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Wedding band stories?
- Thread starter ChunkyMunky
- Start date
Our main gigs are corporate functions and weddings. A couple of years ago we were doing a very nice wedding, but it got awkward when the bride and groom made their entrance and my guitarist whispers in my ear that he needed to try to hide in the background. Why you ask? Because my guitarist and the groom have been "hooking up" for about 6 months........yes, the groom has/had a secret lifestyle. But, what the groom had not disclosed is that he was bi and had a planned wedding. So, let's just say the tension was strange that night. My guitarist played it cool and once the groom saw him eye contact was as a minimum, but you could still feel the tension.
You might have better luck in the Bass Humor & Gig Stories forum.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f32/dont-play-here-comes-bride-1012423/
Thats actually quite the wedding gig story! What a strange predicament!
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f32/dont-play-here-comes-bride-1012423/
Thats actually quite the wedding gig story! What a strange predicament!
Well, kinda a strange one. Band I'm no longer in now.....
Wedding gig and BL's friend/guitarist kinda sits in (he got us the gig and that was one of the stips) anyway.......guitarist is like a frikkin grasshopper. One minute he's in the band area, next minute he's on the other side of the dance floor, then he's all the way to the right, then the left! This dude wouldn't keep still! I thought he was on uppers or something! Really annoying and I didn't like it. It's a reflection of the band. I could envision the groom telling the agent "I liked the band but they had this guy who was all over the place....."
Wedding gig and BL's friend/guitarist kinda sits in (he got us the gig and that was one of the stips) anyway.......guitarist is like a frikkin grasshopper. One minute he's in the band area, next minute he's on the other side of the dance floor, then he's all the way to the right, then the left! This dude wouldn't keep still! I thought he was on uppers or something! Really annoying and I didn't like it. It's a reflection of the band. I could envision the groom telling the agent "I liked the band but they had this guy who was all over the place....."
Bride comes up to us after their first dance, "I asked you to do Earth Angel!! That didn't sound like Earth Angel!! That sounded like some surf guitar version of Earth Angel!!"
I was actually kinda stumped, being that she had seen us play before, her husband was a surfer, most people there were surfers, we were across from the beach, and ummm, we are a surf music band, so yeah, that's what it was gonna sound like.
I think she expected us to sing it like the original version.
I was actually kinda stumped, being that she had seen us play before, her husband was a surfer, most people there were surfers, we were across from the beach, and ummm, we are a surf music band, so yeah, that's what it was gonna sound like.
I think she expected us to sing it like the original version.
I played a wedding gig for our pianist's ex-girlfriend of a mere two weeks. He found out that she was engaged to be married when she asked him to play at the wedding. Ohhhh the tension. We had to play tunes like Body and Soul, Unforgettable, My Buddy, and so many love songs as a jazz trio, with my poor pianist playing the melodies, serenading his ex at her wedding.
We once played a gig in a tent on a large private property. When I discussed the arrangements with the wedding planner, I made our power requirements clear, which meant that the proper power receptacles had to be located within 20 feet of the stage. When we got there to setup, the planner had put the stage at the far end of the tent, and there were no outlets in site. Turns out that the nearest power was almost 100 yards from the stage. When I got the planner's attention, she came over, looked at me with a bewildered look, and yelled "YOU DIDN'T BRING YOUR OWN POWER?"
When we suggested that we would have to run extension cords to the stage from the house, she flipped out. Her only compromise was that we could run the cords if we painted them completely white.......... I finally located the brides mother and, after explaining the situation to her, we finally got the power we needed for the gig.
When we suggested that we would have to run extension cords to the stage from the house, she flipped out. Her only compromise was that we could run the cords if we painted them completely white.......... I finally located the brides mother and, after explaining the situation to her, we finally got the power we needed for the gig.
I was once playing dinner music for a wedding, and watched as the cake collapsed right in front of me.
All NSFW.
Once I nailed the bride, once the maid of honor, and another time the bride's mom.
Anybody want to hire me to play their next wedding gig? Seems to be something about alcohol, drugs and rock and roll music that just makes those garters start to slip.
I hated doing wedding gigs anyway, and I have to admit I went a little out of my way to prove my point, that rock bands should never ever play a wedding. Best part was listening to BL piss and moan about having to kiss ass to get us paid. I told them I didn't do wedding gigs but I did do the wedding party. They thought I was kidding. I kept hearing how we may have to do some things we don't care for to make the customer happy. Outside of playing Mustang Sally....
Once I nailed the bride, once the maid of honor, and another time the bride's mom.
Anybody want to hire me to play their next wedding gig? Seems to be something about alcohol, drugs and rock and roll music that just makes those garters start to slip.
I hated doing wedding gigs anyway, and I have to admit I went a little out of my way to prove my point, that rock bands should never ever play a wedding. Best part was listening to BL piss and moan about having to kiss ass to get us paid. I told them I didn't do wedding gigs but I did do the wedding party. They thought I was kidding. I kept hearing how we may have to do some things we don't care for to make the customer happy. Outside of playing Mustang Sally....
I played a reception in at a rod and gun club in upstate New York. The couple wanted "Your Cheatin' Heart" for their first dance. There was a raffle for a shotgun. Someone came in from the parking area and said there was a deer out front and the whole place emptied out. A table dancer hit her head on a rafter, fell to the concrete floor and knocked herself out. We doubled our pay when we agreed to a 4th set.
Played a wedding a few months back where the groom requested a lot of metal (Korn, Limp Bizkit, etc) when he and the bride booked the show through our agent. The bride wisely shot those requests down beforehand, but she never told the groom. We started playing the show, and around 15 minutes into the first set, the groom furiously (and drunkenly) storms up to the stage, wondering why aren't playing the songs he requested. The BL managed to diffuse the situation, but it was a tense moment for sure.
There's a reason why wedding bands get paid more. You earn every penny of that paycheck.
There's a reason why wedding bands get paid more. You earn every penny of that paycheck.
I played an outdoor wedding where the bandleader got into an argument with the bride's mom about the relative merits of butter versus margarine.
1) Played a reception once where the bride went all the way through the ceremony without blinking. She then proceeded to her reception. She completed her first dance. Then, she quietly, and calmly came to the stage and asked to use our mic for an announcement. Then she went on to tell the story of sneaking up to the window of her groom to be for a goodnight kiss last night and finding him firmly implanted between the legs of her maid if honor. The groom took off running with about half the men in the bride's family chasing after. The maid of honor got slapped across the face by about a half dozen women on the way to her car to make her getaway. The gig was in the ball room of a hotel in the town where this band was from, so we made a deal with the manager to come pack up the next day after the dust settled.
2) Played a reception at a very swanky room attached to a fancy horse stables. I was approached by a girl between sets. She told me that a friend of hers really wanted to meet me. I followed her outside. She proceeded to tell me that she was the sister of the bride and that the person who wanted to meet me was her other sister. When I got out in the stable to meet the sister, she was wearing a wedding ring. I asked what was going on. By then the girl who had ushered me out there was gone. This woman dropped her clothes right there in the stable and told me that her husband had passed out hours ago and wouldn't miss her at all. (Fear not. I politely declined and went back to work. I ain't doing nobody's wife in a horse stable.)
3) Very recently (like a month ago) did a reception at a nice house on the beach. Everything about this gig went incredibly well (including our "green room" being a patio set overlooking the water where we were served dinner like we were guests). Right about three songs from the end of a great night, the bride's grandmother and step-grandmother got into a real fist fight that was so bad that the law and one ambulance had to be called. Turns out they were fighting over the fact that the step-grandmother had been the "other woman" and cheated with the grandfather.......... in 1963.
I freakin love wedding gigs. They all have crazy stories that go along with them. Maybe not as crazy as these three, but crazy none the less.
2) Played a reception at a very swanky room attached to a fancy horse stables. I was approached by a girl between sets. She told me that a friend of hers really wanted to meet me. I followed her outside. She proceeded to tell me that she was the sister of the bride and that the person who wanted to meet me was her other sister. When I got out in the stable to meet the sister, she was wearing a wedding ring. I asked what was going on. By then the girl who had ushered me out there was gone. This woman dropped her clothes right there in the stable and told me that her husband had passed out hours ago and wouldn't miss her at all. (Fear not. I politely declined and went back to work. I ain't doing nobody's wife in a horse stable.)
3) Very recently (like a month ago) did a reception at a nice house on the beach. Everything about this gig went incredibly well (including our "green room" being a patio set overlooking the water where we were served dinner like we were guests). Right about three songs from the end of a great night, the bride's grandmother and step-grandmother got into a real fist fight that was so bad that the law and one ambulance had to be called. Turns out they were fighting over the fact that the step-grandmother had been the "other woman" and cheated with the grandfather.......... in 1963.
I freakin love wedding gigs. They all have crazy stories that go along with them. Maybe not as crazy as these three, but crazy none the less.
Butter.
Butter makes it taste much better, naturally.
Besides, "earning your bread and margarine" is so wrong on so many levels.
Other things that just don't go well with hydrogenated oils...
"Hot-margarined popcorn"
"Freshly churned margarine"
"Whipped margarine"
"Margarine Naan with Margarine chicken masala"
"Margarine knife"
"Margarine-milk"
"Margarine-fat"
"Whey margarine"
"Cultured margarine"
"Clarified margarine"
"Sweet Cream Margarine"
"Sheep margarine"
"Goat margarine"
"Yak margarine"
"Yak margarine milk tea"
"Margarine sticks"
"Margarine Noir"
"Margarine noisette"
"Margarine cookies" or "margarine biscuits"
"Peanutmargarine"
"Margarined lobster"
"Bread & Margarine Pudding"
"Nut margarine"
"Margarinenut squash"
"Build me up, Margarinecup"
"Like a hot knife through margarine"
"I can't believe it's not margarine!"
"Toast always lands on the margarine side down"
"Know which side your bread is margarined on"
"Margarine up your boss to get that raise"
"Don't send a poetry loving dog out to do your shopping, 'cause he'll only get verse before he gets margarine" (punchline from an old joke)
"This bass plays like margarine"
Replace any of the above iterations of "margarine" with "butter" and all is right with the word, uh, world.
I played a wedding on a junk once, and other wedding gigs but no spectacular wedding gig stories.
Butter makes it taste much better, naturally.
Besides, "earning your bread and margarine" is so wrong on so many levels.
Other things that just don't go well with hydrogenated oils...
"Hot-margarined popcorn"
"Freshly churned margarine"
"Whipped margarine"
"Margarine Naan with Margarine chicken masala"
"Margarine knife"
"Margarine-milk"
"Margarine-fat"
"Whey margarine"
"Cultured margarine"
"Clarified margarine"
"Sweet Cream Margarine"
"Sheep margarine"
"Goat margarine"
"Yak margarine"
"Yak margarine milk tea"
"Margarine sticks"
"Margarine Noir"
"Margarine noisette"
"Margarine cookies" or "margarine biscuits"
"Peanutmargarine"
"Margarined lobster"
"Bread & Margarine Pudding"
"Nut margarine"
"Margarinenut squash"
"Build me up, Margarinecup"
"Like a hot knife through margarine"
"I can't believe it's not margarine!"
"Toast always lands on the margarine side down"
"Know which side your bread is margarined on"
"Margarine up your boss to get that raise"
"Don't send a poetry loving dog out to do your shopping, 'cause he'll only get verse before he gets margarine" (punchline from an old joke)
"This bass plays like margarine"
Replace any of the above iterations of "margarine" with "butter" and all is right with the word, uh, world.
I played a wedding on a junk once, and other wedding gigs but no spectacular wedding gig stories.
So the best man was doing his speech, at the end he asked all the gentlemen in the room who had a past relationship with the bride to kindly return their key for the brides house to the box that the best man had placed in front of him - EVERY male in the room, young (even boys) and old, waiters & all of the band had been given a fake key & all proceded to the front of the room to place the key in the box.
Then the best man asked all the ladies in the room to do the same for the groom... at first no-one got up until the ONLY lady to return her key was an elderly lady with a walking frame who slowly made her way to return her key.
Then the best man asked all the ladies in the room to do the same for the groom... at first no-one got up until the ONLY lady to return her key was an elderly lady with a walking frame who slowly made her way to return her key.
As you all probably know, when you play the first dance at a couples wedding it is typically a situation where all eyes in the room are on the bride and groom. Therefore, it wouldnt be too much of a shock to expect all those eyes to shift their attention to the person who the bride was pointing to on stage from the middle of the dance floor.
Any guesses as to who she was pointing at? ;-)
It turns out the bride and I had been on 2 episodes of a dating show together and I guess she felt the need, at that moment, to let everyone know I was in the house. She could tell I didnt recognize her, at first, and actually came up to the stage during the song. She was wearing a veil in a manner that made it hard for me to recognize her and, frankly, I was busy surveying the room such that I did not only have eyes for her.
Good Times.
MA
Any guesses as to who she was pointing at? ;-)
It turns out the bride and I had been on 2 episodes of a dating show together and I guess she felt the need, at that moment, to let everyone know I was in the house. She could tell I didnt recognize her, at first, and actually came up to the stage during the song. She was wearing a veil in a manner that made it hard for me to recognize her and, frankly, I was busy surveying the room such that I did not only have eyes for her.
Good Times.
MA
