poor old rog was having a struggle doing the bass line and vocals on money at some big doo in london a few years back. i felt for him having tried it myself and gave up and let the git player sing it.
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Most pitiful thing youve ever seen a bassist do live
- Thread starter powderfinger
- Start date
poor old rog was having a struggle doing the bass line and vocals on money at some big doo in london a few years back. i felt for him having tried it myself and gave up and let the git player sing it.
I seen a guy try to finger tap who had no ability to do so well enough. High school thing and I felt bad for him so I clapped anyway.
He was using a P-Bass for playing RHCP? That's what stands out the most to me about this story.
I was playing in the houseband of a musical production I was touring with. We worked super hard for two weeks, learning over 20 songs down to perfection (musicals and cues are a science of their own, especially the ones where we have to time the song perfectly with spoken word-sections). Well, we were nailing it pretty good on rehersals, and we felt good and ready about the whole thing. So there we are at the night of the big premiere, behind a big curtain, with only a crappy camera on a small TV to watch the stage with. We see the lead go up in the black and assume her position, and the guitarist did his slide intro. The whole band got ready for the opening note, and BAM: I didn't have any sound. Only a glockenspiel and a really light harmonium (it sounded really thin) for the entire first note, until yeah, I saw that tuner was blinking at me. Felt like an amateur.
Still bow my head in disgrace when I think about it, but I did pretty well from there on out luckily. It did help that the soundguy came up to me after the show and said "You know, you play bass so well. When everything starts falling apart around you, you're there and everyone can rely on your playing to get back in."
He said to the guy who missed the first note of the entire tour.
(For those wondering, it was a Norwegian version of that god awful Broadway rendition of Spring Awakening.)
Still bow my head in disgrace when I think about it, but I did pretty well from there on out luckily. It did help that the soundguy came up to me after the show and said "You know, you play bass so well. When everything starts falling apart around you, you're there and everyone can rely on your playing to get back in."
He said to the guy who missed the first note of the entire tour.
(For those wondering, it was a Norwegian version of that god awful Broadway rendition of Spring Awakening.)
One night when i went to see my friend's band perform. there was 2 opening acts. the 2nd act's bass player had no clue *** was happening. He plugged his bass, and when no sound came out, he kept turning each and every one of the knobs on the amp and bass to get sound. Then changed jack cable, still no sound. Then finally, changed basses, and got sound and their band started playing...after 30 minutes of figuring it out. Ontop of it all, i kept saying it was his bass that had a default.
Saw a bassist who started to curse when he hit a wrong note. On stage! 
Couple of minutes later, that same band even started arguing during their second set, with the bassist being really short-tempered. They split right after the gig. Never felt so embarrassed seeing somebody making a fool of himself. Aren't we the guys who're supposed to keep things together? What a sorry sight...
Couple of minutes later, that same band even started arguing during their second set, with the bassist being really short-tempered. They split right after the gig. Never felt so embarrassed seeing somebody making a fool of himself. Aren't we the guys who're supposed to keep things together? What a sorry sight...
A guy with a thunderbird with both pickups blended (phasing midscoop), with a graphic EQ going ALL OVER the place! From left (low) to right (treble):
10 -5 -8 3 -5 5 9 -10
I had to use his amp that gig, but wasn't allowed to touch his EQ... Even my jazz bass' bridge pick-up soloed didn't cut trough. His tone with the Thunderbird was... Plain poop. Just an undefined almost unnoticable thud buried in the mix. The soundguy tried everything he could... But he gave up eventually too. I felt bad for him.
10 -5 -8 3 -5 5 9 -10
I had to use his amp that gig, but wasn't allowed to touch his EQ... Even my jazz bass' bridge pick-up soloed didn't cut trough. His tone with the Thunderbird was... Plain poop. Just an undefined almost unnoticable thud buried in the mix. The soundguy tried everything he could... But he gave up eventually too. I felt bad for him.
Most pitiful, or at least silly thing I've seen is random slapping/popping in music that clearly has no place for it. Example:
I don't do the church thing much, but I went to a service with a buddy of mine who was running A/V. The pastor played bass with the band (kind of your I'm-not-really-talented-but-I-pretend-to-play-bass type guy). They're playing very sedate praise and worship music and randomly he just pops a note, like HARD,--DOINK!-- for no reason at all. My buddy had a very kind conversation with him and advised him to reign it in.
As far as bassist showing his arse stories... Right after I joined my first band and before we played our first gig, we went down the street after rehearsal to check out a cover band. I was a n00b but the other guys in my band were seasoned. LG/LS arranges for us to sit in, but the bassist won't let me touch his precious Tobias bass. I'm pretty whatever about the whole deal - let it go and let's just drink some more.
Oh no. LG/LS gets PISSED and is NOT going to take it lying down. He insists we run back down the street to his house and get his ****** rehearsal bass (mine was at home, too far away). We come back, plug in, and absolutely DESTROY Gary Moore's "Oh Pretty Woman". (Our LG was a badass, IMO.) It's a simple bass part, but I was sweating bullets given I'd never played in a club before and given the tension with the other band.
Dickhead bass player was way cooler to me after that.
I don't do the church thing much, but I went to a service with a buddy of mine who was running A/V. The pastor played bass with the band (kind of your I'm-not-really-talented-but-I-pretend-to-play-bass type guy). They're playing very sedate praise and worship music and randomly he just pops a note, like HARD,--DOINK!-- for no reason at all. My buddy had a very kind conversation with him and advised him to reign it in.
As far as bassist showing his arse stories... Right after I joined my first band and before we played our first gig, we went down the street after rehearsal to check out a cover band. I was a n00b but the other guys in my band were seasoned. LG/LS arranges for us to sit in, but the bassist won't let me touch his precious Tobias bass. I'm pretty whatever about the whole deal - let it go and let's just drink some more.
Oh no. LG/LS gets PISSED and is NOT going to take it lying down. He insists we run back down the street to his house and get his ****** rehearsal bass (mine was at home, too far away). We come back, plug in, and absolutely DESTROY Gary Moore's "Oh Pretty Woman". (Our LG was a badass, IMO.) It's a simple bass part, but I was sweating bullets given I'd never played in a club before and given the tension with the other band.
Dickhead bass player was way cooler to me after that.
My partially exposed backside, in the video of my band (from way back) at one of our shows. A snug belt has since become a priority in pre-stage preparation.
Coolest looking bloke in the band? I think you found the reason why he could not tune up on his own. Did he play decent?
Slapping, tastelessly through every song in his originals band. I'm not going to hold it against him, though. He's a far better musician than me, and has put in far more hours. I don't think he'd do that now. He's a few years younger than me and this was about 6 years ago. It really didn't sound good, though. Then he seemed pi**ed when I won the musicianship award at the Rockquest, and he didn't, cause I laid a simple, solid groove.
A young bass player slapping a nirvana cover (Smell like teen spirit). The song end, he says to the crowd it was a Toris Amos cover. I cringed HARD.
Are you from Texas?
If so the bassist you saw may have been me. lol
I dont have an electric tuner yet, and sometimes I have probems hearing the bass notes since I havent been playing a very long time. My guitarist has been playing daily for the last 7 years, so he can hear if the bass is out of tune better than I can.
I also like the idea of people thinking I dont know how to play to tamp down expectations before the show. Its a practical stage gimick.
