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Most pitiful thing youve ever seen a bassist do live
- Thread starter powderfinger
- Start date
Saw a bassist recently who left his bass on stage with the tuning pedal/silencer off before the start of the set, then at the start of the first song he turned it ON and played the first verse of the song with no signal. When he realised, he shouted "STOP!" and the whole band stopped playing. Then he was like "Haha, I love tuning pedals, they're my favourite effect." No one laughed. Then the band started the song again, and at the end he told the singer off for messing with the pedal and not telling him (neither of which were the case), loud enough for the whole room to hear.
This, because it's one step short of pulling out your thing and playing with it on stage while everyone else watches.
Were you in Oklahoma ? That may have been me ! The guitarist/BL likes the bass part done in 2/4 bouncing the I-V. Never understood it, but that's the way I play it.
Came across this thread and wanted to thank TalkBass for snapping me out of my righteously horrible mood...I am now laughing so hard there are tears pouring down my face, and I haven't even made the Creepy Bass Amp meme yet.
The room at the Calamvale Hotel is seperated by bi folding doors. I leaned up against what looked like a wall and fell through. Jumpin Jack Flash never sounded so good.
The toilet door at the Koala Tavern pushes inwards and there is no handle on the otherside. To get out of the toilet you had to grab the vent grille or wait till someone else wentto the toilet. I discovered this during an extended lead break in Rocky Mountain Way. I cant get the door open and they kept playing till I got back on stage. Thankfully someone else got the urge to drop a dookie and I was given a way out.
The bar mats at the Hamilton Hotel slip out from under you when you goose walk down the bar. I just missed the pool table at the far end.
Getting dressed as Elmo for a charity gig might be a fun thing to do, but under lights it gets a little warm and I fainted.
...and here I thought that was part of the job description...or is it just lead-singeritis!?!?!
My most pathetic story is from when I played guitar, not bass...
I was playing electric guitar in a university jazz ensemble (15-piece horn section, drums, piano, bass, and me). We had our first concert of the semester with 1,500 people in attendance. Our first song was a groovy jazz-fusion piece called Island of Introspection. After a 4-bar piano intro, I was supposed to come in with a shimmery Bsus2 chord along with the rest of the rhythm section. Well, the moment came, I hit the chord, and... I realize I forgot to turn on my freaking amp. I just kept playing like everything was fine, and when there was a pause in my part I flipped the amp on. And tried not to let my face glow red for the rest of the show.
I was playing electric guitar in a university jazz ensemble (15-piece horn section, drums, piano, bass, and me). We had our first concert of the semester with 1,500 people in attendance. Our first song was a groovy jazz-fusion piece called Island of Introspection. After a 4-bar piano intro, I was supposed to come in with a shimmery Bsus2 chord along with the rest of the rhythm section. Well, the moment came, I hit the chord, and... I realize I forgot to turn on my freaking amp. I just kept playing like everything was fine, and when there was a pause in my part I flipped the amp on. And tried not to let my face glow red for the rest of the show.
We've had incidents like that all the time at the studio...mic's not plugged in, phantom power not on, patched wrong, etc. Our code is "EEOC error." (Equipment Exceeds Operator Capabilities) 
I hate to say it but some moments you just Remember even though it's only one note.
We were playing Bon Jovi, dead or alive. In front of a 1000 or so people. The song is in D and I always just drop tune. Well this was one exception.
The intro was played and it was time for the rest of the band to slam that D chord. Well my E string was still tuned to E. Lucky I think quick because as soon as I hit the note I realized , and so did everyone Else that the bottom was not together. I reached up and grabbed the E tuning key and with what grace was left turned it down to D during the first measure.
It all worked out well and just about sounded like it was planned. Either way we rocked the test of the night and I had gotten through my usual one note mistake for the night.
We were playing Bon Jovi, dead or alive. In front of a 1000 or so people. The song is in D and I always just drop tune. Well this was one exception.
The intro was played and it was time for the rest of the band to slam that D chord. Well my E string was still tuned to E. Lucky I think quick because as soon as I hit the note I realized , and so did everyone Else that the bottom was not together. I reached up and grabbed the E tuning key and with what grace was left turned it down to D during the first measure.
It all worked out well and just about sounded like it was planned. Either way we rocked the test of the night and I had gotten through my usual one note mistake for the night.
Our singer likes to sit down and lean against near by cars while we load/unload. She doesn't even carry her wireless mic, that lives at our guitarist's house.
MORE PLEASE 
This one is from the mid 80's....A friend talked me into going to a concert featuring an Aussie band named Models.
At one point, the bass player walks backwards and tripped over a row of floor monitors that were in front of the female backup singers....He continued the rest of the song laying there,on his back, most of the time with his legs sticking up in the air or just hanging over the monitors.
The rest of the band would just look down at him and laugh.
At one point, the bass player walks backwards and tripped over a row of floor monitors that were in front of the female backup singers....He continued the rest of the song laying there,on his back, most of the time with his legs sticking up in the air or just hanging over the monitors.
The rest of the band would just look down at him and laugh.
