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Strangest gigs?
- Thread starter bassman1185
- Start date
Our sax player was asked to play flute at a function while following a ballerina
around who was dancing thru the crowd and throwing rose petals.
He was told to play some pixie, fairy type music.
I'm still laughing my ass off.
around who was dancing thru the crowd and throwing rose petals.
He was told to play some pixie, fairy type music.
I'm still laughing my ass off.
Man, this is the best thread going! Do we have any film producers here?
This stuff would be incredible.
Keep'em coming guys.
This stuff would be incredible.
Keep'em coming guys.
i guess recording the backing music for an audio book! was pretty wierd.
The imagination theif by rohan quinn, not a plug blate. having to soundtrack gay love scenes was wierd, but im not phobic so i can dig it!
The imagination theif by rohan quinn, not a plug blate. having to soundtrack gay love scenes was wierd, but im not phobic so i can dig it!
Had an outdoor gig at a horse jumping competition. They set us up in the middle of all the courses. Sound check was a nightmare, it spooked the horses in competition and the riders were all pissed off at us.
Another horse party gig, they set us up in empty horse parade, full of dust
and yup, dried horse poop.
People were dancing and stirring up dust which settled all over our gear.
We later spent hours cleaning our gear, keyboards, power amps, mixers caked with
dust and dried poop dust.
We are a masaccistic bunch, aren't we?
Another horse party gig, they set us up in empty horse parade, full of dust
and yup, dried horse poop.
People were dancing and stirring up dust which settled all over our gear.
We later spent hours cleaning our gear, keyboards, power amps, mixers caked with
dust and dried poop dust.
We are a masaccistic bunch, aren't we?
Lesbian weedding.
It wasn't as awesome as I had it pictured in my head but it was a unique experience nontheless
It wasn't as awesome as I had it pictured in my head but it was a unique experience nontheless
"Another horse party gig" is my favorite part of this thread.
Here are my contributions:
-The band I'm currently in played a show at Wegmans. That's a sort of upscale grocery chain around here (PA/NY/NJ area). It was awesome! They have a cafe there where they serve great food and all sorts of beer (technically it's carry-out beer that you can drink on the premises). Lots of people came to party, and the security guard loved us and is hopefully going to get us some more gigs there. That was the night after we:
-Played the smallest gig of my life, not including the people that we'd brought, to three people in a coffee shop. They booked us and didn't think about the "big rival" high school football game coinciding with our show.
-I've played at the same annual fashion show two years in a row with two different bands.
-I played an art auction once with my friend who plays guitar. That was really fun!
-One time, in the band I was in during high school, we played this "alternative/punk" sort of venue with a bunch of other bands, only we didn't really know what it was, and we were this hippie jam band. We played "Red House" and I think a Chili Peppers tune.
-I just recently played in the band I'm in now - a funk/jazz/hip-hop sort of thing - at a statewide art teachers' conference. One of the attendees kept on telling our sound guy to turn the bass down, even when we were all at "you could sing without the PA" levels. But I had the last laugh: he wanted to sit in on sax later, so I didn't play anything good during his solos. Don't piss off the bass player, right folks?
I'll think of more later. Rock on dudes
aah, I gotta horse story! I was playing drums at this gig for a Save the Horses thing or whatever, it was all improv, spacey mood music. It was at an equestrian center, the band was set up on a gazebo pretty much right in the middle of the horse action. It didn't take long for me to figure out the bass drum and snare were gonna need to be feathered all day. There were horses in the indoor barn type thing, with all the stalls for the horses, but there were also plenty of horses hanging out in the enclosures outdoors. A couple of the horses really didn't like the noise at first(though they got used to it pretty quick), but most of the horses were totally digging it and started prancing around in their enclosures with an exaggerated butt gallop, in time with the music. More horses danced than people.
After a while the main 'show' began, everyone gathered around one of the enclosures and some fellers got up on horses and were demonstrating some of the basics of riding horses for the crowd. We played LIGHTLY through the first demonstrator's show, without freaking his horse out.
The next guy demonstrating comes out a short while later, he's on top of his horse talking about stuff, we were playing LIGHTLY, he starts walking his horse around the enclosure and instead of gently walking his horse is doing the butt bouncing dance and ruining his demo, he gave us a look and we got the message. So we stopped playing for his show, and the rest of the shows too I think. As the next horse was exiting the barn there was a young girl not really paying attention, and she walked right in the horses path, the combination of the music and the girl there kinda freaked this horsey out and he started jumping up on his hind legs, it was almost an ugly situation but the handlers calmed him down right quick lol
After a while the main 'show' began, everyone gathered around one of the enclosures and some fellers got up on horses and were demonstrating some of the basics of riding horses for the crowd. We played LIGHTLY through the first demonstrator's show, without freaking his horse out.
The next guy demonstrating comes out a short while later, he's on top of his horse talking about stuff, we were playing LIGHTLY, he starts walking his horse around the enclosure and instead of gently walking his horse is doing the butt bouncing dance and ruining his demo, he gave us a look and we got the message. So we stopped playing for his show, and the rest of the shows too I think. As the next horse was exiting the barn there was a young girl not really paying attention, and she walked right in the horses path, the combination of the music and the girl there kinda freaked this horsey out and he started jumping up on his hind legs, it was almost an ugly situation but the handlers calmed him down right quick lol
pklima said:
...and that's why I love pklima's posts.
And... Just what type of band would they be? My guess is that they'd only play one continuous 3-hour long getaway banjo song at their gigs. They'd be on tour sponsored by Dr. Willit's Non-Spurious Dicking Cream (which was just morphine-laced duck fat).
- Jan 27, 2010
- 4,141
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- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Genz Benz Amplification
Had a show booked in the middle of a tour in a pretty small town. I think it was a Thursday. The place turns out to be big enough to hold the entire town, and there are a bunch of posters up for Nashville bands that have played there before, I knew several of them personally. So we figure this might be some secretly great club in the middle of nowhere. Wouldn't be the first one I've seen, and they were paying us pretty well, so it made sense.
Showtime comes nobody's there but the owner, who's set up his pedal steel rig "in case we want him to sit in". Maybe 20 people come and go the whole night, while we oblige the owner on sitting in. He was not very good. Finish the show, he pays us $2500 cash (more than we were promised), and we hang out at the bar for 3 hours after close drinking on the house.
I made some calls the next day, turns out the guys dad died and left him something like twenty million dollars, and he just has the club because he likes hanging out with musicians and sitting in.
Showtime comes nobody's there but the owner, who's set up his pedal steel rig "in case we want him to sit in". Maybe 20 people come and go the whole night, while we oblige the owner on sitting in. He was not very good. Finish the show, he pays us $2500 cash (more than we were promised), and we hang out at the bar for 3 hours after close drinking on the house.
I made some calls the next day, turns out the guys dad died and left him something like twenty million dollars, and he just has the club because he likes hanging out with musicians and sitting in.
1985 or 86, may long weekend, we are booked to play a youth spring dance , great pay (I think we made 600 bucks for the show , not bad for a mediocre cover band at the time) so we decide we are pulling out all stops and give these people a killer show , mixed up a flash powder from the anarchists cookbook ( dont ask me why I thought this was a good idea), but first batch went well gave us an afternoon of playing rock star, well I mixed up batch two for the show that night and jurried up a rig to ignite the pots. well the light and sound were going well so the piece de reisitance comes up and the light guy went to set the first pot off , WHOOOOOOMP the whole thing went up and apparently became thermite like in reaction , melted the pots and started the stage on fire, filled the auditorium with acrid smoke and we had to evacuate for a while , we ended up finishing the show and signed autographs for the kids for over an hour after the show ( mostly pieces of my shirt that had been torn apart when I wandered into the crowd, teenage girls are VICIOUS) we still got paid for that one .
next was in the same year, we were booked to play (keeping in mind we were a metal band) a christmas party for a national insurance broker/financial services company , to back up another group, almost a grand for a 1 hour set SWEET. Well turns out the place is packed with 20 something insurance brokers (around 300 of them) and they were ready to blow off steam. Fueled on by the open bar , our set got them whooped into a frenzy and was probably one of the best shows we played, the next guy up ( the "group" ) we opened for turned out to be a one man band that played hippie protest songs to canned backup tapes ( in his defense he WAS a very talented plucker and singer , but his agent should have never hired us to warm up for him). Poor guy got about three songs into it and they pulled the plug on him , LITERALLY, mid song. they were chanting for us to get up again as we had hung around and made great use of an open bar. So hell on it , back line was set up and in place still and the PA and sound man was a rental, lets do it , we wound up playing till 2 AM, even got the guy we were opening for to come up and do a couple Zep tunes with us (we felt really bad for him , Great musician, just poor booking).
They even passed the hat at the end of the night and pretty much doubled our take for the night , we also ensured the one man band got his pay for the night too , we did not feel it was fair to him if not. we all (including the solo guy) went to an after party on an acreage outside the city, played a few numbers there as well, got home 2 days later, it was a killer night but bizarre as hell
next was in the same year, we were booked to play (keeping in mind we were a metal band) a christmas party for a national insurance broker/financial services company , to back up another group, almost a grand for a 1 hour set SWEET. Well turns out the place is packed with 20 something insurance brokers (around 300 of them) and they were ready to blow off steam. Fueled on by the open bar , our set got them whooped into a frenzy and was probably one of the best shows we played, the next guy up ( the "group" ) we opened for turned out to be a one man band that played hippie protest songs to canned backup tapes ( in his defense he WAS a very talented plucker and singer , but his agent should have never hired us to warm up for him). Poor guy got about three songs into it and they pulled the plug on him , LITERALLY, mid song. they were chanting for us to get up again as we had hung around and made great use of an open bar. So hell on it , back line was set up and in place still and the PA and sound man was a rental, lets do it , we wound up playing till 2 AM, even got the guy we were opening for to come up and do a couple Zep tunes with us (we felt really bad for him , Great musician, just poor booking).
They even passed the hat at the end of the night and pretty much doubled our take for the night , we also ensured the one man band got his pay for the night too , we did not feel it was fair to him if not. we all (including the solo guy) went to an after party on an acreage outside the city, played a few numbers there as well, got home 2 days later, it was a killer night but bizarre as hell
played a Barnes & Noble on the upright. It was a book release event for a well-known bluegrass musician. We had sort of a local all-star bluegrass band. It was fun, but kinda weird playing in a Barnes & Noble in a mini-mall during the daytime.
My first band I was in: we were a pop-metal band that played covers and originals. All the bandmembers except me were hardcore metal lovers, though we played soft-rock. Our original numbers were very poppy, but with long metal-style solo's .
Anyway, at a certain point the lead-singer/lead guitarist's wife got us a gig at the school where she was teaching. When we were there she expected us to dress up in big cartoon-character costumes and play like that for +- 10 children who were just running around and not really paying attention.
The whole band wasn't really to fond of this obviously, but I was the only one who spoke up. She didn't like me very much anymore after that. VERY Spinal Tap ...
In the cover band I am currently playing bass, we were setting up at a wedding, under open sky. Beautiful weather, a smooth jazz band with a great singer playing while we were setting up. Finally we are all set up and it's our turn.
Literally as we play our first note, out of nowhere heaven's flood drains open and from one second into the other it starts pouring. We all stop playing and together with the guest drag all our stuff inside in one big chaos. Meanwhile, apocalyptic downpour and thunderstorm.
That was one crappy gig ...
At another gig with a alternative jazz/blues band (originals) I played in, our guitarist kept getting electric shocks every time he touched his strings. We finally solved that by having the drummer and the guitarist switch shoes. Apparently the drummers shoes insulated better or something...
Also did a gig once with the same band where a local TV-crew was filming. At a certain point they pointed that camera with a big spot on it right in my face. I blanked from sheer nervousity and I think I just played random notes. Definitly the crappiest gig we ever played ...
.Anyway, at a certain point the lead-singer/lead guitarist's wife got us a gig at the school where she was teaching. When we were there she expected us to dress up in big cartoon-character costumes and play like that for +- 10 children who were just running around and not really paying attention.
The whole band wasn't really to fond of this obviously, but I was the only one who spoke up. She didn't like me very much anymore after that. VERY Spinal Tap ...
In the cover band I am currently playing bass, we were setting up at a wedding, under open sky. Beautiful weather, a smooth jazz band with a great singer playing while we were setting up. Finally we are all set up and it's our turn.
Literally as we play our first note, out of nowhere heaven's flood drains open and from one second into the other it starts pouring. We all stop playing and together with the guest drag all our stuff inside in one big chaos. Meanwhile, apocalyptic downpour and thunderstorm.
That was one crappy gig ...
At another gig with a alternative jazz/blues band (originals) I played in, our guitarist kept getting electric shocks every time he touched his strings. We finally solved that by having the drummer and the guitarist switch shoes. Apparently the drummers shoes insulated better or something...
Also did a gig once with the same band where a local TV-crew was filming. At a certain point they pointed that camera with a big spot on it right in my face. I blanked from sheer nervousity and I think I just played random notes. Definitly the crappiest gig we ever played ...
My band is a kind of Dead, Little Feat, Phish kind of band. We got suckered into playing a wedding once. All of the older people about flipped. We started the show with Betha (The Brides request) and it went downhill from there! Never do that again.
The out-of-place:
I did a gig with a blues band that was booked for a Cuban wedding reception (!). The band hired three of us (I played tenor) to do two sets of jazz standards while the crowd arrived and had the meal. Then the blues show started - SRV, the usual stuff. They made it through about twenty minutes when the bride approached the stage with a CD in hand. "Okay. We'll play that when we finish this set." She looked up at the leader, stamped her foot and whined "But I want to Daaaance!"
We were done for the evening.
I did a gig with a blues band that was booked for a Cuban wedding reception (!). The band hired three of us (I played tenor) to do two sets of jazz standards while the crowd arrived and had the meal. Then the blues show started - SRV, the usual stuff. They made it through about twenty minutes when the bride approached the stage with a CD in hand. "Okay. We'll play that when we finish this set." She looked up at the leader, stamped her foot and whined "But I want to Daaaance!"
We were done for the evening.
Tonight I will be playing in a Canadian Taco Bar, with my death metal band.
We once had the golden opportunity to play a big party at a local bar, billed as the "Grand reopening after the shootin". Thankfully, I was not the only band member who thought the idea totally insane so we passed. Of course i was helped by the fact it was the third "Grand reopening after the shootin" at the same venue that year. Good times man, good times.
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