What was your worst on-stage screwup?

[Rip Van Dan]

My band played its first actual gig a couple weeks ago. On the second song, something didn't sound right as soon as I started playing. I played the same line again and it still sounded like crap. Then I realized I was playing the chorus part during the verse! Afterwards, I said "sorry about that" to my bandmates, and it turns out nobody noticed. Makes me wonder how bad a bass player has to screw up to be noticeable. It also occurred to me that playing bass could be an alternative to the witness protection program.

I'm sure everyone has a screwup story or five. What's your favorite?

My mistake was actually singing. The bass part was fine. I was singing lead on a song that modulated up a third in the middle and was right at the edge of my range. Bear in mind I had been smoking 3 to 3½-packs of cigarettes a day for over a year at this point. We modulated up; I opened my mouth; and nothing came out. We modulated back down; finished the song; and I quit smoking. Had tried to quit about 10 times, but that embarrassment on stage finally did it for me. That was 1972 and I haven't smoked since. So sometimes a screw-up is a good thing.

 

[wmhill]

I beat the tar out of the guitarist (and I use the term loosely) minutes before we were to start, with a packed house watching. He had his guitar on.... Feedback screaming, mics & cymbal stands falling everyplace. Come to think of it- he deserved every swat that he got. He should be the one embarrassed. Maybe i'll move this to the "greatest spectacles of bar bands" section. That was 25 years ago,and I'd just as soon give him one more upside his noggin!

 

[CGremlin]

After the intro and just before the verse, in the quiet part with just the bass playing those two sets of three descending notes - I played every note wrong. Every note.

If you're going to screw up, might as well do it right and completely own it. If anyone gives you a hard time, give them the old Pee-Wee Herman "I meant to do that".

 

[Joe Nerve]

You deserve my undying respect as you could have started the story with "a friend of mine", byte made even funnier by owning up. KUDOS

Hey, it happens .

 

[rllefebv]

Like most of you, too many to choose from...

-Tuned a half step off - Check!
-Fell off the stage (at a showcase night at Gazzarri's) - Check!
-Pulled my amp over thinking I had more length on my chord - Check!

The one that I'm least proud of was not on stage, but in the pit of a community theater production of "West Side Story"... The song "America" starts off with a clave, which the drummer could not play to save his life! The gal playing flute was half Puerto Rican and used to coach him in it nightly.. She and I laughed about this many times. On the fourth or fifth night, as soon as he started (100% off as usual... So bad that I couldn't even replicate his rhythm) she kind of gave a little snort, and we were off like two kids at the dinner table trying not to laugh... Ended up having to actually leave the theater and cry in the alley. Pretty sure she peed her pants. Missed that song completely. For the rest of the run, she handled the clave. I am not proud of myself

-robert

 

[devnulljp]

Played a gig on my birthday not too long ago and these two guys at the bar decided they were going to buy me drinks. I had two shooters with them ... apparently there were more but I only remember two. (I don't really drink).
I don't really remember much of the gig, but there is video evidence -- sounded OK, but I just kinda slumped on my amp at some point and sat there playing with a big stupid grin on my face. All in, it wasn't a *bad* gig, I played OK, but man was I hammered. Not fun.

 

[Kmonk]

I have only had one bad screw up. I totally forgot the intro to a song I had played hundreds of times. It never happened before and it hasn't happened since.

 

[rtslinger]

I am in but, not all my fault. Guitarist calls out 3 steps and he starts playing Call me the Breeze instead, so I was playing the bass line to 3 steps right up til the lyrics came in that was my what the heck happened moment

 

[SeattleSunn]

H.S. Stage band we were playing 'Chiefs Blues' at a contest. It is a fun number with a some crazy riffs. Just before the part where there is a sax solo, just me and the sax I broke a string, my bass all the strings went out of tune, and the band dropped out before I could try and tune a string or two. I just stopped and let the sax solo go with out me playing over it with an out of tune bass. It was a huge bummer. We put a lot of effort into that song and we would have made the finals if we could have pulled it off. The judges made voice over recording with their comments right over the band in the background. The judge saw what happened.

At another contest our band instructor watched a couple of other instructors start their bands with a very short abbreviated start, sort of a "... and one" with a downstroke of the wrist, I am sure it looked slick, so he decides he is going to use this. We had never seen or practiced it, he started us off, and it was an instant train wreck. No one was on the right beat, we had to stop and start over again. The band was not happy with our instructor.

 

[Afandrewflanagan]

This was on guitar. So it was one of my first gigs and was about to go on when I break a string which h also damages one of the frets making it sound like ass. So I quickly found a crappy spare guitar at the venue and started playing the song which was in standard before realising it was tuned to drop d, with no tuner pedal ormclip on...

 

[KickingBass]

I did half an opening song with really low volume. I guess I bumped the knob on my bass. The embarrassing part was that I was acting real cool on stage not knowing that I was probably completely inaudible. I've also raised my bass while playing and had my headstock whacked by the fan. In the same set I made the same mistake again.

 

[Slinger]

I was guesting with my old band at a big outdoor charity bash and went on for the second set. My lead vocal started the set and I gave the rhythm player the nod, asked him to hit an E7 to get the key, he did just that and I launched into our rock and roll medley perfectly in tune with that E7. Of course I'd had a brain-fart and it should have been a B7 I asked for... DOH! To this day I have no idea why I did that.

 

[delta7fred]

A few years ago I had a brain fart and completely forgot a song, I worked out that it was in A but never did get the chorus chords (Beatles - Can't buy me love so it's not a 12 bar). We had played it for about 2 years but I thought it was one we had just learned. That's my story and I am sticking to it. Neither the drummer nor guitarist noticed.

A few weeks ago we started set 1 song 1 and every time I hit a note on my E string it sounded dreadful. I concluded that I had tuned it to F so tweaked it up mid song and all was well apart from the stink eye I got from our guitarist. I have my tuner sat on top of my amp and my eyesight is not what it was.

 

[Dr Stankface]

Well, mine was recent. I have not done a gig with a 4 string in at least 10 years. I just picked up an American P and thought, "Yeah, I can do this." 3rd song of the first set at a wedding gig I had to play a tune that I relied on my B a lot. I started off the tune wrong and never recovered. That happened several times throughout the night. I had a lot of 'splanin to do.

 

[Odinbass]

Got so drunk that I couldn't play, handed my bass to a stranger that said he was a bassist and then left the venue.

 

[bassestkkm]

I was filling in for a guitarist for a gig I was supposed to play bass for. I learned the songs in the 24 hours leading up to the gig.
I had been playing so much that my hands cramped up on me during the solo for Hotel California. I kept playing but it was hurting so badly! Not to mention I couldn't bend properly into the notes I was trying to play. Safe to say that it was a painful experience. The audience was happy and it wasn't as awful as it could have been.

 

[micguy]

Played in a trio. Guitarist decided to try tuning to e flat. Didn't tell me. Really wide stage - we were really far apart and the monitors didn't help. Got through the first song before he figured out why things sounded off.

 

[colantalas]

Once turned my amp off to tune between songs (before I had a tuner pedal) and forgot to turn it back on before starting the next song. Whoops.

Another time I accidentally left my volume pedal half cocked for most of a set. Couldn't figure out why I was so quiet till after. Took the pedal off my board so it wouldn't happen again.

At my last gig, I made it to the end of a real fast, heavy one and then realized I had my delay on for an unknown period of time. Oops!

Not my screwup, but my band's: I was in another band that was breaking up, and we were playing our last gig. Both the guitarist AND the drummer brought us to a dead stop in the middle of one song EACH to fix something. Something went wrong with the guitarist's pedalboard, and the drummer's kick pedal beater came off (even though we were in a basement and his kit was not miced up and his bass drum probably wasn't audible anyway, he stopped the song). I was pretty mortified but at least it wasn't my fault either time and the band was over right after.

 

[Marc61]

Don't know about my worst but, a constant when I was young was I used to forget to plug my bass head into my cabinet. The DI was plugged in by the soundman. I heard bass, it sounded good so I let it be. In tribute these days, when I play in NYC I bring my Tech 21 VT Deluxe and let the soundman do his work.

 

[40Hz]

Not so much my fault since it was a miscommunication between me and the guy that booked me. I was 20 at the time. Showed up for a backing band jazz gig with a borrowed JB strung with flats and my B-15. Got set up and noticed nobody in the band was looking very happy for some reason. Turns out I was supposed to have been told to bring an upright. But the job sheet I got specifically said electric bass + amp. I didn't know what to do, so I just handed the sheet to the guy who seemed to be in charge. He frowned but said not to worry about it because "It'll probably be ok."

Gig started with us playing a warm-up standard number. Then the headliner came out, walked up to the microphone, spoke a few words to the audience and then headed towards his piano. But before he sat down, he stopped in front of me, smiled briefly, and then pulled the instrument cord out of my amp. The rest of the band was so surprised they stopped playing. In the silence he said softly - but with a voice that I could tell carried: "Thanks for dropping by. Good-night." Then he went and sat down at the piano and started to play.

I almost crawled off the stage in front of about 100 people. Talk about awkward.

Worst part was having to hang around for an hour or so until the band finally took a long break so I could get my amp off the stage and leave.

I did get paid by the booking agent since it wasn't my fault - but that had to be the hardest money I ever earned.