WORST gig ever....... your stories

[tinker925]

OK... my WORST gig experience ever....

 

Playing a corporate Employee Appreciation event for a band member... crazy amount of work - bringing PA, set up... then we start to play before 100-200 employees who were promised Beer & BBQ .... only to be served cold pizza and 7-up (no alchohol allowed)... they had just finished working all day... it was the day before a three day Holiday for them and the IDIOT employer spent half the time using our PA, but even worse he held their BONUS CHECK RANSOM until after we finished playing!!!!!

 

These poor people wanted their BBQ, wanted their bonus $$$, were tired and wanted to go home! That was our LAST FREE GIG, unless its for a charity!

[Damon Holland]

played at a little dive bar. Decent enough place...I mean their all dives right?

 

Anyway...they had a little PA but no one to run sound. So the cook comes out and messes with a few knobs and off we go.

 

It was HORRIBLE! We were completely unfamiliar with the equipment they had and didn't have a clue as to how to fix it.

 

So the show must go on. We played. Everyone thought we sucked...lol

 

Oddly enough we played a total improv blues jam and the room full of 20-30 somethings came alive. For some reason they did not dig the buzz band covers we were doing.

 

After the first few bars of the first song I was ready for it to be over!

 

Only other bad show that stands out was the time we were booked at a country bar by a start up agent....that was tough too.

 

 

TJ

[chevybusa]

LOL I've had quite a few bad gigs, but I think this has to be the worst...sorry it's such a long post but a little background is in order...

 

About 10 years ago I met a drummer in one of my college courses and we hit it off pretty well, he seemed like a cool dude with his head on straight and we had the same tastes and goals in music (so I thought, I soon found out he was completely bull{censored}ting me on both accounts).

 

Anyways he knew a guitarist and singer and wanted to get paid playing in a cover band, as did I at the time, so even though I was playing guitar back then I had no problem playing bass for the band cuz I just wanted to make some money.

 

So I hung out with the all 3 of them a few times, and we got along really well and all that...Then out of the clear blue the drummer called me and told me the singer had gotten us a gig later on in the week.

 

By this point I had heard each guy on their instruments individually but never as a group...The singer gave me a list of 40 or so classic rock tunes to learn for the gig. Since it was such short notice I didn't really care that none of us had any input on the set list.

 

Anyways as I said I had heard them all play individually and they were all pretty decent so I wasn't really sweating the fact that we didn't get to rehearse as a band before the gig, I had my parts down pretty good so I figured it'd just be like filling in with them.

 

Holy {censored} I could not have been more wrong. It turned out to be the most epically cluster{censored}ed trainwreck I have ever been a part of musically. Just to give you an idea of how it started, the singer brought an old school PEAVEY BANDIT 112 TO SING THROUGH instead of his PA (I found out later he had hocked it for drug money earlier that day).

 

That by itself would have been bad enough but it got worse. Much worse!!! First of all they could not agree on the order of the set list, they kept wanting to each do a different song next and would argue for 2 minutes or more after every {censored}ing song...the singer kept forgetting lyrics and would just stare blankly for entire verses and choruses. Both the guitarist and the drummer would go into the wrong parts (or parts from different songs altogether) in almost every song and both were rushing unbelievably, it seriously sounded as if they were TRYING to play out of sync.

 

Within short order the guitar player had gotten WASTED, so much so to the point that he would literally just grab a note and bend it and hold it with an anguished look on his face instead of playing the song...then he started knocking the singer away from the mic so he could drunkenly yell the lyrics...

 

I couldn't believe we actually got payed that night. I was mortified. I hated to leave them after that cuz they were actually pretty cool to hang with when they weren't playing music but I just couldn't be a part of that.

[Lee Knight]

I played a gig in Reno at a very large rock club. Like 1500 large. This was maybe 1985 and our style was short haired, skinny ties, etc. We were set to open for the mystery band. Soft White Underbelly. Otherwise known as Blue Oyster Cult.

 

Now... a place like Reno in the 80's. The people that lived there and might know that Soft White blah blah was actually BOC, they're the types that ride Harleys, play pool, cook meth, and live in a trailer.

 

They don't like skinny ties. We were called... uh-hem... Four Eyes. You get the picture. I'm not exaggerating when I say 1500 people.

 

Before we'd even hit a note, based on our appearance, the whole place flipped us off. Everyone! During our 45 minute that felt like 2 week set, they'd take turns walking up to the stage and cupping their mouths and shouting, "You suck. You guys are fags. Blow me queer!"

 

It was great. BOC were really good by the way.

[ChordGirl]

Where to start? There have been so many...

 

Two gigs bring particularly horrible flashbacks: One was a solo gig playing to stopped traffic in front of a coffee shop. (Yes, it was a paid gig.) Another was playing on the 'patio' in back of a smokehouse, right next to two huge smokers putting off so much smoke that you could barely breathe. The restaurant inside was packed, and the only way customers could even get to the outside patio was to walk all the way around the building, where they had set up a porta-potty for the customers to use. Then, they had to pay a cover to sit in the smoke. Literally, two people came back there and sat for about 20 minutes. Other than that, we played to the dishwashers taking a smoke break and the bartender. The funny thing is, this restaurant that has received multiple accolades from national food magazines--but they sure didn't have their {censored} together as a music venue.

[jeff42]

we are a pop/ dance rock band and we played a gig at a country bar... a nice sized place too.

At 10pm there were about 10 people there... at midnight there were about 15 and at 2am there were about 7 people. I guess they kinda liked us and we did get paid but damn was it boring.

[serolF]

:snax:These are great.

[Dr.Picklebottom]

my freshman year in college i was playing with some people id met at the beginning of the year. i played guitar and harmonica.

 

a few days before one of our first show i had a HUGE cold sore outbreak. my mouth looked like a jellyfish had thrown up and died on my face.

 

everytime i went to play the harmonica a bunch of cold sores would pop and it felt like the dead jellyfish on my face had just come back to life, stung the bejesus out of me, and then died again. so as soon as the harmonica made an audible sound through the mic it was seemlessly replaced with me screaming in pain.

 

everyone was grossed out and they never asked me back but i dont care- i drank out of all their beers before i left.

 

[Dancebass]

I use to play in a very heavy doom/sludge type metal band. We toured a lot and had several crap gigs. We were small but had a decent little indie record deal, we did good in certain towns but we always tried to break new places.

 

Anyway, one night we had a show at a pretty well known rock club in South Carolina. We were suppose to play the "small room" yet they changed that on us when we got there. They didn't have the PA set up for the 100 capacity room so they told us we could play the 2500 capacity room. That was nice seeing that SLAYER played there the night before and we drew about 70 people!!

 

Needless to say it was a little silly playing to 70 people in a giganto room so we just got drunk with everyone before we played and had a good time. I drank a little too much and passed out during the last song. I woke up flat on my back on the stage, feeding back like a mother f*cker! Some guy hits me and starts to pull me off the stage by my shoulder. I look over and it's a firefighter in full uniform, helmet and mask down and all. He's yelling at me that the club is on fire and I need to get out NOW!!

 

Well, I still had all my gear on stage and the place was starting to fill up with thick black smoke. Apparently someone had parked too close to the venue and their car engine erupted into flames and caught the roof of the building on fire!! The rest of my guys were running out the door with their gear! I had to fight the firefighters to at least grab my head and then I was thrown out. I lost a couple of 4x12's.

[vanlatte]

I use to play in a very heavy doom/sludge type metal band. We toured a lot and had several crap gigs. We were small but had a decent little indie record deal, we did good in certain towns but we always tried to break new places. Anyway, one night we had a show at a pretty well known rock club in South Carolina. We were suppose to play the "small room" yet they changed that on us when we got there. They didn't have the PA set up for the 100 capacity room so they told us we could play the 2500 capacity room. That was nice seeing that SLAYER played there the night before and we drew about 70 people!! Needless to say it was a little silly playing to 70 people in a giganto room so we just got drunk with everyone before we played and had a good time. I drank a little too much and passed out during the last song. I woke up flat on my back on the stage, feeding back like a mother f*cker! Some guy hits me and starts to pull me off the stage by my shoulder. I look over and it's a firefighter in full uniform, helmet and mask down and all. He's yelling at me that the club is on fire and I need to get out NOW!! Well, I still had all my gear on stage and the place was starting to fill up with thick black smoke. Apparently someone had parked too close to the venue and their car engine erupted into flames and caught the roof of the building on fire!! The rest of my guys were running out the door with their gear! I had to fight the firefighters to at least grab my head and then I was thrown out. I lost a couple of 4x12's.

 

 

Good Lord, you win.

 

[Lee Knight]

I use to play in a very heavy doom/sludge type metal band. We toured a lot and had several crap gigs. We were small but had a decent little indie record deal, we did good in certain towns but we always tried to break new places. Anyway, one night we had a show at a pretty well known rock club in South Carolina. We were suppose to play the "small room" yet they changed that on us when we got there. They didn't have the PA set up for the 100 capacity room so they told us we could play the 2500 capacity room. That was nice seeing that SLAYER played there the night before and we drew about 70 people!! Needless to say it was a little silly playing to 70 people in a giganto room so we just got drunk with everyone before we played and had a good time. I drank a little too much and passed out during the last song. I woke up flat on my back on the stage, feeding back like a mother f*cker! Some guy hits me and starts to pull me off the stage by my shoulder. I look over and it's a firefighter in full uniform, helmet and mask down and all. He's yelling at me that the club is on fire and I need to get out NOW!! Well, I still had all my gear on stage and the place was starting to fill up with thick black smoke. Apparently someone had parked too close to the venue and their car engine erupted into flames and caught the roof of the building on fire!! The rest of my guys were running out the door with their gear! I had to fight the firefighters to at least grab my head and then I was thrown out. I lost a couple of 4x12's.

 

 

^ That one wins! ^

 

I have to admit, I've never been woken up by a firefighter onstage and told to evacuate.

[ChordGirl]

This thread RAWKS.

[Stringfinger74]

My worst and first gig lasted only 1 song.

Singer/songwriter guy was one of those One-name-only people that you meet where everyone is telling you how this-guy-is-the-next-Pavement-and-you-have-to-meet-him-and-you-have-to-play-with-him-cause-hes-so-creative. So I say sure.

 

So we meet, and he's certainly brilliant, probably crazy. Definitely funny and with a wicked wit. So, by the end of the night, the room is thick with...um...possibility. Naturally, feeling no inhibitions and mucho confidence, I agree to back him up "something improv and melodic" for his gig in 2 nights, but no rehearsal, he says. Sure -we both liked improv, and had already decided the minor pentatonic was our fave key, so what can go wrong, I think to myself.

 

He chased away a packed coffeehouse crowd of 75. I should've known he'd be one of those outsider singer/songwriters that HATES melody, that HATES tuning his guitar. .. the first song featured him hammering on his horribly "tuned" guitar and SCREAMING just one word over and over: "WAR-WAR-WAR-WARRRRRRR!!!"

 

For the first few minutes I was stunned. I tried to keep smiling, not let on how I was feeling... I mean maybe this was Art! Maybe he knew something I didn't- - - - -

 

To this day, I still don't know what the f*ck was going on, cause I just stood up, nodded my head to the banshee-wailing-next-Pavement-Guy, said sorry to the stunned venue owner, and I, quite literally, ran away.

[BlueStrat]

I don't really want to relive it, because it truly sucked, but it involved our rock band getting booked into a country bar, drunk rednecks, a police force on strike, and a fire extinguisher.

[Sir Don]

Mine was many years ago in a hotel just on the outskirts of Adelaide. The band was really just a 'bikie music' band, as my friends used to tell me. We were playing in front of about 150 people, the place was packed, only a small venue. Towards the last set of the night I got the vibe that things in the crowd were getting a little heavy due to alcohol consumption and who knows what else.

We got to the very last song of the night and all hell broke loose, chairs being thrown, fists being thrown, glasses being thrown, people behind the bar fighting, glasses going through the front window, you know the kind of thing. The song we were playing? Born to Be Wild! I looked at the singer and he looked at me and just shook his head in bewilderment. No one touched us because we were elevated on a stage.

At the end of the song we got off as fast as we could and went backstage to get away from all this. After a while I ventured outside and counted 17 police cars on the scene, cops chasing people all over the carpark and road.

That was the first and only gig I've ever played there.

[guitarsjb]

Our first gig was a disaster.

 

Our singer booked it. At his uncles bar. On a Sunday. I'm 3/4 of the way there, and I call the singer who is there already to make sure I find the place, when he answers his phone, he's drunk. Great

 

So we get there and are loading in, the bartender asks me what we're doing. I say we're playing here tonight and we're bringing in our gear, she says we can't play, because it's slow and she wants to close early and go home. Our friends (about 10) start showing up, so she finally says we can play.

 

Get set up, start to play. About 1/2 way through the song, the singer skips a line...but recovers, so even as drunk as he is, I think it's might just be ok.

Wrong.

About 1/2 way through the set, the bass player just loses it. I mean, he's playing stuff we've NEVER heard before. And he was LOUD. Then, during a song, the singer leaves out a whole verse! We all were lost, and of course bass player is playing the stuff he's playing, which isn't anything we are playing.

 

Then, the bar informs us...they are OUT OF BEER!!! Not like we had a big crowd anyway, but the 15-16 people start filing out quickly. 3 people stayed, one was my husband LOL.

 

The finally got to the last song..I was so glad...singer forgets the whole song. Asks me..what the first word is. Then I think the first word was the last correct one he used for the whole song. I was so glad to get off stage.

[wheresgrant3]

I use to play in a very heavy doom/sludge type metal band. We toured a lot and had several crap gigs. We were small but had a decent little indie record deal, we did good in certain towns but we always tried to break new places. Anyway, one night we had a show at a pretty well known rock club in South Carolina. We were suppose to play the "small room" yet they changed that on us when we got there. They didn't have the PA set up for the 100 capacity room so they told us we could play the 2500 capacity room. That was nice seeing that SLAYER played there the night before and we drew about 70 people!! Needless to say it was a little silly playing to 70 people in a giganto room so we just got drunk with everyone before we played and had a good time. I drank a little too much and passed out during the last song. I woke up flat on my back on the stage, feeding back like a mother f*cker! Some guy hits me and starts to pull me off the stage by my shoulder. I look over and it's a firefighter in full uniform, helmet and mask down and all. He's yelling at me that the club is on fire and I need to get out NOW!! Well, I still had all my gear on stage and the place was starting to fill up with thick black smoke. Apparently someone had parked too close to the venue and their car engine erupted into flames and caught the roof of the building on fire!! The rest of my guys were running out the door with their gear! I had to fight the firefighters to at least grab my head and then I was thrown out. I lost a couple of 4x12's.

 

 

That story is gold!!!!!

[mikecheckstudio]

Only one? I've got many, but the worst was probably Hempfest in Seattle a handful of years back. We somehow got stuck playing the big main stage. We were a three piece blue collar punk rock outfit, and there was a side stage that a lot of our friend's bands were playing on, and where we'd figure we were going to play too. But nope, for some reason they stuck us on the big stage at a good time slot.

 

It was one of those gigs where you only bring your guitars as they provided the back line. Anyway, we get on stage and the sound guy tells me, "The bands before you have been blowing out the speakers in the bass rig, and the last band just blew out the final working one. But just play through it, okay." Uhh...WTF? Seriously? Needless to say, it sounded like absolute poop. Not to mention, the hundreds of stoned hippies who had been entertained by mellow reggae music for the previous half of the day were now getting blasted with Ramones-like melodic fast power chords. The look on their faces was priceless. We totally screwed up their high. Short story long, it was truly horrible and the last daytime gig we ever played. Something about playing outdoors during the day just isn't right.

[3shiftgtr]

It is sooooo nice to know that I'm not alone.

 

And I bow to Dancebass, in awe....

 

So here's just one of many....

 

I show up to the gig at a real roadhouse in B.F.Egypt. Wall to wall drunk, pissed off rednecks who "...wanna hear Hank, and ah don't mean junior". During the first break, I go outside with the bass player to get some fresh air. Were sitting just outside the front door, and a drunk redneck comes by and for no reason says "Eff eue weren't so ghat damn big, ahd whup yer ass!"

 

The bassist thinks this is funny, and starts laughing hysterically. So drunk redneck boy says "So you think that is funny, mother f*cker?" and starts after him. So I pull him back and it starts. The fight was over quick cuz he is drunk. We go back up for set 2. Weee....

 

Set goes great. The bandleader, his girlfriend and I go out back during the next break. Some rednecks were getting high by their car and say "Hey, aren't you the guy that just beat up so and so out front?" Well here we go.....fight # 2 and this one got ugly. My glasses are shattered and I seriously screwed up my right hand.

 

"Dude, you wanna quit? F*ck this place!" asks the singer.

"I can still hold a pick. I'm not letting these people stop me. Let's play"

 

Throughout the night, folks were batting a beach ball around the dance floor. Well, during this set, every time I'd step up to the mic to sing, this one girl would throw the beach ball at my mic stand sending the ball of the mic into my teeth. On the 3rd time, she chipped a tooth. I call on the mic "Security to the stage please" and a doorman comes up. I explain what this chick was doing, and he goes to try to throw her out. While we are playing, she kicks the doorman in the nutz and charges the stage. She wants to kick our ass while we are playing!!!!! Me and the singer both kick this bitch with our feet, while she is trying to get up on the riser and she falls down on the dance floor pretty hard. Can you guess what happened next?

 

A melee insues and we barely get out of there alive. Everybody in the band had to fight their way out. It was the band and 2 doormen vs. pretty much the whole bar. We escaped out the back door and piled in the bassists pickup and hauled ass leaving our stage gear and cars behind.

 

We came back the next day and found some damage to a few peices of stage gear and some damage to the singer's car. The bar owner apologized, gave us our money and said he'd replace the broken gear. Which he did.

 

I broke my pinky, chipped a tooth, fractured a rib, smashed my glasses, and ripped my shirt.

 

Now THAT's country.....

[WynnD]

Worst gig? We were out of town in Connellsville Pa. Place was the Melody Lounge across the street from the Melody Motor Lodge. (Just as exciting as they sound.) Weird stage configuration. (Sitting between two rooms, one with the bar.) The problem was our bassist, who had tried most recreational drugs available in 1970, had an acid flashback during a song and forgot what song we were playing. It's just not good when the bassist is playing a different song and concentrating on the red light on the other side of the room. Didn't last long. Never went back. (Not like we wanted to.)

[ckcondon]

Ok, no shortage of bad experiences, {censored}e bars and stupid bar patrons in my past.

One story will always stand out because it was scary at the time but had a reasonably happy ending so we can laugh at it now. No names to protect the guilty,

We were playing a big show at a regular venue. The place is packed and we're killing it. We take our second break and as usual, there is a huge line for the tiny men's room. In this situation we have often resorted to stepping out the back door to the parking lot and piss behind the trailer. It's dark and hey, it's my trailer!

This time, as I walk back from the trailer I realize that our singer/lead guitarist is pissing in the alley between the two buildings, and just got busted by a cop. Said officer was driving down the street (main drag) and randomly fired his spotlight between the buildings. Bingo! He got my guy in mid-stream!

I walk to the front of the building and my guy is cuffed and sitting on the curb. The bad news... He had just gotten a DUI not too long before this. He was still fighting it, but couldn't drive and certainly wasn't supposed to be drinking. Yes, we had some Jager shots that night.

Not looking good... I was scrambling in my mind how we would get through the last set w/o him or if we'd just have to shut it down.

The cop read him the riot act about pissing in the alley and being irresponsible etc. and WROTE HIM A TICKET and let him go.

We were able to finish the last set and only a few people saw what happened out in the street. Guess it gave him some "cred"!

We still laugh about it, but it could have gone south fast.

Oh, and the alley is now fenced off. Wonder how many people got popped there over the years...

[mstreck]

First (and last) gig booked by Starleigh Entertainment. I think was doomed to failure from the start...

 

1) We had a new bass player with only one rehearsal under his belt, so he didn't know a lot the songs. He did what he could, but it wasn't enough.

 

2) Sound man couldn't make it so we (actually the new bass player) tried to run sound from the stage - bad, bad, bad idea. We couldn't hear anything on stage, and our harmonies were horrendous from what I understand. No real excuse for that, though.

 

3) I needed spinal surgery (couldn't stand or sit) and had to play on the floor propped up against a spare wedge monitor. That did nothing for "band image", to say the least.

 

We've played to half-empty bars before, but there was no crowd to speak of other than the 20 or so that we brought and a few older locals. We were told afterward that we were competing with some big NASCAR event somewhere in town. There wasn't much to work with in that aspect, so I dunno. It was an awkward night for all of us, and we were all off of our game. We really thought we could pull it off, but in hindsight we were just being unprofessional and probably should have given them a chance to find a replacement back when we lost our bass player two weeks before.

 

I apologized to Starleigh for the piss-poor performance, but I'm guessing we won't be hearing from them again.

[Scott Powell]

The worst gig i ever played was about 15 years ago in my old band.

the singer was cheating on his wife with not one but two other women. NONE knew about the others,until we played a gig and all three showed up. after the first set a huge fight broke out between everyone. the two chicks he was cheating with got into a big catfight,and the singers wife hit him in the face breaking his nose and chipping his front teeth.

of course we were fired from that room never to play there again ,and almost everyone in the band quit over it.

[axeman25]

I have two that come to mind. The first was when I was playing in an 80's metal cover band. We booked a new club on a Thursday (I know) we got there to set up and there was some guy doing Bob Denver-esk songs. We sat up our stuff. The third song we played was The Trooper. We completely cleared the bar.

 

The second was in high school we were playing a party at a friends party. We were set up in the barn out back. The lead singer got really hammered, went up for the last set, He screamed something stupid in the mic, {censored} his pants, then passed out. No one would go near him, he stunk so bad.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

....there was some guy doing Bob Denver-esk songs.

 

Like Gilligan's Isle?