The Show Must Go On...

[RichardW]

My band had a gig last Friday. Thursday evening I started developing a sore throat and by Friday morning it was in full force, along with sinus congestion, fatigue, and my voice dropped about an octave.

I know what you're thinking, but I took multiple COVID tests throughout the day (I had COVID already and am triple-vaxxed) and all were negative.

We loaded in and did a sound check from 2 - 4pm. I went home and took an hour long nap, woke up, downed a handful of Tylenol, and played the gig. It was a good gig, great crowd and plenty of dancing, but I my head was in a fog. I had in unusual (for me) number of clams and I know my vocals were rough. The next day I slept until almost 11:30am.

I'm just curious about any other stories of folks playing through illness. After all, the show must go on!

 

[Spidey2112]

"Sergeant, I think it's a bad idea to march, today... it is the cold and flu season."

Winger to Hulka, Stripes

 

[two fingers]

In the early 2000s I was in a pro band that did a lot of corporate/private gigs. Our guitar player got mono. He refused to sit out the gigs. We had two gigs that weekend. He was driven to each gig. He slept on the way to the gig. He slept while we set up. He sat on his amp to play the first set. He SLEPT ON STAGE leaning against the wall during the set breaks. He finished out the show and was carried to the car. He never missed a single note. He killed it both Friday and Saturday night. Lucky for us they were both club gigs. The owners of both venues were friends. So they laughed about it.

I can't even count the number of times I played a show hung over or piss drunk in my early twenties.

 

[2saddleslab]

I once played a gig after returning from Guam. Got to the airport in Guam at 5:30am and the total flight time was a little over 23 hours and 3 connections. Landed at home about 3:00pm and unfortunately got a second wind right when I wanted to take a nap. Got to the gig that night and was barely able to stand, much less play. My brain was so foggy and my timing was non existent. Felt like a 1/2 step behind all night. Lesson learned.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Worst I ever felt at a gig was one month post cervical spine surgery, my throat was still pretty roached after all the "maneuvering" they did to access my cervical vertebrae. I borrowed out guitarist's Beatle bass just for the weight, my son and son in law loaded all my equip at home to the car and the other two band members had to schlep it all in/out of venue and set it in place.

Other than my throat I thought I was feeling pretty good as we started but I was so fatigued by the end I was seriously considering if the drive home would be safe. But I made it through, not to be heroic for a gig but just to get out of the house after a month of low level recovery time.