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Worst thing to happen during a gig

#61
I was threatened with a gun for flirting with the girl alone at the bar. Who was the girlfriend of the son of the owner of the Biker Bar. Luckily the bouncer baled me out and cooled him down.That same bouncer was skimming our door money by 30%. I got to MC a wet T Shirt contest! The only place I ever played where we
got asked to turn it up LOUDER!
We lasted 2 month's at that place and lived to tell about it.

First Gigs are a major mental breakdown.
Over practice, cause nerve's will take 20% of your memory the day of the gig. And with a battle of the bands, keep TRACK OF YOUR GEAR! Also make sure your not the band playing in the corner.As playing bass from a corner will wash out you sound. Bring extra cords, strings, (picks if you must), that little screwdriver, electrical tape. a flashlight, a LONG properly gaged extension cord with extra outlet's. Fuse's and batteries. Sheet Music,The Band Sign. The Flyer's to advertise your next gig. Arrange your transportation and parking. Did I leave anything out? And if I may suggest that you be BOLD and play your butt off !
 
#62
2005 - My then band broke up during a gig - between the first and second sets. The drummer and lead guitar/vocalist got into a spat and that was that. Rhythm guitar saw the writing on the wall and left too.

Guitarist and I tried to play the second set as a duet. He left to pee during a song and never came back.

I chose not to play a 40 minute bass solo.
 
#63
Didnt happen to me, but another band here in town.

They were playing the average bar gig. Dancing around and whatnot like always. All adults and healthy. Then, on the very last note, of the last song, of the last set, the guitar player fell over dead. Instant death. Im not super close to the guy so I never heard what the scientific reason for it, but he was a totally healthy average guy. And for some reason, as he strummed the last note, he just fell over dead.
 
#64
Wow, there are enough stories on this thread to make me feel really rather grateful/sheepish for saying the worst i've had is a busted A string about 10 seconds before a bass solo!!

Good thing my buddy playing bass before me hadn't left yet (he was only half a glass of whiskey from doing so, though...)
 
#65
dragon6 said:
I was threatened with a gun for flirting with the girl alone at the bar. Who was the girlfriend of the son of the owner of the Biker Bar. Luckily the bouncer baled me out and cooled him down.That same bouncer was skimming our door money by 30%. I got to MC a wet T Shirt contest! The only place I ever played where we
got asked to turn it up LOUDER!
We lasted 2 month's at that place and lived to tell about it.

First Gigs are a major mental breakdown.
Over practice, cause nerve's will take 20% of your memory the day of the gig. And with a battle of the bands, keep TRACK OF YOUR GEAR! Also make sure your not the band playing in the corner.As playing bass from a corner will wash out you sound. Bring extra cords, strings, (picks if you must), that little screwdriver, electrical tape. a flashlight, a LONG properly gaged extension cord with extra outlet's. Fuse's and batteries. Sheet Music,The Band Sign. The Flyer's to advertise your next gig. Arrange your transportation and parking. Did I leave anything out? And if I may suggest that you be BOLD and play your butt off !
Click to expand...

yeah like i said, my first gig was at band camp (this one time at band camp, anybody?) but it was relatively small (maybe 50 people). I am planning on bringing pretty much anything i can fit in my bass case (and still fit the bass in it.) And i will play my butt off, only cuz ya told me to :D Oh yeah, the bass amp is front and center, surrounded by 4 marshal half stacks, and a drum set. I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!
 
#66
aaronhutson said:
Didnt happen to me, but another band here in town.

They were playing the average bar gig. Dancing around and whatnot like always. All adults and healthy. Then, on the very last note, of the last song, of the last set, the guitar player fell over dead. Instant death. Im not super close to the guy so I never heard what the scientific reason for it, but he was a totally healthy average guy. And for some reason, as he strummed the last note, he just fell over dead.
Click to expand...

thats... creepy?(for lack of a better term)
 
#67
aaronhutson said:
Didnt happen to me, but another band here in town.

They were playing the average bar gig. Dancing around and whatnot like always. All adults and healthy. Then, on the very last note, of the last song, of the last set, the guitar player fell over dead. Instant death. Im not super close to the guy so I never heard what the scientific reason for it, but he was a totally healthy average guy. And for some reason, as he strummed the last note, he just fell over dead.
Click to expand...

Aneurysm maybe?
 
#68
I blew all 3 speakers of my epifani UL 310 cab simultaneously (not sure if it was some kind of power surge or if I was just working it too hard). At least it was during the last 10 seconds of the last song and the guitarist and drummer were making too much crescendo-noise for anyone to notice.

My dad had an outdoor gig where his $25,000 Gilchrist mandolin blew off the stage in a windstorm. got a small ding or two, but ultimately landed in the grass and wasn't too hurt.

Other than that, a power failure once at a jazz gig; I just had to dig in and play the upright a bit more aggresively.

All in all, pretty tame gig mishaps compared to some of the stories on here.
 
#69
FrednBass said:
Broke string of my bass. The G one. I played the rest of the show with the remaining 3, having to go up the neck for the notes i'd normaly play in the G string.
Click to expand...

Set up to play, grabbed my bass to tune right before the set started, couldn't get the E string to come up to pitch. The tuning peg had broken, and I didn't have my other bass with me. Had to play the whole first set with no low E string, transposing on the fly up an octave, while also singing, too. A friend drove back to her house, and grabbed her Jazz Bass (she was taking lessons), and I played the rest of the night from set 2 on with an unfamiliar Jazz that wasn't really set up properly (at least to my hands).

I used to love Jazz basses (owned 2 different ones over the years), but wouldn't give a plugged nickel for that one. My main bass is a Tobias Toby Deluxe, and I have a Lightwave Saber SL4 which is my current backup. I also have a Jay Turser Beatle Bass, and a Peavey Foundation that I've converted to fretless. Of course, I had none of them other than the Toby with me that night....

In 44 years of playing, that is the only time I've ever seen a tuning peg break....
 
#70
In college I hooked up with a local Theater for the Godspell Production. (yeh long time ago). I played bass with a four piece"Pit Band" to provide the music for the dancers and actors.At one point in the show I would create an "earthquake sound"for 30 seconds. I did it with a parametric eq. I would crank everything below 80hz to the max. Then at the right time I would crank this up. Turn my bass volume off. Brush my open strings then burst open the volume control for my earthquake.
Well this night with a packed house, I left the 12000hz knob on the EQ at max ! I sent a 100db feedback loop out that pinned everyones ears to the WALL!!!!. They literally jumped out of there seats. All eyes were on the band and they were looking at me!!
I quickly recovered and set up for the next song. I kept my head low the rest of the night. My ears were ringing for days.


(1976 Fretless P and a 1200 watt Bi Amp system w/ 2 10's and 2 JBL 15's) I was loud for my day!
 
#71
aaronhutson said:
Didnt happen to me, but another band here in town.

They were playing the average bar gig. Dancing around and whatnot like always. All adults and healthy. Then, on the very last note, of the last song, of the last set, the guitar player fell over dead. Instant death. Im not super close to the guy so I never heard what the scientific reason for it, but he was a totally healthy average guy. And for some reason, as he strummed the last note, he just fell over dead.
Click to expand...

Sorry to go OT but. . .I got sigged?! Yippee!!! *crosses off item on bucket list*
 
#72
bassfox said:
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.
Click to expand...

I've done two gigs in which a person at each dropped dead! :eek:


aaronhutson said:
Didnt happen to me, but another band here in town.

They were playing the average bar gig. Dancing around and whatnot like always. All adults and healthy. Then, on the very last note, of the last song, of the last set, the guitar player fell over dead. Instant death. Im not super close to the guy so I never heard what the scientific reason for it, but he was a totally healthy average guy. And for some reason, as he strummed the last note, he just fell over dead.
Click to expand...

Something similar happened to a musician I knew. He finished his New Year's Eve gig and just dropped dead.

Worst thing that ever happened to me was at a soundcheck for a wedding reception. I had my bass strapped to me and went to test the mic. ZAP!! The mic shocked the living hell out of me. I don't mean the uncomfortable little sting on the lips that everybody gets from time to time. I mean a major knock-me-to-the-floor burst of electricity! I think I actually blacked out for a split second. I was pretty shaken for a while after that! :eek:
 
#73
As a kid, it was a Saturday night ritual that following a job he had played Dad would bring pizza home for Mom and I. One night he came home looking as white as the proverbial ghost. The story just sort of burst out of him as we started cutting the pizza. He had played a wedding that night and the uncle of the bride dropped dead in her arms on the dance floor.

Talk about a way of bringing a party to complete halt.

iJazz
 
#79
Not a chance..... women and bass players first!! In all seriousness, it was only in five feet of water, so walked to shore with a bass above head. Nobody was hrt as it was early evening and nobody was pished yet :)
 

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