Jump to content

Embarrassing situations on stage, playing live?


Willyguitar

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Give me your juicy tales of woe on stage.

 

One of mine from last November:

 

I hadn't had much sleep the night before this gig (we had been to see Imelda May that evening), and during the gig, in the second half, as my energy was flagging, I forgot to check the very large reminder I had written on the set list to RETUNE my guitar back from drop D (ie. bottom E, dropped to D), for the next song which was in standard tuning. Now, this song, in standard tuning has a long intro, which is just little licks up and down the fingerboard, but without touching that bass string. So it was not until I was about 1 minute into the song, and played the strong, resounding open G chord, to mark a transition (bear in mind too, this is with a very strident guitar sound also with dollops of delay), that I realised that the bass E string was still dropped to D.

 

Oh {censored}. So a case of rapid readjustment ensued... but amazingly people in the audience I spoke to afterwards claimed not to have noticed. Presumably they were much more sophisticated than me, in noting that my interpretation of the piece was to play some kind of doosra inversion G7 of some kind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 65
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

Playing with a shorter than usual lead direct into an amp (it was a long time ago before effects became an obsession for guitarists).

Walking too far away from amp and unplugging self.

Being so busy with the playing that I did not notice until after the song finished.

 

Excuse? Buried in the drums and other guitars.

 

Must have looked funny but no one else noticed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

a few months ago, we got a big show in NYC. our first down in the city.

 

show was going fantastically well. we were hitting all out cues, nailing the difficult parts... and then I got greedy. Went for a 2 step bend in a solo and *SNAP* goes the high E. Since my guitar has a floating trem, there was really no recovering. quickly ran backstage to get the backup. plugged it in, tuned it up. when I went to tune it, I couldnt figure out why all the strings were tuned so sharp. But i put it back in tune and kept playing...

 

then my bassist came up to me, moments later, and yelled to me that there was a pick in the neck of the guitar :facepalm: so he ripped it out and instantly all my strings went flat again since I had tuned everything with the pick in there

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I fell off the back of a stage back in the early 80s. Fell about 4 feet. Landed on my back. My guitar made a cool sound (I was told later). I caught my breath and returned like nothing happened (my inner Keith Moon kicked in). The next day, I could hardly move. Bourbon and gravity always win. Did I learn anything? Yes, but over 10 years later. I guess there was a bit of a time delay. I have always been a late bloomer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I used to never ever change my strings (bass) and was at a gig ,1k peeps , full house ,Also live on the local radio , it was a big event . Well snapped the E right off , it must have been 3 years old or more . Didn't have a backup either . It was a learning experience that night .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I was playing in a band that was backing-up a singer/song-writer on live TV. CBS Daybreak on Sunday Morning. The very first song the singer strummed his acoustic guitar without realizing he had a pick woven between the stings. This happened at 7am Sunday morning so hopefully not a lot of people were awake.

One time during a gig I was singing when I lost a crown on my front tooth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I was playing bass in a 3-piece, and the guitarist was just winding up his epic slide solo. He dramatically tossed aside the slide and stepped forward to sing the chorus, but his guitar rig died at that exact moment. Fortunately I always have a RAT in line for events such as this, which I immediately deployed and began a drum/bass solo/dogfight with the drummer. The guitarist had managed to nail the power switch on his pedalboard with the slide, which was a million to one shot he never could have made if he was trying. So really it was only embarrassing for the guitarist- the drummer and I looked like total pros.

 

Except for the fact the song was in 5/4, and by the time the guitarist was back on line to finish the drummer and I had lapsed into 4/4 and we had to get back, but whatever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

We were about a minute into a song when my guitar dropped right off the strap button, and hit the stage. I picked it up pretty quickly, got it back on the strap, and continued playing, but it was out of tune. So, I improvised single notes, bending them in tune as best I could. Lesson learned...strap locks. By the way, that's known as a #3 mistake.

 

There are 3 types of mistakes. 1) Mistakes you make that you notice, but the band, and audience do not catch. 2) Mistakes you make that you, and the band notice, but the audience does not catch. 3) Mistakes you make that you, the band, and the audience all notice. I dread #3.

 

Whenever, I make a mistake, I try to convince myself it was a #1. I think it helps my recovery if I keep that mindset. But, when a #3 happens, you just know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I was in my first rock band and I was 18 or 19 if that. We were playing in a hotel in Quebec that also had a big bar. The stage was high and really narrow from front to back with just enough room for us to set up. I went to end a song early on in the first set by doing the Pete Townsend leap in the air and...flew face first off the front of the edge of the stage...:facepalm:.

 

I found myself laying face down on the side of the dance floor and jumped up like nothing happened...:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Nowadays I don't do drugs at all and don't drink ... but as a teenager, I smoked pot and hashish and got drunk a couple times...

 

So it happened on the night of that gig in the pic below (I was 17 years old). I had smoked quite a bit and was completely useless. Forgot the lyrics of the songs I was supposed to sing (strangely, I could remember the chords, though). The only time it ever happened so I still have a good record for playing sober. :)

 

 

HagstromImpala.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I was playing at a farm show a few years ago in this little venue tent. Did the sound check and got the all clear. Had my master/gain set just right in the tonal sweet spot. Part way through the first song I guess things where a bit loud for the audience and I was so into the show I didn't notice the sound guys signalling me to turn down a notch. One of the farm show reps ran up on stage behind me and decided he would save the day plus learn how to use an amp. I really don't know what he turned but he sure did kill the overall volume and everything else with it. What a thin sterile mess for the rest of the set. I guess the mistake was not having one of those lockout boxes (like you see on public thermostats) installed onto the front of my amp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 


There are 3 types of mistakes. 1) Mistakes you make that you notice, but the band, and audience do not catch. 2) Mistakes you make that you, and the band notice, but the audience does not catch. 3) Mistakes you make that you, the band, and the audience all notice. I dread #3.

 

 

 

Funny how the audience, and sometimes even the rest of the band doesn't notice mistakes... Lots of times I'll hit a wrong note or my guitar is out of tune, and I'm really self-conscious about it, but when I ask others about it, most of the time they didn't notice. A real blessing for me, since I make a lot of them....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

One time when our band was playing the other guitar player's 65 strat fell over face down. It pulled all the screws for the tuning pegs out and made the most horrendous bang/crash. He almost started crying. He did later get the guitar fixed but swore it was never the same.

 

WHile playing a really cramped college bar (we had to flip the pool table on its side to set up) the girls softball team came in after winning the state championship. Later one of the girls came up to me while I was playing a solo and grabbed me by the balls:eek: It would have been cool except my wife was sitting at a table in the front row. I heard about that one for a long time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

One time when our band was playing the other guitar player's 65 strat fell over face down. It pulled all the screws for the tuning pegs out and made the most horrendous bang/crash. He almost started crying. He did later get the guitar fixed but swore it was never the same.


WHile playing a really cramped college bar (we had to flip the pool table on its side to set up) the girls softball team came in after winning the state championship. Later one of the girls came up to me while I was playing a solo and grabbed me by the balls:eek: It would have been cool except my wife was sitting at a table in the front row. I heard about that one for a long time.

 

 

That reminds me of the joke of the two prostitutes having a conversation: 'One: You ever been picked up by the fuzz? Other: No, but I been swung around by the tits'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

My little band was playing a free show in a park when my amp cut out just as I got to the solo section of Stairway. . .there must have been 9 people watching.

Another time we were about halfway through our set when I realised our band was terrible. :facepalm:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I was once in a band that was supporting this singer who was trying to sound like a Disney channel singer. That was embarrassing, and we all had to quit because we never got paid. Ouch.

 

My current band is a power trio, and we play some loud, and sometimes quite fast, rock. Once we were somehow invited to a soul music festival. We were not well-received. That was a little embarrassing, too. To make it worse, some dude backstage accidentally stepped on the power strip connected to the bass amp, silencing the bass for a little bit. As you know, in a three-piece, that is death.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

My little band was playing a free show in a park when my amp cut out just as I got to the solo section of Stairway. . .there must have been 9 people watching.

Another time we were about halfway through our set when I realised our band was terrible.
:facepalm:

 

Haha. Reminds me of a festival I was at last summer. One of the bands that came on was some kind of ....core metal band. Once they started the entire crowd wandered of to the beer and food tents. Halfway through their second "song" a 3 year old child, clearly fascinated by the spectacle and without taking it's eyes off the band, walked slowly to the stage, clambered up the steps and stood right in front of the singer, staring up at him.

 

I don't think it was the reception they were hoping for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Not really on stage, but one of the bands I was in made some demo tapes and we gave them out to some local bars and clubs to see if we could get any interest.

 

One night, the singer, drummer and I were in the pub with some other friends when the owner decided to play one of our songs on the music system. The drummer, not realising it was us, turned to the owner and said "What's this {censored}? Can't you play any decent music?" :facepalm:

 

In hindsight, he was right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

A couple of us were doing a folk-rock mix in England back in the mid '70s, and got a pub gig -- but the owner introduced us as Country and Western for some reason. ??? We played OK, but it's not easy to cover the likes of Buffalo Springfield, Mamas and Papas, Barry Sadler, etc. and make it sound like C&W. Audience reception wasn't great... We'd had no clue that C&W was becoming so popular there, at the time...

 

-D44

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...