clean format, standard jazz changes. But it was her opener that was scary as hell, and my heart sank just looking at it- a samba, double time feel, no written line, in D flat, with a lot of changes, 4 pages, taped together- several sections with repeats. We take that chart and try to talk through it amongst ourselves, behind the stage curtain- drummer decides a beat, and sings it to us and I try to formulate in my head a samba two beat (I wasn't even clear at that point what a samba beat really was). It was a full theatre, I can hear my heart thumping, my face felt flush- we were on. We kick it off with a vamp, and we sound ok! For about 30 seconds after she came in. We didn't know the song, or melody and where it fit in- when we got lost, we got lost. I don't remember many details, I've blocked it out- but I remember the look on her face, she was white as a ghost and she cut the tune short. She was very apologetic to the audience, and explained how there was no rehearsal, and she was asking a lot of us, etc. I remember the band leader in the back of the audience, running sound- laughing and shaking his head. It really hurt, very embarrassing. We did good on the last three tunes, and ended up leaving the stage having made up somewhat for that initial disaster. Back stage she was very traumatized, and vowed with an apology that she would always rehearse with student bands- always. It was talked about for quite sometime afterwards, and we were put on notice- you want to go out and be professional players, you will nail charts like that all night long.

 

[FunkBear]

One of my first bands covered "Good" by BTE. I showed up to practice one day and they tell me it's easy, it's just four chords the whole time. So, they give me the four chords and I learn it on the spot. We went through the whole song and it sounded right. This was back in the day where I had a practice notebook where I would write down chord progressions for all of the songs I knew, so I wrote the progression down in case I'd ever need a cheat sheet. We get to the upcoming gig and are ready to play this song. We start and....I'm totally off. I can tell I'm off and try and stumble around for the chords while looking to my RG for help, who is making faces at me and mouthing the chord progression. Thing is, from a distance "Gee, Bee, Dee, Cee, Eee" all look the same, so between my own ears and distracted by the RG I dont really ever settle in on it. My notebook was open on top of my amp and I could see the chords for the song and it didnt sound right at all. Turns out, when they taught me the chords at practice they taught it to me a string up by accident, so we played everything up a 4th during practice. I feel real dumb now as I should've been able to correct...but my excuse is that I was somewhat distracted by what the RG was trying to tell me and my own notes.

My other most embarrassing moment was not as a bassist but as a band member. I was still in the band I was in for my previous story and our singer was just...not very good. The kind of guy that gets all of his "practice" in by singing along with the radio driving to/from work. Anyways, we covered "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet and the singer always had problems remembering the lyrics; as an example he would regularly botch the "1, 2, 3..." or "4, 5, 6..." intros to each verse. We were at a gig and it gets to the vocal intro and he goes "4, 5, 6...come on and get your kicks..." before stopping and turning to the band and waving his arms, causing the drummer and LG to stop and stare while me and the RG were just trying to keep the song going before most ungraciously crashing. We then started the song over. Ever since I've been in middle school band I've been taught to keep going when a mistake is made and that the worst thing you can do in a performance is to stop dead and start over, so to me this was a very embarrassing thing to do.

 

[Heyturnup]

Back in the mid 80's, I worked a very physical day job and played on the weekends. The gig was a three hour drive to a busy resort town that weekend and I just made it in time to set-up my rig and play. I was so exhausted...tripped on a cable,fell flat on my face, rolled on my back and kicked my legs like it was part of the show. I didn't fool anyone.
Recently at a Sunday morning church service, real quiet worship part of the set, lead player muffs his solo intro and mutters "s#%&". I don't know if anyone heard it out front, but the drummer and I about burst-out laughing. We still give him s#%& about it.