Trading war stories - live shows that went so wrong

[bassbrad]

Of all the gigs I have played over the years they all went on and finished except for two that I can recall. One when I got stabbed and I have told that story before. The other involves the other unspoken curse of Texas Honky Tonks - Gun play.

Growing up playing a mixture of Blues, R&B and C&W more than rock had me playing a lot of country Honky Tonks and Beer Joints. some of those places were legit Dance Halls like the historic Gruene Hall, Sefcik Hall, Star Hall and others but others were more beer joint or road houses that often had their starts as a barn or house. This particular place started as a sheet metal corrugated barn with some improvements namely insulation and paneling and flooring restrooms and a bar with cold cold beer. I had a mix of customers being a bit out of the way but still on a cross roads of a couple of FMs (Farm to Market roads in Texas) a few bikers, ranchers and farmers out for a beer or six, some dancing, a burger or shoot some pool.

This band was playing the usual mix of pickup truck, dog lovin', beer drinkin', cheatin' and beatin' songs when during the third set we get a BAM BAM BAM and the floor tom gets knocked over and has a bullet hole in it. We unplug our instruments and duck out the back door and take cover.

There are a few more shots around front so we ain't going no where. About 10 minutes later we see flashing lights and hear sirens and before long we have Sheriff's Deputies and Texas State Troopers. The officers tell us the party is over and it's okay to get our gear and go home. When we go inside there is a Trooper marking bullet holes and he asks up where we were standing, it looks like a bullet may have missed me by a scant inch or two as well as a few of the others and the drummer was lucky his floor tom took one for him.

Turns out it was a couple of mullet heads arguing over some trailer trash they both had been making ugly time with. Cheatin' and Beatin at it's beastly best.

 

[donkeygrl]

Played a big birthday bash for some bigwigs -was promised heat and two sep circuits for power...got neither ...the temp in the giant white tent they had with a gorgeous dance floor was exactly 33 degrees so it wasn’t technically freezing ...and when our guitar player went to plug in the PA he actually got zapped so bad it threw him back on his ass and he screamed the F bomb which offended the few people that stayed in the tent instead of leaving to stand by the giant bon Fire ....it was a memorable night lol

 

[Jimmy4string]

33 degrees!!!!
Holy Farenheit batman!!

 

[Paulabass]

Thing about bar fights. They usually leave the band alone, cause they know they'll still need entertainment after the fight.

 

[Yools]

Yeah i remember MCG telling that one before and it left quite an impression on me. We have a bar here called the White Horse and used to smell like Vomit every time I went in there. All the internet reviews said the same. I guess they got wind ( ) and fixed it up cause it is pleasant in there now.

Jimmy4 - Is the White Horse that place on the east side, near the train station? I was in there about a year ago and it smelled fine to me. Not anything like the old Headhunters (of "Bar Rescue" fame).

You ever been to Parmer Lane Tavern? Back in the 90s the whole place was covered in carpet and smelled just like puke. Couldn't believe anyone could stand being in there. They finally did major renovations and got rid of the carpet, and now it's fine. Especially since the smoking ban.

-Y

 

[Jimmy4string]

Yo @Yools -yep you may have gone into the horse after they got it sorted out -it is a great bar with some really good live music now. I did go into the PLT back in the 90's when i was working up on the line at Dell -but i wasnt in there very long and cannot recall anything but the carpet
My old rugby team one year did a pup crawl with a bus to the old dive bars like Poodle dog, Lala's (where it is always Christmas) and of course our home bar Nasty's (that no longer exists).

 

[friskinator]

Back in the late 90s, my original band decided to play one last run of regional shows before we broke up. Our fans knew it was the last time they'd be seeing us, so for those last few shows, they were in party mode. Which means that we were, too. At our last show in Charleston, SC, we played a club right on the beach. One fan in particular was buying us shots before the show, and we were all pretty lit up before the show even started. Me and the drummer were able to hold it together onstage, but the singer/key player didn't fare so well. The show was as sloppy as you'd expect. At the end of the show, the singer yells out "I'm going swimming!" as he drops his guitar and runs towards the back patio that leads towards the beach. We didn't follow him, but he ended up taking off all his clothes and getting in the water for a bit. He's lucky nothing bad happened, but I think he ended up losing his watch as well as some of his clothes. I think he ended up having to ride back home partially naked.

The soundman recorded a board tape of the show that night, and wow...it was bad. We were able to all laugh at it a few years later, and it's pure comedy. I wish I still had a copy of it.

 

[John Swartz]

At the end of the show, the singer yells out "I'm going swimming!" as he drops his guitar and runs towards the back patio that leads towards the beach. We didn't follow him, but he ended up taking off all his clothes and getting in the water for a bit.

Opening scene of "Jaws" immediately comes to mind. Da-duh Da-duh Da-duh Da-duh Da-duh Da-duh...

 

[JRA]

i've got stories but reading other player's war stories is much more fun --- 'cause it's not me! this time!

 

[BastardCthulhu]

I’ve had soooo many, it’s hard to pick one that’s significantly worse than the others. Oh well. Here’s one, taken from a 2001 journal entry:

08.06.01 – The House
8:47 PM

Starting to get back into home mode; it’s always nice driving hundreds of miles for one show where the locals get more respect from the promoter than the nationals.

Oh, you wanted an explanation? Okay. Attend, please.

Loaded up to play Cleveland this weekend at the World Series of Metal, at the Agora. It had the potential to be a great time. Mushroomhead, our Eclipse Records labelmates, were the headliners, and Pro-Pain was direct support. Chuck [vocals/guitar] has been friends with the Pro-Pain guys for years now, and I was looking forward to meeting them and checking out their live show. This was our first involvement with a festival-type show since I joined, so I was stoked to play.

We drove up to Cleveland from Nashville in a small caravan: my SUV and the Cabbage Picker [our tour van - an old brown two-tone Ford “luxury van,” so named because it looked like something migrant workers lived in]. Kelly [Chuck’s SO at the time] went with us, as did Chuck’s cousin Bradley and our pal Damon. Chris Lee [our booking agent] was coming out, and Chris Poland [our label president] was also driving down from Jersey for the show. So we arrived at the venue around 4:30 PM in high spirits.

The high spirits pretty much went by the boards approximately five minutes after we showed up, when we were informed by the local crew guys that we had just made it in time for our set and had about fifteen minutes to get our @#$! on stage. Are you kidding? We get our gear to the door, where we see what I find to arguably be the most @#$!ed stage setup on earth: the stage is divided into two sections, with a band playing on one side while the next band is setting up on the other side. We’re setting up in full view of the crowd while some @#$!ed-up local outfit harangues the crowd from the other side of a divider curtain. We got set up and did a cursory soundcheck – again, in full view of the crowd – while the local yokels across from us finished their set and tore down, and the whole time we play our 30-minute set, we’ve got local @#$!holes toting gear behind our backline. We wrap up our set, which my subconscious mind has already begun blocking memories of, and break down our @#$! to the accompaniment of the next pack of local losers who have cranked up from the other side of the @#$!ing divider.

To say that I was not in the best of headspaces is like saying that you can buy a few things at Wal-Mart. It doesn’t really convey the larger message.

Chris Lee arrived sometime while we were on stage collectively wishing the ground would open up and swallow us. He was about as @#$!ed off as Chris Poland was whenever he showed up, about an hour after our set time. Both of them drove to Cleveland for no good reason; it could be argued that so had we.

At some point, Poland confronted the promoter, who turned out to be Mushroomhead’s manager. How convenient. We were all told that if we had wanted a better set time, we should’ve either sold tickets like the locals did or paid a few hundred dollars’ “promotion fee.” SSDD. How nice to drive obscene distances to find that you’ve been denied vital, need-to-know information and as a result been treated worse than the local pretenders by the shady P.T. Barnum type @#$!hole who’s put the show together.

I hid out in my SUV for the rest of the night, sleeping through Mushroomhead and Pro-Pain.

EDIT/EPILOGUE: Roughly a year later, Mushroomhead would breach their contract with Eclipse Records and jump ship to Universal. Poland took them to court and lost. FWIW.

I was at that show! What was your band?

 

[NZBassman]

years ago my band played for a large motorcycle gang at their annual convention / meet on a Friday night
We all took the afternoon off work loaded up the van with a trailer and drove about 3 hours south to the destination.
When we got there it was pouring with rain and we were playing in a huge barn with corrugated iron roof - the stage was tiny and we had to get all 5 of us (singer 2 guitars, bass and drums) and all our gear on this tiny stage.... and there were leaks in the roof!
there must have been at least 1000 bikes there and about 10 minutes before we were due to start a motorbike drives with in and a man gets off the back and he's holding a bit of wood / timber in his hand.... he walks over to a table near the stage and 'WHACK" hits a man sitting at the table in the head, then leaves.... the man slumps over and starts bleeding from his head and the other 2 men at the table just pick him up and drag him out the back somewhere like nothing happened.
Singer and I looked at each other like What The Heck?!?!?!

anyway we played the gig 4 hours and then said "thanks for having us... good night"
then a man comes over and hands singer an envelope (with money in).... singer then turns to us and says "we have to keep playing"
We played for another hour and said "thanks for having us... good night"
then the man comes over again and hands singer an envelope (with more money in).... singer then turns to us and says "we have to keep playing"

This happened about 4 times - and each time we kept playing for an extra hour... we ended up playing from 9pm until about 4:30am! I think we got 3 times more $$ that we were supposed to get... by the time we had packed down and loaded the van / trailer it was daylight!

Drummer drove the van / trailer back and we stopped at a gas station to get a feed and got back home to Auckland about 9am.... my ex was very surprised when I arrived home about 9:30am (band had initially planned to find a motel or somewhere to stay the night)

 

[Holy Diver]

I was at that show! What was your band?

Disarray.

 

[lfmn16]

I guess I've been pretty lucky. Thinking back I've only really had a few bad experiences and even those weren't that bad.

First one was when we played a "showcase" at a bar called the Big Dipper (country music) in Laurel MD in the 70's. We played Aerosmith, Zeppelin and the like. I kept telling the agent it was a bad fit and he kept saying, no, there's going to be all kinds of agents there. Well, of course it was a total scam. We opened with Train Kept A Rolling and when we ended there was complete silence. No one clapped for anything we played the entire set. That was my last "showcase."

Played The Keg in Georgetown in the 70's and the club owner got into with some guys and threw them out. They came back with some friends and baseball bats and the club owner and the bouncers grabbed their baseball bats and went at it in the parking lot. I don't think anyone got really hurt and it never spilled into the club. When the cops showed up nobody had seen anything.

Last one was a military club below Quantico in the 70's. We showed up, all long hair and I thought we were going to have to leave we were getting so much static. I guess the club manager finally told them to cool it, we started and everything was fine.

Pretty tame compared to what other people I know have had happen.

 

[McG]

First one was when we played a "showcase" at a bar called the Big Dipper (country music) in Laurel MD in the 70's. We played Aerosmith, Zeppelin and the like. I kept telling the agent it was a bad fit and he kept saying, no, there's going to be all kinds of agents there. Well, of course it was a total scam. We opened with Train Kept A Rolling and when we ended there was complete silence. No one clapped for anything we played the entire set.

I have one so similar. Same 70s time frame, a country bar reminiscent of Bob's Country Bunker. We were a long hair hard rock band. The bar patrons were crusty rednecks. Don't know who booked us there.

Loaded in and set up to icy stares from the crowd. Launched into the first song. No heads bobbing, no feet tapping. Still just icy stares. Finished the song to dead silence, until a gravely voice from the back of the room says "Turn that damn guitar down". A moment later the owner came to the stage and said "You guys can leave now".

We loaded out past guys who looked like they would be happy to beat up some hippies. I've never driven away from a gig so fast.

 

[Mike N]

I have one so similar. Same 70s time frame, a country bar reminiscent of Bob's Country Bunker. We were a long hair hard rock band. The bar patrons were crusty rednecks. Don't know who booked us there.

Loaded in and set up to icy stares from the crowd. Launched into the first song. No heads bobbing, no feet tapping. Still just icy stares. Finished the song to dead silence, until a gravely voice from the back of the room says "Turn that damn guitar down". A moment later the owner came to the stage and said "You guys can leave now".

We loaded out past guys who looked like they would be happy to beat up some hippies. I've never driven away from a gig so fast.

You didn't have "rawhide" or "stand by your man" on the setlist??

 

[nucman]

Mike you beat me to it.

 

[McG]

You didn't have "rawhide" or "stand by your man" on the setlist??

Mike you beat me to it.

Ha! If we did play those songs they probably would have been done Hendrix style. Don't think they would have saved the gig.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I guess we all went through difficult times onstage.

My top two :
1) when the TIP of my cable gave way during a show, playing pinball in the circuit cavity and random shorting the signal.
Had to stop show and open compartment, remove the bugger and get another cable

2) when we played near a mountain rural church. Lots of light which attracted LOTS of insects.
We spent the show swatting mosquitoes and moths

for 1), where was your backup bass?

 

[logdrum]

Wondering if there are any stories that involved a gunfight or at least a fist fight. I have been to shows where that happened, but they were not in the US. I was in the audience.

 

[NZBassman]

Wondering if there are any stories that involved a gunfight or at least a fist fight. I have been to shows where that happened, but they were not in the US. I was in the audience.

been at a couple of gigs where there have been a few fists flying.....
one was at a pub and the fight was down the other end of the bar so we didn't take that much notice, but it got closer and closer to the band and in the end our drummer leapt over his kit and stood in front of his kick drum as if to guard his kit. Thankfully the police had been called and as soon as they walked in the fight magically stopped and about 5 people left.... the bar manager just looked at us and told us to keep playing.

the other was at a wedding where a couple of male guests had probably drunk too much and were going for it - one males shirt was ripped and there was blood on both of them, but the father of the bride I think it was just grabbed both of them by the scruff of the neck and threw them out!