A couple of weeks ago our singer drops an "f" bomb at a family event that left the audience gasping and covering their kids ears. It was an accident, but still just threw everyone back on their heels and left me with my back turned to the audience for about half a song fighting back laughter and tears....
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Most Embarrasing moments/problems/accidents on stage
- Thread starter Bassmanhopkins
- Start date
I was invited to do a live audition. They told me to choose two songs from their set list, so I picked 'This Love' by Maroon 5 and 'The Distance' by Cake. The band was playing a totally packed downtown nightspot. They invited me up, gave me a big introduction, and then we started into 'This Love'. It was awful, we were all playing in different keys - the lead guitarist, keyboardist and I. The singer went with the keys. I kept finding the key, and then heard it was wrong (because the guitarist was off and I thought it was me). It was incredibly painful. The keyboardist was giving me dirty looks and shouting chords to me, but they were the wrong ones. Meanwhile, 150 people danced and looked around, like, 'what is going wrong up there?'
After that song, they said "Are you sure you want to do the second?" I told them, "Yes, in the key of E, right?" We nailed it and ended the set. They had a quick band meeting on stage then the unfriendly keyboardist came up and apologized. He had preprogrammed his keyboard for each song, and the last time he had left it transposed up 2 steps.
After that song, they said "Are you sure you want to do the second?" I told them, "Yes, in the key of E, right?" We nailed it and ended the set. They had a quick band meeting on stage then the unfriendly keyboardist came up and apologized. He had preprogrammed his keyboard for each song, and the last time he had left it transposed up 2 steps.
I was playing guitar in a popular band at Invalid Link Removed which is (was) a real party place. Friday went great. Packed house. Saturday was going great. 20 minutes left to play. Kicking it in the middle of a tune and no drums. I turned around and our drummer passed out (beer) WHILE he was playing and was falling backwards off the drum riser. Fortunately for him, two girls were back there and helped break his fall and ease him to the floor. He didn't get hurt. I still hear about it every time I'm back on the island....
Pics from some of those gigs:
Pics from some of those gigs:
PLaying in an Ozzy/Sabbath gig for a Hell´s Angels rally...the intro for Warpigs was a horrible nightmare that still makes me blush...the drummer forgot the rythm and the guitarist and I did not make one single synchronised duhduh......awful...made worse by the fact it was the 1st song of the night....it felt like one of those nightmares when you are naked in public.
This past May we got a big gig in Pennsylvania, our first real road trip gig so we were all pretty pumped about it. We get there, set up and everything is going smooth until this one new tune our drummer (first gig with us) just didn't have the hang of evidently. He started to end the song at the breakdown instead of coming back in, no prob we ended it early, it was an original so no harm no foul, no one noticed......except then my guitarist in all his wisdom says into the mic "well I guess we're doing this one in two parts" and starts back into the end of the song (facepalm). This made our drummer even more nervous and we ended up doing Muse's "Uprising" in double time cause of it - we sounded like we were on meth.
A while back i was in a hardcore band (Escape the Fate ish) and my guitarists decided they wanted to do guitar spins. Being the genius i am i decided we all should at the same time (right before the breakdown as to land on the down beat) So practice and every rehearsal this all went well. Show time comes and the time comes. I throw her over my head (I'm 5'7" a full bass spin is no easy feat) and just as she comes down almost back to normal the back screw, not the strap lock, the screw in the guitar strips the hole and my bass Goes flying across stage. Needless to say, i don't do that any more.
A few songs earlier we had a breakdown where the Rhythm guitarist actually had a chance to shine and solo, he jumped off the pa, into the pit, got hit in the face and sprained his ankle. i was impressed, he didn't miss a beat.
A few songs earlier we had a breakdown where the Rhythm guitarist actually had a chance to shine and solo, he jumped off the pa, into the pit, got hit in the face and sprained his ankle. i was impressed, he didn't miss a beat.
YUP. This is exactly how the "Ex-wife" came to have a new fretless neck - spun, stripped, came down on the headstock. Snapped the neck diagonally from the 2nd to 4th fret. Which leads to this story one year later, because I brilliantly decided not to install strap locks on my next bass. Second piece of backstory and embarrassment - I learned to wrap my cable around my strap after stepping on it while running across stage during showcase for a major label. Pop! Scamperscamper. Plug. Anyhow:
Back in '91, was in a thrash metal band in Manhattan. Got a gig through one of the big promoters, a shifty guy who pretty much decided if you were allowed to play several different great clubs, and had a habit of black balling people - if you blew it, you were toast. We're four songs into the 30 minute set. My singer had a thing about trying to knock me off stage in the middle of every show. Never pulled it off, but got real close. Usually, I was on stage left, so he had opportunities when I looked at my fretboard. This time I was stage right. At one time, he swapped spots with the guitarist for a sec, and was all the way left. Safe! No.
I'm grooving along, notice a flash of hair to my left, and BAM. The guitarist nailed me so hard, my feet left the stage. I landed on my back with my big ol' guitarist on top of me, my bass in his gut, his guitar on my chest, and in slow motion, I can see the singer...third rope WWF style, arms and legs outstretched, mid-air.
After we unravel the three of ourselves, laughing, I re-secure my bass, and go to start the next song, aaaaand, nothing. Wiggle knobs. Nothing. Took a few more seconds to realize, he hit me so hard that the cable that I'd looped around my strap pulled my strap free, ripped the cable out, and I had to fumble around a dark stage to find it all the way back by my amp. Plug back in, thonkathonka. No monitors, no FOH. Sound guy comes on, "Let's hear it for these guys!"
Mortified.
Then the promoter refused to pay because "we didn't finish the set". My guys were awesome about it, we knew we were all getting screwed, but I still felt like I'd let the guys down.
Come to find out later, the next band had a showcase, and the bands before us ran late, so he intentionally shut us down. Still, learned a couple very valuable lessons that day. Use strap locks. Wrap your cable. Keep an eye on your surroundings. Set up/break down fast - never go into another man's set. And if you play originals, bring merch if you ever want any money
Thanks players. I feel much better knowing its not just us having these seemingly, universal, live music misfortunes. My band has only gigged 5 shows but the biggest Fu** up so far was our last show where our lead singer (female) forgot lyrics to Drowning Pools "Let The Bodies Hit The Floor". We held the rhytym, hoping it would come to her, well, a bunch of guys in the bar starting singing the lyrics as loud as they could to help her along! Embarassing for sure, but shes a very pretty girl and no one at the venue held it against her,lol. Turned out it was fun, the audience felt a real participation. Next show this Saturday....our 6th gig, I hope I have nothing more to add to this thread afterwards.
Don't worry, it's not just you, and not just when you first start out either.
I have been playing gigs since 1967. Earlier this year we had a lull in gigs so had learned a load of new songs, including about 6 by The Beatles (We are all that sort of age). At the next gig we decide to try a few of them out, they all go fine. Then there is one I just cannot remember anything about, key, chord sequence, nothing. I eventually establish that it is in A so busk it for almost the whole song until it finally hits me that it is not a new one but one we have been playing for about 4 years. Doh, idiot, I was so embarrassed, luckily the guitarist and and drummer held it together. They did notice my playing was not quite as confident as usual and that some of the notes were exploring weird harmonic theories, but I carried on playing (quietly but in time) until it hit me what song it was.
LMAO! Ive had to do that once or twice already...just going blank and feeling like the entire venue knows it and is looking right at me! Like you I fake it until I can make it....quietly, but hate doing it. My solution is drinking just enough alcohol to not be so bothered by it lol, enough to make me laugh it off, otherwise I get angry with myself. Its obvious these problems are universal in live music due to all the variables, especially the ones out of our control but man its still a blast and I love it! Which Beatles tunes did you learn? Im also of that age. Did you find them challenging?
I used to use the alcohol thing, but now have to drive to every gig so cannot. Even though you feel like the whole audience knows the song, in reality few of them will have noticed any difference. They all have cloth ears, 'mobile acoustic baffles' as a retired pro guitarist friend of mine calls them.
This is my secret to success. Pretend you're playing confidently but stop making actual sound until you remember where you are. If anybody notices the temporary lack of low end, blame the sound guy.
Rick Auricchio
Registered Bass Offender
Maybe it's just me, but I'd probably break one of my basses. Over his head. Problem solved.
I used to lug a synth along to play some synth bass lines, back in the early 90s.
We were playing in a hotel ballroom, and an entire band, on break from another party in a different ballroom, came in to check us out. It was an unwritten rule that you stepped up your game when the competition was in the room, so we started putting more into it. I was playing the 5-string at that moment.
Almost as soon as the other band lined up at the door, this god-awful low bass note started droning REALLY LOUD -- and its pitch was about as far from the key of our song as is possible.
None of us could figure out where it was coming from. As soon as we could, we cut the song short and announced a short break. We got to watch the other band file out of the room while laughing among themselves.
It turns out that a roll of duct tape had fallen off my rig and lodged itself on a low note of my synth!!
)
pw
We were playing in a hotel ballroom, and an entire band, on break from another party in a different ballroom, came in to check us out. It was an unwritten rule that you stepped up your game when the competition was in the room, so we started putting more into it. I was playing the 5-string at that moment.
Almost as soon as the other band lined up at the door, this god-awful low bass note started droning REALLY LOUD -- and its pitch was about as far from the key of our song as is possible.
None of us could figure out where it was coming from. As soon as we could, we cut the song short and announced a short break. We got to watch the other band file out of the room while laughing among themselves.
It turns out that a roll of duct tape had fallen off my rig and lodged itself on a low note of my synth!!
)pw
Sometimes that doesn't solve the problem. My roommates and I had a house party for halloween this past weekend, where our punk band played. One of my roommate's friends got up to play a song, so my roommate switched to bass and I sat for a song. About 4 bars into the song, the bass cuts out completely. I, of course, being a good fellow musician (and it being my gear) run up to the stage to figure out what happened, while they keep playing. I'm checking cables to and from the amp, amp levels, power, the whole nine yards. I look over and see the patch cable running from the bass is unplugged from the wireless pack...
This story reminded of Kasim Sultan's fall:
The slow mo at the end looks
but he saved the bass 
The slow mo at the end looks
but he saved the bass 
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
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- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
Last week at a Halloween gig (4,000 plus people) my band had finished a smoking set, the crowd loved us. The singer
, guitar player and myself had spent our two hour set avoiding falling over, tripping and getting hung up on two high powered twirling, spinning spot lights placed 4ft out on each side of the bass drum. I managed to avoid these dam things during our set but the next band called me up to do a song, this is always fun so I strapped on my black '76 Thunderbird and away we went. Well half way through the song I am flat on my back looking up a the ceiling having no idea what happened???? Still playing (I'm told not missing a note) I deftly get back on my feet give the crowd the 'ol Nigel thumbs up and keep rock'n. Embarassed? Sure but it's all part of the fun. For the rest of the night people kept on coming up to me and saying how cool it was that I kept on playing lol Never see 'em lose your cool even when you look'n the fool.
, guitar player and myself had spent our two hour set avoiding falling over, tripping and getting hung up on two high powered twirling, spinning spot lights placed 4ft out on each side of the bass drum. I managed to avoid these dam things during our set but the next band called me up to do a song, this is always fun so I strapped on my black '76 Thunderbird and away we went. Well half way through the song I am flat on my back looking up a the ceiling having no idea what happened???? Still playing (I'm told not missing a note) I deftly get back on my feet give the crowd the 'ol Nigel thumbs up and keep rock'n. Embarassed? Sure but it's all part of the fun. For the rest of the night people kept on coming up to me and saying how cool it was that I kept on playing lol Never see 'em lose your cool even when you look'n the fool.
Cool thread…
One time I sang a song I’d sung before, but something wasn’t right on stage, can’t remember details there, but I couldn’t hear what key I was in, so I sang the whole song in the wrong key, and we’re talking a ballad.
Thing is I realized at some point I was off, but everyone else was continuing, so I had to. Yeah, definitely happy when the song finally ended. After the song, people were just… kinda quiet, and we jumped into something else.
I don’t know why someone didn’t help me out, sing a couple notes or something, even end the dang song, anything would have been better. I guess it just took them by surprise or they were waiting for me to get it right, I don’t know, but I really didn’t want to talk much about it anyways.
One time I sang a song I’d sung before, but something wasn’t right on stage, can’t remember details there, but I couldn’t hear what key I was in, so I sang the whole song in the wrong key, and we’re talking a ballad.
Thing is I realized at some point I was off, but everyone else was continuing, so I had to. Yeah, definitely happy when the song finally ended. After the song, people were just… kinda quiet, and we jumped into something else.
I don’t know why someone didn’t help me out, sing a couple notes or something, even end the dang song, anything would have been better. I guess it just took them by surprise or they were waiting for me to get it right, I don’t know, but I really didn’t want to talk much about it anyways.
Due to a severely drunk band member, we play the heads of three tunes before turning off, apologizing, tearing down, and walking out.
