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Worst thing to happen during a gig
- Thread starter balton4
- Start date
- Dec 12, 2007
- 2,268
- 43
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Zon Guitars, Tsunami Cables, DR Strings, GK
played a wedding from the twilight zone...
let's see, the keyboard player was tanked and tripped but luckily caught himself on the cake. The drummer was pushed from behind while talking to the bride and his glass of red wine turned her dress into something from a horror movie. Someone kept screaming at us to play Johnny Cash ( Cash is cool, but these guys weren't up for it ). We were to be given a meal as part of the gig but they were out of plates so we had to snatch plates that were not being used. And lastly, a guest was threatening the singer and we narrowly avoided a brawl because the guest's underage daughter was talking to the singer.
It was so crazy.
Other memorable gigs include:
My vintage Ampeg SVT catching fire
A drunk hippie dancer knocking my basses off a stage and smashing one in the process
A set of risers collapsing
Getting hit from a flying heavy glass ashtray and nearly getting knocked out
Fighting with the door guy for stealing our money
Having a soundman put chorus on my bass because he liked it
etc...
I guess if you play long enough you'll have some crazy experiences. It's all good though if you survive them
let's see, the keyboard player was tanked and tripped but luckily caught himself on the cake. The drummer was pushed from behind while talking to the bride and his glass of red wine turned her dress into something from a horror movie. Someone kept screaming at us to play Johnny Cash ( Cash is cool, but these guys weren't up for it ). We were to be given a meal as part of the gig but they were out of plates so we had to snatch plates that were not being used. And lastly, a guest was threatening the singer and we narrowly avoided a brawl because the guest's underage daughter was talking to the singer.
It was so crazy.
Other memorable gigs include:
My vintage Ampeg SVT catching fire
A drunk hippie dancer knocking my basses off a stage and smashing one in the process
A set of risers collapsing
Getting hit from a flying heavy glass ashtray and nearly getting knocked out
Fighting with the door guy for stealing our money
Having a soundman put chorus on my bass because he liked it
etc...
I guess if you play long enough you'll have some crazy experiences. It's all good though if you survive them
sticks slipping our of drummer hands 
oh no! he has no spare sticks
please don't stop playing! ... aaw damit!
...
It happened during our first out of town gig
and it happened again last saturday opening for this awesome national band.
I just remembered the worst thing ever happened to us... drummer double pedal broke in a several pieces during our first gig in the most famous metal bar in the area
We had to wait like 20 minutes for another band's drummer to arrive so he could borrow us his pedals...
next monday we hired a new drummer.
oh no! he has no spare sticks
please don't stop playing! ... aaw damit!
...
It happened during our first out of town gig
and it happened again last saturday opening for this awesome national band.
I just remembered the worst thing ever happened to us... drummer double pedal broke in a several pieces during our first gig in the most famous metal bar in the area
We had to wait like 20 minutes for another band's drummer to arrive so he could borrow us his pedals...
next monday we hired a new drummer.
Darkonar, sounds like it's time to get your drummer spare sticks..... I guess I can understand it happening once, although unprofessional... but twice? I'd be pulling dude aside and politely saying "Get your act together man"
If you don't mind me asking, what type of insurance are you covered under? I was looking into Link Removed for my band to cover general liability/property damage- but if it's something I can keep under my home plan to cover all my equipment, that'd be great too!
It was 1995. I was traveling alot for my day gig and was getting pretty beat up. One Friday night, we have a gig at was pretty much our home bar and I was rushing to get there from out-of-state. I was really looking forward to playing and blowing off steam. I get there just in time, get setup and play the first set without a hitch. Take a break and start the second set. We're an R&B band complete with horn section and the dance floor fills. We are playing Lido Shuffle and I'm digging in pretty hard. All of a sudden, my left forearm seizes and I can't move my fingers on the fretboard. I panic and my right forearm seizes. I'm doing everything I can to play quarter notes and keep some form of groove. I tell the guitar player that I need a pick and he looked at me as if he didn't know me. I couldn't even make the pick work. We get to the end of the song and I try to play the next one and it was absolutely not working. My hands were clamped shut and I couldn't even extend my fingers. I had to tell everyone that we have to stop because I was physically unable to play.
It was a combination of stress and not warming up. When you're young you can feel indestructible. Fortunately, a friend of mine was there and she is a massage therapist. She iced me down and rubbed some life into my completely useless arms. Half an hour later, we are playing again but my chops were gone and it was unbelieveably painful. It took me three years to recover from the injury. I don't gig as much as I used to but I still feel that twinge every now and then and I still have to force down the panic.
It was a combination of stress and not warming up. When you're young you can feel indestructible. Fortunately, a friend of mine was there and she is a massage therapist. She iced me down and rubbed some life into my completely useless arms. Half an hour later, we are playing again but my chops were gone and it was unbelieveably painful. It took me three years to recover from the injury. I don't gig as much as I used to but I still feel that twinge every now and then and I still have to force down the panic.
A friends band, fairly popular metal band locally, once played a dive and the place was tiney, hot, sweaty, typical dive. Anyway mid set the drummer blew a loud fart and cleared the bar. I wasn't there, but laughed my ass off when I heard about that.
Where do I start?
Stumbled down the stairs of a 5' tall stage, out an exit door that locked behind me, while I was playing. Got up, couldn't get back in so I kept playing.
Had a light stand with 4 par 64 pars come down on a table in a packed bar. Lucky no one was hurt.
Had the input jack fall out of my old Daion bass. Replacement jack was too big and had to gaffer tape the jack to the bass. Lasted to the end of the night.
Some girl was looking at our singer. Boyfriend took exception. Tried to beat up singer. Complete brawl broke out.
Blown speaker on the road in the middle of nowhere. Had to run direct and thru monitors for a week.
First gig of the first day of tour got fired after 20 minutes. That was Monday. Found out the bar owner was going to 3 nights a week the next weekend and just wanted to start early.
As a hard rock top 40 band, we got booked in a country bar. Managed to get through the first night by just making crap up on stage. Next day we hit the hotel room and put together as much stuff as we could. Got thru the week and they loved us.
Made the mistake of shoving a stage jumper aside, who was screaming into my mic, to do my harmony. He was down on the dance floor trying to hit my in the face with my mic stand. Bouncer just shrugged his shoulders because he was the biggest drug dealer in town. I wound up having to buy the guy a beer and apologize because the bouncer was on HIS side.
Really drunk native chick swearing at us, spitting into the kick drum.
Different bar, another really drunk native chick wouldn't leave me alone and literally chased me around the bar. Good thing I was wireless.
More than once, floor set up and a drunk falls over backwards into the drumset resulting in complete devastation.
Found a bloody switchblade behind a jukebox.
Had a fight on stage with the guitar player. Asked me to check my tuning, so I did. Not sure why he lost it and jumped me. End of band.
Got fired on stage because the singer thought I was screaming. It was the drummer.
Different band I got fired for singing off key. It was the keyboard player.
Had the flu on the road and was puking in a bucket behind the speakers. That was a rough week.
I had a sinus infection one New Year Eve. Doctor had put me on a type of pennicillin. Turned out I was alergic. I broke out in hives. I swelled up like a tomato all over my body. Even my eyes were swollen shut. Had a fever, itched all over... that was worse than the flu. I can't believe I got through that gig.
Fat old mean drunk came up and extended middle finger at our female singer. She was thrown off for a song or two and almost in tears. Then the guy came back and was dancing... I thought our drummer was going to kill him.
There's probably more, but that's all I can think of for now. The Ivanhoe is coming up in a couple of weeks... That's always good for another story. Last time, this drunk broad scowls, fingers us, then shows us her boobs.
Never a dull moment.
Stumbled down the stairs of a 5' tall stage, out an exit door that locked behind me, while I was playing. Got up, couldn't get back in so I kept playing.
Had a light stand with 4 par 64 pars come down on a table in a packed bar. Lucky no one was hurt.
Had the input jack fall out of my old Daion bass. Replacement jack was too big and had to gaffer tape the jack to the bass. Lasted to the end of the night.
Some girl was looking at our singer. Boyfriend took exception. Tried to beat up singer. Complete brawl broke out.
Blown speaker on the road in the middle of nowhere. Had to run direct and thru monitors for a week.
First gig of the first day of tour got fired after 20 minutes. That was Monday. Found out the bar owner was going to 3 nights a week the next weekend and just wanted to start early.
As a hard rock top 40 band, we got booked in a country bar. Managed to get through the first night by just making crap up on stage. Next day we hit the hotel room and put together as much stuff as we could. Got thru the week and they loved us.
Made the mistake of shoving a stage jumper aside, who was screaming into my mic, to do my harmony. He was down on the dance floor trying to hit my in the face with my mic stand. Bouncer just shrugged his shoulders because he was the biggest drug dealer in town. I wound up having to buy the guy a beer and apologize because the bouncer was on HIS side.
Really drunk native chick swearing at us, spitting into the kick drum.
Different bar, another really drunk native chick wouldn't leave me alone and literally chased me around the bar. Good thing I was wireless.
More than once, floor set up and a drunk falls over backwards into the drumset resulting in complete devastation.
Found a bloody switchblade behind a jukebox.
Had a fight on stage with the guitar player. Asked me to check my tuning, so I did. Not sure why he lost it and jumped me. End of band.
Got fired on stage because the singer thought I was screaming. It was the drummer.
Different band I got fired for singing off key. It was the keyboard player.
Had the flu on the road and was puking in a bucket behind the speakers. That was a rough week.
I had a sinus infection one New Year Eve. Doctor had put me on a type of pennicillin. Turned out I was alergic. I broke out in hives. I swelled up like a tomato all over my body. Even my eyes were swollen shut. Had a fever, itched all over... that was worse than the flu. I can't believe I got through that gig.
Fat old mean drunk came up and extended middle finger at our female singer. She was thrown off for a song or two and almost in tears. Then the guy came back and was dancing... I thought our drummer was going to kill him.
There's probably more, but that's all I can think of for now. The Ivanhoe is coming up in a couple of weeks... That's always good for another story. Last time, this drunk broad scowls, fingers us, then shows us her boobs.
Never a dull moment.
I once needed a back up bass for alternate tuning, so my singer said hey I will run home and grab mine. Cool, he came back with it. Went to the bars basement to tune it and play it for a while. Didnt know I got locked in the basement for 30 mins, everyone is looking for me. It was not until a keg got kicked at the bar before they came to change the keg and I was liberated for my basement prison.
Had one show, our singer was very ill, he showed up made about five songs into the set then he need to run off the stage and use the facility. We never finished the set. But we laughed about it for years...
Had one show, our singer was very ill, he showed up made about five songs into the set then he need to run off the stage and use the facility. We never finished the set. But we laughed about it for years...
bassman314
I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process...
For awhile, my bandmates lived outside of Sacramento, which is about 2 hours from where I live.
We were scheduled to play at a 4th of July festival, so my then GF (now fiance) and I drove up the morning of July 3, so we could rehearse.
That morning, I was awoken by severe abdominal pain at about 4:30 AM. It never subsided, but based on location, I thought it was just really bad gas or intestinal discomfort from something I had ate.
So we rehearsed all day. The pain came and went, and I would take breaks.
Finally around 9ish (PM), it was decided that I would go to the hospital.
Appendicitis. I had surgery at 12 AM, and was out of the hospital at 11 AM. I asked my surgeon about playing, and he said that if I don't carry the heavy stuff, I can do it.
We played at 3 PM. I don't remember most of it, as Vicodin was my friend those first few days.
We were scheduled to play at a 4th of July festival, so my then GF (now fiance) and I drove up the morning of July 3, so we could rehearse.
That morning, I was awoken by severe abdominal pain at about 4:30 AM. It never subsided, but based on location, I thought it was just really bad gas or intestinal discomfort from something I had ate.
So we rehearsed all day. The pain came and went, and I would take breaks.
Finally around 9ish (PM), it was decided that I would go to the hospital.
Appendicitis. I had surgery at 12 AM, and was out of the hospital at 11 AM. I asked my surgeon about playing, and he said that if I don't carry the heavy stuff, I can do it.
We played at 3 PM. I don't remember most of it, as Vicodin was my friend those first few days.
Didn't happen to me, but happened to my father. 3 hours before an important gig, we decide to go swimming. He comes out of the water and something isn't right. He couldn't hear a thing! Water had got into both ears. Panic ensues. I call some helpline, which was a waste of time, they had no useful advice. He could sense vibrations and got through the gig.
When he was young, he got drunk before a gig and fell off the wall of a medieval castle. He got up and played through a complex progressive rock set, while his head was bleeding pretty bad. Next morning he had absolutely no memory of anything that happened after the fall. Playing through an entire gig with no memory of it, must have been creepy.
As for myself, I've been pretty lucky so far. All my gigs have gone without catastrophic errors, just some feedback trouble and a few ****ed up endings.
When he was young, he got drunk before a gig and fell off the wall of a medieval castle. He got up and played through a complex progressive rock set, while his head was bleeding pretty bad. Next morning he had absolutely no memory of anything that happened after the fall. Playing through an entire gig with no memory of it, must have been creepy.
As for myself, I've been pretty lucky so far. All my gigs have gone without catastrophic errors, just some feedback trouble and a few ****ed up endings.
This is not my story, it's Justin Meldal-Johnsen's. It's been shared before on TB, but I think it's worth a repost.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f194/ask-jmj-question-thread-412647/index16.html#post5463565
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f194/ask-jmj-question-thread-412647/index16.html#post5463565
jmjbassplayer said:I may indeed be with Beck this summer at T in the Park...it was offered to us, we'll see if it happens.
So YOU were at the SECC in Glasgow for Vultures, eh?
You were one of the few that witnessed the debacle surrounding a rather amusing tour story. Settle in everybody, and get close:
So in this new theater facility, there are (to my recollection) a main floor and two balconies. We were very wild and energetic at this point on the tour, flexing with our eleven piece band and wanting to entertain and destroy simultaneously. Anyway, we start the show, and notice a large group of people front and center just sort of sitting there with arms folded, mildly interested, some smiling, some aloof. They seemed somewhat pleased to watch the show, but as the show went on, they just sat, arms folded, bobbing heads, but otherwise strangely sedate..."oh GOD, VIP's", I thought. My ire grew as I looked at this group, about three rows deep, that were only mildly participating, whereas the entire rest of the venue was up on their feet dancing by about 2/3 of the way through the show. I could see Beck was thinking the same thing as I, and the time had come to challenge these "too-cool-for-school" VIP's. So at the drop of a hat, Beck jumps off the stage, and stands on the arms of one of their chairs, gyrating wildly and screaming at them to "come ON, y'all!!! get the f*#$ up and MOOOOVE!!" or some such histrionic. At that point, I see Beck get grabbed and put into a mild headlock by a big muscled guy who was smiling broadly, so I jump off the stage as a wild melee breaks out around him. My guitar tech, several band members, our stage manager, all jump into the fray. (This was during "Devil's Haircut", and the drummer and keyboard player continued holding down the song - "ding...ding ding ding, ding...ding ding ding...") Some of the audience members I notice are just still sitting there smiling, as what is almost a tiny riot is going on around them! Shortly, Andy Wolf, our main guitar tech, extracts Beck and throws him back onto the stage, and we segue into the final ending.
Well afterwards, we were chilling backstage, exhausted, and talking about the gig. Some of us including myself went on to London on one bus, still in a mystery about a very strange scene at the gig. Meanwhile, still back stage, our drummer, Victor Indrizzo, walks up to Beck, the horn section, and a couple of other players. He had just been talking to two of his friends who were locals. (He has this hilarious unfazed, deadpan demeanor with cigarette hanging impossibly from the corner of his mouth, kind of like a skinny Bun E. Carlos). He says to them..."Hey guys. I just talked to my friends, and they told me what was up with that audience".
"Yeah? What was that all about?" they ask.
...
"Those people in the front?" Victor says...
"Um...
That was a section dedicated to handicapped people".
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!
Those guys sprung it on me the next evening at Nobu in London, where we were having a nice birthday dinner for me. So they enjoyed the hell out of seeing the rest of us all crumple to the floor in horror, and eventually terror, then finally some humor, and we didn't stop talking about it for a couple of days.
I will also tell you, now that you know the punch line, that as I was amongst this group of people trying to hold fast and "rescue" our singer, that a couple of the people were, in retrospect, definitely behaving in a mentally ******** fashion; hopefully that doesn't come across crass. But truly: one guy in particular was laughing hysterically while moaning with wide open, wild-looking eyes. But I didn't put two-and-two together until the bomb was dropped on me.
It became thereafter a little bit of tour legend that has since spread from our band to others via players, agents, managers, crew and tour managers, just the same way that other stories from within the fraternity come our way.
Insane...and classic. There you go.
JMJ
Not DURING the set but when unloading our stuff from the stage for the next group, guitarist tripped, fell down a few stairs and broke his foot...we still make fun of him for it. And WE, the bassist are the dumb/uncoordinated ones? I THINK NOT.
I was playing a duo gig for my girlfriend's birthday in the local pub where she worked as a barmaid. Anyway, the deal was free drink, free food, put the hat round and a token gesture from the bar as payment.
By the end of the first set, my duo partner Stewart and I have been ripping the arse out of the free drink situation, so we're both a bit worse for wear. My girlfriend came over to us with yet ANOTHER round of drinks (Guinness, as I recall), and pointed us in the direction of the free food-which was a home-made (and absolutely delicious) curry.
I've ploughed straight into the pot of curry and managed to squeeze about 3 bowls of it down my throat before we get back on stage to do the second set (I guess the reasoning behind this is that, if you're going to get paid in food and drink, then you're going to get paid as much as you can...)
Well, back on stage and the second set is a bit more lively than the first set. Around about the second song in, we start jumping up and down a bit-and I puke up a large amount of curry and Guinness all over myself and the bass guitar.
We got paid ok in the end, but my shirt was a write-off.
By the end of the first set, my duo partner Stewart and I have been ripping the arse out of the free drink situation, so we're both a bit worse for wear. My girlfriend came over to us with yet ANOTHER round of drinks (Guinness, as I recall), and pointed us in the direction of the free food-which was a home-made (and absolutely delicious) curry.
I've ploughed straight into the pot of curry and managed to squeeze about 3 bowls of it down my throat before we get back on stage to do the second set (I guess the reasoning behind this is that, if you're going to get paid in food and drink, then you're going to get paid as much as you can...)
Well, back on stage and the second set is a bit more lively than the first set. Around about the second song in, we start jumping up and down a bit-and I puke up a large amount of curry and Guinness all over myself and the bass guitar.
We got paid ok in the end, but my shirt was a write-off.
Was playing in a southern rock cover band in 2000. Loading in at noon for set up and sound check. I suspected that there might be trouble when the bar t shirt read, "I drank at The Neighborhood Bar and I didn't get shot or stabbed!" Strike One!
As I made my second trip in, a drunk guy on a bar stool demanded a beer. When the woman behind the bar wasn't moving quick enough for his liking, he felt compelled to add," Pick it up, B!t*h!" This huge guy sitting next to him got up quietly from his bar stool, picked the guy up off of the bar stool, and slammed him to the concrete floor. He sat back down saying,"some people have no manners." They guy basically laid there and bled for a bit before climbing his way back on to the bar stool. Yep, his beer was sitting there" Strike Two!
That night during the third set, two monkeys got in to a massive brawl, crashing into our main stack closest to me. Fortunately I saw the train wreck developing, but as I ran across the stage, knocked my pre-gibson Tobias Classic 5 in to something, taking a nice chunk out of it." Our drummer swore that I was going to go down and beat the guy to death with a mike stand. Strike Three.
Who is the dumba$$ that takes a 3,500.00 bass to a biker bar gig? Um, that would be me.
The next day, I went down to the music store and bought a brand spankin' new Fender Jazz MIM for the sketchy bars. Bring it !
As I made my second trip in, a drunk guy on a bar stool demanded a beer. When the woman behind the bar wasn't moving quick enough for his liking, he felt compelled to add," Pick it up, B!t*h!" This huge guy sitting next to him got up quietly from his bar stool, picked the guy up off of the bar stool, and slammed him to the concrete floor. He sat back down saying,"some people have no manners." They guy basically laid there and bled for a bit before climbing his way back on to the bar stool. Yep, his beer was sitting there" Strike Two!
That night during the third set, two monkeys got in to a massive brawl, crashing into our main stack closest to me. Fortunately I saw the train wreck developing, but as I ran across the stage, knocked my pre-gibson Tobias Classic 5 in to something, taking a nice chunk out of it." Our drummer swore that I was going to go down and beat the guy to death with a mike stand. Strike Three.
Who is the dumba$$ that takes a 3,500.00 bass to a biker bar gig? Um, that would be me.
The next day, I went down to the music store and bought a brand spankin' new Fender Jazz MIM for the sketchy bars. Bring it !
The first show I ever played with the first band I ever joined, the power went out in the middle of the very first song we were playing at the bar.
Fast forward 2 years, my first show with my second band the power goes out in the middle of the first song AGAIN.
I was waiting for it to happen with my third band but thankfully I broke the curse =P
Fast forward 2 years, my first show with my second band the power goes out in the middle of the first song AGAIN.
I was waiting for it to happen with my third band but thankfully I broke the curse =P
NO win, I am lucky to have survived. All of those things happened in what is known as an "unincorporated area" where the cops and sheriffs department refused to go so things were pretty crazy. I guess you have never played any HonkyTonks or bars over in the wrong part of town. Those are things not seen in your suburban yuppie theme biker wannabe bars.
