Scariest (or most bizzare) moment at a gig

Bod

The covers band I used to dep for were guilty of accepting any gig they were offered without properly checking the venue in advance.  One was on a pub at a dodgy estate. 

I turned up before the others, as was common ("Be there for 7" - rest of band turns up at 8) and instantly got a bad vibe.  I walked in past a group of lairy blokes who were openly snorting coke from the pool table to see that this pub's visions of being a music venue were hugely misguided.  Small bar area full of tables and chairs to set up in, a pillar obstructing everybody's view etc.

We played the first set largely without issue.  However, halfway through the second set, somebody walked in through the door and the entire pub stood up and went nuts.  There were fists flying, women screaming and children crying. Four police units including a riot van turned up and started carting people away.  We got to finish the last few songs of the set eventually, but we essentially got a police escort out of the pub with our gear.  I eventually stopped working with that band, and that type of gig was one of the reasons.

ICBM

Stratavarious said:

We also finished a theatre run with a mountain of spare pyro pots.  We emptied them all into a metal bin and set it off.. fucking hell it was loud.. the police turned up and the dust from the grid was still everywhere.

Constraining explosives in a metal container… yep.. lesson learned.

The bass player in a band I used to be in thirty years ago decided it would be a great idea to have some pyros at the end of a gig - although he thought it would be even better to use big outdoor ones in the little indoor boxes. He set them off on the last drum beat of the set - which was lucky, because none of us could see or hear anything for several seconds afterwards. When the smoke cleared and we looked at the pyro boxes, the metal sides had been bent outwards like flower petals.

It seemed very funny, until about ten years later this happened...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire

p90fool

Loads of stupid stuff over the years, but I guess the worst was a guy getting stabbed to death in front of our stage at Granville Casino. 
Our singer's daughter had been in school with the victim, which made it even worse. 
The French police did their usual trick of kicking the shit out of any non-white punters they could get their hands on before even asking what had actually happened. (It was an argument between two white guys). 

relic245

p90fool said:

Loads of stupid stuff over the years, but I guess the worst was a guy getting stabbed to death in front of our stage at Granville Casino. 
Our singer's daughter had been in school with the victim, which made it even worse. 
The French police did their usual trick of kicking the shit out of any non-white punters they could get their hands on before even asking what had actually happened. (It was an argument between two white guys). 

Shit that is horrible!

Open_G

Played a ceilidh which was essentially a mass brawl between the brothers of a couple where a wedding broke out. 

Also during a break at a pub gig somewhere north of Manchester I got cornered by a “talker” which happens occasionally. On this occasion the guy rambled on drunkenly before telling me about the time he microwaved his hamster. 

lustycourtier

Used to play a rough as hell pub in Ellesmere Port. Awful, but we knew everyone so we'd always play whenever we didnt have a booking elsewhere. Probably twice a month.
  One night it was raided as we started. Police grabbing everyone. When it all calmed down I asked if we were free to leave and I quote the Officer in charge 'The only thing we'd do you for mate, is fucking crimes against fashion'. 

p90fool

@lustycourtier if you were a standout fashion disaster on the Wirral then I think we need to see some pics!

lustycourtier

p90fool said:

@lustycourtier if you were a standout fashion disaster on the Wirral then I think we need to see some pics!

Im usually dressed like an 80s footy hooligan crossed with a mod, but then I also own various pastel linen suits, so that covers it

ScreamingDave

I took my son to play a gig in a pub in the roughest area in town, if not the county, and the first thing we saw was a burned-out car still smouldering in the car park.  

One gig the drummer’s sister got very drunk and fell into me, my mic stand, etc.  repeatedly. 

And one nice lady threw her bra at me during a gig.  She later, under the baleful stares of her husband, claimed to have done it “ironically”

viz

Danny1969 said:

Christ in 40 years of gig'ing there's been a few rough gigs .. 

Southampton afternoon in the early nineties .. biker glasses a bloke while we were playing. Bloke comes back later with a shotgun and shoots him. Luckily we had just left. 

South London in 99 a bloke glasses another bloke. Landord tells him if you do that again you will be barred!

Portsmouth in 2014 ish , bloke attacks door staff with baseball bat ... caught on camera 

That's a few that spring to mind but there's been a lot more 

A post deserving of the relatively rare “lol wow” reaction!

stickyfiddle

snowblind said:

Bay City Rollers gig at LSE back in the 80s. Blood everywhere, people getting stretchered out of the venue. Never seen so much violence at one event.

I’m late to this thread but my mother in law worked a couple of bay city rollers gigs and reports exactly the same. Genuine carnage like Beatlemania crossed with Mad Max

Flanging_Fred

I played this one gig where all the people in the pub were watching us when we played. They were dancing and smiling and really looked like they were enjoying their evening. There was even some pretty girls.

That was weird and unusual and terrifying and after that, the band decided to make sure that never happened again.

koneguitarist

I started playing in my old man’s band when I was about 16 and skinny as a rake. He told us if there’s a fight keep playing as long as you’re playing you’re not part of the fight. 

We we played a Miners institute down in West Wales when a big fight broke out. My father was shouting out encouragement to the fighters whilst I was keeping back. Barman hits the Bar with end of a pool cue really loudly. As fight stops, Barman says That’s enough boys, Dai here is missing some of his ear can we look for it please? 

No kidding, guy besides him one hand over his ear looking pissed off!