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Setting your bass on fire

If even the smallest thing goes wrong or if enough people complain, you may never play the venue again.

We are playing at a dive bar that puts on a lot of punk shows, so having a crowd that complains about the band's antics is not a concern. We've played this venue multiple times and are friends with the owner, so getting banned is not a concern.

Something going wrong is an obvious concern. That's why I was asking if anyone has done this before. We are not Great White and we are not going to load pyrotechnics suitable for an arena into a small club and then set them off.
 
You're not thinking this through.

Even if everything goes exactly according to plan, the fire is contained and safely extinguished, nothing goes wrong on stage...

If you pulled that **** in New England (where the Station fire is fresh in club goer's minds) you might cause the audience to panic and stampede for the exits. People could get hurt, crushed, trampled, suffocated.

Great White was a professional band with decades of touring experience. They thought they knew what they were doing, too. If someone at their level of the game can make a fatal mistake, then I think a punk band in a dive bar could also make a mistake.
 
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I don't like to extinguish anybody's creative ideas (see what I did there), but...

This isn't 1975, nor even 1995. Since the Great White incident club owners have a bit of a different view towards pyrotechnics, as I'd imagine do insurance companies. Unless the bar owner is a complete idiot, I have to think he/she would think fire on a stage in a punk club might not be the greatest idea. It doesn't take a whole lot of creativity to think of the possibilities of what might go wrong.

I'd suggest coming up with an alternative that seems a little less contrived, a little less dangerous, and lot more unique and creative.
 
We are playing at a dive bar that puts on a lot of punk shows, so having a crowd that complains about the band's antics is not a concern. We've played this venue multiple times and are friends with the owner, so getting banned is not a concern.

Something going wrong is an obvious concern. That's why I was asking if anyone has done this before. We are not Great White and we are not going to load pyrotechnics suitable for an arena into a small club and then set them off.
Nothing says 'punk' more than pulling a stunt to get attention instead of playing the abrasive sounds of anti-authoritarian rock and roll. That was sarcasm. If you're craving attention, no one is going to get hurt if you perform naked. I'm still not sure what your angle is here.
 
Nothing says 'punk' more than pulling a stunt to get attention instead of playing the abrasive sounds of anti-authoritarian rock and roll. That was sarcasm. If you're craving attention, no one is going to get hurt if you perform naked. I'm still not sure what your angle is here.

Mr. Bodeanly,

Our band is not a punk band.

Yes, we are craving attention. We are performing in front of a live audience. Their attention is a desired outcome.

I've already performed naked in a different band.

The angle is do something interesting and exciting. I've seen people set their guitars on fire before and I thought it looked cool. Maybe it's not your cup of tea, but some people like that kind of thing.
 
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in my highschool rock band ( 70's ) ... our drummer tried some Sterno on his cymbals ... ! was cool for a couple minutes until it ran off and set most of his drum kit on Fire ... !!


then there's this look ... Avatar

IMG_2506.JPG
 
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in my highschool rock band ( 70's ) ... our drummer tried some Sterno on his cymbals ... ! was cool for a couple minutes until it ran off and set most of his drum kit on Fire ... !!


then there's this look ... Avatar

View attachment 714995

Flaming cymbals. Hmmmm...

That sounds better than lighting my bass on fire. And would probably look cooler. Maybe rum is a better option than Sterno.
 
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Mr. Bodeanly,

Our band is not a punk band.

Yes, we are craving attention. We are performing in front of a live audience. Their attention is a desired outcome.

I've already performed naked in a different band.

The angle is do something interesting and exciting. I've seen people set their guitars on fire before and I thought it looked cool. Maybe it's not your cup of tea, but some people like that kind of thing.

I saw a band play once where the lead singer went outside and dragged a NYC Public garbage can into the club and climbed inside. He started moving around and dancing in the can while continuing his performance... and it worked. 100%. The guy had an unbelievable amount of charisma, what he did I believe was spontaneous (I never saw him do it again), and he was an incredible singer/performer and front person. The crowd absolutely loved it. I can't explain why, but you couldn't not love it. I was an instant fan of that band and happy to say I actually got to play and tour with them for a while about a year after I saw them. That guy quit music and became a successful television producer... but anyhow...

Doing something like you want to do IMO can be the most awesome thing in the world, or the cheesiest. The fact that you're putting so much thought into it makes me think it will be the latter. Add to that the fact that it's both dangerous and not terribly original, and it seems to everyone here not worth the gamble.

I hear you on be an entertaining band. That's what my band The Nerve! was all about. The theme of the band was "All We Want is Fun". We were open to anything and everything, and we tried anything and everything including playing in our underwear. I agree on that part 100%.

Here's a vid I posted a few times that I don't think however anyone has ever watched :). It's my favorite because it captures the essence of what I myself love to do when putting on a show. If you have 5 minutes to spare I urge you to watch the whole thing. Feel free to cop any ideas out of it, also.

Of all the videos I've posted on TB, I'm pretty sure this is my favorite. But cha gotta watch the whole thing.... :):

 
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I don't like to extinguish anybody's creative ideas (see what I did there), but...

This isn't 1975, nor even 1995. Since the Great White incident club owners have a bit of a different view towards pyrotechnics, as I'd imagine do insurance companies. Unless the bar owner is a complete idiot, I have to think he/she would think fire on a stage in a punk club might not be the greatest idea. It doesn't take a whole lot of creativity to think of the possibilities of what might go wrong.

I'd suggest coming up with an alternative that seems a little less contrived, a little less dangerous, and lot more unique and creative.
Was wondering if someone was going to mention Great White.
 
Doing something like you want to do IMO can be the most awesome thing in the world, or the cheesiest. The fact that you're putting so much thought into it makes me think it will be the latter. Add to that the fact that it's both dangerous and not terribly original, and it seems to everyone here not worth the gamble.

I hear ya on it coming off too contrived and cheesy. Normally, we do things of a more spontaneous nature. I thought if fire is involved, some planning should go into it. I guess the trick is to make it look spontaneous.

The singer of a band we played with last year jumped into a trash can head first and sang the song with his legs and feet sticking in the air.

Talking about wild frontmen, Lux Interior is my favorite. Iggy Pop, David Yow (the Jesus Lizard), and Shannon Selberg (Cows) are also up there.

 
I hear ya on it coming off too contrived and cheesy. Normally, we do things of a more spontaneous nature. I thought if fire is involved, some planning should go into it. I guess the trick is to make it look spontaneous.

The singer of a band we played with last year jumped into a trash can head first and sang the song with his legs and feet sticking in the air.

Talking about wild frontmen, Lux Interior is my favorite. Iggy Pop, David Yow (the Jesus Lizard), and Shannon Selberg (Cows) are also up there.



Lux is probably the greatest rock singer I ever saw live. No one could ignite a room like that guy.
He kept it going to the end, too. There was a review in the British press of the Cramps' last London club shows, and the critic noted Lux was more deranged than ever, throwing cymbals and stands at the audience and creating a seriously dangerous atmosphere.
That's rock and roll, baby!

Personally, I won't be satisfied unless Google News reports a ranging fire and riot in Bangkok nightclub.
 
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