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Wackiest "stage" you ever played on.....
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We used to play the annual boat show at Metro Park here in Jacksonville for a few years running. One year, they put us on a small, maybe 30', barge moored at one of the piers. Now I don't know what y'all know about big-time barges, but the deck is actually noticeably higher in the center of the deck, arched or pre-stressed to handle the heavy loads and one would assume to allow water to roll off. It also allows unsecured wheeled speaker cabinets, roadcases, etc, to roll towards the edge. And right when the drummer gets his cymbal stands level, the wake from a speedboat rocks the barge...
I've yet to play there. The place is owned by a close friend. It's a tiny hotdog restaurant, where a tiny stage was rigged above the counter. The pic shows nearly the entire thing, it's tiny.
Outdoor show, the 'stage' was formerly a balcony on the house, they took it off, dropped it to the ground, as is, and put a shoddy roof over it. Railing still intact, became the back of the stage.
They didn't extend the depth, so a drum kit in the center went from stage back to stage front. Me on one side, drummer in the middle, and guitar on the other side, singer in the grass in front of the stage (he would have ended up there anyways...).
But the kicker? Floor wedge mounted to the roof as a monitor. Right over the throne. The throne owned by a drummer who doesn't want vox in his wedge at the best of times! Fortunately it wasn't the only monitor, or I'd have been on the grass too.
They didn't extend the depth, so a drum kit in the center went from stage back to stage front. Me on one side, drummer in the middle, and guitar on the other side, singer in the grass in front of the stage (he would have ended up there anyways...).
But the kicker? Floor wedge mounted to the roof as a monitor. Right over the throne. The throne owned by a drummer who doesn't want vox in his wedge at the best of times! Fortunately it wasn't the only monitor, or I'd have been on the grass too.
I did a pit orchestra gig once, where there was no pit for the orchestra, nor room in the wings to set up to the side.
They built a loft out of 2x4 lumber, 12 feet high with a 1/2" plywood deck. For 10 people. Ladders and trombones are not meant to go together.
We had to be careful not to tap our feet together too strongly or the whole structure started moving.
They built a loft out of 2x4 lumber, 12 feet high with a 1/2" plywood deck. For 10 people. Ladders and trombones are not meant to go together.
We had to be careful not to tap our feet together too strongly or the whole structure started moving.
Not me playing, but a band I saw in a weird place/stage.
Back 20 years or so, Sugar Ray was REALLY big. I worked in a store that was Tower Records on one side, and The Good Guys (retail electronics) on the other. Sugar Ray was selling out amphitheater's at the time, so some brilliant idiot thought "let's put them in a small store and see what happens", and lets advertise the heck out of it. 30 minutes of chaos ending in near disaster. The kids damn near rioted at the end of the show.
edg
Back 20 years or so, Sugar Ray was REALLY big. I worked in a store that was Tower Records on one side, and The Good Guys (retail electronics) on the other. Sugar Ray was selling out amphitheater's at the time, so some brilliant idiot thought "let's put them in a small store and see what happens", and lets advertise the heck out of it. 30 minutes of chaos ending in near disaster. The kids damn near rioted at the end of the show.
edg
There was a club in Newfoundland on the TCH a ways out from St Johns, but I don't remember the name nor the exact location. It was a two story club with two dance floors, one above the other. The stage was on tracks that ran up and down like an elevator. You would play a while on one floor and with no prior notice, the stage would move up or down to the other floor. You got used to it after a while, but at first it was a bit disconcerting.
I can't find the pic, but they had a band with a double bass on that stage. That dude had to play lying down in front of the singer.
That may have been a different place with a similar stage. There was no ceiling on the stage and the floors were tall enough that shouldn't have been a problem.
Nope. I know that place and the people that run it. When the band showed up, they looked at the double bass and the stage and asked the bassist how he intended to play that thing up there. . . His answer was to put the bass on the stage, climb up and lie down.
Sailing ship tooling around in the Baltimore Harbor. Water was calm but it was weird because there was always movement in my peripheral vision
The Voodoo Lounge at Harrah's St. Louis was like that, except it was up above and behind the bar, at 2nd floor level. No elevator, so we had to carry everything up the stairs to the stage. Hated that gig. Neat place, but they treated the musicians like garbage.
The place is called Beard Brothers & Sisters. It's located in Leipzig, Germany.Where is this place? I'm strangely fascinated by this.
While I’ve certainly played on various postage stamp stages all across LA(The Redwood, The Prince’o’Whales, the Cinema Bar—I love the joint, but I’ve been in living rooms that were bigger), and my wife played in a place in San Diego were the ‘stage’ was a not-so-deep ledge that sat over a tunnel to the bathrooms, you’d have climb up there from behind the bar, the most curious was a place on a side street a few blocks east of Vine in Hollywood. Way off the beaten track, it was called Crane’s at the time, a few notches above being a dive, but it had a well-worn old school vibe. The room itself was like a miniature ballroom with booths along the sides, comfy, but the stage was a puzzler. It was wide enough, reasonably deep, but the back half, in the middle where the drums would usually go, had a ramp down to a door in the back. Great for load in, but the drums had to set up to one side, the keyboard player and I on the other, and our guitarist/singer/frontperson was center stage. She had to be mindful to not step back too far, or she’d tumble backwards. I used to wander around stages a bit, but had to be careful and restrain myself(my balance isn’t all that great, I’ve had bouts with vertigo). Anyway, it’s still there under a different name, I’m not sure they have live entertainment there anymore.
We were the first band to play a chi-chi pretentious nightclub. You know- intolerable doormen, seperate limo entrance.....
No stage per se, but we set up at the end of the dancefloor. Not really set up for bands at all. The mixer was on saw horses in the DJ booth.
We started sound check and ***, the loudest thing weve ever heard!!!!! I thought a plane had hit the building.
I looked behind the curtain behind us- 12 or 14 double 18" subs right behind us.
DJ's shouldn't play soundman.
No stage per se, but we set up at the end of the dancefloor. Not really set up for bands at all. The mixer was on saw horses in the DJ booth.
We started sound check and ***, the loudest thing weve ever heard!!!!! I thought a plane had hit the building.
I looked behind the curtain behind us- 12 or 14 double 18" subs right behind us.
DJ's shouldn't play soundman.
