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Embarrassing situations on stage, playing live?


Willyguitar

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Keyboard fell off keyboard stand during opening number at Battle of the Bands back when I was the world's worst keyboard player...still swear it was sabotage! And almost getting knocked out cold by the bass player's headstock when he came back to rock out next to me...the usual Spinal Tappish stuff...

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This is more weird than embarrassing, but we were playing this gig at a crappy little "local's only" dive bar in San Diego (this is late 80's) and apparently some of the patrons had a beef with a regular who was a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair. He was dancing to one of our numbers when one of them pulls his chair over in the middle of the dance floor! He's laying there, trying to get back in his chair (too drunk to do it) with half the crowd mocking him . . . To this day, I don't know why we didn't stop playing and help the guy out. I think we were probably scared {censored}less at that point.

 

About an hour later, "Spider," the local guitar hero walks in with his axe and informs our guitar player (I was a drummer at the time) that he's sitting in with the band and needs a cable to plug in. Our guitarist tells him to {censored} off, getting the crowd pissed at us (they booed us pretty continuously from then until the set was over). We showed up the next night (God knows why) and the manager fired us on the spot for having "too much attitude."

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More recently I tried to let a little one slip through the crack during a church service, and I shat myself a little bit. I "sat it out" instead of getting up in front of the whole congregation to waddle to the bathroom. I was really worried there would be a noticeable spot.

 

So that's where the expression, "Went over like a fart in church" comes from. :idea:

 

This is the most entertaining thread I've read in a long time!

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We where playing a show and during the second set i leaned into say something to the bass player and about the same time he was pulling up and to the left with the headstock of his bass...

 

Unfortunately my mouth and his headstock occupied the same space for a fraction of time effectively busting my front teeth...

 

Whats worse is about three months later he spun around quickly while i was standing behind him ..I guess you figure out what happened next almost a exact repeat of the previous episode..

 

So lets just say i no longer stand anywhere near him an my dental insurance has been canceled..

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Back in the day, circa mid 80s - we were playing almost every weekend and usually felt comfortable around each other on any size stage. Well, we were rockin pretty hard during one song and my bass player, bless him, clocked me hard in the head with his headstock. I mean hard; I was seeing stars and yes, there was blood. Thankfully, he had really good timing as the guitarist was starting his solo, so I ran to the bathroom, mopped up the blood as best I could and got back as he was finishing to pick up the end of the song.

 

Mikey bought me my drinks the rest of the night. The things we went through for booze...

 

French Kiss @ Le Balloon, Bay Ridge Brooklyn

 

395971_2775098265784_1507894081_32160730

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We're playing this terrible bar gig, had about 10 of "our people" show up and the rest were just bar regulars. Towards the end of the night, no one really paying attention to us, our singer calls out for requests. Some girl answers back but we don't know the song. Instead the singer dedicated the next song to the girl - next on the set list, Brown Sugar. Luckily the large guys the girl was sitting with we're too drunk to notice the insult. (while it's a classic rock song commonly played, the lyrics aren't the cleanest, and not the song you'd want to dedicate to a complete stranger!)

 

I didn't want to be on the stage any longer.

 

We played many a gig to empty rooms. We would play till the place closed, even if there was only one person left at the bar, or festival. Yes - many 2-3,000 person festivals that we start playing to a packed venue, then all the food stands close, the game tents shut down, people start packing up folding chairs, and we're still rocking full tilt to no one.

 

It may not seem embarrassing compared to dropping a duece in your shorts, but pretty much no one knows you dropped one, compared to standing on stage feeling like a complete idiot playing to nobody - or worse, to the people giving you strange looks as they are leaving wondering why you're still playing. (imagine if you went to a concert and everyone left while the band kept playing!)

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Kia ora mate. Some choice musos come from Rotovegas. I've played with a few.

 

 

That's Rotorua right? I went there as a 6 year old child when my father was posted to NZ for a while. Hot springs, mud pools etc. Brings back good memories.

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Worst one for me was our first ever gig. We were 15 and got to play on the Jolly Roger boat that does boozey tours in Trinidad (and other islands). The stupid organisers let us have all the food and drink we wanted and we were plastered before we even started. Tried a couple of songs then gave up. Thankfully haven't played pissed or developed much of a taste for grog since. Pay - zero. Lesson learned - priceless.

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Back in the day, circa mid 80s - we were playing almost every weekend and usually felt comfortable around each other on any size stage. Well, we were rockin pretty hard during one song and my bass player, bless him, clocked me hard in the head with his headstock. I mean hard; I was seeing stars and yes, there was blood. Thankfully, he had really good timing as the guitarist was starting his solo, so I ran to the bathroom, mopped up the blood as best I could and got back as he was finishing to pick up the end of the song.


Mikey bought me my drinks the rest of the night. The things we went through for booze...


French Kiss @ Le Balloon, Bay Ridge Brooklyn


395971_2775098265784_1507894081_32160730

 

There seems to be a pattern emerging here. Keep WELL away from the bassist. Mind you - getting off to mop up, then getting back up there in time either means you are speedy gonzalez, or your guitarist was playing one heck of a guitar solo!

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My first time on TV as a teenager my first band gets a locall access cable gig. Big time! So we worked on our presentation, which mainly consisted of an afternoon spent cutting the heads off matches and stuffing them in a tin can for pyro. The plan was to set it off as we played the last chord of our last tune. The camera crew was advised to zoom in on the can as it went off. Our ignition system was Jim, with another book of matches. Said moment arrives, the cameras zoom in, and Jim's hands appear with a lit match which he throws in the can (which was soaked with lighter fluid as an accelerant. Pyro was not our strong suit). Nothing. Another match. Nothing. Jim lights the whole book and chucks it in. Nothing. By now we've been bashing an E chord for the better part of a minute, so I wander over to look into the can. Just then it explodes, engulfing my head in a ball of flame. In post production they looped a slo mo of me burning for a good 10 minutes. We were legends.

 

 

Now THATS Rock & Roll !

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We played many a gig to empty rooms. We would play till the place closed, even if there was only one person left at the bar, or festival. Yes - many 2-3,000 person festivals that we start playing to a packed venue, then all the food stands close, the game tents shut down, people start packing up folding chairs, and we're still rocking full tilt to no one.


It may not seem embarrassing compared to dropping a duece in your shorts, but pretty much no one knows you dropped one, compared to standing on stage feeling like a complete idiot playing to nobody - or worse, to the people giving you strange looks as they are leaving wondering why you're still playing. (imagine if you went to a concert and everyone left while the band kept playing!)

 

 

Sadly, this sounds like a regular gig for my band. Pretty much every gig goes like that.

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I had a gig on New Years Eve 2008. I played lead guitar in a pop-rock band.

We were about 4-5 songs into our set. in the middle of the chorus of a song, my guitar went dead. Nothing. I quickly checked all the cables on my pedalboard and guitar. All solid. I looked back at my amp, and it was smoking.

Luckily I thought to bring a backup for this gig and had it setting next to the stage. I set my guitar down, ran off stage, grabbed the amp, had it plugged in, powered up, and was playing by the time the chorus came back around again. It took the time of a pop-rock verse to get my rig going again.

Not quite as embarrassing as it was win, but that's my story.

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My first time on TV as a teenager my first band gets a locall access cable gig. Big time! So we worked on our presentation, which mainly consisted of an afternoon spent cutting the heads off matches and stuffing them in a tin can for pyro. The plan was to set it off as we played the last chord of our last tune. The camera crew was advised to zoom in on the can as it went off. Our ignition system was Jim, with another book of matches. Said moment arrives, the cameras zoom in, and Jim's hands appear with a lit match which he throws in the can (which was soaked with lighter fluid as an accelerant. Pyro was not our strong suit). Nothing. Another match. Nothing. Jim lights the whole book and chucks it in. Nothing. By now we've been bashing an E chord for the better part of a minute, so I wander over to look into the can. Just then it explodes, engulfing my head in a ball of flame. In post production they looped a slo mo of me burning for a good 10 minutes. We were legends.

 

 

Now that is rock n' roll!

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