The most amateur-ish thing you've done live?

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  • PC_DavePC_Dave Frets: 3396
    I once had a full on melt down in front of the sound guy, the other bands, my band etc, 

    I'd set everything up, pedal board, multiple guitar stands, amp etc. Came to sound check, took the amp off standby, no sound. Checked volume on the guitar, checked the amp volume, checked the pedalboard had power and so on. Nothing. Had a full on meltdown until I realised that I completely forgotten to get the cable that connected the board into the amp out of my bag...............
    This week's procrastination forum might be moved to sometime next week.
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  • PC_Dave said:
    I once had a full on melt down in front of the sound guy, the other bands, my band etc, 

    I'd set everything up, pedal board, multiple guitar stands, amp etc. Came to sound check, took the amp off standby, no sound. Checked volume on the guitar, checked the amp volume, checked the pedalboard had power and so on. Nothing. Had a full on meltdown until I realised that I completely forgotten to get the cable that connected the board into the amp out of my bag...............
    I've done this a few times! The panic that sets in is unreal! Also I've usually forgotten a speaker cable to go from the amp to cab, and wonder why I get no sound haha.

    But yeah the rush of quick changeovers, arsey soundguys and so many things to plug in takes it toll.
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4942
    Way back in the 1970s we played gigs in pubs etc.  I had the world's worst example of a Fender Strat at the time, the damn thing would not stay in tune for more than a song or two.  In those days there were no electronic tuners so all tuning was done by ear.

    Typically we played Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights with the odd afternoon wedding on Saturdays.  The money was poor and to take a break we invited audience members up on stage to sing a song or two.  Over time we got to know the regular guests and songs and keys they sang in.  One elderly gentleman sang a waltz in C.  I will never forget that as long as I live.  As he got on stage and geared up to sing I was absently strumming chords to check tuning and somehow he took the chord I was strumming, F, as his starting note.  Several notes too high for him but he manfully kept going while all I could see were the veins on his neck pumping.  I actually believed at one stage that he was going to get a heart attack and die!   Wisely we worked a way to cut the song short while he was still alive.  We had a laugh about it with him after the pub closed - he understood how it happened and was none the worse for the experience.

    Me?  perhaps overcome with relief that he did not die, I could not stop laughing as we drove home.  One of those things that made the entire gigging effort memorable.
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    edited September 2019
    Played a gig with a rock'n'roll band which I'd just joined - actual rock'n'roll... like from the 50s. All the songs are pretty similar (aren't they?) so I hadn't bothered really learning some of them properly, and knew it would be fine because as long as I knew what key they were in all I'd be playing was double-stops and solos so I could just wing it. And I had done this perfectly successfully with a previous band.

    There were no monitors either - but it wasn't going to be a problem because the bass player had a good loud amp so I would just take my cues from the bassline. The problem came when about five seconds into the first song, I realised that somehow despite its apparent volume when we were soundchecking, I couldn't hear the bass amp *at all* and not much of the vocals either - just the drums and my amp.

    I was in time, at least...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited September 2019
    Early 90s and it was a Music Industry Battle of the Bands competition organised by Nordoff Robbins at The (newer) Marquee that was on Charing Cross Road. Celebrity panel, packed venue etc

    As we had to use the backline, we didn't know what was being supplied and so I brought along my Zoom 9002 (the first, mini one that started it all) and had a good bunch of presets that had been tried and tested at the rehearsals and the unit sounded great.

    We were playing FM's rockier version of the motown classic 'I heard it through the Grapevine' and just before we got to the quiet breakdown/vocal in the middle, I went to hit my solo preset in preparation from when we came out of that to launch into a guitar solo. The lights were dim and I accidentally hit the metronome button which through the in-house, large PA rig, sounded like someone banging a dustbin lid. It was horrible, loud, thin and metallic-sounding. To add to it, it was totally out of time with the drummer and of course, being a metronome, everyone thought it was the drummer's, or he'd been using it or triggered it.

    As the band looked on in disbelief, it seemed like an eternity before I actually realised what was going on and that alien sound was my doing, but in reality it wasn't, and I nonchalantly sauntered off to my Zoom and turned it off.

    Many people commented on 'the interesting break' and I didn't own up to it with the drummer being seen as The C***T of The Night, but in truth, that title belonged to me.

    Luckily, the drummer is still one of my besties and we're happy to still play in a band together, but he does mention it every so often - SORRY DAVE. 

    Here's a pic of the night where you can just make out a letter from the Marquee backdrop. The offending Zoom would've been sitting atop the Marshall head. As an aside, I miss my Tom Anderson shown here, which I now find myself trying to purchase one I can actually afford!


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  • Fell over the back line (terribly terribly drunk and the other stuff), somehow managed to right myself and get back up before carrying on nonchalantly all without missing a beat, in my mind nothing had happened, and I’ve been told since there was a mix of shock and adoration amongst the audience. It would have been my most rock’n’roll moment had it not been the Tuesday acoustic night in the local boozer. 
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  • Depped with a band that was so bad on a NYE gig back in 80's. They were so bad, during the break I had about 3 pints of stella and about 5 brandies, fell back on the stage, cant remember what we played after that. 
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  • Hmm, would it be the New Years gig where I tried to take a solo during ‘Mama Mia’ and couldn’t make any of the notes fit (where I heard someone from the side of the audience say         ‘what was that !!’ as I finished) ?

    Or the time I was playing bass in jazz quartet sitting on top of my amp and almost fell backwards off it while playing, luckily being caught by the keyboard player.
    Unluckily, and unknown to him,  the keyboard player accidentally hit the transpose button on his keys, sending everything up a semitone.
    Cue the next song and some irate ‘Bm’ ‘I am playing Bm’ etc conversations mid song before realising what had happened....
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  • LuttiSLuttiS Frets: 2243
    Not me - my pet drummer... Turns up to the gig pissed.. drum kit is already in place as we sharing bill with other bands.. just about manages to put his breakables on, gig starts first some is some how great, me and the singer/bassist share a look of relief towards end of the song thinking, he's pissed but still playing perfectly.. great. Go straight into the next song, but the drum beat hasn't changed... 
    The drummer plays one continuous drum beat for the entire set... I mean.. it's a good beat, complete with fancy fills and with his spagetti octopus arms bit it's the first song.. 
    Me and other guy are making the entire set fit on  the fly to this beat. It was an experience.. 


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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951

    Or the time I was playing bass in jazz quartet sitting on top of my amp and almost fell backwards off it while playing, luckily being caught by the keyboard player.
    Unluckily, and unknown to him,  the keyboard player accidentally hit the transpose button on his keys, sending everything up a semitone.
    Cue the next song and some irate ‘Bm’ ‘I am playing Bm’ etc conversations mid song before realising what had happened....
    Capo'ing the guitar at the wrong fret and then arguing with the keyboard player throughout the song about who is in the wrong key is quite like that too!

    I didn't even have the excuse of falling over first either.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • vizviz Frets: 10643
    I’ve mentioned this before but one time we completely forgot we had a keyboardist for some unexplained reason. We did our customary huddle backstage and all downed a shot of vodka and clapped each other on the backs, went up, got on stage, picked up our instruments and launched into the first song, at which point there was a commotion in the back of the hall and our keyboardist came running out of the toilets pulling up his trousers with one hand and waving to us with the other. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • I had a couple of songs where I played slide in open tunings at different parts of the set. First song on the night, kicks in to the song which should have been in Open E. Guitar was tuned up for Open G. Not really coming back from that one was the song in full flow! 
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  • JayGeeJayGee Frets: 1254
    I had a couple of songs where I played slide in open tunings at different parts of the set. First song on the night, kicks in to the song which should have been in Open E. Guitar was tuned up for Open G. Not really coming back from that one was the song in full flow! 
    This is the sort of thing which makes me think that Gibson’s flirtation with robo-tuning wasn’t as intrinsically daft an idea as a lot of people seem to think... :-)
    Don't ask me, I just play the damned thing...
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  • MusicwolfMusicwolf Frets: 3627
    I've had the usual singer / guitarist starts in the wrong key, bass player doesn't realise and carries on regardless and I'm stuck in the middle trying unsuccessfully to make eye contact with either to fix it.  Similar with same Singer / Guitarist getting out of sync with the drummer, however............

    Worst slow-motion train wreck was in another band with me on guitar, bass player and singer playing with drums on a backing track.  We're playing 'These Boots are Made for Walking'.  There's a run down on bass with a the kick drum keeping the beat - only the bass player has lost it.  To make matters worse the singer has started banging her bloody tambourine except that she's in time with neither the bass player nor the backing track and I hearing all three rhythms knowing that the backing track isn't going to adjust - we just had to stop the song and start again.
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  • In my very first band, I had the exact same amp as the other guitarist. At one particular venue we stacked the amps on top of each other to save space. After a few songs (and a few pints), I went and made some adjustments to my amp volume and EQ, as the gig went on I needed to make more and more adjustments as my lead guitar still wasn't cutting through over the other guitarist.

    Turns out I was adjusting his amp all night not mine!  
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  • MusicwolfMusicwolf Frets: 3627
    In my very first band, I had the exact same amp as the other guitarist. At one particular venue we stacked the amps on top of each other to save space. After a few songs (and a few pints), I went and made some adjustments to my amp volume and EQ, as the gig went on I needed to make more and more adjustments as my lead guitar still wasn't cutting through over the other guitarist.

    Turns out I was adjusting his amp all night not mine!  
    That reminds me.  Many years back the other guitarist and I both had similar cars (blue Ford Sierras).  After practice the band all used to head back to mine for a while (I was living on my own at the time).  One evening when it came to leave we discovered that it had snowed quite heavily.  I said goodbye and went back inside to the warmth.  10 minutes later there was a knock at the door and there was the other guitarist showing me that he'd done a wonderful job of de-icing the my car by mistake.
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  • Jimbro66Jimbro66 Frets: 2418
    Years ago a mate's band had a gig that was about 50 miles away and by a very indirect route. The drummer said he knew how to get there so they decided that the band would follow him in their three cars. The drummer set off at quite a pace in his silver Merc and they struggled to keep up with him and briefly lost him in the busy traffic. Then they spotted him again and gave chase. After very many miles the Merc pulled into an estate and parked on a drive. The guys were confused so they pulled alongside to find that it wasn't the drummers Merc they'd been following but a very similar one! They had gone miles in the wrong direction and had no idea how to get to the gig (it happened pre-mobiles). They eventually got there an hour late and killed the drummer ;)
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  • HaychHaych Frets: 5594

    Many years ago I was asked to play in a band that was quickly put together for a friend's wedding.  The singer wanted to do a cover of a Mike & the Mechanics song and insisted on using a drum machine despite having a perfectly adequate drummer in the band.

    We rehearsed it and all went well.

    Fast forward to the gig, the singer brings along his PA and sets up, as do the rest of the band with their gear, but I quickly notice that there're no monitors on stage, so when it comes to the Mike & the Mechanics number none of the band can hear the damn drum machine!  The only reference we had was the FoH bouncing off the back wall of the venue.

    Instead of abandoning the song after the first couple of bars we fumbled through giving each other 'wtf' looks and imagining what the singer would look like without any limbs!

    That was just about the worst gig ever.

    There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife

    Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky

    Bit of trading feedback here.

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  • The female singer in my early 90s shoegaze band was notoriously quiet. We were extremely loud to be fair and she just wasn't up to it. Anyway at one gig she started the first song with her microphone turned off. We were all glaring at the PA guy who was turning it up and scratching his head when she suddenly realised and turned the mic on. The ensuing howl of feedback brought the whole thing to a standstill. Someone shouted "do that again" and we started over. With hindsight I have to admit we weren't very good!
    Link to my trading feedback
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  • HeelHeel Frets: 271
    I expected the crowd to like my music. 
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