SonnyD4885
68 posts
Aug 16, 2011
8:30 AM
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whats the worst gig that you or someone you know ever played ?
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shanester
418 posts
Aug 16, 2011
11:28 AM
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I'll bite, it wasn't really a gig because I humiliated myself for free!
It was at an open mic at a barbeque joint in Austin with my guitar trying to play 3 songs I wrote.
I had some people that I knew there and had to restart my 1st song literally 5 or 6 times, each time more apologetically than the last.
I totally cratered and was completely disconnected for the next two!
Somehow I don't have that come up anymore because I am clear that I got what I got for better or worse and I'm here to play it!
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Shane,
"The Possum Whisperer"
Shane's Cloud
1shanester
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Philippe
138 posts
Aug 16, 2011
2:30 PM
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Not a gig for me, but a jam. Last weekend's jam (2nd time I play a jam). A few people had an attitude, and the jamming guitarist plays ridiculously (way too many notes, you'd think he was in a heavy metal band). First song, we start. I tell the bandleader to stop the band, someone isn't in the right key (guitarist!). It gets fixed, we play the song, and it goes alright. Next song, key of E, so I grab my A harp on 2nd pos. Band starts. I play the root note and sound way off. Band stops. Bandleader asks guitarist to play E, he is WAY off. Band restarts. I play the root note, still sound off key but differently. At that point I no longer had interest in being there so I got off stage.
So much for that stereotype about harp players not having the right key :-)
Last Edited by on Aug 16, 2011 2:31 PM
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joeleebush
321 posts
Aug 16, 2011
3:49 PM
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Worst gig.
I was retired from playing harp (I had a 25 year layoff) and I was playing all kinds of bass gigs because I could read music and it helped me make more money.
Guy calls me for a bass gig with him....trumpet, bass(me), piano, and drum. He says "its a simple party"
Dumb me figures it is a cocktail affair with the snooty hooty types.
I get to the show and this fool leader has booked the gig for a graduation party for Emory University nurses.
It starts out as a disaster and gets worse. The students want to rock and roll and this guy doesnt even have a guitar on the gig. The crowd starts complaining and I want to go through the floor with embarassment.
The leader's idea of a dance tune is that old standard "Hot Toddy". By now the crowd wants to kill us.
Suddenly in the middle of a song, the piano player stands up, looks around, says not a word and just walks on out the door.
Well after a few more the leader calls for a break. That is all I need. Without a word, I unplug my amp, put my bass in its case and start rolling it all out the door.
The band leader sees this and says..."stop stop, you can't leave...stop"
I say.."oh is that so..just watch me". And out the door I went.
The students actually applauded!
Regards,
Joe Lee
Last Edited by on Aug 16, 2011 3:51 PM
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Icemal
19 posts
Aug 16, 2011
3:53 PM
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I was playing bass at a police bar, doing our pub covers. It was ok that they crowded around the bar and acted like we didn't exist. It was not ok when the older drunk knarley leather faced guy stood in the middle of the empty dance floor staring at us and making throat slitting gestures. We acted like he didnt exist.
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Icemal
20 posts
Aug 16, 2011
4:01 PM
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Another time, different bar, there was one of those drunk guys who was pissing off the only 2 ladies on the dance floor. It was quite a treat to have ladies at the gig at all, we played at a pretty greasy bar. They clearly weren't liking him, after a good while, in between songs, I walked to the edge of the bar and went "Oi! How about you leave the girls alone?" quite menacing like. Then one of the girls said to me "Oh its ok, he's my husband".
I went up after, apologized and bought him a beer. I felt like such a peanut. Funny now though!
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shbamac
142 posts
Aug 16, 2011
7:31 PM
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Played a party with a 15 year old bass player. Someone let the kid hit the sauce... Halfway through the fourth song I notice the bass is falling behind. I look over and the kid is strating to sway, he let's go of the bass and slumps down into a chair. Luck enough there was a chair right behind him other wise he would have hit the deck. We stopped and two guys walked him to a car. They came back and we finished the gig without a bass. Wasn't to bad but just wasn't to good either. He was a bad ass bass player. He had been wearing dark sunglasses and after the gig people came up to us and asked us what happened to the blind guy playing the bass. We didn't tell them he was blind drunk...
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nacoran
4449 posts
Aug 16, 2011
7:52 PM
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Hmm, maybe the open mic I played tonight. I was playing on a song I didn't really have a part for. I was getting so frustrated I lost track of which verse we were on. There is a pause between each verse and I thought we were done. I slid the harp into my pocket. Then another verse started. I had to whistle! Which of course ruined the surprise whistling part in the next song, which I screwed up the lyrics for. Then after that one I tried to say goodnight. We still had another song to go! The harp was a mess, but listening to the recording afterwards the only part that really stunk was my harp.
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Nate
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Mojokane
429 posts
Aug 16, 2011
8:21 PM
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I went on stage, decided to go ahead and let one go.. (fart..that is..),and shat my pants... instead.
Nothing worse than scatting in yer pants, MAN!!... at the beginning of a set, no less.
"OOOOPS!" I said to myself, "oh well...nobody will know who it is..ha!". The jokes on them, eh?
And it was my big debut, with a somewhat popular blues guitarist, who didn't like some of the stuff I was doing, too.
So when he said I sounded like shit on that last one...what could I say? He had no idea how shitty it really was..
This is a true story. The names were removed to protect the innocent. Don't make me regret sharing...
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Why is it that we all just can't get along?
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nacoran
4450 posts
Aug 16, 2011
8:45 PM
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Mojokane, thanks! that made me feel much better!
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Nate
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Greg Heumann
1219 posts
Aug 16, 2011
8:58 PM
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We did a gig at this historic old saloon. We've played there maybe 3 times before - always had a blues-appreciative crowd. This night is different. The only folks in the bar are twenty-somethings. They are talking, sitting at the bar, backs to the band. And talking in little crowds, backs to the band. We play, finish each tune - ZERO acknowledgement. The sound of one hand clapping. We take a break - they put the foulest hip hop on the juke box, turned up louder than we were playing. We do our second set, same thing. NOTHING. Third set, same thing. NO CONNECTION. Tear down, same thing. Nothing like playing your ass off for 3 hours, having your ears bombarded by some really awful music at every break and tear down - like "why are we here?" I like it better when the dance floor is full. Which happens to us too, thankfully!
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/Greg
Last Edited by on Aug 16, 2011 8:59 PM
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jbone
609 posts
Aug 16, 2011
9:11 PM
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damn mojo. that was bad. REALLY bad.
how about one i DIDN'T PLAY? drove 3 hours to north arkansas on a friday night and we played a joint in branson, then i crashed at the bandleader's place. next day we 3 hours into southern missouri to play a fest. it had been raining off and on all night and the day did not look much better, but the show must go on!
there was a mill they were restoring so they would have a band at least once a month to raise funds. we were told there would be a covered stage, food available, and a lot of people in attendance. sounded really great, good pay and all, pretty country, etc etc.
so we get there and 1) it's still raining on and off, 2) covered stage is a 50 foot steel flatbed trailer bulled under some trees, 3) leader insists we set up p.a. at least to we stand a chance of getting paid. so we do, in the rain, set the p.a. up, cover everything with trash bags and cardboard, and try to sit out the rain. 4) drummer brings a heavy metal bass player along, and 5) promoter pulls the plug on the show since there was virtually nobody there. and no pay. 6) drummer nearly gets himself killed yelling at us about no pay, like we have any say in the matter. we had a contract but the promoter just didn't have any money coming in at all.
bright spots: got to ride a small ferry from missouri to arkansas, once the weather had cleared and we were headed back toward home. spent the rest of the weekend camping out at every campground along the buffalo river, fishing etc. actually met and jammed with some guys at one campground who played blues and we got along great for that night.
but that was the worst gig i DIDN'T play.
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jbone
610 posts
Aug 16, 2011
9:19 PM
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greg, we had an eerily similar gig at a racquet club once.
and- Jolene and i were invited to do a tip gig 30 miles up the road at a coffee house in the old downtown of a small city which is a college town amid the farms and fields of central arkansas. so we made the drive. supposedly one of the colleges was having a huge awards event and the coffee house would be packed out afterwards. which it was. but it was with kids with laptops and smart phones who totally ignored us. i offered a free cd to anyone who would come up to the stage. which one gal did, and i handed her a tip jar and sent her around to every table. i think we made $13 and sold a cd. did i mention that it was Easter eve? so we get done, it's late, let's go home. car won't start. it's 1:30 a.m. and we know virtually nobody in this town. went back in the coffee house and were lucky enough to get offered a ride home with our gear by a kid who worked there. which cost us our $23 we'd just made plus a cd. AND then pay a mechanic there to figure out what was wrong and fix it, which took about 3 days and cost another $100.
irony: the owners called us and wanted us BACK!!! when i asked for a $50 guarantee, i got hung up on.
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Mojokane
430 posts
Aug 16, 2011
11:36 PM
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yer welcome,
watch out for Mexican food..
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Why is it that we all just can't get along?<
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jules
40 posts
Aug 17, 2011
2:10 AM
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Hm... too many to mention. Our lead singer falling off stage and knocking himself cold half way through the first set at a gig in Portsmouth a few years ago, A hideous wedding gig in Reading for a reallly lovely couple who's families obvious hated each other's guts- ending in a huge punch up and utterly distraught bride & groom (very depressing night for all concerned- felt like we'd stepped into an episode of Shameless), A very interesting gig on an open air stage in Paris in extrem summer heat- meaning none of my horns (I weas on tenor sax nad flute) could be played in tune due to metal expansion- just had to walk off stage in the end....
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jbone
612 posts
Aug 17, 2011
4:46 AM
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we had a bass player- 300+ pounds- fall through the stage once. same guy got so hammered one night at a gig that he gave me all his bass stuff, guitar, 2 amps. all of it. which i gave back the next day when he was in the midst of a huge hangover.
i knocked a guy off stage one night with a mic stand to the shins.
for spending $$ instead of making $$,it would have to be the trips to louisiana, 8 hours drive from here, to make $100. which covered maybe gas and a room for wife and me. it was worth going in one sense and that was to play at a true juke. but we couldn't afford to lose $$ any more.
we played a joint in clarksdale MS many times over a few years. every time we made the drive something went weird or wrong or both. we never made it home with any gig pay. between weather and personalities there was always some strange crap to deal with. torrential rains, 100+ heat and no air, 35 degrees and no heat, not to mention playing our asses off and getting almost nobody through the door sometimes. tough town. these days we'll leave town here for a guarantee.
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6SN7
181 posts
Aug 17, 2011
5:01 AM
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Great thread!
My first gig at college was at a student organization coffee house called the Red Stocking cafe. We were thrilled and geared up for n evening of blues and told all out buddies to come on down. There was a poet before us and she recited a lot of free form stuff regarding the power of women and how worthless man were. Okay, whatever. Just before the gig, the organizers asked to see our set list. After a quick look, they told us we would have to scratch a number of songs because they were sexist. It turns out we had booked ourselves into a meeting of the Campus Feminist/Lesbian Club. Oh wow, well with half the set list gone, we soldiered on. We opened with "Chicken Shack", pretty safe since it was an instrumental. By the third song, we slowed it down and did Jimmy Rodgers "That's All right." Right after I sang the line "Who are you loving tonight," the instruments went dead and the light s went up and the organizers told us we were over. When I asked why , they sited the lyric and said the audience found it offensive.
Next day the college newpaper was awash in news about the incident and it became a real deal. On one side you had the Feminists would said they could control what is played at their function and student gov't screaming about free speech. Ovey, all we wanted to do was play some blues.
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apskarp
530 posts
Aug 17, 2011
5:03 AM
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I guess that would be the one I did on the spring. I was asked to do two songs in a party with 150 people. I didn't have any guitarist so I just picked one from the guests, we practiced about 90 seconds on the break and that's it. I sing two of my own songs and he was strumming the wrong chords... The first piece was about ok, but the second was a ballad and it was really hard to sing with wrong chords.. :D
The amazing thing is that few of the guests I talked with afterwards hadn't even noticed it.. (Except one pro.)
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SonnyD4885
69 posts
Aug 17, 2011
6:10 AM
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i had a gig with a gutiar player i never played with he told me on the phone that he NEEDED a harp player to make it sound nice so i get to his house and he comes out big sweaty looking guy never meet him befor he says lets get the gear loaded up in my van so ok all the gear is in the van then tell me im driving his van a 80000 pound van i was like noooo he's says well i don't have a licences im like it not my problem so stupid me i do it he said he'll pay me 60 bucks so we start out and i noticed the steering is wicked loose on the van and we have to drive to east bum f@#$ so no practice befor the gig im thinkin im going to crash on the highway and then we get there we set up and he telling me we go on in 3 mins im like ok so he starts out playing classic rock stuff im ok with that i did that most of my career but he leaves me no room to play and then i get a turn to play and he turns my mic down then off tells me im in the wrong key the whole time i ask him what is your guitar tuned to he says its 3 halfstep down i said thats why he say no you just suck the whole time he took the spot lite introducted him self and not me then i drive him back after the gig he gave the money only 50 he deducted 10 for gas then i leveled him got in my car and never seen him again
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Tommy the Hat
200 posts
Aug 17, 2011
6:17 AM
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That has to be the longest sentence I have ever read!! lol Period!
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Tommy
Bronx Mojo
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earlounge
331 posts
Aug 17, 2011
8:05 AM
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Once in NYC I ripped my pants bending over to mess with my pedal board. It tore from the ass pocket to my ankle. It looked like I was wearing jean skirt on one leg.
Another gig we were backing up a dude from Def Poetry and my drummer forgot his cymbals. Imagine trying to play ambient jazz/noise under a poet without cymbals. He ended up using a frying pan, a cookie sheet, and some glass bottles. It wasn't that bad.
I've played countless gigs where the club didn't have a built in crowd and we were too far from home to draw. Playing to no one is defiantly the worst, but I guess doesn't make a good story.
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LittleBubba
81 posts
Aug 17, 2011
9:41 AM
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We play an outdoor gig every year at a successful farm commune. Last year the founder passed away and we were asked to play his funeral party.
They were providing the PA and soundman on the outdoor stage, and when we got there to set up the soundman had been grieving the loss of his friend by getting really drunk.
Our rhythm player had to show up late in the sound check and he couldn't get the sound man to do his job right. Our rhythm player has been known as basically an asshole by all the other musicians in our area for the last 4o years.
Anyway, during the first set the guitar player starts shoutin' at the sound man thru the mic, cursing him and giving him orders, and even telling him not to touch the board.
At one point, our guitar player puts down his guitar and starts to charge the sound man; two of our guys restrained him, and I talked the sound guy into abandoning his post so we could continue the gig.
Remember, this was a funeral party. Everybody was embarrassed except our guitar player. We subsequently kicked him out of the band.
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2011 9:41 AM
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Jim Rumbaugh
550 posts
Aug 17, 2011
10:31 AM
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I was called play bass with a band for the first time.
Big band era music, that I was not familiar with.
Had to read charts.
The drummer did not show up.
Tempos wear all over the place.
After a half hour, the band leader was hollering at me,"folow me, let me direct the tempo, one, two, three, four"
It was not a pretty sight.
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The WV State Harmonica Championship at The Diamond Teeth Mary Blues Festival Aug 27th & 28th 2011, Huntington,WV
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SonnyD4885
70 posts
Aug 17, 2011
11:30 AM
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@tommy the hat sorry if i don't use the Period but you get what im saying i think really fast when i type ................
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KingoBad
833 posts
Aug 17, 2011
7:38 PM
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Apparently you don't think fast enough to use punctuation...
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Danny
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Cristal Lecter
105 posts
Aug 17, 2011
7:56 PM
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Each to them
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Never try to be as good as someone else, succeed to be the best player you can be!
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shanester
424 posts
Aug 17, 2011
8:01 PM
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This isn't really about punctuation is it?
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Shane,
"The Possum Whisperer"
Shane's Cloud
1shanester
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Joe_L
1421 posts
Aug 17, 2011
8:33 PM
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It's about punctuation and capitalization.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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bonedog569
370 posts
Aug 17, 2011
10:18 PM
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Hmnn- possibly the 'country' gig we booked in Jamestown (just outside Yosemite in the gold country. We played abaout 80% blues / 20% country at the time and where in no way a real country band. "know any two-steps? Cotton eyed Joe? - there was no chicken wire and no one got hurt but boy was that a long night.
runner up - went from one very loud jam at a buddies house to an invitational jam with Johnny Nitro (RIP) at the blue lamp. When I got off stage Johnny asked me what was up with my ear -- -I had stuffed tissue in at the last jam and it was sticking out in a long raggedy tail. looked like a complete ass.
@mojoK - thanks for that, I've stunk up the stage (damn gas) - but never had that happen. I'm counting my blessings
@ Greg - ya talkin THE Saloon - North Beach? Never seen a non-blues crowd there. A sprinkling of yuppies mixed with regulars, occasional sailors and tourists - but always a good funky mix that's into the music. - It sucks to be MUZAK
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bubberbeefalo
38 posts
Aug 18, 2011
7:00 AM
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Early 70's our blues played a New Year's Eve gig at an Officer's Club on an Air Force base in Plattsburgh NY. The night started out great as we went through the security gate our genius drummer cracked to watch out for the bomb in our truck. Which led to our having to unload every piece of equipment and box and have it all slowly inspected. Once we set up and started playing there was stone cold silence after every song. The black officers were all in the bar in the adjoining room dancing to soul and disco. At one point 2 officers took our PA speakers and pointed them toward the wall. We turned them back out and played Mellow Down Easy ala the Butterfield Blues Band. Lo and behold the whole place got up on the dance floor and started a Conga line . This brief positive wasn't enough to salvage a nightmare.
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gene
863 posts
Aug 18, 2011
9:30 AM
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I've never been in a band, so I'm just askin' :
When you get an unresponsive audience, can the band adopt the attitude, "Piss on 'em" and just go on playing what you want for yourselves as if the audience ain't even there and enjoy it just the same?
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thorvaldsen76
115 posts
Aug 18, 2011
10:13 AM
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Worst gig ever was at a local bar. The owner is a good friend of ours and the country artist he had booked had not shown up. So he was desperat and gave us a good deal,and we said yes.. In short,the place was packed with countryfans waiting for the local country star to start. All they got were a band playing old-school blues,and we don't know a single countrytune! Lesson learned :)
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MrVerylongusername
1863 posts
Aug 18, 2011
12:19 PM
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A few disasters:
In a previous band, we got paid after three numbers for a New Year gig that didn't get past 9pm. The agent had mis-sold us, the room was full of geriatrics. Quite what they were expecting I don't know - hard to mistakenly book a rock band for a tea dance!
Our drummer once turned up an hour after we were due to go onstage at a festival. Luckily the organisers were able to rejig the running order. Then my amp died on me - nothing I could repair on the fly. "Is it supposed to sound like that?" inquired the soundman helpfully. We got paid (and rebooked two years running) and the amp got fixed. The drummer got fired.
We arrived to "A Bank Holiday extravaganza" to find the venue deserted and the landlord in very foul mood (apparently he'd not sold any tickets either). After half an hour of telling us to move our gear, mixing desk, lights from where we'd set it up and then back again, he just snapped and told us to get out: he even barred me from setting foot back in the building. It was almost comical how transparent it was - he just didn't want to pay us. I won't post on a public forum how we dealt with that one.
The last gig was a blinder - but slightly marred by the guitarist reversing the van into the drummer's mum's car! crunch
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