Band escapades

Lola said:
Do tell! Lol
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We were playing an a small bar for a guy's birthday party. Some time later in the night the guy we were there playing for came up to the area where we were playing at and started to take a guitar off of a stand that belonged to the singer in the band. He was drunk as all get out. My wife saw this and knows the value of a guitar so she came up to stop him from picking it up. He just wanted to play it like an air guitar. She was being nice to him and asking him to put it down. I am watching this thinking that I am going to have to put my guitar down really fast and run over and beat up a guy that is 1.5 times my size because he hit or pushed my wife. The guy eventually complied with my wife's requests and put the guitar back on the stand. She made sure it was safe and went back to her seat...all good right?

Evidently this guy that was 1.5 times my size is a bit of a sissy and he got his feelings hurt by what my wife did and he was embarrassed by the whole thing. His wife took up the cause for him and decided to go say something to my wife. Again, this is all happening right in front of the band. Her seat was directly in front of me. My wife has done collections for a living for a good while and is pretty good at deescalating situations. She managed to keep this woman from throwing down with her but then it got funny. These people were a little bit older than us but the immaturity and self entitlement with them was huge. The woman kept walking behind my wife and sticking her tongue out at her and making faces at the back of her head. I could see everything but my wife was ignoring her. I just couldn't believe what a strange night that was. Evidently being the birthday boy gives you permission to just do whatever you want.

Later in the night when we were not playing things turned to discussing the fact that she stepped in was the cost of the guitar if he dropped it. That caused him to start telling us how much money he has and how he could buy many of those guitars if he wanted to. This guy is not a musician and has no clue what a guitar could cost. I was just glad that I didn't have to find a way to put my guitar in a stand without damaging it to go throw down with a guy that much bigger than me to defend my wife. I definitely would have done it. There is no way I am going to let some dude harm my wife. It would have been ugly for sure and I am also sure I would have felt it for a number of days afterwards.

These are the kinds of situations that go through my mind when I start thinking about whether I want to get back into playing gigs or not. I have a boat load of all sorts of stories from my gigging time. Some are funny and some are just downright stupid things drunk people do. I just love it when fights break out right in front of the stage. That will get your blood going.
 
JasonE said:
These are the kinds of situations that go through my mind when I start thinking about whether I want to get back into playing gigs or not.
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I think of a lot of these stories I've heard when I think about whether I want to get in a band again. Not that the opportunity is arising, but I do have to kill time w/o a book every now and then.

A guy my wife used to work with was in a band until a few years ago. It was the kind of thing where they'd built enough of a reputation to get gigs, but since they all had day jobs, they were very picky about the gigs they took. For a period, there were a ton of stories circulating about bands getting stiffed by owners when it came time to getting paid, so I asked her to ask him (he and I hadn't starting chatting yet) if his band ever had that issue. He replied "Four of the band are lawyers. We get paid pretty promptly when that fact comes out."

The fight thing is interesting, too. Back in the 80s when my buddy and I started hanging out, he'd keep telling me how he went to a bar and a fight broke out and he ended up helping the bouncers. I asked him if he ever thought it was him, and said it sounded suspicious that these fights all just managed to find him. He insisted he was never involved, and I just gave him that, "Sure, Jan" look.

girl-sure-jan.gif


One night, we were out checking out a band. This place was an L-shaped building, with the stage at one end. During one of the band's breaks, we could hear a little commotion but not see anything. Then a couple guys come out around the corner of the L, a good 70 feet or so from us. They were wresting each other with the occasional punch being thrown. Sure enough, they eventually worked their way to where we were standing at the bar, and my buddy helped security corral them and get them outside. He walked back in, picked up his drink and took a drink, put it down, looked at me and said, "Believe me now, m#$#)##%@)?"
 
alantig said:
I think of a lot of these stories I've heard when I think about whether I want to get in a band again. Not that the opportunity is arising, but I do have to kill time w/o a book every now and then.

A guy my wife used to work with was in a band until a few years ago. It was the kind of thing where they'd built enough of a reputation to get gigs, but since they all had day jobs, they were very picky about the gigs they took. For a period, there were a ton of stories circulating about bands getting stiffed by owners when it came time to getting paid, so I asked her to ask him (he and I hadn't starting chatting yet) if his band ever had that issue. He replied "Four of the band are lawyers. We get paid pretty promptly when that fact comes out."

The fight thing is interesting, too. Back in the 80s when my buddy and I started hanging out, he'd keep telling me how he went to a bar and a fight broke out and he ended up helping the bouncers. I asked him if he ever thought it was him, and said it sounded suspicious that these fights all just managed to find him. He insisted he was never involved, and I just gave him that, "Sure, Jan" look.

girl-sure-jan.gif


One night, we were out checking out a band. This place was an L-shaped building, with the stage at one end. During one of the band's breaks, we could hear a little commotion but not see anything. Then a couple guys come out around the corner of the L, a good 70 feet or so from us. They were wresting each other with the occasional punch being thrown. Sure enough, they eventually worked their way to where we were standing at the bar, and my buddy helped security corral them and get them outside. He walked back in, picked up his drink and took a drink, put it down, looked at me and said, "Believe me now, m#$#)##%@)?"
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Fortunately I have never not been paid at the end of the night. I have always had a day job as well and have been able to be selective on venues. It is always a possibility that someone will start a fight when alcohol is involved.

I have played everything from bigger stages at state fairs and such to a corner in a bar where they moved the tables from to make room for the band, and barely made enough space to get setup in. As long as people are behaving themselves and having fun, we have typically had fun as well. That is what has driven me to do it all of these years. That is what motivates me to do it. I just love seeing people enjoy the music and performance and having fun with it. It is when someone gets too much in them and decides to take things in a different direction when things start to not be fun.

I am now trying to find a new reason to be excited to play. I posted a new thread about that. I think there is more to playing than performing. I just have to find a way to get excited about it and make that my reason for playing.
 
I slipped in some spilled beer one night and hit my head so hard on the stage I knocked myself unconscious for a full minute. My caring band members left me lying there and kept playing the whole time. During the rest of the set they mocked me on the hot mics between songs.
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Another time a bouncer kicked me out of a bar we finished playing because I was only 16 at the time and he didn't realize I was in the band. We played there a lot that summer so the next time we booked they made me bring my mom so the bouncer check both our IDs.
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We used to drink a lot of beer in our rehearsal room but the bathroom was downstairs at the other end of the building. As gross young males, we were too lazy to go down there so we would use the empties in the room. One night the drummer got his bottles mixed up. The best part of it was we were recording our practice that night and still have the audio of him screaming "AAAAHH!!! I JUST DRANK MY OWN...."
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This isn't mine but from one of the bands we were friends with at the time. They were playing one night and the singer, who we will call Jeff to protect the innocent, had been drinking heavily. Jeff was a real pro and finished the set without any problems. He kept drinking afterwards and was soon completely wasted. Since it always get really hot in this particular club the band and some friends went outside to get some air. That's when Jeff started getting sick and asked the guitar player to hold his hair while he leaned over the rail.

Now while Jeff is emptying his stomach, a second situation arose, and he started letting out one of the loudest longest farts you can possibly imagine. After he finished his business from both ends he turned, laughing and with puke still dripping off his face, only to find...

It wasn't the guitar player holding his hair. It was the female friend the guitar player's wife brought that night because she thought the two of them would hit it off. Jeff never saw her again.
 
Last edited:
loocnmad said:
I slipped in some spilled beer one night and hit my head so hard on the stage I knocked myself unconscious for a full minute. My caring band members left me lying there and kept playing the whole time. During the rest of the set they mocked me on the hot mics between songs.
---------------------

Another time a bouncer kicked me out of a bar we finished playing because I was only 16 at the time and he didn't realize I was in the band. We played there a lot that summer so the next time we booked they made me bring my mom so the bouncer check both our IDs.
---------------------

We used to drink a lot of beer in our rehearsal room but the bathroom was downstairs at the other end of the building. As gross young males, we were too lazy to go down there so we would use the empties in the room. One night the drummer got his bottles mixed up. The best part of it was we were recording our practice that night and still have the audio of him screaming "AAAAHH!!! I JUST DRANK MY OWN...."
---------------------

This isn't mine but from one of the bands we were friends with at the time. They were playing one night and the singer, who we will call Jeff to protect the innocent, had been drinking heavily. Jeff was a real pro and finished the set without any problems. He kept drinking afterwards and was soon completely wasted. Since it always get really hot in this particular club the band and some friends went outside to get some air. That's when Jeff started getting sick and asked the guitar player to hold his hair while he leaned over the rail.

Now while Jeff is emptying his stomach, a second situation arose, and he started letting out one of the loudest longest farts you can possibly imagine. After he finished his business from both ends he turned, laughing and with puke still dripping off his face, only to find...

It wasn't the guitar player holding his hair. It was the female friend the guitar player's wife brought that night because she thought the two of them would hit it off. Jeff never saw her again.
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I am dying!!
 
dmatthews said:
One night years ago I stepped off the stage after the first set to hear someone say "You're a PRS snob aren't you?".


Yes...
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I am sorry but I wouldn’t be able to walk away from this one. Nope. No one but no one calls me out on my guitars or me! I won’t stand for it.

Some idiot who was playing an Ephiphone guitar said to me, “so you think your better then me just because you have an SG. So you think your Angus now?” I got in to a very heated discussion with this little puke. He wasn’t getting off easy. This was last year. Some little 18 year old sh$t on my case! Not happening!
 
Here's a more innocent one. We got kicked out of our high school talent show. A mosh pit broke out while we played a cover by one of our favorite bands. Chairs were thrown, power and curtains were cut, and we were banned from ever participating again.

Interesting postscript. Almost 3 decades later the guitar player is still one of my closest friends. A few years back we lucked into a meet and greet with the band whose song we covered that night and we cracked them up with the story of what happened.

When I first came across this thread I figured I was too boring to contribute. But I realized a lot of crazy stuff happened I haven't thought about in forever. I'll share more stories but have to be careful as I have a reputation to uphold in my adult life. For my part it was usually just acting an idiot or public nudity
 
loocnmad said:
Here's a more innocent one. We got kicked out of our high school talent show. A mosh pit broke out while we played a cover by one of our favorite bands. Chairs were thrown, power and curtains were cut, and we were banned from ever participating again.

Interesting postscript. Almost 3 decades later the guitar player is still one of my closest friends. A few years back we lucked into a meet and greet with the band whose song we covered that night and we cracked them up with the story of what happened.

When I first came across this thread I figured I was too boring to contribute. But I realized a lot of crazy stuff happened I haven't thought about in forever. I'll share more stories but have to be careful as I have a reputation to uphold in my adult life. For my part it was usually just acting an idiot or public nudity
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violent femmes?
 
It’s amazing how many ppl are attracted to the guitar players in a band. That’s okay but keep your distance pls. It’s very flattering when someone tries to put the moves on you. But now that I am older it’s getting a little creepy.
 
Lola said:
It’s amazing how many ppl are attracted to the guitar players in a band. That’s okay but keep your distance pls. It’s very flattering when someone tries to put the moves on you. But now that I am older it’s getting a little creepy.
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Quite a few years ago, my daughter was in college in Ann Arbor at U of Mich.

I had produced a record for a young guy and he asked me if I'd play with his band, they couldn't find enough good players, and I'd played all the parts on the record but drums, so I played keys. There was also a young guitar player, and we hired some great session players to handle bass and drums. We got invited to play South By Southwest in Austin, so we must have sounded pretty good.

He called me and said, "We're playing a club in Ann Arbor, want to do the show?"

I said sure, and called my daughter to tell her I'd be in town. She surprised me and came with all of her sorority sisters.

After the gig, the young guitar player (who didn't know my daughter) was agog when my daughter and her friends came over to give me hugs and attention after the show.

I thought his eyeballs were going to pop out of his head! Whaaaat? The OLD guy???

"It's my daughter and her friends," I said. "I've known a lot of these girls since they were in elementary school."

He said, "Whew. For a minute I thought I was losing my touch."

;)
 
Lola said:
It’s amazing how many ppl are attracted to the guitar players in a band. That’s okay but keep your distance pls. It’s very flattering when someone tries to put the moves on you. But now that I am older it’s getting a little creepy.
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As a man, I find it flattering. However, my wife has been attending almost every gig I play for decades. She is a music lover but doesn't play an instrument. I think that is part of what she liked about me when we met. It can get awkward real fast when your wife is setting there watching everything that is happening.
 
Lola said:
It’s amazing how many ppl are attracted to the guitar players in a band. That’s okay but keep your distance pls. It’s very flattering when someone tries to put the moves on you. But now that I am older it’s getting a little creepy.
Click to expand...
The problem is, you aren't just A guitar player, you're a female guitar player. To many guys, that is the coolest thing ever, so yeah I'm sure you have to put up with some crap. While I'm sure all the remarks may not necessarily be classy, do what you can to enjoy the attention that is.
 
DreamTheaterRules said:
The problem is, you aren't just A guitar player, you're a female guitar player. To many guys, that is the coolest thing ever, so yeah I'm sure you have to put up with some crap. While I'm sure all the remarks may not necessarily be classy, do what you can to enjoy the attention that is.
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Yeah! Dudes never hit on me, dammit.

Although there was this one guy in Denver who really jammed his hand up my butt (over the pants) when I was doing the ol’ crowd surfing move.
 
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