Being unprepared.

koneguitarist

I was talking to a mate recently about bad gigs and how they have gone wrong. He said always be prepared so I said yes I try to be. 
But.... 
I was asked to do a gig once and you can see how confusion arose, a guy rings me up and said hi Taff, your bassist gave me your number to help us out on a gig, he said he couldn't do it but you may be free?

I said ok what type of band and when? 50's-60's standards etc was the reply. Thought yes ok I'm available and easy enough playing bass on most of the songs. so I said yes and see you Saturday at club. That was my first mistake, I knew the venue I knew the material, what could go wrong?  
Well singer rings me up on the Friday evening, just checking all ok for Saturday, yes I said have you learnt the solos? 
Solos, I ask? I thought i'm playing bass, no lead guitar!
 But I said you asked my bassist? he said yes but he can play guitar as well.
 So I said ok, will have a quick practice on Saturday morning and brush up on songs from that era. Turn up at gig and i'm standing there with my tele, an OD pedal and a Marshall Bluesbreaker combo. 
Turns out guitarist for band was on holiday but lives in street beside club so everyone knows him. Singer introduces band and said as you know John couldn't make it tonight so we have a special guest to stand in, so lets kick off with one of johns big songs.... Apache... Dum dum dum dum, Dum dum dum dum. No echo no reverb, no tremolo, never played an instrumental in my life only bass or rhythm guitar on it! 
What is your worst unprepared live moment!

Lestratcaster

Not quite to the same extreme but I remember going to a show initially as a backline tech for a friend's metalcore band, purely expected to on be there to help load in gear, set up the rigs and make sure everything is sounding good.

The bassist was originally coming from work as he was working later than all of us, and we expected him to join us after soundcheck (that I did on bass just to get them through it).

2 hours before the show we get a phone saying he can't get out of work on time and that I'd have to fill in (I had filled in loads of times on bass before but hadn't played the set in a while). So we had to get the bass from the storage room and I had to sit in the van for about an hour to re-learn the set. I was totally not expecting to play but the lads were lucky I was there so the show still went ahead. And it went pretty well.

Another time something similar happened, this time with the guitarist coming from Brighton, the gig was in Gillingham and the trains were all shit that day. As a learnt lesson form last time I sat in the back of the van for the journey (from West London) jamming the songs on guitar just in case I was needed (so in a way I was being prepared!). As half-expected he couldn't make it in time for the set so I had to play the first 5 songs (one song I didn't fully know the lead parts just the rhythm) and another I hadn't played live before. He eventually showed up in time to play the last song but again I saved the band that night!

Now in the future I always go to shows half-expecting to play haha.

p90fool

Playing with this lot with zero notice in the late 90s. I was in a touring blues band with the guitar player from Tayfa and I knew the band socially a little and loved their records, but one night in Brittany they shoved a guitar in my hands and pushed me on the stage. 

Although I'd heard the set a few times I'd never played any of it, and to say this Welsh biker/slide player's knowledge of Breton/Algerian crossover electric folk was scant is an understatement. 

I got away with it, with no real howlers, but I definitely played it safer than I would've with a bit more notice. This isn't me btw, this a later video of the band;

HAL9000

I did read once about someone who 'played drums a bit' being invited to an open mic. Now, like lots of open mics it was full of aging rockers playing 12 bars and 60s rock. First song was All Along the Watchtower which, being a youngster, he'd actually never heard so he just laid down a funky disco techno beat. He never got asked back.

ESBlonde

I once had a drummer friend ring me and ask if I would be interested in gigging with him. Sure I said, and we went on to discuss possible songs we might cover with a rock flavour (I'm not much for Rock if I'm honest and avoid it because, well because. He than said great, the bass player can sing these other songs. I said when is this gig? Oh tonight he says! I'm still at work at this point. 4 hours later it's happening.

EricTheWeary

HAL9000 said:

I did read once about someone who 'played drums a bit' being invited to an open mic. Now, like lots of open mics it was full of aging rockers playing 12 bars and 60s rock. First song was All Along the Watchtower which, being a youngster, he'd actually never heard so he just laid down a funky disco techno beat. He never got asked back.

Fairly sure that's a James Acaster story, it's in his book Classic Scrapes I think ( he was a keen drummist before taking up comedy). 

I remember being told by someone they were auditioning a bassist for a blues band and he didn't really seem to know what to play. Trying to be helpful they said 'can you play a walking bass line.' He said yes and continued to play his bass as before but whilst walking around the room. 

Anyway, on the OP I've never depped and based on these stories I think I'm fine with that! 

vasselmeyer

In terms of being unprepared, I played with a guy who never took his guitar out of the case between gigs, never changed strings, stuffed (not coiled) his cables in a carrier bag at the end of gigs and never had a spare for anything.

I'm always prepared a d have at least two of everything, so helped him out many times which, unfortunately, just enabled his behaviour. Once I deliberately forgot all my spares and I ended up playing the gig without him when none of his cables worked. Didn't work, he just asked me to remember the spares next time.

Bloody infuriating, it was.

LuttiS

I was drumming for a band and a singer was singing.. we've been at it for a while and no one seems to be able to get their shit together so we decide to form a side project/band of our own while other band gets sorted. I take up guitar, singer picks up bass and we call a drummer we know and he comes around. 

Three hours later we are at our first gig.
Somehow pull off a 30 min (ish)  support slot of original material written in those hours..


Don't ask how it went though.

Grangousier

I depped bass for a Wurzels tribute band. The chap who ran it didn't like the idea of me having music beforehand (although I did sneak a look on YouTube) or learning chords or anything, so I had to watch the guitarist's fingers wherever possible and guess (not complicated, Wurzels tunes, but a little more unpredictable than 12-bar blues). The gigs were quite well-attended, though. It was literally like one of those dreams where you go on stage with a band to play music you've never heard before. I used to get those dreams a lot, but now it's actually happened less so. 

I'd have quite enjoyed it were it not for the racist jokes. 

HAL9000

EricTheWeary said:

HAL9000 said:

I did read once about someone who 'played drums a bit' being invited to an open mic. Now, like lots of open mics it was full of aging rockers playing 12 bars and 60s rock. First song was All Along the Watchtower which, being a youngster, he'd actually never heard so he just laid down a funky disco techno beat. He never got asked back.

Fairly sure that's a James Acaster story, it's in his book Classic Scrapes I think ( he was a keen drummist before taking up comedy). 

Thanks for that. I'd remembered reading the story, but couldn't recall the details.

EricTheWeary

HAL9000 said:

EricTheWeary said:

HAL9000 said:

I did read once about someone who 'played drums a bit' being invited to an open mic. Now, like lots of open mics it was full of aging rockers playing 12 bars and 60s rock. First song was All Along the Watchtower which, being a youngster, he'd actually never heard so he just laid down a funky disco techno beat. He never got asked back.

Fairly sure that's a James Acaster story, it's in his book Classic Scrapes I think ( he was a keen drummist before taking up comedy). 

Thanks for that. I'd remembered reading the story, but couldn't recall the details.

It's quite a good book, I think I got it for 99p on my Kindle app. His band stories are funny, they all ring very true.  

John_A

vasselmeyer said:

In terms of being unprepared, I played with a guy who never took his guitar out of the case between gigs, never changed strings, stuffed (not coiled) his cables in a carrier bag at the end of gigs and never had a spare for anything.

I'm always prepared a d have at least two of everything, so helped him out many times which, unfortunately, just enabled his behaviour. Once I deliberately forgot all my spares and I ended up playing the gig without him when none of his cables worked. Didn't work, he just asked me to remember the spares next time.

Bloody infuriating, it was.

Sounds like our singer, except he doesnt ask if you have spares, just takes them