Storm Gig, Blown Away

[James Judson]

A couple years ago we were opening for David Allen Coe when (right in the middle of our set) I heard a deafening roar. I thought it was the audience till I saw roadies covering speakers. We lost no equipment, the stage and cover were permenent, wind had little effect but our audience got soaked instantly. We must have done OK cuz we didn't lose any audience. If you ever get to play for DAC fans they are awesome and tough to boot.

 

[Bassmanbob]

"Bassmanbob," that's a mighty big tarp you guys have! That thing could really whip yer butt in a strong wind!

Hmmm. Maybe 50ft X 50ft is larger than I thought. It may be 30 X 30. It will be at our next gig tomorrow night. I'll ask our drummer (it's his). But it is a very large blue tarp that was very commonly used here on rooftops after Hurricane Francis and Hurricane Jeanne directly hit us both only three weeks apart back in 2004. But that's another story for another day.

 

[Russell L]

A couple years ago we were opening for David Allen Coe when (right in the middle of our set) I heard a deafening roar. I thought it was the audience till I saw roadies covering speakers. We lost no equipment, the stage and cover were permenent, wind had little effect but our audience got soaked instantly. We must have done OK cuz we didn't lose any audience. If you ever get to play for DAC fans they are awesome and tough to boot.

I'm a fan myself, and have been in that crowd. Yer right. But, I've gotten to see him live only once. Vassar Clements showed up that night, too.

Hey, ya'll, my chance of rain tomorrow night has been knocked down to 20%, so we might do well.

 

[E.J. T.N.T.]

You are really lucky man.

I have never had such bad weather in a gig. I had bad weather once that got a lot worse once I was on my way home, which totally sucked.

By the way, I read this today. Invalid Link Removed

 

[McG]

Scary stuff some of you have had to endure. Fortunately here in So CA we don't have much severe weather. Had to deal with wind blowing canopies over a couple of times.

Not storm or weather related but we did have to deal with a flood one time. Not a natural flood though. We were doing a charity gig for Trails 4 All at a big horse ranch in the hills. We were set up on a large asphalt area at the end of a downhill road. I had my head down, eyes closed, jammin' away when I hear the lead guitarist screaming "the gear, the gear!!" Well, up at the top of the hill were several large horse barns. Two guys were power washing the sides. The result: a flash flood of water cascading down the road directly towards us. Power cords, power strips, pedals, monitors and speaker cabs were all in the direct line of fire. You've never seen a group of guys move so fast. Literally throwing things as far away as possible. Somehow we managed to get everything moved just in time. There were some embarrassed people who couldn't stop apologizing.

I'll join in heart felt sadness for the Indiana State Fair tragedy. Just a few days before that happened we played the Orange County Fair on a similar, if MUCH smaller stage. When I watched that canopy come down I couldn't help but feel a chill for what it must have been like to be on or near that stage.

 

[SeaBassSteve]

You are really lucky man.

I have never had such bad weather in a gig. I had bad weather once that got a lot worse once I was on my way home, which totally sucked.

By the way, I read this today. Invalid Link Removed

Was about to link it myself. Have friends at the festival.

 

[Russell L]

My heart goes out to the folks in Belgium as well. I tell ya, after that weird feeling I had of wondering if the storm was gonna get so bad as to cause a tragedy, I'll always have a sensitivity to other events of this nature.