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Worst dive you’ve played at

#41
Hmm. In Chi in the 90's, the original Exit on Wells was a trip - all steampunk before that was a thing, black painted metal with locomotive gears on the bars, gratings on the floor, metal walls in places, and a re-bar construct over the stage that I hit my head on when I jumped up during soundcheck, landed flat on my back, hard-druggy crowd. Czar Bar, somebody's basement PA and no sound person, minimal lights, plastic cups, couldn't see so no idear re the crowd except who we brought in. Weeds, with women's shoes hanging from the whole ceiling, and about a 6'x6'x6" stage, blue collar city crowd inna yuppie 'hood so they were always hard-drinking cantankerous.
 
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#43
You guys have me beat for scary places to play but one party I played in the 70's had me concerned because we were playing in a barn on a college campus with a whole lot of people in the barn dancing and the floor was flexing up and down so much that my 2X15 Kustom amp was tapping me in the back as we were playing!
That got my attention real fast. I was waitng for the floor to collapse.
 
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#44
There were a bunch of joints in an unincorporated area referred to as No Man's Land outside Waco that were some of the nastiest, scariest places I ever played.

Short story many of these places had plumbing so bad that customers usually chose to use the outhouse.

Police, Fire and Sheriff's Departments even DPS did not go there only Texas Rangers and not very often. I'd been playing Texas Honky Tonks and Bars for 5 years and done a couple of tours so by this time I figured I had pretty much seen it all, the money was pretty good and I finally had my own band. These places were pretty rough but I knew how to stay out of trouble, mostly. Usually.

One night on break I checked in at the bar with the owner and a lady at the bar started to chat with me. I sat and chatted for a few minutes and had a drink. As I started to return to the bandstand I felt a pain in my back, the lady yelled and the owner pulled out a bat. I felt my back and my hand came back bloody, turned around and there is a guy standing there with a knife. I grabbed my bar stool and hit the knife guy, more than once. Luckily the stab wound was not deep and the bar stool survived.
 
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#46
We used to play a place a few miles away from just about anywhere. It was an old “historic “ tavern that had stood on that very spot for something like 100 years. As far as I could tell all that meant was that the septic system was old and or outdated because after about 8:00 on a Friday the toilets all flushed UP and continued to do so for the remainder of the weekend.

The electrical system was apparently in need of service as well. After we got done with tear down one weekend the place burned to the ground. I suspect it may have had something to do with the janky power outlets on stage.

They replaced it with a pole barn that had a bigger bar and new plumbing, but we only played there a few times after they rebuilt it.
 
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#48
The Sunset Grille in Annandale, VA (closed several years ago). This was a delightful biker bar that had a men's room the size if a cramped shower and you could not help bumping into the walls which we were covered in graffiti and wet toilet paper - really gross. My first time there I was unloading my car and the bouncer (a female biker chick) threw a customer through a plate glass window. I knew it was going to be an interesting gig.
 
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#51
Played a club twice with two different bands, about a year apart. Staff and patrons looked kinda rough, but they were nice enough to us. The room was run down and dirty, and all the furniture banged up. Looked like it was a nice sports bar sort of place, a few decades ago--and nothing had been maintained since then. Monitors on the wall, maybe two of them working. Ceiling tiles missing, wire runs zip tied whichever way. Paint peeling on the outside, a weatherbeaten outdoor deck with a pile of Adirondack chairs in the corner, a signboard with letters missing. Like a set from Blade Runner, maybe.

Carpeting on the stage was...er...stained and filthy. A bandmate took note. I told him it looked like they'd had a bukkake night contest up there...
 
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#52
Any time I ever stayed in a "club condo" for a gig, it was actually great. But the THOUGHT of all those band folks going through that condo kind of squicked me out. But I guess it's way better than thinking about what goes on in hotel rooms generally.
 
#53
Got a few. #1 was a bar near an industrial area back when folks got paid in cash on a Thursday so they would all go to the bar on the way home to spend their paychecks. The stage was set back into a wall which kept us out of harms way for the most part, but it was not uncommon to see a chair flying past the stage, sometimes with a guy still sitting on it. Lotsa fist fights/chick fights/general mayhem. The band never got hassled though. We played there for years off and on.
 
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#54
Playbyear said:
This quote from another thread has me thinking.

What is the worst dive you’ve played in ... (or several)?

For me it’s a clear winner. Some of us that played in a normal band, would do a fill in gig as a power trio. It payed the door and not very well because the doorman would let too many “regulars” in for free.

This was in rundown downtown in a section with dive bars. This one had live music. At one time some decent names played there.... but it had gone way downhill.

Some of the features were that beer was only served in cans (bottles are too dangerous in fights)
The “House special” was Jell-O shots.
A couple trash barrels were put out because the roof leaked, and for patrons to vomit in.
There was a coin-op Condom machine, right in the middle of the club, bolted to a support column.

When you set up and started playing there was one crowd. Mostly people hooking up for couple drinks and drugs and then heading out. Then the place simmerd down for a couple hours and the owners didn’t really care how much you played for a while.

The bar had a license to stay open one hour later than anyone else. So the big thing was the owner wanted you to play for that last hour non-stop. That’s when they made most of their money. The place would fill up with already well lubed patrons wanting a couple more and maybe some action.

That’s also when the action heated up. Lots of intoxicated patrons. Dirty dancing, people getting tossed out. Bad fights, (bloodbaths with certain patrons), it was a regular stop for the police.

I’m sure there’s lots worse though... I lead a shelterd life..:roflmao: Please share:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I forget the name of the place, but in order to set up, we first needed to find an outlet with a ground and then clear away the semen-stained mattress from the middle of the stage. Definitely not as bad as some of the stories you guys have, but pretty gross.
 
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#55
Man I didn't realize how I'd had it so good! Certainly nothing dangerous for me, but a couple dives.

Some bar north of Philly I can't remember, didn't have a stage per se, there was a small eating section that was a bit elevated. So the "stage" was nice and big, but it just had a bunch of wood columns around so no one could see you.

The Century in Philly, cool place actually, just older and small.

Only real decent dive bar story is The Fire in Philly, a legit place with a legit sound system. Like many places in Philly it's a converted row home, so the bar area in front is long and skinny. Then the stage area is to the back and left, and the stage is nice and the sound is killer. The story is actually pre-show. So all the bands show up and load in about 7-8 pm for a show that starts like 10 pm and we are hanging out. The regular bartenders were having their last shift, and all their regular friends were there hanging out one last time. Actually the bartenders were getting fired cause they drank booze with the customers, passed out free drinks and generally stole. So on this night, the bartenders were wild, drunk and pulling stuff off the walls. Then they all leave, and the bar is empty for our show. Which was actually really epic, a really good line up.
 
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#56
Just a smallish neighborhood club. Painted all black inside. There was a short stage and we brought PA and lights. Just rednecks looking to drink beer with some biker-types thrown in. Might have been drugs but I was an innocent and had no idea what was happening past the edge of the stage. Between sets, I'd go outside to the dirt and grass patch that was the parking lot and sit on the bumper of my car to wait for the next set.

I don't recall anything bad happening the two or three times I played there but I also remember much preferring the on-base Navy clubs we played; there was a far less dangerous vibe there.
 
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#57
The JAB - a now-defunct den of pestilence and debauchery with a regular cast of characters pulled from detective serials, third rate comic books, and the bar scene in Star Wars. No shortage of foul smelling men and women, and the women all too eager to display ravages of gravity and time.
That was three hard months, three nights a week.
 
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#58
`
JRA said:
i've played in some real :poop: -holes but the 'danger quotient' was never high enough to really be afraid, IIRC...just an inconvenience....mostly funny. but i've played many human zoos. great stuff! :laugh:
Click to expand...
No matter the sleaziness of the bar, or the drunken brawling of the patrons, bands are usually safe. Even crackheads know that after the fight they are going to need some music. We usually (well, it's not often) just play right thru the fight.
 
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