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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Okay - we've all had them. What's the worst (or weirdest) gig you've ever played (maybe it's one and the same gig)? The one that makes you cringe or laugh (hopefully) when you think about it now? Maybe it was you, playing and singing one train wreck after another. Maybe it was the equipment - the bad cord that hummed all night, the pick up that kept cutting out. Maybe it was the venue - the redneck bar where things got out of control. Whatever the case, tell us about it.
Mine happened about eight years ago. I played a cozy little place in Colerain Township (can't remember the name - I think I've blocked it out; it's called Brewer's Pub now). Anyway, I went in to play on a Wednesday night. I play a mix of classic acoustic rock from the '60's to the '90's, and selected good acoustic songs from the last ten years. It always seems to go over well, and it did that night. I got a great crowd reaction; the owner was impressed and asked me to come back Saturday night. I thought, "Cool." It was a nice crowd, a mix of young professionals and older folks, they had a great stage, nice ambience. I looked forward to it.
Talk about Jekyll and Hyde (Bubba Hyde)!
When I came back Saturday, the place was transformed. Picture the redneck bar in "The Blues Brothers," only without the protective screen in front of the stage for when they start throwing things at you. The crowd was an eclectic (ha! ha!) mix of bikers and rednecks. There were cowboy hats, John Deere basball caps planted on heads of long, straggly hair, and Harley Davidson leathers. To begin with, the bikers didn't get along with the rednecks on principle. Add to that the fact that I didn't play the type of music ANYBODY wanted to hear...well, the atmosphere was tense and surly. I was getting dirty looks from the Good Ol' Boys playing pool. "Sumbitch don't even know any Merle Haggard!" A huge redneck who was knee-walking drunk and wearing a ten gallon hat like Hoss Cartwright (no joke!) staggered in front of the stage. He stood there swaying unsteadily and bellowed, "HEY, THAR, BIG OL' FAT GUY - PLAY SOME DAVID ALLEN COE!!!"
Then he passed out cold and fell backwards; the room kind of vibrated as he hit the floor.
I played "Please Come to Boston" for him (David Allen Coe wrote that :D ).
I decided to kick it up a notch and played Mellencamp's "Pink Houses" and Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With" back to back. When I finished, the terrified manager came up to me, her eyes wide. "Can you play something uptempo?"
I stared at her and said, "Annie, that's about as uptempo as I get."
I finished my set, and Annie paid me for the whole night (bless her!) and we mutually agreed to call it a night.
As I was hauling out the last of my gear, one of the bikers decided it was time to crack one of the Good Ol' Boys over the head with a pool cue, and they were off and running. It was a classic brawl - a Good Ol' Boy came flying through a picture window in a shower of glass, got up and went back in through the broken window to rejoin the melee. I just threw the last of my stuff in the back seat and took off as the fight spilled out into the parking lot, and I turned out onto Springdale Road as several Colerain Township police cruisers tore into the driveway with lights flashing and sirens wailing. The police station - convieniently - is within sight of the bar.
What a night!
Anyway that's my worst (and weirdest) gig. How about yours? |
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Location: USA | The club i played was located literally feet from train tracks. I was in the middle of song when i heard a tremendous rumble as the building began to shake. I turned around in song and watched the train go directley by. It was pretty cool and actually spawned a song from the experience. |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Ha! That's great! Years ago (about 40 years ago, actually)the first band I ever played in (and we still play together from time to time) was playing in a converted train station in Loveland, Ohio, called "The Station" (how original! :D ). The tracks, of course, were about six feet behind us outside the back window. Only one train came by that night, but it was the timing of that train that struck us. It thundered by while we were playing a new song off a new album by a brand new group called Eagles.
The song?
"Train Leaves Here This Morning..."
There was also a place in Glendale called the "Trackside Deli" that had music on a rooftop patio. Now those trains ran back and forth all night - it was a busy line. And they'd invariably rumble past when I was playing a quiet ballad like "Fire and Rain."
"Fire and Rain and Trains." Trains are cool. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Was playing a gig on my 21st Birthday and we were the opening act for a group that some of you may remember called "Bubble Puppy". They had one hit song "Hot Smoke & Sassafras".
The gig was on the far end of town from where we all lived so about a 45 minute drive late at night.
Anyway, I was playing my Dan Armstrong short scale bass and we were into about the 4th or 5th song of a 10 song set when my string broke.
Never before and never since......
and of course, I did not have a spare set of strings cause for christsakes....IT'S A BASS!
Anyway, the other group wasn't there yet so I could not even bum his bass off of him. The set ended early....we did not get paid....and I felt really shitty for the group.....
Carried a spare set of bass strings from that point forward but in 30+ years have never needed them. |
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Location: Spain | Too many!
I once did a gig in a tourist bar in Portugal, where the owner kept coming up to me (mid song!) and saying "why don't you practise more the fucking guitar!!?
At least he had a drink for me in his hand each time.... |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I just played one the other night that was pretty strange, but a lot of fun. It was a 78 year old guy (Clarence) on accordion, me (Age 57) on banjo, and Maria (age 36) on guitar and vocals. We call ourselves "The Unlikely Trio".
We did everything from jazz to folk to country, but when we did "Orange Blossom Special" with Clarence taking the lead on accordion, we brought the house down. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I had a dream that I was playing at the Guthrie Center with all the Usual Suspects, but then I woke up, and with a hangover as well. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Did you say the Guthrie Center......
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Since I never had a gig, I'll defer to my brother, who was in bands on the West Coast for years. He thought he got his big chance when they got called to be in LA (from Portland) the next day to back up the Drifters. They made it and found out the Drifters only had one original member and none of them read music, so they just had to fake it.
My brother's a redhead and they had a redhead female lead singer. The Drifters didn't show for a gig in someplace like Watts and they were the only white guys in the bar. They played until the audience figured out the Drifters weren't coming and started getting rowdy. They kept going for awhile until it got dangerous and got out of there.
They did a couple gigs after that with the Drifters, but got stiffed on the last one. He had several other adventures for 8 years before he finally gave up the music biz. Still has his Rickenbacher bass, though. |
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Location: Chicago | Jeff and I went to Fox River three years ago to "play an evening festival in a local town." We ended up hostage in a lousy B&B. The "concert" was played acoustic on the edge of a ratty couch to an audience of ... our wives. The host did not so much as offer us a glass of water. He and his wife looked like homeless squatters who perhaps had a few bodies stashed here and there. Creepy and depressing. As I recall, we did play a great version of "Frevo Rasgado" that night:) |
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Location: Chicago | Or the gig that broke up the trio: Our drummer, Joe, invited us to play to a "concert" at an "inaugural university bash." The "university" turned out to be a glorified rest stop. The "college crowd" numbered about 15, mostly hangers-on and children. Our performance was doused by a fire truck that was trying to relieve the 100-degree heat. The "in-tbetween" music (courtesy Joe) was stale 70s prog rock that nobody knows or cares about. Total mismatch with what we were trying to play.... Joe was in a fever of paranoia at that gig and flew into a rage at mild-mannered Jeff for "ruining" his solo on "Take Five." We realized that an fragile acoustic duo does not need John Bonham with anger management issues.... |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Yeah Stephent28, it looked just like that.....
but inside there were striped tables with a red stage.... |
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Location: NJ | amateurs
I will tell you my nightmare story when I find the time to type it |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | WOW BEAL......That was a vivid dream! Something like this I imagine...
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I guess this falls under Weird...
It was in the mid 80's and I was playing bass in the 50's band. The gig was in Rock Hall, MD which for those that don't know... you go to the end of the earth... take a left... drive 200 miles and you're almost there....
The gig was upstairs in the firehouse. A large dance floor, all decked out, everyone dressed in 50's garb, bar, food and packed. This was going to be a fun night.
We set up, get introduced, and break into the first song. We sound good... sometimes you just know when it's going to be a good night. Song ends and we get applause... but no one is dancing, no additional noise. It was like an applause track you hear on tv. Everyone sitting at their tables, quiet while were playing... We play the next tune, and when it's done they erupt into applause and cheering... then sit down and quiet again. WTF???? There is a huge dance floor, this is a 50's DANCE PARTY... I repeat WTF???
I should note at this point, being a 50's band we really fed off the audience energy, or tried to. A lot of the banter was based on observations of the crowd and such, but with the lights, we could barely see the crowd as the tables were around this huge dance floor. We just knew they were just sitting there watching us sweat..
Finally 45 minutes are gone and we are in the green room feeling kindof, well... green..
All of a sudden the event coordinator bursts in all apologies. Apparently they have a tradition for these events that the crowd sits out the first set. It's out of appreciation of a band willing to drive to the end of the earth (and then some) to entertain them. For the first set, we get their undivided attention.
We initially thought this was just a polite was of saying we suck, which we didn't so it all just wasn't making sense.
We went out for the 2nd set, and when the lights came up, the dance floor was already full. It really was their tradition to sit out the first set and usually the bands do a shorter first set. That is of course if they know about this tradition.
The gig ended up going great and we ended playing an extra set at the end of the night because everyone was having so much fun. But, this had to be the weirdest gig for me ever. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Kunming, China. Springtime. Very early 90's. Our hosts were AK47 armed soldiers courtesy of the national government. The auditorium had no heat, nor any air circulation whatsoever. It was packed and every single member in the audience was chain smoking. We couldn't see squat and could hardly breathe with all the smoke. We still did a 90 minute show of singing and dancing with a significant amount of intermittent coughing and gagging. At least a third of our young performers were ill at the conclusion of the show, and I think six couldn't even finish it. The entire wardrobe needed to be cleaned to remove the fumes, but no such luck as there were still two weeks remaining on the tour.
I also recall another very awkward moment some years ago when our choral group, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra Chorus, was asked to sing the Alleluia Chorus from Handel's Messiah during the annual holiday lighting of Denver's City and County Building. At the very moment of the opening chord, which is huge, the mayor threw the light switch, the circuit shorted out and everything went totally dark. Of course, the accompanist's electric keyboard and the PA system was also knocked out, so we never got our initial pitch. Our 150 member chorus hit that first note with about 100 different pitches and it went downhill from there. Nobody could see the conductor and we couldn't really hear the other sections since it was outdoors and the PA monitors were out, so our rhythm was out of synch from the very start. Many of us sing the piece from memory, but at least a third couldn't see their scores, so they were lost. Worst rendition of the Alleluia Chorus I've ever heard, and I was part of the mess. Why we didn't quit after the first few measures I have no idea. That was the last time we appeared at the annual downtown Denver lighting ceremony. |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Man, these are all great stories! People can't make up stuff like this. Mr. Ovation's is sufficiently strange - "They sit out the first set as a courtesy to the band." But it feels like an insult. Yeah - that is weird.
But we keep going out to play because it's so much fun, and for every weird gig there are a dozen fun ones to make you forget the bad ones.
Keep 'em coming. I'm curious to see alpep's. :D |
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Location: NJ | it was the early 80's I was out of college and we were trying to take our band to the next level. none of us had jobs we played music all day and night borrowed money did odd jobs whatever it took to make the big time. we had some good songs maybe laughable at today's standards but we were all good musicians but just could not get a break.
the drummer lived in a house his parents bought for him and his wife. they married because lisa got preggers. the son was maybe 4 still in diapers and still not talking. the refrigerator would have a bottle of milk some ketchup maybe mustard and that was it. soon taking ketchup packets from the local fast food places replaced buying it. ever have ketchup soup? or ketcup juice? yum..... the kid would often eat roaches out of the ash tray. funny no money for food but plenty for cigs, pot and meth.
we got a fair amount of gigs but wanted to play J.C. Dobbs on south st. If you know Philly then you know south st and you know dobbs. robert hazard, the a's, ken kweeder, the hooters, george thorogood, all broke from that bar. it was our mecca.
for months we would go to the bar and beg for a gig. We gave them tape after tape, the lead singer slept with one of the bar maids, we begged and begged and finally got a date. on a MONDAY night. then we were bumped, rescheduled, bumped again, rescheduled, bumped again, rescheduled etc.over and over well finally ken kweeder was too drunk to do his monday night acoustic solo thing and we got the call. we begged all of our friends and fans to show up and we prepared for the gig.
at the time we had a revolving door of bass players. our favorite one learned slot machine mechanics and got a job on a love boat going to jamaica so he was out. we almost had a different bass player every week at rehearsal. finally we got a kid that was ok he had a p bass and an svt but he was only 17 that was a problem drinking age in jersey 18 but philly was 21 so we had to sneak him into the club.
the day of the gig the bass player was no where to be found. finally a few of us went to his house he was totally wasted his girl friend broke up with him and he wanted to commit suicide. we grabbed his bass and the svt forced him into the van but only after he managed to drop some acid.
the punk could not stand but we needed him. we had a quick meeting before the gig and it was decided the lead singer would play rhythm guitar (he was mildly competent) I would fill in the low notes on the guitar along with playing rhythm and lead. at that time i was the only person with a "pedal board" I used about 8 pedals and my job in the band was more of textures and soundscape than rhythm and lead. I was very influenced by fripp and other electronic music composers then, tangerine dream, gong, kraftwerk, eno etc.
we got onstage and I hung the bass player's bass on him turned his amp on and pulled the cable out of the svt. He never knew the difference. the bass was plugged in the amp on so it looked like he was playing.
we started to play. we had a pile of our friends there but then something magical happened. word got out on the street that there was this new cool band to catch at Dobb's soon it was packed, they called in the barmaid chick to take care of the extra customers then called in another bartender and opened up the upstairs. I never saw that many people there on a monday night.
We could do no wrong that night the crowd loved us we insured our spot in the dobb's line up and were flying high. well especially the bass player. but I digress.
so now it is time to pack up and leave. the hard assed booker comes up to us and hands us $200 additional dollars to the $100 they promised us gushing about what a great gig we had how good we were and how they want us back. I could not believe it our dreams were coming true.
the bass player now peaking rolled his 8 x 10 off the 4 ft high stage to a thunderous crash. management did not like this. I assigned one of the guys to take him outside and sit with him.
the drummer was on cloud nine and much to our surprise started to help us pack up. He mistakenly put the house mics into our bag. The sound guy told the manager we were ripping off the equipment and he come over and went ballistic. Now the conversation went you guys will NEVER play her again you will never play in philly again etc etc etc. we apologized over and over for the mistake but it was a done deal.
as I took the last pile of my gear out to my car, defeated I look over at the bass player who is now sitting in front of the closed store next to Dobb's. He looks like everything typical acid head in every bad movie you ever saw and is rubbing his eyes and holding his head in his hands suddenly he starts screaming. I go back into the bar to try to talk to the booker again but he would not have it.
I come out to a loud ringing bell. apparently the bass player flipped out and punched his fist through the plate glass window of the business next to the bar and now the alarm is going off and he is bleeding like crazy.
I yelled over to the drummer. He is your pal take care of him, I'm out of here before the cops come. cops did not seem to like me much in those days and I was not going to take any chances.
we went back to the bar a few days later and begged for another gig. well we were persona non gratis at this point and never got another gig with that band at that bar again.
I have several more stories like this |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Originally posted by alpep:
I have several more stories like this ...and I hope you share them with us. A wasted bass player...usually it's the drummer.
Q: How can you tell if the stage is level?
A: The drummer is drooling out of both sides of his mouth. :D |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Thanks Al. You've confirmed once again that I made the right choice by giving up my dream of being a rock star. My brother confirmed it many times over the 8 years he was in the business by calling me for advice on how to collect for breach of contract, drafting contracts (usually after he got stiffed by someone), insurance issues (or lack thereof) after someone rolled the van with all his equipment in it and, eventually, divorce. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Great story, Al, although I am sorry it ended as it did. My son plays in a well-respected garage band in San Diego and just today told me about another band with which they shared much of the same fan base. The bass player in this other band liked to do this stunt where he would swing his bass over his head and around his back a few times using the strap like a hula hoop, then end with it falling back in place and continuing with his bass licks. One night, in the middle of this stunt, the strap breaks and the bass goes flying into the audience, nailing a young 17 year old girl in the pit right in her face, knocking out teeth, breaking her jaw and a few more bones in her face, and requiring significant reconstructive facial and dental surgery. He said the venue shut down for good shortly thereafter. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Mark, I agree with your statement that there seems to be a lot of budding musicians not being paid in accordance with an executory contract. Our keyboardist just returned from a tour with another band where they played Austin City Limits, the Los Angeles County Fair and the House of Blues backing a relatively well-respected solo headliner who wrote them a check at the conclusion of the tour. The check bounced, the headliner has changed her telephone number, and they can't reach her. The amount was not insignificant. As Al reflected, it isn't only tough to break into the business, its tough to stay in it when you do find a good gig. |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
Thanks Al. You've confirmed once again that I made the right choice by giving up my dream of being a rock star. My brother confirmed it many times over the 8 years he was in the business by calling me for advice on how to collect for breach of contract, drafting contracts (usually after he got stiffed by someone), insurance issues (or lack thereof) after someone rolled the van with all his equipment in it and, eventually, divorce. You don't have to give it up entirely, Mark - you just do it on a more laid back, less complicated level. Coffee houses, wineries, music clubs instead of arenas. And being an acoustic guitar slinger is a lot less stressful
Forty years ago my first band was on the verge of hitting the bigtime. It was the height of the James Taylor/CSN&Y/Eagles acoustic singer-songwriter craze. We fit right in; Warner Bros. put a contract on the table in front of us.
And we freaked out and then chickened out. To this day it's the biggest regret of my life.
Originally posted by Professor BB:
Great story, Al, although I am sorry it ended as it did. My son plays in a well-respected garage band in San Diego and just today told me about another band with which they shared much of the same fan base. The bass player in this other band liked to do this stunt where he would swing his bass over his head and around his back a few times using the strap like a hula hoop, then end with it falling back in place and continuing with his bass licks. One night, in the middle of this stunt, the strap breaks and the bass goes flying into the audience, nailing a young 17 year old girl in the pit right in her face, knocking out teeth, breaking her jaw and a few more bones in her face, and requiring significant reconstructive facial and dental surgery. He said the venue shut down for good shortly thereafter. Gahh! That's terrible, Prof. I wonder how many other horror stories there are like that? That's not the kind of thing parents would expect to have happen to their daughter when she goes to a concert. Man! |
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Location: Flahdaw | This is the most interesting thread in a LONG time... |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Rick, I don't think I could do "laid back." I'd stress out too much and then screw up from lack of sleep.
I keep expecting dark bar to post a video of his performance in his infamous shirt. I looked for it, but I think it been banished from the internet along with OMA's half naked performance. Then of course there was Slipkid's cocoanut bra performance. There is plenty of photographic evidence in the archives of gigs that should have been embarassing to anyone of normal sensitivities, but those people apparently have no shame, or they don't think of those as "gigs". |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
Rick, I don't think I could do "laid back." I'd stress out too much and then screw up from lack of sleep.
I keep expecting dark bar to post a video of his performance in his infamous shirt. I looked for it, but I think it been banished from the internet along with OMA's half naked performance. Then of course there was Slipkid's cocoanut bra performance. There is plenty of photographic evidence in the archives of gigs that should have been embarassing to anyone of normal sensitivities, but those people apparently have no shame, or they don't think of those as "gigs". "I keep expecting dark bar to post a video of his performance in his infamous shirt."
Dark bar and his infamous shirt? Uhhh...Bob? :D
Mark, I guess what I meant is, once someone moves past the point where he/she realizes they're not going to be a first-tier, arena-filling rock star, that doesn't mean they can't play live gigs and have fun doing it. Looking back on it now, we were all gung ho about making the "big time" back in the day. Jody and I were only nineteen years old when we first started (Laura was only sixteen). We were just babies. We had made some good inroads into the local music scene. Then all of a sudden we actually were staring at a bona fide chance to jump in the same pool with people like Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
And all of a sudden, we felt like we'd be some little guppies swimming in a tank full of sharks.
I guess you could say cooler heads prevailed, and we passed on our chance to grab the brass ring. I still wonder, though, what might have happened. We might be rich, retired rock stars living in Beverly Hills mansions.
Or we might be Skid Row derelicts in LA.
Anyway, once we got past that silliness, I came to the realization that I (and we) could still be a big musical fish in a little pond, and I've been playing for over forty years.
To me, being a "semiprofessional" musician is the best solution. I still get out and play, but I don't have to depend on it for a living. It's kind of like the guy who tries out for the major leagues, doesn't make it, but still plays softball on the weekends. For me, music is like softball. In all honesty, from the perspective of being where I am in my life, I think if I HAD to play music, it wouldn't be fun anymore. And if it isn't fun, I don't want to do it. |
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Location: Jet City | Weirdest.... Music For Molly
Mark(in Boise)'s daughter put this benefit together for the orphanage down in Haiti in honor of her friend who passed away in the earthquake (Rachel was visiting and survived).
I volunteered Chasen Chantz. Here we were an adultish contemporaryish rockish band (I have a hardish time putting us into a genre) opening the show.... in a very somber atmosphere.
Rachel had just come on stage where she told her story to those in attendance. You could have heard a pin drop as the curtains opened. We started our set to a crowd of weeping wet-eyed people.
Then....
The TV crews showed up. FOX and ABC both at the same time, both during our set, shooting us like we were live on stage at ACL right up in our biz.
Not to mention it was my second live performance with the band. Really, my second live performance in an original band in more than 20 years. I was a nervous wreck on the inside, sweating bullets, trying to keep my cool on the exterior.
I'll never forget it, that's for sure. |
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Location: Flahdaw | For what it's worth, my shirt WASN'T gay! |
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Location: NJ | so let me take you back to another gig.....
back into the mid seventies.
we had a high school band and did gigs where ever we could. dances at schools, fire companies, parties etc.
for the most part we did Neil young songs, csny, the who, zeppelin, jethro tull, etc you get the picture.
the drummer (it is always the drummer) who also happened to be the head singer (double whammy) booked us a gig at a local Moose lodge. Yes right out of the old Honeymooner's show similar to ralph kramden's raccoon lodge.
we rehearsed for the gig and finally the day arrived. This was a monthly event that they sponsored it was catered we were paid plus meals.
we packed up the van for the show and the drummer was hungry. He was always hungry. so we made our way to the gig even though we were 3 hours early.
at that time the moose lodge was in a rather remote part of the state adjacent to a truck stop. The drummer decides he wants to eat at the truck stop. So we pull in and walk inside.
Imagine a bunch of 18 year olds all with long hair (mine the longest) dressed in tie dyed, suede fringe, denim, day glo fabric etc walking into a TRUCK STOP.
well it was like a scene from easy rider. Hey faggot, hey you wanna date, I'm gonna kick your ass, what you boys doing in this place, etc etc etc.
I think I ordered a coke but figured we would not got alive. several of the truckers thought that it was funny to come over to our table and harass us directly. we just played it cool and I gave some of it back to them. I think because I stood up to them they left us alone I am still not sure to this day. I really expected to have my head kicked in at that point.
but then there was the gig......
usually the grand poobah of the moose lodge booked the band but this time they let the junior auxillary book the band and it was us. So we set up and everyone starts to come in. I remember this one guy to this day. he was around 350 lbs and just sat and stared. in fact they all sat and stared right through the first set.
we played the first set of neil young, tull etc and no one got up to dance there were small applause and it was almost as red neck as the truck stop. after the first set we walked outside.
the grand poobah asked if we could play stuff they could dance to. I panicked and said sure. the junior aux said we were great just play what you were going. but they were only a small portion of the audience. I gathered all the guys together and said we have to change our set. we are going to do all the old rock and roll tunes from the fifties we can think of.
johnnie b goode
money
tears on my pillow
rock around the clock
kansas city
anything elvis we could think of
etc
that was the plan.
let's start with kansas city I said. the drummer sneered I don't know the words. ok I'll sing it.
we started I started to sing. I realized I only knew one verse. as we started Kansas city something crazy happened, the dance floor got packed they all loved it and started to dance.
well we played the extended dance mix of kansas city I think we had 4 guitar solos and I sang the same verse I knew about 8 times. we stopped. thunderous applause. even the heifer in the front.
next tune johnnie b goode next tune money next tune tears on my pillow.
we took a break we were running out of tunes we decided to say we had a request for kansas city again so we played it again.
got through the third set and started to tear down.
the grand poobah came up and paid us thanked us and said if they ever let the junior aux book another gig they would call us because we appealed to both generations.
the chick that booked us loved us and several of the older people in attendance came up and said they enjoyed our show.
the heifer waddled over to me and shook my hand "you guys started out slow but then you got to playing that fifties music we love" I just nodded and smiled. you see at that time it was everything we could do to NOT play 50's music and be hip.
when I first joined the band we played a bunch of 50's stuff because the singer bass player (played bass on the lower strings of a harmony rocket guitar) well his father was a sax player in high school in the late fifties and that was all he played and he would make suggestions to the singer and we would play all this old stuff. lucky for me I remember it for this gig and it pulled out of of the ditch.
I remember screaming at the drummer on the ride home that his fat butt almost got us killed in the bus stop and that he booked us for a gig we had no business booking or playing.
so moral of the story
never let drummer book gigs
never let drummers be lead singer
never let drummers make you stop at truck stops to eat
always be ready to pull out tunes from you butt when you need them.
needless to say we were never booked for that gig again or if they called the drummer he never brought it up to us |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Great story, Al. Like Kansas City, another song that always seems to be one of those "get 'em on the dance floor" tunes is Richie Valens' La Bumba. |
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Location: NJ | I think we did la bamba also
I just blocked most of this stuff out of my mind |
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Location: NJ | forgot that the heffer's parting comment to me was now you boys would be a hellava lot better if you got hair cuts |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Damon, we're eternally grateful for that. Not to make it sound like Damon was sloppy seconds, but our daughter was trying to find some outlet so she could feel like she was doing something positive for Haiti, since she was one of the first ones rescued.
She got the idea for a concert, almost like a variety show. When we first talked about it, she already had a band and other performers lined up, got the facility and was doing the advertising. A couple weeks before the concert, she called and asked if I knew anyone in a band in Seattle because the band she had backed out. I emailed Brandi Carlyle, but never heard back, so I contacted Damon. I knew he had recently started up a band and had lost his job, so I thought it was a long shot, but Damon worked it out and really rocked. I watched some of the news coverage and Damon did some nice solos. There would have been more news coverage, but there as a murder right down the street as the concert started, so some of the crews rushed over there.
You rock, Damon. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Damn Al...those are great stories. You could write a book, seriously! |
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Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Most situations I was the responsible one, making sure the drummer didn't take off with someone younger than his daughter; the singer didn't get his girlfriends mixed up; the venue paid in cash before the end of the gig. (always helps to go collect with the biggest guy you can find standing beside you. He doesn't have to know why he's there, just look drunk and mean.)
Finding someone to back the gig who won't mind losing a few hundred (more or less) if the gig doesn't quite work out. Stuff like that.
Once I DID throw a badass temper tantrum when I was a filling in with a band on a bad (slow) night and the club owner (newby and a bit wimpy) was going to pay less-than-agreed amount. The other members were agreeing when I flipped out, swearing and screaming at these guys never to call me again to fill in. Club owner was embarrassed to cause such anger between 'friends' and agreed to pay full pop after I stormed out of the office.
When they came to apologize and 'placate' me with my share I said, "Good performance, huh? You can thank me now." |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Originally posted by fillhixx:
When they came to apologize and 'placate' me with my share I said, "Good performance, huh? You can thank me now." Ha - that's great; I love it. Never thought of that one. I'll have to file that one away in case I ever need it. |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | same band as the dobb's gig a couple of years later
1984
I was going to grad school in New Brunswick and coming home from thurs to sunday for rehearsals and to play gigs. things were going along well and often the rest of the band would rehearse without me mon-weds.
at this time I had a cassette recorder and was taping everything. every gig every rehearsal every song idea you name it. I had a box of cassettes which pretty much documented most of the times we played.
Getting home from New Brunswick was always an adventure. My lost resort was to take amtrak into Philly but most of the time I was able to get a ride.
the first guy that would give me a ride was a fellow pollock kid from trenton we shared culture and it you know trenton and you know Camden we shared many of the same growing up experiences. He got a basketball scholarship for princeton which impressed the hell out of me but he said it was all BS at princeton you only had TA's until you hit senior year. Oh yeah the interesting thing was he had a brain tumor and had his head shaved. he always introduced himself as NOT being a skinhead nazi just a cancer survivor. Pretty funny when me with my long hair and his skin head would pal around. Often he would give me a ride to the train station in trenton but we often stopped off at the infamous city gardens punk club for a beer or to see what bands were playing
the second ride was my professor. He was a wild and crazy sort who had a girlfriend in society hill in philly. if he was going there he would give me a ride to the train in philly and all I would need to do was take the subway. we cured the ills of the world several times over on the ride home. since he was a lush and I was not far behind the ride consisted of a few pitchers of beer before we headed out.
the third ride was a guy in my class that lived near the moorestown mall. about 30 minutes from where I lived at the time but without cell phones etc I often had to wait at a pay phone for hours for someone to pick me up. He had an old chrysler that he liked to get up to about 100 on the NJ turn pike He always kept a bottle of jameson in the glove compartment that we liberally passed around on the ride home. yup driving a 100 and passing a bottle of whiskey. we should never have made it home once.
one weds when I figured out my ride I called home to get my dad to pick me up at the train station, my sister told me he was in the hspt my dad was always sickly so I didn't think anything of it my sister picked me up but in the next few days my dad suddenly died.
my mom took it hardest my sisters and I stood strong for her until we got home from the funeral. all my bandmates and my sisters' friends at the kitchen table drinking whatever we had in the house. it was a somber scene. I got particularly wasted and went up to my room to sleep. at some point of my drunken slumber the lead singer comes up to my room and steals ALL the band tapes he could find. Yes on the day of my dad's funeral.
a few weeks later he calls to tell me that he is going to get a new drummer and since I needed to get my life together after my dad's death he was going to "let me go" from the band. Nice guy
so from "forgien bodies" they became "life after bob" bob was a x drummer. none of the other bandmates although they supported me backed me up in the lead singer's decision to get rid of me.
a few months past, the other guitar player's brother calls me. we were actually closer than then me and the guitarist and he asked me if I want to go to the life after bob gig. I flatly said no. he refused to take no for an answer and insisted on picking me up in his 68 Caddillac sedan de ville which we affectionately nicknamed the MTV limo.
he dragged me kicking and screaming to the bar. the bar was divided into 2 rooms the bar and the room where the band played. I stayed at the bar drinking all night noticing that they cut any of my parts and my songs from their set. Well to be honest they had no one else that could play my parts but me left in the band.
it was time to relieve ourselves and paul and I made our way to the bathroom, it was crowded and there was a line so off to the parking lot we went. we immediately spotted the lead singers 78 firebird and decided that since he had the t tops we could make it rain inside. instead me opted to urinate on the honeycomb wheels.
as we urinated with glee soon the lead singer's girlfriend sees me and comes over saying something about how she was sorry I was no longer in the band and then stopped dead in her tracks to say " Oh you have your Mr, Pee Pee out" she then as usual made some sort of bawdy comment about how she should take care of us or something. she was always making these comments and new following through. Paul said to her "c'mom baby I am going to show you god in the MTV limo" he grabbed one arm, I the other and we dragged her kicking and screaming into the back seat of the mtv limo and locked her in. after laughing for about 5 minutes we let her out and she never ever teased us in a sexual manner again.
she went on to dump the lead singer and marry Paul's brother the guitar player at their wedding we took bets on how long it would last I had 2 years. they are still married today.
I came to find out the band had some sort of deal cooking with head trauma records a subsidiary of warner brothers and the were told the drummer and I did not fit the image. they had some photos taken and a press package and that was the extent of it.
the lead singer moved to NY and now writes pseudo country rock and found me on face book. Using the excuse of being an alcoholic and junkie for his past since. oh yeah and come to my gig at the tin angel in philly NOPE.
the lead guitarist followed me into the vintage guitar field although he gave up rather quickly now after some 25 years has decided to come and haunt me at my favorite open mic. Yes of all the open mics in the world he has to walk into mine.
his wife is with him every time and I can't not help when I see her to think about the Mr. Pee Pee incident and snicker
so you want more of these? |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Yes, 230 more pages and I'm putting out your unauthorized biography..... |
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Posts: 19
Location: Denver | Several years ago I was singing at a wedding reception. When I started a particular song the bride burst into tears and ran for the bathroom. It turned out that it was the favorite song of her first husband who died in a car wreck. It all turned out OK but it was an awkward moment to say the least.
The hardest one was a gig one night after 9-11. They chose not to cancel the party but nobody could get into it and they wanted me to sing God Bless The USA over and over again, which I was happy to do except I could barely get through it myself without losing it myself. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | It wasn't me, but I was there and could not believe my wife's totally professional oomposure when she sang The Lord's Prayer at her own father's memorial service. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Late night band gig 1977; Hampton, Virginia: One word describes it all: Chicken-wire....(ok, two)... |
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Location: Orlando, FL | There are a lot of great stories here. This is a fun thread. Thankfully I don’t have any stories like Al!
I haven’t done any gigging since the 70s, but I had a few interesting experiences back in the day. One band I was in got the power turned off on us at a dance. The audience wanted another song, the people at the venue were ready to go home.
With another band we got kicked out of a bar before we got a chance to play. They didn’t usually have music, but one of the guys talked the owner into letting us play. About half way through setting up the PA the owner came over and told us we would be too loud and told us to leave. The band consisted of 2 acoustic guitars and an electric bass. We played mostly blues. We assured him we would keep it down, but no luck we were done before we started. Kind of weird, I went to see Alan Holdsworth play there about 6 years later, different owner of course.
Here’s one I’m not proud of, but it fits into the weird gig category. I played backup music for a mime for a while. My wife still gives me crap about that and it was more than 30 years ago!
When I quit playing I ran sound for a friend’s band. I tagged along when they went into the studio a few times. At one session, Molly Hatchet were there recording too. At one point they were passing around a cereal bowl filled with cocaine. Those guys were fun! |
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Location: Colorado | I'll approach this from the "venue" point of view. In the late 70s I was asked to sit in with a cover band - playing basic rhythm guitar - sing harmony when I could....typical covers of Allman brothers, eagles, beatles,early buffet etc. I was still in HS but figured I could handle it....and hey - they guaranteed me 20 bucks. They said it was outside at a pool party - a bachelor's party the night before the wedding. Ut oh.....I get to the gig - one guitar - one amp - and an extension cord. Good thing...the gig was in the pool! They had drained the pool (Olympic size) and held the party in the pool - we were in the deep end - with not too much water in the bottom - but I did get a couple lip zips of electricity if I knew the harmony. Eventually I asked why the party was in an empty pool....it was the only place the best man could figure that the wedding party would not totally destroy! Nobody died....nothing was destroyed - and we all got paid....though they could have played a radio and saved a little money. Good topic/thread |
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Location: NJ | so you want another one?
I joined my first band when I was in 6th grade. Arthur came up to me in the play ground and said "I hear you play a cherry sunburst guitar, I have a cherry sunburst bass, we need to be in a band together" He and his nephew Mike were in the 7th grade (mother and daughter pregnant at the same time so they were the same age) and they had a manager another kid in the 7th grade named john.
I think the manager's only job was to get his older brother to drive us to Mike the drummer's house in the suburbs. It was only 10 minutes from where we lived but a totally different world.
as time passed we had a small group of musicians that we played musical chairs with. we had 2 bands and would swap members like people swap wives.
I would up with Richie. He lived across the street from arthur and played the accordian. He convinced his old man to swap the accordian for a bass and we were in business. Richie was one of those kids that took 3 months of squeeze box lessons and could play beer barrel polka and she's too fat for me polka like no body's business. He took 3 months of bass lessons and was proficient on bass. I taught him some guitar chords and he could play guitar also.
richie had an older sister and we liked hanging at his house to check out the high school girl action. She HATED us and our music and had no time for us at all. Her girlfriends thought we were "cute".
Richie and I also started getting into his dad's liquor cabinet, we walked from school to his house for lunch drank some whiskey and walked back usually falling asleep in the afternoon. We borrowed some of his mom's cigarettes also. His dad was the typical DP (not dumb pollock but displaced person) immigrant. He would give us some change for soda and ice cream we bought cigarettes usually. (please forgive me Mr. Skibinski)
well richie's sister diane had a girlfriend that played drums who lived down the street. That was unusual even for the 60's and although we doubted a girl could play as well as a boy we thought it was pretty cool. We found out her band was going to enter a battle of the bands and we immediately thought we should do it too. we got an application and filled it out.
Richie needed an amp so we took apart an old record player and figured out how to wire it to make a bass amp. we trash picked some old radios and used the speakers from them. Arthur loaned us his father's old PA which was one of those early 50's tube rca models with the 2 field coil speakers that clipped to the cabinet. At this point artie was in the other band but we were all friends.
one day we tied dyed some shirts and I found a pair of my grandfather's old wire rimmed glasses. we bought beatle boots and bell bottoms and were ready for the gig.
the one problem was all of us were too shy to sing to in the spirit of the ventures and duane eddy we did everything as an instrumental. I remember o blad di o blad da along with in a gadda da vida distinctly maybe birthday by the beatles also.
so the big day came we packed up and went to the community room of the Cherry Hill mall. this was back when malls had community rooms and we set up our equipment and waited. Other bands started to come in and they had full marshall stacks, fender bassman's fender and gibson guitars etc etc etc we had our small amps and home made stuff and really felt like crap.
My parents and richie's parent's drove us. I think we also had a a drummer and maybe another guitar player but I my memory is foggy.
we set up by the fire door. as the last few bands pulled in some with full light shows (remember this was the sixties) we felt really intimidated. We were going to sneak out the fire exit. I popped the door and off went the alarm. well we were trapped. maybe we should just take our name off the list. There were twenty bands competing and some radio dj's as the judges.
the girl drummer convinced us to stay and play and as the bands started to play around the room the tension mounted. each band was better than the next and they all had singers and horn sections keyboard etc
well it was our turn we played. everyone gathered around and was really nice they applauded and made us feel good.
some of the guitar players and bass players came up to us and gave us encouragement and told us to keep at it etc.
so to this day If I see someone really trying I will encourage them to play |
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Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Yes, absolutely. Everyone needs and deserves all the encouragement you can spare. ...even if all they can do is make you look good by comparison.
Second gig for my first band. (first was in a prison camp as the drummers dad was a guard. captive audience jokes were a large part of our story...) Playing a teen dance at the community hall. Among other things I was inordinately proud of my 50 foot curly cord for the bass guitar.
To show it off, at one point I jump off the 3' high stage to dance with the girls around the stage. (guys are still holding up the walls)
Time comes for me to sing again as the lead solo is almost done, I take a flying leap for the stage and catch my toe on the edge. Come down full-length on the stage on top of the bass. Big BOOM CRUNCH from my Vox 'beatle bass' amp.
But I bounce up and find the mike to start singing in time....as I recall. A little bloody but proud.
All I recall of that dance other than that is the other guitarist/singers mom, formerly an opera singer in Ireland, correcting my diction. "No, no PhiiiLip. It should be 'RollinG, rollinG, rollinG on the rivER!" |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Dontcha hate when that happens? :D
Great stories, everyone. Alpep, I agree with Bob - you SHOULD write a book.
Word of advice - when your harmonicas have been in the trunk of your car overnight in sub zero weather, don't play "Heart of Gold" as your first song. Remember "The Christmas Story?" ('I double, DOUBLE dog dare you!') :D |
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Posts: 31
Location: UK | I've only played one gig, but I think it might be the worst first gig I could have possibly played!
This was six years ago.
I'd been playing guitar for about two months. I knew about...I dunno...fifteen chords.
One day I'm walking in the street and I meet a friend I went to college with. He's a far older/ more experienced musician than I am: been around for years. We start talking about music and he says he's looking to put a guitar duo together and maybe I'd like to play rhythm while he plays lead over me. I go round to his house a few times, the jams go well and he gives me list of the songs I have to learn and says he's got a gig supporting a local (popular) band in two weeks.
To say I spent the next two weeks practicing hard is an understatement. By the second week I was calling in sick at work and just sitting at home playing these songs over and over (12-14 hrs a day) just trying to get all my chord changes totally smooth and perfect.
Day of the gig arrives. It's in a big bar and maybe because of the other band there's maybe 150-200 people there. Oh sh*t!
20 mins before we're due to go on, my partner says he's just popping outside to smoke a joint.
Hmmmm....OK....not the way I'd want to go on stage....but you know, maybe it works for him: I'm new to this!
Well, I don't know how much (or what) he managed to smoke in those twenty minutes but when he comes back he's friggin loaded. No time to say anything: the host-guy (compare?) introduces us and we go on stage. People actually fall silent: this could be like a dream first gig.
I count in the first song and play my little intro waiting for him to come in. Silence. He doesn't play a thing. I go right through the song on my own and he just sits there like a freaking zombie smiling to himself. I think "F**k it: I've go a job to do. I might as well keep playing rhythm. Midway through the third time through the first song he plays two notes - the WORST two notes he could have ever possibly chosen (they're still ringing in my ears!) - which sound even lamer than me just hammering away on my own.
After the first song he gives me this pathetic look like "sorry man...you know".
I just think. "Well, I've been booked to play rhythm guitar so that's what I'm going to do". So I proceed to play our entire set on rhythm while he just sits there being about as much use as a chocolate frog. Finished the set to really NON-enthusiastic applause.
After, I go outside to have a smoke. I can hear the host on the microphone making jokes about the opening act (us) and saying that watching us was like watching the "titanic go down!". Kind of funny in retrospect, but at the time I was nearly crying!
I never really forgave him for that. We stayed in touch for a while. I'm pretty good when it comes to forfgiving mistakes (having made many of my own!)I find it hard to forgive people who show me up in public.
Six years down the line and I've put in a lot of hours at the guitar since then. If I ever play with other people again, though, I want the drugs to be kept for after the gig!
Hope this hasn't been to boring. Went on longer than expected.
ddog |
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Posts: 63
| Mr ovation, prof bb, ddog, all of you - great stories!
Mr Pepiak, puh-lease write more. Should you decide on a book I would be more than happy to buy it. And translate it into Romanian lol.
Not measuring up to the previous, I have a cute happening of my own. I was to play in a posh venue, the National Library. Very small hall, actually a large room and not one designed for concerts, but hey.
The program was something like classical meets world music - Latin American, Irish, Russian, Spanish, neatly arranged for two nylon-stringed guitars. Full instrumental, full acoustic. Lead player, one of the best classical guitarists in my country. Rhythm, self-taught me. An actor was supposed to recite some weird poetry after every couple of songs. Again, posh stuff, lots of press - but I really loved the music and the fact I could play somth a lot different thatn usual.
Ok the place was packed full. People standing, people outside the hall with no hope of seeing us, just listening. One of the first times I had ever invited people on Facebook; guys, be careful how you do that, if you do it: not one, not two, but THREE ex-girlfriends showed up. AND, even better, didn't know each other and were sitting right NEXT to each other, smack in front of me. Since all of them had at various times broken my heart, this felt kinda good.
But things start bad. We hurry onstage and don't tune up right. The slight difference is brain-rattling. And on top of it it's very HOT inside. We try to fast-tune between songs, this only makes matters worse. Remember I said some people were standing? At one point, a girl in her tweens, barely 5 ft away from me, collapses on the wooden flor with a loud thud amplified and reverberated by the natural echo of the room. Of course everything stops. We are like stricken, out of focus, we get up to help her, ambulance is called etc (turned out it was nothing much, low calcium and such). The three former exes come to ME to console me ("ah c'mon, gonna be ok, get on with it after the doctors leave"). Flabbergasted, I get to introduce them to one another and witness killer looks from them towards each other (remember they have an instinct for this stuff).
The concert eventually went on... semi-awful. The encore was the thing that saved us (we had a WTF moment, playing something we had barely rehearsed) and people left with a smile on their faces. |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | This time it was the sax player.....
we had a sax player in our band and it gave us a unique sound. so unique that several other bands tried and ultimately were successful with stealing him from us.
shortly after my father died I met up with the saxman and we started to jam. He was a good player but never improvised before. we spent hours, days, weeks, in my basement reviewing the pentatonic scale and others and just playing. I would write out the notes and say play these, now play them backwards, mix them up, use grace notes, etc etc etc.
so we were set guitar bass drums and sax. The saxman was rather influenced by others and was having a hard time of it. He lived in what only could be described as an apartment rejected from the tv show hoarders because it was too unbeleiveable his room mate was a air brush artist with minimal talent that would go around stealing paints and brushes to do jobs. He also sorta played guitar.
well saxman needed to have his horn repadded and went to the music store but instead he spent the money on buying a bass and insisted on playing bass. the next time he bought a guitar. well that was ok since we needed back up guitar on some tunes. some times he would be so out of tune on his horn I would lean over to the sound board and pull his fader down.
I can't remember where this bimbo came from. I think she was a hand me down from someone else in our circle but she was a nutcase. Speed, pot and alcohol did not seem to help the matter any. It only amplified what a drama queen she was.
saxman was in love but started to pick up her bad habits. Now he was coming late to rehearsals or high or not showing up at all. He refused to carry any equipment to the gig opting to show up 15 minutes before with his horn in one hand and this junky bimbo in another.
at this particular gig, the drummer's x wife asked a sax player she knew to come and check us out at the bar. She was trying to get us a new saxman so we could have less drama in our lives. we tried to keep it from our saxman and just introduced him as a friend.
the bar was divided into 2 sections the bar and then a doorway and a large room with tables where the band performed. I was on stage left where I could see through the doorway into the bar, Sue who was playing bass and saxman were on the opposite side and their view was blocked by the wall.
well as our first set stated, I noticed that the saxman's girlfriend was talking to the new saxman. eventually they were getting a little friendly, then very friendly to the point where they are making out at the bar. ALL of this in my view.
Now all I could think of is how am I going to keep this together so the saxman does not go ballistic and leave mid gig.
I decide to combine sets 1 and 2 to make a longer extended set this worked. when I noticed that one of the couple was in the bathroom I called for a break.
saxman and bimbo got together during the break all was fine we start our second set.
now things are getting hotter and heaver with the second saxman still only in my line of site. we get through the last set with the saxman blowing his lungs out because I all but shut him down on the PA he was so far out of tune with us that it was just horrible.
so the set ends and he discovers his girlfriend with the new guy. Of course the only way to solve it is with screaming shouting and ultimately a fight.
well saxman looses, girlfriend splits with the new guy. He goes into a depression and ultimately we never used him again or the new saxguy since we did not want any drama.
to this day I am still looking for someone to play sax with my band |
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Posts: 4075
Location: Utah | I can never compete with Al's stories!
In high school I played in a number of bands, duets, a jazz band, etc. We had a black kid in one band, who was a definite minority in that time and place, and he was a great singer and a really good looking kid. Then this red head girl moved to town that I had a crush on, so of course I started a little duet with her! We were going to play for the kids at a local rehab hospital for handicapped kids.
Of course the red head girl met the black boy a couple of weeks before the show, and that was that. Plan B was cobbled together and I put together a few songs with another girl I knew named Suzanne. I played guitar, she sang, and I butchered harmonies. We played the show and all went quite well.
Suzanne later married another classmate of ours, who is now a math professor and the academic advisor of my daughter Sara, at the same college I attended. Small world!
My second story is from my college days. My fiance wanted me to go to a show at a nearby college. Her best friend from high school was there, too. I get volunteered to be roadie for the guy who is playing. Hauling his crap in, tuning his guitars, etc. Turns out this guy was an ex boyfriend of both my fiance and her friend. I never did find out how sequential or not their relationships were with him, but they were both obviously not over this guy in any way.
It turned out not to be a very good night for me. |
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| (sigh) just noticed what all these stories have in common: drummers, women or both :) |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Another true story from my theater days. I'm the hired choreographer for a Gilbert and Sullivan opera (the Mikado) put on by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Central City Opera. I'm also part of the stage chorus/ensemble. This is a big union production costing well into six digits. Opening night, a male member of ensemble who I cast but with whom I had no prior experience (always a risk), feints on stage during the finale of Act I. A fellow cast members sees him going down, grabs his arm and props him up during the final stanzas, then carries him off arm-in-arm, the guy completely unconscious. During intermission, he is rushed to a hospital in an ambulance and we never hear from again. The costume and wig people are frantic chasing down their rented stuff because it costs a fortune. Meanwhile, I meet with the on-stage ensemble during intermission and rechoreograph all the dance numbers in the second half, making a trio out of his now abandoned patner and one other couple, then repositioning them essentially to upstage center of every number. With crossed fingers and a ton of prayers, it worked and we left it that way for the rest of the production. |
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Location: Orlando, FL | My first paying gig was playing at a local dinner theater. I was one third of the orchestra for a 6 week run of Bye Bye Birdie. The Musical director/pianist, and a girl drummer rounded out the orchestra. I played guitar on a few songs and bass on a couple of others. I was in high school at the time and I borrowed money to buy a nice used fender precision bass and played my one pickup Melody Maker.
It was a really fun gig. During this same time some friends and I rented a storage unit we dubbed "the lizard room" to jam (and party) in. We crammed a lot of amps and gear into that space. It was located in an industrial area and we played any and all hours without having the cops called on us.
One afternoon we were jamming and getting stoned in the Lizard Room and it turned into one of those wonderful volume battles. "Hey I can't hear, I'm turning up!" "Oh yeah? My Peavy is louder than your Ampeg!" Hey, we were kids, I've seen adults do this! When we were done I couldn't hear out of my left ear. This scared the crap out of me!
I did not make a habit of getting stoned before my Theater gig, but I was still really feeling it when I got to work. Both my amp and Nelson were to my left. I was playing bass on my first song of the evening and I was screwing up my part. Nothing too major, but definitely noticeable. Nelson was shooting me dirty looks, and I was getting really nervous. I did okay after that first song, but Nelson kept giving me the stink eye! At the end of the first act, Nelson steps over and says, Turn your amp up I can't hear you at all. The other two acts went fine and I never got stoned before work again.
My hearing gradually came back over a 2 or 3 day period. But from then out I kept ear plugs with me for when things got out of hand. |
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Location: San Francisco, CA | Well, my worst gig is quite easy to remember...
Around 20 yrs or so ago our Classic Oldies band had an evening gig about two miles from my home. It was a nighttime, indoor affair that was to be a pretty standard gig for us.
It was raining like hell outside and pitch dark when my buddy finally showed up at my home to give me a ride to the gig. He was really late and I was pissed at him. Needless to say, he ran out of gas several blocks from the gig and that's when things started to REALLY go bad...
I somehow managed to lug my guitar, '66 Fender Super Reverb amp, pedals and parts all in one beastly trip to the venue. Wouldn't you know that since it was pitch dark and raining a torrent, I never saw the HUGE pile of dogcrap in the grass I was walking across!
Yep, I fell down, dumped my gear, and got the stuff all over my gear, pants,... you get the picture.
After I gathered myself and gear up again, I walked in the back door to the stage and the band was just getting ready to start. They were pissed at me for being so late, then took one look at me and said, "You look like s..." Then the bass player said, "You SMELL like s...!"
Everyone (including me) was totally grossed out by the odor I was omitting. I made it to the first break and the restroom for a partial cleanup and finished the gig.
Of course, the guy who hired us allowed as how I smelled and looked disgusting and that he wasn't going to pay us. Our bass player (who bore a striking resemblance to The Undertaker of WWF fame) immediately lifted him by the neck, pinned him against the wall, and asked him how he felt about the prospect of picking his teeth up off the floor.
We were paid, in full, immediately.
It was a night from hell.
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Great story, 6! |
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Location: NJ | not exactly a gig but a reheasal
As most of you know I have dealing instruments almost all of my adult life.
at one point when I am in college I am looking to upgrade my gibson lg0 it was the one with the plastic bridge and I really did not like the guitar that much although it was lightweight and had a pretty good sound.
In the paper I see a Martin D 35 advertised for $284.17 . I kid you not. that was the exact price. I thought wow this is insane and the price is right so let me call this guy.
The guy's name was L**** and when I got him on the phone he talked non stop for about 40 minutes. it was the late 70's so the conversation was peppered with a ton of mans, and cools, and far outs etc etc etc. He finally gave me directions. remember no gps or cell phones back then.
I got to the house and it was an old victorian build in the late 1800's it was divided into apartments and L had the first floor. Typical hippie crash pad. The US flag over the window as a curtain, mattress on the floor, bean bag chair, shelves made out of 2 x 12s and cinder blocks.
the girlfriend greats me at the door in a flowing peasant dress, no bra see through top and was really cute. I walk into the room and there is L smoking a joint. He takes me over to the guitar.
The case has one hinge pin missing from the hinge. I had never seen this happen before on a martin case, the guitar was grungy dirty for being only about 6 years old and it has cigarette burns on the side and on the headstock.
well it was still a great deal on a D 35 so I tried to negotiate apparently he needed $284.17 to pay his rent and utilities and for good karma that is what he had to sell the guitar for. He fired up the lava lamp and incense and invited me to sit down and jam. He wanted to make sure the guitar had a good home. He proceeded to tell me all the places he played the guitar and my eyes were starting to glaze over. back yard parties, coffeehouses, in california and colorado, but what stuck out in my mind was he was proud it only made it to the beach 3 times.
I tried my hardest but he would not budge off the price and although I enjoyed checking out his girlfriend I finally gave him the money and walked out with my first martin guitar.
fast foward 25 years later in 2003 a bass player pal asked me to come to a jam and I agree. His father was the grand poobah of the knights of columbus and he was able to get their hall to jam in and he had the key to the keg which made it always enjoyable.
We are jamming waiting for the arrival of the keyboard player who is bringing a guitar playing friend. they walk in the door. The guy immediately looks at me and says "your name is Al, you bought my Martin d 35 a long time ago. Do you still have it I want it back"
Well yup you guessed it I still had it but there was no way I was selling it back, so I fibbed and said that I sold it long ago. this was a guitar I had purchased for myself and considered it to be one of arsenal.
He set up his guitar and we continued the jam. He sang out of tune and had not got any better on guitar for the 25 year hiatus.
all night he kept badgering me about the guitar and I was freaked out that our paths would cross again all these years later.
stranger things have happened ....and have happened to me....... |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Ah, the hippie girls of the 70's. For me, there wasn't much else worth remembering from the 70's. Keep 'em coming, Al! |
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| I remember about 5 years ago going to see a scratch band in CT who were all six feet plus and bearded (apart from a couple little guys) on the way in to the gig and then appeared on stage in grass skirts and coconut bras.
I have never been to another gig since. It was the most horrible thing I have ever seen (apart from the Roseanne Barr Playboy Centrefold). |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I'd just had three wisdom teeth out and was recuperating at home, high on T3s. Someone phones that the bass can't make the gig, can I fill in?
Um, I'm not in the best of shape. But if they'll let me sit down all night and spit blood in a bucket - sure.
I show up with my own bucket (wife must have driven) and play the night. Apparently something impressed the leader because when the rhythm guitar player left to join a better band the next week, I got the call. ....to join the WORST country band in the world.
The drummer and I took turns quitting after the first set every week. Then one would take the other out to the parking lot during the first break for 'attitude adjustment' and we'd go back and finish the gig.
I finally got fired for egging the audience to demand Wipe Out then leaving the stage while the drummer did a 5 minute solo. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | fillhixx got me thinking of another gig.. that was one of the best and worst gigs all at the same time...
Adak Alaska in '85 I think. We were doing a Halloween party. I had a wicked flu, 104+ fever and was wearing a full-face "old man" mask.
I was miserable... but pressed on. I had to sing "best of my love" by the Eagles which was the only one of maybe two or three slow tunes we had. Well, the combination of not being able to breath through my nose at all, the cough medicine relaxing my throat, and the fact that I had to be a little back from the mic with the gain up so I didn't have to strain.... I sounded eff'n amazing. Seriously when I started I thought one of the other guys was singing cause that wasn't MY voice. I brought the bass player to tears, and through my watery eyes and the mask I was pretty sure I was directly responsible for several guys and gals getting laid that night... but I was never able to reproduce that voice again... and believe me I tried. |
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| Guys this is one of the best pages I have ever read... Al, 6, Mr.O, everyone, keep em coming! |
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Location: UK | There was a guy who performed a fairly awful acoustic solo act in the pubs in my area when I was growing up. The climax of his show was a version of Ben E King's 'Stand by Me'. At the end of the song he used to keep strumming the last chord and shout "OK everybody...Come and STAND BY ME". No one ever really knew what he meant, like were we supposed to get up on stage with him? The audience reaction was always hypnotically awful. After a few minutes of increasingly desperate attempts to get everyone to 'stand by' him ("Come on people!!"), he'd totally lose his temper and finish the gig, either by openly swearing at everyone, or making some sarcastic comment like "yeah, what a great ****ing audience you were..." or "last time I play this dump..."
I saw him three times and he did it every time. I kind of became a fan to be honest - maybe it was a weird gimmick. |
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Location: Spain | Originally posted by ddog:
openly swearing at everyone, or making some sarcastic comment like "yeah, what a great ****ing audience you were..." or "last time I play this dump..."
That was standard fayre from me when I played in Gran Canaria, in the resorts....nothing worse than playing to a bunch of legless British tourists.
I used to regularly say stuff like "what a bunch of c*+ts" over the mike.
Tossers! I jacked in playing after months of that, full of bad self doubt! |
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Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by martinez:
nothing worse than playing to a bunch of legless British tourists. Bad enough they don't have legs, but to be British too.... |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Ah, the hippie girls of the 70's. For me, there wasn't much else worth remembering from the 70's. Keep 'em coming, Al! Actually, I...uhhh...CAN'T remember much else from the '70's! :D
Ah, yes - hippie girls. Willowy young goddesses with long braided tresses and Indian headbands, barefoot and wearing buckskin and bell bottoms and very little else. Free love...no HIV...the good old days.
Now they weigh 245 lbs. with blue hair and bifocals. :D Gaaahhhh! I recently ran into an old flame who was a real babe back then (40 years ago). What a letdown - not that I've exactly maintained my svelte figure from back in the day either.
Great stories, guys! And again - Al, you SHOULD write a book. |
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Location: NJ | this one happened earlier this summer.
we were set to do an outdoor gig. they keyboard player could not make it.
no problem we will go on as a power trio.
we were set to open the show. I did not want that position I hate being the opener but I had no real choice about it.
we got there an hour early for the gig as instructed. we were the only ones there except for the hired sound crew who were setting up the FOH (front of house) system.
well this was going to be good a pro sound team, monitors etc. no worries here.
then I saw him.
I will just call him "B". B is a local guy who fancies himself a guitar virtuoso, recording engineer and bon vivant. He is also one of those hypocritical self serving born again types whose life is totally falling apart around him yet he will pontificate on your life. ad nauseam.
Yes B was set up at a snake with feeds going into his digital recording set up with a 42" tv set up as a monitor ALL OF THIS ON STAGE RIGHT IN FULL VIEW OF THE AUDIENCE. (ok he was partially obscured by the speakers but not really.)
I asked what was going on and he told me the guy that ran the gig wanted it recorded. I told him that I gave no one permission to have my music recorded and was not having it. B told me it was not my choice. I was not happy.
The FOH guys were great. they set everything up and I asked if we could run a sound check. We did, I was using my 59' Fender bassman and sue had a special bass rig that I made up with a groove tubes bass preamp, Urei power amp, a Mesa boogie twin 15" ev cab, with a direct line out and of course the drums were mic ed
We tested the system set levels, then monitor levels and ripped into one of our tunes.
Wow that was great everyone said, the people that had started to gather around for this outside gig applauded and I was kinda surprise since sound checks rarely get applause.
Can you turn down the guitar amp? the FOH guy asked. sure I said. we have the system on idle and you are blowing us out. I turned down to 1/4 from 1/2 and it was still not enough for them so I turned down to about 2. that pissed me off since I was now not able to get the good tones from the amp and had to use a pedal but I went with the flow.
the second act on the bill was this humdinger chick who was not too happy about following a full band. she was an acoustic player and had an electric guitar backing her up along with a conga player and some bimbo with big milk jugs to help get the audience in the "mood".
we go on after you she screeched. Can my guitar player use your amp? can I set up this stuff here? (in your way )(added for emphasis) and blah blah blah blah blah. sure whatever you want but we go on at 3 and you need to be finished by 3.
At 3 they were still messing around with something and I called over the MC and said introduce us we are playing we are not cutting short our set for their set up. we were introduced and started our set.
we started to play and it sounded great the FOH guys did a great job of mixing and we never sounded better. I think it helped that they liked our tunes and playing.
so 3/4rds through the set it happens. there is a strange loud digital feedback that is coming through the system. Yes B has struck again apparently his digital recording system was overloading so now it feed back through the front of house. All of a sudden I see 6 guys running up to the stage and starting to pull cables out of B's board. I am not happy. our sound went from huge to a transistor radio and btw I am on 2 since I was asked to pull back my vol for the PA and I am barely heard. We trudge through the rest of the tune me singing into a mic that is not on and playing a guitar that can barely be heard. during the guitar solo, B glanced over at me with a smirk on his face. I gave him the finger mid guitar solo to thunderous applause from the audience. (yes he had few fans that day)
well they got it straight for the rest of the set. of course we had to reset levels and we lost some monitors and I was so jacked up for the rest of the set I think we played it like we were on speed.
humdinger took the stage as our applause barely died down and walked past me not saying a word. In fact I have run into her on a few other occasions and she always looks the other way.
B grabbed me after the set and asked what was the problem, He swore it was the FOH guy's fault but I talked to them and they told me it was his rig. I just shrugged and said look I told you not to record me and this is what happens.
a few acts later a friend takes the stage and is having a difficult time of it. His songs are good but his bass player is lagging and the drummer is acting like he never played the tunes before. He starts bashing away at his guitar and breaks a string. He walks to the edge of the back of the stage where probably a dozen guitar players are and asks if he can borrow a guitar, it falls on deaf ears, everyone is ignoring him. I was in the stands at this time having a conversation with an old friend witness this and immediately jump up sprint to the back stage area get my guitar out of the case and hand it to him.
he thanks me continues his set gets off stage and we wonder aloud why a dz musicians standing there could not have lent him a guitar and I had to run back from the audience to do it.
I often thought it would get easier but it dosen't |
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Location: UK | Originally posted by martinez:
[/qb] That was standard fayre from me when I played in Gran Canaria, in the resorts....nothing worse than playing to a bunch of legless British tourists.
[/QB]
Ah, you were probably aiming way above them, bro, way above them. "And this one's called Jazz Odyssey...".
It's because the standard of entertainment laid on by pubs in this country is so poor, so it's what we expect when we go abroad. My local pub has a big sign outside saying "Live Musick" (with that spelling) which, in reality, just means loud karaoke all weekend.
(Cue 'Fat Sandra' from the chip shop belting out 'Memories'.).
Add programmes like X-factor to the mix and you have a large proportion of the population who could quite reasonably be termed 'musically illiterate'
I saw some pretty 'interesting' acts abroad when I was a holidaying as a kid. My favourite was the Italian keyboard/ bass duo who performed Dark Side of The Moon in its entirety (including the spoken word bits) for an under-16 dance at a family resort we stayed at. It was kind of weird hearing "I've been mad for f**ng years" come over the PA at a kids disco. By the end, some of the little ones were crying and their parents were complaining to the management. :( |
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Location: NJ | forgot to mention that they were filming this gig and as I gave the finger to B a guy with a camera was filming me over B's shoulder |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The reason we call him "Mr. Big" should be obvious. |
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Location: NJ | because I had a ton of bad experiences?????
funny I keep going back for more LOL |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Al - one word.
Book. :D |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Shhh....he's writing it here. On the installment plan.
Best-gig-ever: had a few of those too?
Just for contrast and comparison.
* * * * * *
It was 1975 and I'd just been talked into performing for a living. Two media buddies, in competition with each other, wanted to manage me. Needless to say I already had an immense sense of self-worth and this only encouraged the situation.
But told them both I would play any gigs they got and pay them a commission.
First gig; The Whistle Stop. Me solo guitar and jokes all night in the first neighbourhood pub in the area. (legislation to allow these things had just recently passed. so they were still a curiousity.)
The place was packed on a Friday, as much because of the above as because I was there. The tablefull of girls in the front row hadn't come to see me and I didn't interrupt their conversation much over the first set.
Working the house during the break I introduced myself and asked what sort of music interested them. Then went up and sang the sexiest songs I knew. Second set, during the table tour, I told the cutest one that she would get to go home with me if she played her cards right.
She did.
I loved the '70s. |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Me, too - for those same reasons. :D
But that's another thread... |
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Location: Flahdaw | Yeah, don't screw up this thread.....start a new "best gig ever" thread. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I've told this story here before, so don't search the archives to see if I changed it.
I don't do gigs. I may have been scarred for life from the only time I ever accepted an offer to play and sing in front of a bunch of strangers.
I was at my buddy's dad's bar, where I spent most of my time in college. It was a cowboy beer bar in Kansas and I was not a cowboy, but they didn't give me too much trouble because my friend's dad owned the place and my friend was a regular bartender.
They often had someone singing country western songs and playing guitar and I usually tried to ignore it and just drink. At the time I despised c&w music. Couldn't stand the twangy sound. That was before rap, hip hop, punk rock, screamo and all that other crap came around to fill the bottom of my barrel.
There was a country singer playing one night and I went in the john to make room for more beer. When I came out, I was applauded (quick zipper check, which just reminded me of another story) and the singer announced that I would fill in for her during her break.
Obviously, my friend put her up to this. I had just started playing guitar and probably could barely fumble through the cowboy chords, but wouldn't have known any country songs to go with them. I was probably too drunk to do the smart thing and decline, so I picked the easiest song I knew, "Make It With You" by Bread and started. I still remember being surprised by how loud and different my voice sounded through a mic.
Distractions like that, nerves and too much beer caused me to forget the last verse, so I just kept repeating the first or second verse, thinking the last one would eventually come to me. It didn't, so I just stopped. I recall some applause, but don't remember any requests for another song. I wouldn't have been able to honor any such requests if they had come. I just went back to my stool and vowed never to do that again.
My next public performance was at our wedding several years later. That went OK. |
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Location: Flahdaw | "Make It With You" at a cowboy bar??? Damn, what do you sing at a GAY bar? |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I don't go to gay bars, db, much less sing at them. I went to one once, but that's another story involving lots of alcohol. Believe it or not, they actually had one in Boise next to my parking garage. The door at the street had a sign saying "Entrance At Rear". I always wondered if that was a joke. |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I don't go to gay bars, db, much less sing at them. I went to one once, but that's another story involving lots of alcohol. Believe it or not, they actually had one in Boise next to my parking garage. The door at the street had a sign saying "Entrance At Rear". I always wondered if that was a joke. Uh, yeah - don't think I'd want to check that out. Nice story, Mark. |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Okay - weird one. It was an agency job. An agent who I'm loosely affiliated with called with a strange job. A guy wanted to propose outside to his girl while a singer/guitarist sang The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love."
On a Friday evening.
In January.
In fifteen f@#king degree weather!
I took the job against my better judgment.
I took my Ibanez AEF18TVS, not wanting to risk my Ovations in the cold. It was in the quaint Mainstrasse Village in Covington, Kentucky. We'd had about four inches of snow, but the streets and sidewalks were clear. My fingers were frozen, and the vocals came out like, "I d-d-don't c-care about that other st-st-stuff; F-F-F-Friday I'm in l-love." The girl knew something was up; normally acoustic guitarists don't stand on the street corner busking in fifteen degree weather.
He got down on one knee and proposed.
And she said, "No."
I finished the song, packed up and left and hightailed it back to my car, which was still warm. I felt sorry for the guy, but it was too cold to commiserate.
Plus I'd been paid in advance by the agency.
Poor dude shelled out $150.00 for one song and got rejected... :( |
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Location: Flahdaw | Maybe if you hadn't stuttered they'd be a happy couple right now! |
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Location: Rego Park, NY, | Originally posted by schroeder:
I remember about 5 years ago going to see a scratch band in CT who were all six feet plus and bearded (apart from a couple little guys) on the way in to the gig and then appeared on stage in grass skirts and coconut bras.
I have never been to another gig since. It was the most horrible thing I have ever seen (apart from the Roseanne Barr Playboy Centrefold). Schroeder????    |
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Location: cincinnati, ohio | Gaaaaaaahhh! That's just Wong...er, I mean, wrong. :D
Originally posted by dark bar:
Maybe if you hadn't stuttered they'd be a happy couple right now! Now I feel bad. :( |
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Location: Rego Park, NY, | Rick
You are absolutely right!! It's just Wong(Me). I like taking these type of photos as long as my life is not in danger. Many years ago when my youngest son Chris was 5 months old and sitting in a baby walker, my oldest son Mike( 6 at the time) was close by. I was trying to take a picture of Chris with my Hasselblad (manual focus)camera. Mike was sitting on the recliner about 8 feet away watching me while I was focusing on Chris. I could see that Mike was starting to pick his nose. So I pretended to focus on Chris but set the focus on Mike. When the time was right I could see that Mike was digging for a buried treasure. I quickly turned the camera in Mike's direction and got a priceless photo. |
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Location: Utah | Originally posted by Phil Wong:
I quickly turned the camera in Mike's direction and got a priceless photo. I've got a collection of embarrassing pictures to be liberally distributed at my son's wedding. One of the best was when he was about 4. His sisters dressed him and a neighbor boy, also 4, as Disney girls for Halloween. Little Mermaid and some princess or other.
That neighbor boy is now a nationally top ranked high school ice hockey player (his dad is ex-NHL). My son tests for his black belt in 2 weeks. Both are taller and a lot stronger than I am now.
On second thought, maybe that picture should remain secret. |
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Location: Flahdaw | For all you know, they may still dress up in princess outfits (I mean, look at Weaser!) |
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Location: Seacoast NH | It was March of 1993,and I was 18 years old. I had been helping out some friends as a tech/roadie and ocassional fill in lead player (when the japanese lead guy was "unfit to play") for an alternative rock band in Boston called The Drop Nineteens. They actually had a pretty big following at the time and had a couple of albums out on Caroline Records.
The band gets the call that the Smashing Pumpkins need an opening act down in Atlanta, can we be there by 5 p.m. the following day? Everybody is super excited, and then we notice the weather reports. Yup, blizzard is moving in, coming up the entire east coast. Of course the A&R guy is too cheap to fly the band out, so we pack up all the gear that morning into a couple of rental vans and get on 95 southbound.
Many hours later as we approach Washington DC, we can see the storm 10 miles off in the distance coming North (now known as "The Storm of the Century"). It was a terrifying line across the hozizon of swirling gray, white and black, and we're all saying "You've got to be kidding!". Things quickly go downhill from there -- one of the vans rear ends the other trying to avoid a jackknifing trailer rig, my van does 2 complete 360s in the middle of the highway at one point after nailing an unplowed section of highway -- you get the picture. White knuckle ride the whole way from DC to Atlanta.
We finally get to Atlanta just in time to make the scheduled sound check, and the entire city is shut down! No streetlights or signals, no cars on the road, no one walking around, it was crazy! Turns out 8 inches of snow had literally crippled the city. We get to the venue (Center Stage I think it was called) only to find out that the show has been postponed for 2 days due to the storm. Didn't anybody tell us? Nope.
We did end up having a blast for the next few days, and even caught Ace Frehley playing at some club. The gig went off without a hitch (even though Billy Corgan from the Pumpkins was an absolute prick).
I'll never forget the look on the rental car guy's face when we dropped those 2 brand new vans back off after getting back to Boston. They had like 2k miles on them when we left, and were basically ready for the junkyard when we got back. Ahhh the memories! |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 92
Location: San Francisco, CA | "Poor dude shelled out $150.00 for one song and got rejected..."
ARE YOU KIDDING!!!???
Think of all the money you saved him by not getting married!
Best $150 he ever spent.
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Now I feel better... :D |
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Joined:
November 2008
Posts: 400
Location: Northwest Arkansas | We played music in a barn north of Nashville in Ridgetop, TN. It had a chuchwagon in the center where some old guy was cooking.(Great food)The party was for MORTICIANS! That was one of the wildest parties I have ever seen. Hilarious. Where else can you meet a ladder salesman and a flagpole salesman |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Had an awkward moment a couple of years ago. I was playing a private party, a 50th Birthday party for a guy named Ron who signed up for my e-mail newsletter; he and his wife came out to hear me play on a semi-regular basis. Anyway, it was a cookout at their house on a gorgeous summer evening, and all his friends from work and their families were there.
Anyway, I was getting good crowd response, and I decided to play Bob Seger's "Like A Rock." I know; it was the theme song for Chevy Truck commercials for years, but it's a damned good song. Anyway, I sang the shit out of it and hit all the high notes. I was really pleased with it, but I got zero crowd response. I was really curious and asked, "Uhhh...was it that bad?"
Ron said, "No, it was fine. It's just that it's a Chevy song - and we all work for Ford Motor Company!"
They all stared daggers at me for a minute, and I thought, 'Oh, shit!' Then they started laughing and applauding. It was all a put-on.
We've all gotten to be good friends, and they still come to my gigs quite often. |
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OT: WHAT'S THE WORST (OR WEIRDEST) GIG YOU'VE EVER PLAYED?