12 Bar in London (Denmark street) has the wackiest stage, not sure how to explain it but basically you play with your head 2’ through the ceiling.
Not my pic:
Not my pic:
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Wackiest "stage" you ever played on.....
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A sinking barge that was also filling with exhaust from the generator.
A big stage, including p.a. towers, made of scaffolding that was held together with C-CLAMPS!!!! No bolts, no pins. We refused to set up.
A plywood stage that sagged so badly that amps with wheels rolled by themselves.
A big stage, including p.a. towers, made of scaffolding that was held together with C-CLAMPS!!!! No bolts, no pins. We refused to set up.
A plywood stage that sagged so badly that amps with wheels rolled by themselves.
On the back of an antique REO Speedwagon. Unfortunately, we did not throw in any REO speedwagon covers.
I played INSIDE an aircraft carrier. Steel floor, walls and ceiling. The echo still hasn’t stopped.
I also played at a supermarket opening, right next to the cheese. Mmmmmmm, cheese.
I also played at a supermarket opening, right next to the cheese. Mmmmmmm, cheese.
My wackiest stage was a half Pipe at a skate shop. It was at a skate unity day party. It was the day my Gamma broke it's neck as the guitarist and myself collided in the center after we both decided to move from one side of the pipe to the center. A fun but sad day...
Reading all these brings back a ton of memories...
-On plywood in a muddy field, (more than once).
-On the floor of a school cafeteria during lunch hour, (long past school age, more than once).
-Crammed next to a working fireplace in a blackjack bar. Poor drummer was roasting all night.
-On plywood-covered pool tables, (more than once).
-On the approach apron of a lane in a bowling alley- had to wear their bowling shoes or just your socks.
-On a rinky-dink platform outdoors in a park where the over-taxed generator kept shutting down our backline amps.
-On a roughly 6' high, 25'x40' concrete slab, no covering, 90 degrees in the middle of nowhere, NB.
-On a couple of pallets in a steel barn during a tornado warning.
-On a big boat in rough waters, (more than once and never again without dramamine!)
-On plywood in a muddy field, (more than once).
-On the floor of a school cafeteria during lunch hour, (long past school age, more than once).
-Crammed next to a working fireplace in a blackjack bar. Poor drummer was roasting all night.
-On plywood-covered pool tables, (more than once).
-On the approach apron of a lane in a bowling alley- had to wear their bowling shoes or just your socks.
-On a rinky-dink platform outdoors in a park where the over-taxed generator kept shutting down our backline amps.
-On a roughly 6' high, 25'x40' concrete slab, no covering, 90 degrees in the middle of nowhere, NB.
-On a couple of pallets in a steel barn during a tornado warning.
-On a big boat in rough waters, (more than once and never again without dramamine!)
Wow! I played a supermarket opening! Moved from the rhythm section to the produce section.
These are all BRILLIANT, because SOMEBODY thought they were a great idea.
Had the same stage at The Rabbit Hash Bash in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky. We were accompanied by a guy playing spoons and another playing a saw.
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+1 on a flatbed trailer.
mine -- one from an 18-wheeler rig, set up in a parking lot in front of a not-so-festival crowd.
mine -- one from an 18-wheeler rig, set up in a parking lot in front of a not-so-festival crowd.
A greasy flat bed trailer at my first bands first gig. As you can see we tried lining it with a black cloth to make it look like a stage...the wind disagreed. It was a pain setting up on this thing because it was about 4 feet high and our blue jeans were black by the end of the show from all the grease and oil on the trailer. We also had an under-powered PA and the the New Mexican sun was scorching that day. The heat ended up warping the pick-guard on my P-Bass, I don't have it anymore but I sure miss it. The gig went okay, we butchered a few songs but hey I just turned 17 then. This was August 6th 2011.
One band I play with has been playing the local 4th of July parade for a long time. It seems like our "stage" gets smaller every year. It used to be a flatbed trailer big enough for a car and it's shrunk to a half trailer like you'd haul big lawnmowers on.
We also played a number of small town gigs on various hay trailers, here's video of one example!
We also played a number of small town gigs on various hay trailers, here's video of one example!
Played a rooftop gig as a filler act between a couple main acts. Not enough room for my amp so it was tilted up from the main roof. I had to remind the guitar player not to move or I'd be busted for involuntary stage diving. Fun gig, but nothing worse than hauling gear up to a roof. That stage had been up for 3 years in the elements at that time. The mains were about a 1/2 block away so it was interesting hearing the bounce off the other buildings and the delay from the FOH speakers.
Imagine this, there were 6 people on that stage.
Imagine this, there were 6 people on that stage.
Three for me, not counting the plywood-on-grass-in-a-park that we've all done.
1. 40' long by 8' wide flatbed trailer that was so far from being level I had to block the casters on my cab or it would have rolled off.
2. A loft platform in a cafe that was maybe 5' deep and a good 15' above the tables.
3. The sidewalk in front of a Guitar Center during a 4th of July sale. Yes, it wasn't a true "stage" but it was GC so it was pretty wacky.
1. 40' long by 8' wide flatbed trailer that was so far from being level I had to block the casters on my cab or it would have rolled off.
2. A loft platform in a cafe that was maybe 5' deep and a good 15' above the tables.
3. The sidewalk in front of a Guitar Center during a 4th of July sale. Yes, it wasn't a true "stage" but it was GC so it was pretty wacky.
madbass6
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On a moving flat bed tow truck!The recently-revived "Not On Tour" thread got me to thinking.
What is the wackiest stage you ever played on?
Now, I don't mean the venue. And no stage at all doesn't count (heck we've all probably been there).
I mean the stage itself..... the actual structure of the stage.
Mine was a hot tub. The venue was The Teddy Bear Club in (I believe) Franklin Virginia (circa late 80s?). It was in the common area of a hotel. We were inside but in a courtyard of sorts. All of the rooms (three floors worth) had sliding glass doors that either entered the courtyard (bottom floor) or had a balcony overlooking the courtyard. People staying at the hotel hung out on their balconies and watched. The pool was open to our left. The bar was open to our right. And we set up on plywood that was screwed together in several layers and laid across the hot tub. There was a handrail around us as well.
I think we played (in the round) once but that was dorky. So from then on we faced one direction.
And, yes, the hot tub was full of water. Once we got there early and they hadn't covered it yet. So they went and got the cover (that weighed about 200 pounds) and set it on top so we could set up. A couple had to get out for us to get started.
The tub part is for sure. The rest is "hazy". So if you played there, fill in the blanks for me.
I know there's a TBer floating around here who did a gig on a pontoon boat.
Whataya got?
Played anything and everything. From flat bed trailers to plywood over pallets, to old modular stages they didn’t have all the legs for so they propped them up with milk cartons that gave when you walked near them. Weird triangular shaped stages. Odd rectangular stages that were deep but not very wide so the band ends up setting up in a zig zag. Wide tall stages with very little depth so you felt like you were gonna fall off the stage all night. Sometimes really nice stages can be odd as well. For example this is a picture from the first time we played festival park in my hometown. That stage is massive. But it was pretty odd playing on concrete (we move around a lot) just because we never really play on concrete it was a little weird getting used to
For a positive... this One has been and will always be my favorite stage. Partially because it’s the venue we cut our teeth in and when we started there they had a different stage half the size. But the railings were awesome and it was big enough to move around but not so huge that our Guitar player was 70 feet away. Deep enough for bands to backline amps and everything. Here’s an old video of that one
For a positive... this One has been and will always be my favorite stage. Partially because it’s the venue we cut our teeth in and when we started there they had a different stage half the size. But the railings were awesome and it was big enough to move around but not so huge that our Guitar player was 70 feet away. Deep enough for bands to backline amps and everything. Here’s an old video of that one
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A horse riding ring at a stable. They had us set up at the end and let kids ride around the ring
which is full of dried sand and horse poop. The whole mess created dust and totally coated our
equipment. Why ???
which is full of dried sand and horse poop. The whole mess created dust and totally coated our
equipment. Why ???
Last St. Patrick's Day, we played a show in a venue on a makeshift stage that felt somewhat like a trampoline. I'm a big dude (6'5", about 380 lbs) and I found one tiny spot where there must've been a support under my foot, and I stood right there for the whole show and didn't move an inch. I'm usually about the most energetic guy around when it comes to playing shows. I use a wireless so I can run around all over the place, I dance, I jump around, etc. That show, I was terrified the stage would collapse if I moved. It was not ideal.
