Mishaps At Gigs

[DanvillRob]

I've had many mishaps during my years of playing.  

Once I even ended up in jail!

Rested my lip on an un-grounded mic.

TWICE had Hell's Angels start a fight during a gig.

This one was caught on video.   At about 1:00 in the video the strap peg pulled out.   Thank goodness it didn't happen earlier when I didn't have hold of the guitar!

This was at a class reunion a couple of years back... I glued the peg in after this. 

Anyone else have Mishaps during a gig to report?

 

[sparquelito]

Most of my mishaps have occurred before or after the gig, not during. 

In one instance, drummer Bob's Roland kit became aerodynamic, and flew out the back of his truck, smashing onto the highway. 
Tie-down straps and all. 
Luckily, we were able to go get Bob's maple Gretsch kit and complete the gig that evening. 
And ever more luckily, I was able to repair and replace all the damage, for less than $150.
That Roland rig was as good as new within a month or so. 

One other disaster happened after the load-out from a large outdoor sports fest event. 
I was driving my gear home, and a couple of monitor speakers tumbled over, and crushed my favorite acoustic/electric guitar.
The JBP had been tossed in the back of the van at the last moment, and it wasn't in a case. 
Utterly destroyed. 

😒
 

[Big Bill]

I mistrusted a fart once.

[DanvillRob]

Just now, sparquelito said:

Most of my mishaps have occurred before or after the gig, not during. 

In one instance, drummer Bob's Roland kit became aerodynamic, and flew out the back of his truck, smashing onto the highway. 
Tie-down straps and all. 
Luckily, we were able to go get Bob's maple Gretsch kit and complete the gig that evening. 
And ever more luckily, I was able to repair and replace all the damage, for less than $150.
That Roland rig was as good as new within a month or so. 

One other disaster happened after the load-out from a large outdoor sports fest event. 
I was driving my gear home, and a couple of monitor speakers tumbled over, and crushed my favorite acoustic/electric guitar.
The JBP had been tossed in the back of the van at the last moment, and it wasn't in a case. 
Utterly destroyed. 

😒
 

Somehow I was too upsed about hearing about the drums....but my heart hurts for the guitar that got wrecked!

I once got stopped by the California Highway Patrol in our fully-loaded van..... looking for drugs....made me take ever single thing out of the van on the side of the freeway.... when they were satisfied I didn't have any drugs in it....they left....and I was stuck with reloading the entire van!

[DanvillRob]

Just now, Big Bill said:

I mistrusted a fart once.

Hopefully you weren't wearing white pants!

[sparquelito]

Just now, DanvillRob said:

Somehow I was too upsed about hearing about the drums....but my heart hurts for the guitar that got wrecked!

I once got stopped by the California Highway Patrol in our fully-loaded van..... looking for drugs....made me take ever single thing out of the van on the side of the freeway.... when they were satisfied I didn't have any drugs in it....they left....and I was stuck with reloading the entire van!

My goodness. 
Those CHP guys were sadists. 

I admire how you handled that strap button coming off, mid-song. 
You carried on like a trooper. 

The JBP guitar was, blessedly, only a sentimental favorite. 
It didn't actually cost all that much, less than one-fiddy, brand new. 
It sure was a work-horse guitar though. I loved it. 

😐

[saturn]

I'm sure if I think I could come up with something more interesting. But one comes to mind from the night before Thanksgiving 2019. About the only time I brought just one guitar, my Les Paul Studio to a gig. 5 minutes before we were to begin, our bass player accidently knocked my stand over and snapped the headstock of my LP.  Another guy in the band alternates between guitar, sax and percussions. He only brought one guitar too, his Music Man which I had to use all night while he just played sax or percussion. 

Edited September 18, 2022 by saturn
spelling eror

[sparquelito]

9 minutes ago, saturn said:

I'm sure if I think I could come up with something more interesting. But one comes to mind from the night before Thanksgiving 2019. About the only time I brought just one guitar, my Les Paul Studio to a gig. 5 minutes before we were to begin, our bass player accidently knocked my stand over and snapped the headstock of my LP.  Another guy in the band alternates between guitar, sax and percussions. He only brought one guitar too, his Music Man which I had to use all night while he just played sax or precision.  

Man oh man!!

My girl singer used to ask me why I brought two electrics and two acoustics to each job. 

The answer is THIS. 

😉

[DanvillRob]

20 minutes ago, sparquelito said:

My goodness. 
Those CHP guys were sadists. 

I admire how you handled that strap button coming off, mid-song. 
You carried on like a trooper. 

The JBP guitar was, blessedly, only a sentimental favorite. 
It didn't actually cost all that much, less than one-fiddy, brand new. 
It sure was a work-horse guitar though. I loved it. 

😐

Did you ever replace it?   Sometimes the dollars it cost isn't a factor.

The CHP incident was back in the days when long hair wasn't fully accepted...they did it just to mess with me.

[DanvillRob]

11 minutes ago, saturn said:

I'm sure if I think I could come up with something more interesting. But one comes to mind from the night before Thanksgiving 2019. About the only time I brought just one guitar, my Les Paul Studio to a gig. 5 minutes before we were to begin, our bass player accidently knocked my stand over and snapped the headstock of my LP.  Another guy in the band alternates between guitar, sax and percussions. He only brought one guitar too, his Music Man which I had to use all night while he just played sax or percussion. 

Those stands on stage are just disaster waiting to happen...... what happened to the LP?

 

[DanvillRob]

2 minutes ago, sparquelito said:

Man oh man!!

My girl singer used to ask me why I brought two electrics and two acoustics to each job. 

The answer is THIS. 

😉

As a bass player back in the day....I not only didn't bring an extra guitar....I didn't even bring extra strings!

I recall watching a band at BB King's in Memphis one time..... the bass player broke a string.... that caused the other 3 strings to go completely out of tune..... he bass player adjusted and  finished the song without many noticing what happened.... guy was a PRO!

[DanvillRob]

Just now, ghost_of_fl said:

Had a brawl break out at one of my shows.  Like everybody was Kung foo fighting kinda brawl.  And we weren't even a heavy band so picture the fists flying while we're playing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benetar. 

Great song for playing during a brawl!

We used to play 'after-hours' at a place called "Carlo's Pizza"....was a place many band got their start.

One night the place was filled with members of a motorcycle gang in Fermone, CA called "The Banshees ".    Later on, a group of "Hell's Angels" showed up.... the room was very small, and it became very tense.... pretty soon fists and beer mugs started flying....we stopped and did our best to protect out stuff!

[Big Bill]

51 minutes ago, ghost_of_fl said:

Had a brawl break out at one of my shows.  Like everybody was Kung foo fighting kinda brawl.  And we weren't even a heavy band so picture the fists flying while we're playing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benetar. 

That happened with me once. The mayhem moved into where we were playing. We stopped playing and started breaking everything down as fast as we could. We got paid an extra $500... I learned that night why some bands played behind chicken wire.

[saturn]

1 hour ago, DanvillRob said:

Those stands on stage are just disaster waiting to happen...... what happened to the LP?

 

I got it glued but it came apart about 6 months later. He felt so bad for knocking it over that he gave me a PRS SE. The guy is a personal friend and runs sound for Paul's band when he plays so I'm sure he didn't even pay for the guitar. My LP is still in the case with strings loosened. I keep procrastinating on what I'm going to do about it.     

[DanvillRob]

1 hour ago, Big Bill said:

That happened with me once. The mayhem moved into where we were playing. We stopped playing and started breaking everything down as fast as we could. We got paid an extra $500... I learned that night why some bands played behind chicken wire.

We could have used chicken wire at Carlo’s Pizza that night!

[DanvillRob]

1 hour ago, saturn said:

I got it glued but it came apart about 6 months later. He felt so bad for knocking it over that he gave me a PRS SE. The guy is a personal friend and runs sound for Paul's band when he plays so I'm sure he didn't even pay for the guitar. My LP is still in the case with strings loosened. I keep procrastinating on what I'm going to do about it.     

I used simple Elmer’s Wood Glue on my Jubilee…..like 35 years ago!    Still holding together…..I even keep it tuned in the case!    Is the break angle bad or something?

[DanvillRob]

9 minutes ago, Shannon Redd said:

Ya, smashing people onstage who are jumping around,some guy starts jumping around with guitar swinging around and smashing me with headstock ,

Not everyone can pull off an Angus Young!

[Larsongs]

Lots of Fights.. 

One Gig there was an incredibly beautiful girl Eye F’n our lead Singer for the first 2 Sets.. After the 2nd Set break the lead Vocalist disappeared!!! So did the Girl!

I became the new lead Vocalist!

Another time we were playing a small Redneck Town dive Bar called The Wreck.. Aptly named… We were Rockin!!!! People were Dancing & the Dance floor was packed! All of a sudden there was a commotion. We thought it was a fight on the Dance floor.. It wasn’t.. A guy had a Heart Attack in the middle of a Song & collapsed on the floor.. The Paramedics were called. They came & tried to revive him but it was too late… 

I have many more….

Playing in a Band is a weird vocation……

[sparquelito]

1 hour ago, Larsongs said:

Lots of Fights.. 

One Gig there was an incredibly beautiful girl Eye F’n our lead Singer for the first 2 Sets.. After the 2nd Set break the lead Vocalist disappeared!!! So did the Girl!

I became the new lead Vocalist!

Another time we were playing a small Redneck Town dive Bar called The Wreck.. Aptly named… We were Rockin!!!! People were Dancing & the Dance floor was packed! All of a sudden there was a commotion. We thought it was a fight on the Dance floor.. It wasn’t.. A guy had a Heart Attack in the middle of a Song & collapsed on the floor.. The Paramedics were called. They came & tried to revive him but it was too late… 

I have many more….

Playing in a Band is a weird vocation……

Lars, you better lay low, big guy. 

You KILLED a guy. 

(And not with a trident.)

🤔

[Larsongs]

33 minutes ago, sparquelito said:

Lars, you better lay low, big guy. 

You KILLED a guy. 

(And not with a trident.)

🤔

Some time later our Band was known as a Killer Band……. Not really funny… I hope they meant we were good..

[merciful-evans]

I always managed to catch my guitar the few times it worked loose from the strap. I use locking devices now.

On the final gig of the year, we were breaking down and our bassist managed to spill a drink into my Boss GT5. Killed it stone dead. I got a Line 6 replacement, which was much better, so no bad thing really.

Our singer came close to being beat up one night. The drummer from the other band who supported us was making a play for the same woman he was. I was very relieved common sense eventually prevailed. 

A couple of times dancing drunks fell into the equipment, speakers, & mic stands toppling over. 

That's all I can recall right now.

[Murph]

Had the heart attack guy at a New Years gig about 12 years ago. He didn't die, but it sucked the life out of the party.

Had a very drunk Cajun who was kicked out (because of our sax man) come back with a Colt .357 Python (that's how good my view was) and was trying to aim it at him (he was next to me) before he was taken down by the crowd. I was trying to cover vitals with a '72 Les Paul Recording.

Was robbed of some p.a. gear in the very early 80's during loadout chaos, have been very vigilant since. 

Had a cold beer tip over on my Peavey Deuce 2;12 combo sitting on a chair (late 70's/early 80's), when the cold beer hit those 4; 6L6 power tubes the drummer said the light show was spectacular, although very short lived. 4 new tubes and a fuse (which I had) and I was up and running. That was the toughest damned amp I ever owned.

Also had to unload a van one night for a drug search. They never found them either.

Many fights and several other gun scenarios, nobody ever died in front of me at a gig.

Many jealous wives/husband issues over the many decades.

Helped put out a house fire early one morning, driving in from an out-of-town gig (the drummer did, I was riding with him and had been drinking and he was actually a trained firefighter). I held back onlookers, I was EXACTLY drunk enough for that job.

Went to a bass players house one morning after a gig and his car was wrecked in the front. He had a piece of plywood trying to hide it. When I finally got him awake, he said it happened at a 4 way stop sign, the two of them pulled out at the same time (3:00 a.m. in the morning no less) and bumped into each other. He said the other driver hung a right and took off, so he just took off too avoiding the cop/dui scenario.

I've got more, tired of typing...

 

 

 

[DanvillRob]

2 hours ago, Murph said:

Had the heart attack guy at a New Years gig about 12 years ago. He didn't die, but it sucked the life out of the party.

Had a very drunk Cajun who was kicked out (because of our sax man) come back with a Colt .357 Python (that's how good my view was) and was trying to aim it at him (he was next to me) before he was taken down by the crowd. I was trying to cover vitals with a '72 Les Paul Recording.

Was robbed of some p.a. gear in the very early 80's during loadout chaos, have been very vigilant since. 

Had a cold beer tip over on my Peavey Deuce 2;12 combo sitting on a chair (late 70's/early 80's), when the cold beer hit those 4; 6L6 power tubes the drummer said the light show was spectacular, although very short lived. 4 new tubes and a fuse (which I had) and I was up and running. That was the toughest damned amp I ever owned.

Also had to unload a van one night for a drug search. They never found them either.

Many fights and several other gun scenarios, nobody ever died in front of me at a gig.

Many jealous wives/husband issues over the many decades.

Helped put out a house fire early one morning, driving in from an out-of-town gig (the drummer did, I was riding with him and had been drinking and he was actually a trained firefighter). I held back onlookers, I was EXACTLY drunk enough for that job.

Went to a bass players house one morning after a gig and his car was wrecked in the front. He had a piece of plywood trying to hide it. When I finally got him awake, he said it happened at a 4 way stop sign, the two of them pulled out at the same time (3:00 a.m. in the morning no less) and bumped into each other. He said the other driver hung a right and took off, so he just took off too avoiding the cop/dui scenario.

I've got more, tired of typing...

 

 

 

Dang, Ben!    That’s enough mishaps to fill the chapter of a book!

[DanvillRob]

2 hours ago, merciful-evans said:

 

A couple of times dancing drunks fell into the equipment, speakers, & mic stands toppling over. 

 

We had a drunk kick our drums off the platform.

We were doing a concert with THEM.   Van Morrison showed up in a limo, (back then the limos were like undertaker’s cars), with Janet Planet.

Van got drunk and during a song, the band mates did get a “soulful” as he wanted….so he hit the keyboard player with a mic stand, then kicked the drums off the 3’ high platform.   They always used our equipment.

Van stormed off stage, and went out back of the theater and got in the limo with Janet.   Of course, I went out to see what was going to happen next.   It was known that Van always wanted to be around me, (because I was as short as he was), and when he saw me, he motioned me to get in the limo with him and Janet.    I did NOT want to get in there, since I just witnessed what he did to his band mates…but he insisted…..so I got in…..sat in the jump seat.

Pretty  soon, the police showed up and pulled him out of the limo and took him away!    Janet went running after him…..left me alone in the limo!

True story!

[Larsongs]

5 minutes ago, DanvillRob said:

We had a drunk kick our drums off the platform.

We were doing a concert with THEM.   Van Morrison showed up in a limo, (back then the limos were like undertaker’s cars), with Janet Planet.

Van got drunk and during a song, the band mates did get a “soulful” as he wanted….so he hit the keyboard player with a mic stand, then kicked the drums off the 3’ high platform.   They always used our equipment.

Van stormed off stage, and went out back of the theater and got in the limo with Janet.   Of course, I went out to see what was going to happen next.   It was known that Van always wanted to be around me, (because I was as short as he was), and when he saw me, he motioned me to get in the limo with him and Janet.    I did NOT want to get in there, since I just witnessed what he did to his band mates…but he insisted…..so I got in…..sat in the jump seat.

Pretty  soon, the police showed up and pulled him out of the limo and took him away!    Janet went running after him…..left me alone in the limo!

True story!

Cool story.. And then you & Janet …………..……????