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Gigs that make you want to quit.

low_lightlow_light Posts: 251
edited December 2003 in Musicians and Gearheads
really horrible bad bad bad gig last night. worst we have ever done live. i know everyone has "bad" gigs. but sometimes it just makes you wanna fucking give up.

but i'm to stuborn to quit but i feel like drinking until i cant see or speak tonight and forget about it.

bleh

sorry just letting off some steam into cyberspace.

-dm
www.myspace.com/eotoband
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • MissYouAllDayMissYouAllDay Posts: 939
    feel like filling us in on the horrible details?

    Atleast your in a band.
    I miss you already, I miss you always
    I miss you already, I miss you all day
  • goto_lgoto_l Posts: 1,189
    Man I know how you feel. This last gig I played, about 4 songs into the show, I put my guitar down, & started loading up my equipment right there. I was in a band with a bunch of 1st timers who thought it was the "ROCKSTAR" thing to do, by getting as high & drunk as they could before they went on stage. Ended up sounding worse than a Karaoke Bar in New Orleans at the end of Mardi Gras.
    You men eat your dinner
    Eat your pork and beans
    I eat more chicken
    Than any man ever seen




  • midnightsyrenmidnightsyren Posts: 33
    i've had probably a hundred of those

    lol

    (((((((((LOW)))))))))))))))


    believe me.. i know.. i've had my share lol i've quite like more than 10 times.. but i never ACTUALLY quit....

    don't give up :)

    those super crappy worst gigs ever just make the really great ones all the more joyous :)

    what we started to do was look at the source of the problem, and make sure it never ever happens again...
    basically, dealing with things as they come, and taking the shit as a lesson

    hope you have a great gig soon :)
    TROGDORRRR!!!!!!!
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    Yup
    Classic Gig from hell. Had plenty of them.

    Don't let it discourage you! Sometimes you can learn from it, sometimes it just is a bad night, but you shouldn't give up.

    There are nights where it's like "was I even playing in the right key tonight?"
    and
    "I never, never , never ,never ,never NEVER, want to play with this band again."
    The next day....... out there again and you forget about it and it rocks!

    One of my worst was when I realized I was playing in front of who the hell knows how many people, but the sound guy took me out of the mix because I was so out of tune. I couldn't hear that I was out, cause he had shut me down. I'm wailing away like a happy idiot for quite a while, I guess, until I realized,,,
    Oh Shit!
    What a Stupido!!!!!
    I got the "Suck" button!
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
    __________________________________
  • eddievedder1977eddievedder1977 Posts: 549
    Don't let it get you down Low, it happens to everyone. Some WAY MORE than others. Keep on rockin bud.
  • House53House53 Posts: 1,276
    We also had a "not so great" show.

    The opener took way too long... and the bar didn't tell us they closed at 1:00 am... so we started around 11:45... and we had all sorts of technical difficulties. My mic went out, my guitar went out of tune badly... scrapped a song... my harmonica mic was not working properly...

    and then the bar shut down and we had to cut our set.

    The good thing is the audience said that we sounded great... so they didn't notice all of the problems.

    But, I was pissed off. I don't like when things like gear get in the way of a show.

    Never playing that place again... too small and bad vibe.
    There's No Code.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i had a bunch. you could usually tell when i wasn't having fun when i started making fun of the audience. like if they request garth brooks or george strait. have i played anything tonight that would indicate to you that i play country, you dumb, drunken bitch?

    like the time i played a place that had a tv in the corner above my head. everyone was watching it and not listening or watching me. so, during a song between verses, i kept playing but turned around and started watching too. i just played the same progression for about 2 minutes and watched a bit of hockey at the same time.

    pissed me off. my bad gigs were all audience related. why bother if no one's listening?

    which is why i don't play anymore. there's no point.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by exhausted
    i had a bunch. you could usually tell when i wasn't having fun when i started making fun of the audience. like if they request garth brooks or george strait. have i played anything tonight that would indicate to you that i play country, you dumb, drunken bitch?

    like the time i played a place that had a tv in the corner above my head. everyone was watching it and not listening or watching me. so, during a song between verses, i kept playing but turned around and started watching too. i just played the same progression for about 2 minutes and watched a bit of hockey at the same time.

    pissed me off. my bad gigs were all audience related.


    If it makes you feel any better I always get. "Play some Skynard!"
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    my pinnacle was playing "fuckin' up" and forgetting that my PA was piped onto the street. they had speakers out there. oops.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    oh and that time i was playing and a local musician that i am a fan of showed up in time to see me royally fuck up a song. that sucked.
  • puremagicpuremagic Posts: 1,907
    Originally posted by House53
    We also had a "not so great" show.

    The opener took way too long... and the bar didn't tell us they closed at 1:00 am... so we started around 11:45... and we had all sorts of technical difficulties. My mic went out, my guitar went out of tune badly... scrapped a song... my harmonica mic was not working properly...

    and then the bar shut down and we had to cut our set.

    The good thing is the audience said that we sounded great... so they didn't notice all of the problems.

    But, I was pissed off. I don't like when things like gear get in the way of a show.

    Never playing that place again... too small and bad vibe.

    Sorry it went not so good. What songs were you able to perform before you had the end the set?
    SIN EATERS--We take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    Originally posted by Pacomc79
    If it makes you feel any better I always get. "Play some Skynard!"

    When I played in small clubs, every friggin time, someone would yell "freebird"
    So I used to get out my slide and tell the audience that this is for "that guy over there". And play a painfully slow out of tune intro for a few seconds.

    Exhausted , I know what you mean about the tv.
    I was playing with a Reggae band once and the giant TV was over sort of behind the stage, and Scarface was on. We're trying to play this happy music when the chainsaw scene is going on behind us! Yechhh!
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
    __________________________________
  • low_lightlow_light Posts: 251
    yeah I hear ya, Exhausted. I've had one gig where I was wondering why we were even there. seemed like no one was paying attention. that's harsh.

    Friday was wrought with technical sound issues and my keyboard player was playing completely different notes WAY out of key in a lot of the songs. and it was just absolutely embarrassing.

    I dont like making an ass of myself. at anyone's expense. they all paid 7 bucks to watch us and 3 bucks a drink ... I feel obligated to not have a bad show. but sometimes it's just out of your hands, I suppose.

    -d
    www.myspace.com/eotoband
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by low_light
    yeah I hear ya, Exhausted. I've had one gig where I was wondering why we were even there. seemed like no one was paying attention. that's harsh.

    Friday was wrought with technical sound issues and my keyboard player was playing completely different notes WAY out of key in a lot of the songs. and it was just absolutely embarrassing.

    I dont like making an ass of myself. at anyone's expense. they all paid 7 bucks to watch us and 3 bucks a drink ... I feel obligated to not have a bad show. but sometimes it's just out of your hands, I suppose.

    -d


    Hey Low. Go buy a copy of Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock today right now! Listen to the dialog between songs. He apologises throughout the entire set for tuning, low mic levels and generally not being prepared. They play an amazing set and he apologises for it. If Jimi can have a bad show everyone can. It's pretty highly regarded as a great show too. It'll be better next time.

    Bevis: "Hey Butthead why do things suck?"

    Butthead: "Well Bevis, if things didn't suck we wouldn't know what was cool."

    Bevis: "Oh. Oh Yeah mhmhmhmhmhhmhm"
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • low_lightlow_light Posts: 251
    yeah i have a bad habit about appologizing too much on stage. and everyone just says they loved us. they could tell there were technical issues but they dont notice all the small things in each song that get amplified in my mind when its sloppy or off... bleh.

    hehe

    oh well. heres to better days.

    -d
    www.myspace.com/eotoband
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    It is amazing how big a problem seems on stage,, meanwhile the audience is having a great time!

    Live performance is a living , breathing thing. If it was perfect it might as well be prerecorded!

    I heard Jimmy Page do a almost whole solo a half step off from the bass once. It was frightful to the ears, but cool to see him realize it, and just smile and bring it up and just keep ripping with not even a grimace on his face.
    The audience loved it.
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
    __________________________________
  • evenflowrocksevenflowrocks Posts: 96
    Originally posted by who's_pearljam?
    Yup
    Classic Gig from hell. Had plenty of them.

    Don't let it discourage you! Sometimes you can learn from it, sometimes it just is a bad night, but you shouldn't give up.

    There are nights where it's like "was I even playing in the right key tonight?"
    and
    "I never, never , never ,never ,never NEVER, want to play with this band again."
    The next day....... out there again and you forget about it and it rocks!

    One of my worst was when I realized I was playing in front of who the hell knows how many people, but the sound guy took me out of the mix because I was so out of tune. I couldn't hear that I was out, cause he had shut me down. I'm wailing away like a happy idiot for quite a while, I guess, until I realized,,,
    Oh Shit!
    What a Stupido!!!!!
    I got the "Suck" button!


    I got so drunk one night with my old band that during the last two songs I didnt even realize my wife had come up on stage and turned my amp off b/c I was playing so badly. I just stood there(or was it sat?) playing my ass off with absolutely no sound coming from my amp. Needless to say I don't drink much on stage anymore. you live, you learn.
    www.myspace.com/evenflowrocks

    heathen frog psycho number ONE!
  • low_lightlow_light Posts: 251
    yeah I get a nice little buzz going to take the edge off but I never get Drunk before a show. It never works out. I reserve that for after the show :)
    www.myspace.com/eotoband
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    Originally posted by low_light
    yeah I get a nice little buzz going to take the edge off but I never get Drunk before a show. It never works out. I reserve that for after the show :)

    Amen to that... I like to get drunk off being on stage, feeding off the crowd, watching them feed off me and the band.

    I actually love to pull "Freebird" out for people when they start yelling for it... sometimes, giving them what they want will engage them into the set a little more. Especially in Buttfuck, Montana... ;)
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • low_lightlow_light Posts: 251
    it's nice to know that we aren't the only band that gets that song's request! hehe

    -low
    www.myspace.com/eotoband
  • tree789tree789 Posts: 23
    Originally posted by evenflowrocks
    I got so drunk one night with my old band that during the last two songs I didnt even realize my wife had come up on stage and turned my amp off b/c I was playing so badly. I just stood there(or was it sat?) playing my ass off with absolutely no sound coming from my amp. Needless to say I don't drink much on stage anymore. you live, you learn.

    you dont drink much on stage...need i remind you about the beer beaver spilled all over you during a solo at cubbie bear north...
    BUSTED!


    www.brainofj.net

    www.evenflowrocks.com

    "I have a bigger cock than Flea and Patrick Ewing combined, but I don't want to brag."
    ed - 11-5-00
  • KilmanKilman Posts: 18
    I got electricuted last spring when i was sitting in with a cover band. I still dont really know what happned, but i think i fried a few extra brain cells that night.
    If we all stop voting, will they all go away?
  • GrungeminionGrungeminion Posts: 28
    Taking any thing and playing isnt a good idea ...
    I've never played a gig yet but me and the band practice every weekend and always there seems to be 3 or 4 people down there anyways one time(EVERY time) we had hash but this time was different i said instead of smoking and then playing lets play abit and half way through we could stop and smoke to see if there was a big difference in the playingand my causen said naugh theres no difference but me and the drummer disagreed and so we tried this experimint and the results were unbeliveable we could only play our easist song just and with many mistakes the other songs were terrible like for getting which verse and the number of times on each chours etc
    THE SKY IS BLUE,
    and all the leaves are green,
    MY HEARTS AS FULL AS A BAKED POTATO.
  • low_lightlow_light Posts: 251
    yeah I can't say much on the drug side of the game. I've never been inclined to do drugs, other than alcohol of course. that alone can fuck a gig up. no need to add other things to the list. ;)

    yeah playing sober and on the adrenaline is best. party afterwards

    -low
    www.myspace.com/eotoband
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by low_light
    yeah I can't say much on the drug side of the game. I've never been inclined to do drugs, other than alcohol of course. that alone can fuck a gig up. no need to add other things to the list. ;)

    yeah playing sober and on the adrenaline is best. party afterwards

    -low


    take it from Mike McCready. "I can't believe how much better I am sober."
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • RyndamRainRyndamRain Posts: 16
    yes indeed...

    playing really fucked up is not a good idea...

    playing with a nice buzz, on the other hand is quite an experience...

    I don't get stoned and play live, but in the studio, i love to smoke it up...i do shit that i would not normally do on the guitar...

    one of the best pieces of advice is...if you fuck up on stage don't make a face or act like something has gone wrong and the crowd will never know...they are usually drunk anyway...

    if you play a wrong note...play it again...and it sounds like it was supposed to be there...

    peace
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