Here's a thread for us musicians to share our horror stories. What was your worst gig ever?
I'll share 3 of mine...
1. Cosmic Fate, a 70s-metal cover band. We played stuff like Ozzy-era Sabbath, UFO, Deep Purple etc. This would have been sometime in the spring of 1991, shortly after the band was formed - in fact, it was only our 2nd show. We were playing a local bar, but they refused to pay us as we were a brand new band. Fine, no problem - we'll do it to build our reputation. So we put out a tip jar and hoped for the best. The final result: about 15 people came to the bar that night, and our take was seven dollars in tips to split between five guys. That's almost more insulting than playing for free! (Although it was a good show.)
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2. Another Cosmic Fate show, about a year later than the incident described above. By this time, we had established ourselves on the local scene, and were commanding anywhere from $400 to $700 per night - and drawing crowds that packed every bar we played. We had at least 150 regular followers who came to every gig, because no one else in town was playing metal. (For a small town of about 20,000 people, that's not bad.)
On this occasion, we agreed to play a backyard party for free. It was on a farm just outside of town, and we were to play in the mostly-empty barn. However, it rained like hell the night before, and the barn had a leaky roof. So the whole floor was covered with water - not good at all for a band with lots of amps and other electrical equipment. We spent an hour or more building a stage out of hay bales - and even those were wet. Then it started raining again. Fortunately, we had tarps to throw over the amps, but every time it rained we had to do that fast and then run into the house. By the time the day was over and we were trying to leave, all our cars had sunk several inches into the fresh mud. It took us all another hour just to drive back onto the road home.
And the worst part? We screwed up the middle part to "Aqualung". Well, the drummer and I got it right, but the singer and acoustic guitarist fucked it up. We actually train-wrecked on it (i.e. had to stop and start over, the worst sin a live band can commit).
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3. Cobalt Jack, one of my current bands, just last Saturday. Playing a free show for an autism charity. Just a few weeks before, we invested most of our remaining band funds (about $2400) into a new 24-channel mixing board and new power amps. And, after numerous tests and rehearsals at other locations to make sure all the new equipment was running right - including one successful bar show and several rehearsals - it all crapped out during soundcheck. Suddenly we had $2400 worth of paperweights, and a soundman who was going insane trying to fix it. On his birthday, no less! We managed to get most of it working again - but in mono instead of stereo and with no EQ or effects. We sounded like a mere garage band. Ugh.
The bright side was that the autistic kids didn't know the difference. Have you ever seen a dance floor full of autistic kids? I tell ya, it'll put a smile on your face any day. Cheerfully spastic children everywhere, making all kinds of noise as we laid down the blues-rock. A weird show, but enjoyable despite the sound nightmares.
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So, if you got horror stories, tell 'em here. Gigging ain't always fun and games. Share your misery.
I'll share 3 of mine...
1. Cosmic Fate, a 70s-metal cover band. We played stuff like Ozzy-era Sabbath, UFO, Deep Purple etc. This would have been sometime in the spring of 1991, shortly after the band was formed - in fact, it was only our 2nd show. We were playing a local bar, but they refused to pay us as we were a brand new band. Fine, no problem - we'll do it to build our reputation. So we put out a tip jar and hoped for the best. The final result: about 15 people came to the bar that night, and our take was seven dollars in tips to split between five guys. That's almost more insulting than playing for free! (Although it was a good show.)
====================
2. Another Cosmic Fate show, about a year later than the incident described above. By this time, we had established ourselves on the local scene, and were commanding anywhere from $400 to $700 per night - and drawing crowds that packed every bar we played. We had at least 150 regular followers who came to every gig, because no one else in town was playing metal. (For a small town of about 20,000 people, that's not bad.)
On this occasion, we agreed to play a backyard party for free. It was on a farm just outside of town, and we were to play in the mostly-empty barn. However, it rained like hell the night before, and the barn had a leaky roof. So the whole floor was covered with water - not good at all for a band with lots of amps and other electrical equipment. We spent an hour or more building a stage out of hay bales - and even those were wet. Then it started raining again. Fortunately, we had tarps to throw over the amps, but every time it rained we had to do that fast and then run into the house. By the time the day was over and we were trying to leave, all our cars had sunk several inches into the fresh mud. It took us all another hour just to drive back onto the road home.
And the worst part? We screwed up the middle part to "Aqualung". Well, the drummer and I got it right, but the singer and acoustic guitarist fucked it up. We actually train-wrecked on it (i.e. had to stop and start over, the worst sin a live band can commit).
====================
3. Cobalt Jack, one of my current bands, just last Saturday. Playing a free show for an autism charity. Just a few weeks before, we invested most of our remaining band funds (about $2400) into a new 24-channel mixing board and new power amps. And, after numerous tests and rehearsals at other locations to make sure all the new equipment was running right - including one successful bar show and several rehearsals - it all crapped out during soundcheck. Suddenly we had $2400 worth of paperweights, and a soundman who was going insane trying to fix it. On his birthday, no less! We managed to get most of it working again - but in mono instead of stereo and with no EQ or effects. We sounded like a mere garage band. Ugh.
The bright side was that the autistic kids didn't know the difference. Have you ever seen a dance floor full of autistic kids? I tell ya, it'll put a smile on your face any day. Cheerfully spastic children everywhere, making all kinds of noise as we laid down the blues-rock. A weird show, but enjoyable despite the sound nightmares.
====================
So, if you got horror stories, tell 'em here. Gigging ain't always fun and games. Share your misery.
