Worst thing to happen during a gig

[I<34080]

not a gear related problem, but we've sound checked and were sounding awesome, and then we go on and it was way too loud. Mix was all guitar and vocals. It's like the sound guy was sabotaging us. The sound didn't get good until the last band.

 

[bassinplace]

Didn't happen to me, but as a drummer, my bass player's string broke at a gig once. I've been playing music for 20 years and it's the only time I've seen a bass string break.

 

[bassman314]

Did you ever go back there? Or did you just drop this headliner and go somewhere else from then on out to gig?

This was a local bar scene. We've never worked with this particular band before and we haven't worked with them since.

The sad thing is, I don't think it was the band, per se. The band is a guy in his early 20's that writes all the music, and actually records all of it himself. Think Nirvana, in terms of the sound and temperment. He gets a couple of buddies to play bass and drums live.

He's quite socially awkward, except when he is playing. I believe he still lives at home, and it seemed pretty obvious that his parents were somewhat overbearing. His Dad was the one who allegedly talked to the bar management, and was told that the cupboard (or atleast the till) was bare.

 

[jobbermania]

I'm laughing here just remembering the story and trying to get it typed in. We played a party for a guy at the home where he was renting. Mid 1990s is as close as I can recall. Kind of out in the country even though it was in the far suburbs of Philadelphia. The weather was looking like it could thunderstorm so he said we could set up the band just inside the landlord's garage. We got all set up and were just sound checking when the landlord cruised in on his big Harley.
And yes he was a big big tatted out longhaired stereotype biker dude. Really big. We had moved his two snowmobiles further back into the garage a bit at the suggestion of the guy who was hosting the party. So the guy starts screaming and yelling at us to "get our **** the hell out of there. We broke down the gear and packed it up in record time and were outta there. Feeling lucky he didn't start smashing our stuff. He later claimed that we bent valves in the engine of one of the sleds that was in the middle of an engine rebuild.

 

[robbotbass]

I live in the very windy City of Casper Wyoming. We played a for a block party downtown and the wind was really starting to kick in. Well the wind was strong enough to blow the light rigging down and our front man was hit by about 80lbs of lights.

25 stitches, a concussion, and a lot of Fbombs!!!!! We didn't finish the show.

SOOOOOO check the light rigging.

 

[powmetalbassist]

Back in the day was getting ready to play a bush party, and I broke the A string on my bass. I was young and stupid, didn't have a backup, we were the only band, and the locaal music store had closed 10 minutes before my string broke. I had to play the set on the hosts old POS guitar (so I played rhythm guitar). Needless to say I learned my lesson and bring backup bass/strings/cords etc.

 

[deshi00]

drummer broke a snare drum head,
guitarist head blew up when it was only him playin in the middle of song
broken strings
my bridge broke
my straplock broke and bass fell
wireless stopped working correctly (was getting a loud hum)
vocals cut out for a song
outdoor gig, cymbals got blown over
anything and everything can and will go wrong haha

 

[Toastfuzz]

Get really really friendly with the other bands so that if your equipment breaks down, you may be able to borrow from the band before/after you.

Gonna get alot of thumbs down at this but its not always feasible to have 4 of everything going to any random gig. I've had gigs where I knew the other bands well enough from around town, that I called the bass player, proposed to him that we back each other up if either of our equipment fails, and then we both have an insurance policy. Helps to play in the same stupid drop tunings as the other local bands haha

 

[robbotbass]

drummer broke a snare drum head,
guitarist head blew up when it was only him playin in the middle of song
broken strings
my bridge broke
my straplock broke and bass fell
wireless stopped working correctly (was getting a loud hum)
vocals cut out for a song
outdoor gig, cymbals got blown over
anything and everything can and will go wrong haha

In one gig?

 

[bassfox]

Had a gig where guy had a massive heartache and died on the dance floor. I was the only one in the band that saw the guy go down and tried to get everyone to stop..but they just kept rocking out for another five minutes or so.

 

[balton4]

I'm laughing here just remembering the story and trying to get it typed in. We played a party for a guy at the home where he was renting. Mid 1990s is as close as I can recall. Kind of out in the country even though it was in the far suburbs of Philadelphia. The weather was looking like it could thunderstorm so he said we could set up the band just inside the landlord's garage. We got all set up and were just sound checking when the landlord cruised in on his big Harley.
And yes he was a big big tatted out longhaired stereotype biker dude. Really big. We had moved his two snowmobiles further back into the garage a bit at the suggestion of the guy who was hosting the party. So the guy starts screaming and yelling at us to "get our **** the hell out of there. We broke down the gear and packed it up in record time and were outta there. Feeling lucky he didn't start smashing our stuff. He later claimed that we bent valves in the engine of one of the sleds that was in the middle of an engine rebuild.

Fun! Did you ever talk to the guy who was hosting the party? Was the landlord pissed at him too or just you? I would have gone home and hid for a while

 

[balton4]

I live in the very windy City of Casper Wyoming. We played a for a block party downtown and the wind was really starting to kick in. Well the wind was strong enough to blow the light rigging down and our front man was hit by about 80lbs of lights.

25 stitches, a concussion, and a lot of Fbombs!!!!! We didn't finish the show.

SOOOOOO check the light rigging.

wow! our lighting situation is far away from the stage (but close enought for effect) so i dont need ot worry about that (thank god)

 

[shwashwa]

got back from break and the top (the front for all you non upright players) of my upright was caved in... expensive night for me...

 

[NortyFiner]

Not my gig, but a buddy's gig. One sentence: "You have the right to remain silent." His cut from the next few gigs went for bail money. Moral: when the crowd is drunk and disorderly, you would be wise to remain sober and not get involved.

 

[NortyFiner]

got back from break and the top (the front for all you non upright players) of my upright was caved in... expensive night for me...

Oh my...

I really, REALLY hope it wasn't one of those really old classic uprights. That would be a tragic loss. I mean, we EB players talk about "vintage" instruments from the 1960's; upright players talk about "vintage" from the 1860's! And a real antique upright will run you the price of a decent used car. Seriously, I hope it all came out OK in the end.

 

[Cosmeticplagues]

Earlier in the month, I joined a few friends to play three nights at their high school's annual variety shows. The first two nights went well, but disaster struck during our final performance. About 30 seconds into our first song, other performers and random stage crew members came pouring onto the stage and started dancing wildly. The drummer and I exchanged confused glances because neither of us knew what was going on. (It wasn't until after our set that we found out it was our idiot singer's idea. He could've warned us. haha.) We continued to play when suddenly, I felt a tug on my cable, heard my bass go silent, and watched a girl go sprawling through the air with the other end of my cable wrapped around her ankle. She ended her flight with a graceful faceplant onto the stage. I stood there and laughed for a few seconds before retrieving my cable and making sure she wasn't hurt too badly. I went to plug in my cable to find that the input to my amp was just gone. I looked down and found it around the severely bent end of my cable. I wrapped the cable up, shut off my amp, and set my bass down on the stage. I then kicked it aside and turned to see the drummer laughing hysterically. The singer or guitarist didn't seem to notice. I scurried about the stage doing this and that in an attempt to lend some comic relief to the situation. I ended up going to the guitarist and playing the chords as he strummed to end the song.

 

[Kryptos]

2009 Reggae Fest, Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica.

During the encore hit in the face with a beer bottle thrown from the 2nd deck of the stadium, 40+ stitches. While at the hospital getting put to rights my wallet and passport were stolen which seemed a fitting end to the evening.

 

[robd]

Told by police in riot gear that "tear gas doesnt do nice things to band equipment" and we should stop playing now if we didnt want to find out what.

 

[carl h.]

He later claimed that we bent valves in the engine of one of the sleds that was in the middle of an engine rebuild.

If the engine was an interference engine, with the heads on and the timing belt off, you may have really trashed his valves by moving it.

 

[guy n. cognito]

When I joined my last band, I only had 4 weeks to learn 45 songs. Half of those songs were sung by a female singer, and the other half by a male. When the gig starts, the female starts the first verse of the first song, stops singing, then runs off stage. Then we see her run out with her family. Turns out she tore a vocal cord.

So then I had to fake my way through about 20 songs I didn't know with no charts..