The weirdest gig you ever played????? Tell the story!!!!

[studio1087]

It was 1983. My cover band got booked to play at a birthday party. The birthday boy was turning 18 (18 was the drinking age then) and the dad had a large farm in northern Wisconsin.

The farm dad who wrote a check for $500 asked us what size generator we would need for our PA and lighting. We understood that this was an outdoor show. We assumed that we would be playing in a large farm building and that there would be lots of beer. The farm dad being a farmer had a huge generator......we're all set. The prior planning was good.

Very nice. So far so good.

We got to the farm (big farm) 4 hours early and the dad directed us to a lake and a public boat landing that was nearby.

Boat landing?????

The gig was not on the farm. The gig was going to be on an island on a large lake. The generator was already on the island. The son and his buddies had three bass boats standing by to haul amps and drums and PA mains over to the island. The dad was delighted. The son wanted a lake party with a rock band and everything was coming together!

Now we understood.

Have you ever lifted a double 15 scoop over a dock into a bass boat?

I have lifted a scoop into a bass boat. The bass boat was driven by an 18 year old who was shit faced at 5 PM........and the night had just begun!

Handing a les Paul case over water onto a boat where everyone smells like cheap booze and their eyes are crossed.....that's fun. I love to party but the wholo scene scared the crap out of me.

We only used 4 PAR 64 light cans because the lights were killing the generator. We couldn't run everything off the generator.

Guess what happens when you light up 4 PAR 64 cans in the middle of a lake? Every mosquito within 2 miles flies right at the band and tries to suck your blood while you play 80's radio hits for the drunken teenagers.

It was delightful. We got eaten alive. We had to pee behind trees. Kids were barfing in the lake. There was no food. We made $500 though.

Rock and Roll! Hello Wisconsin! Rock and Roll!



Stories! Tell some gig stories!

 

[Toogy]

I was played a gig at outside party at a place called "Penis Pines" We were playing off a generator, the bear was free, the generator died half way through the second set and I passed out on the "stage". I woke up in the morning in the lead singers car and have very little memory of what happened that night!

 

[coldsteal2]

The strangest gig was playing for a grammar school class in
Yellowknife NWT, then after the three songs we played, we
all had to tell our life story to the kids and then tell them
all about the instument we played and how we got into playing
music for a living.
We had no idea what we were walking into, but it ended up being
really cool.


Oh yea, after the gig we got to watch thier team play hockey

 

[Thundergod]

I played at a "club" that turned up to be aone of those "swing clubs" once (and by swing I don't mean music).

Crazy night, couldn't really play while watching everything that happened around us, but the manager did say "you are here to play, step out of the stage and you are not only out of here but we'll see it you guys get your butts kicked". So yeah, weird.

 

[coldsteal2]

I was played a gig at outside party at a place called "Penis Pines" We were playing off a generator, the bear was free, the generator died half way through the second set and I passed out on the "stage". I woke up in the morning in the lead singers car and have very little memory of what happened that night!

I have allot of those stories of lost time!

 

[Leendrix]

I played a jazz set at a Starbucks a bit away from where I live, back after I turned 15. I was talking with a friend of mine after the set was done, and we were approached by an older lady. She asked us, like everyone else in there, "If you died tonight, do you know you'd go to heaven?". I'm not one for religious lectures, and neither is my friend. So we both just said "Yes". She looked at us funny and said goodbye and went on her way. We had a good laugh about it.

 

[12watt]

The drummer had a heart attack and kept playing for seven songs till he had to stop.
He arrested twice in the ambulance outside. I know what a heart attack looks like now.

 

[mikethebumperman]

My band was booked for a 20 year class reunion at a golf club reception hall for about 250 people. By the third song, everybody except for 2 guys walked outside. Apparently they were there to talk/mingle instead of partying to a rock band. The 2 guys appauded between songs and we were told afterwards hat everyone really enjoyed our tunes. We finished the night with Billy Idol's Dancing with Myself.

 

[AXE]

Not really weird but, we were playing a show in a shitbox in Bennetsville SC.

Third set, Gunshots.

We all ducked and dove behind what we could till the dust settled.

While in the parking lot the bar owner asked how much $$ to come back again and play.

You can guess the answer.

 

[LPG]

The drummer had a heart attack and kept playing for seven songs till he had to stop.
He arrested twice in the ambulance outside. I know what a heart attack looks like now.

Jesus.......

 

[Rankelson]

Rankelson's showcase at Bogiez - April 25th 1985

This was the Hottest gig i ever played

 

[Lungo]

I played in a bar a week after someone was murdered in the joint. There were only 12 people in the place and they tried to charge us to rent the house PA.

Another band I was with was asked to play inside a youth detention center. For some reason the person providing a PA didn't show so we figure out how to use the general announcement system for vocals. The speakers were crap but it gave a cool effect like a possessed robot demon voice. The kids every once in a while would look up at the speakers with the funniest WTF face you can imagine.

 

[Rich]

I don't have anything that can top a gig that a drummer I know played back in the 80's. He used to play in this instrumental jazz/punk/new wave band that was known for being pretty out there and they played a gig at a school for deaf kids. The kids would run up to the bass bins and place their hands on the cabinets to get the beat then go back out to the floor to dance.

 

[DLChance]

I've always tried to stay away from weddings, but this guy once offered me twice what we usually got for a one-nighter to entertain for his daughter's big day, and he paid in advance.

Quick point: The term "white trash" is usually applied to shiftless poor folks, but that doesn't mean moneyed people can't be every bit as trashy as anyone else. Like with some of the other stories here, the drinking had been going on long before we got to the rented lake lodge where the vows were to be exchanged on the lawn outside, and started setting up. A heavy rainstorm ruined the plans for the outdoor ceremony, so we had to move our stuff aside while they did it on the little stage.

The trouble started when one of the groomsmen vomited on his tux during the "I Do's," and the maid of honor cussed him out. Then the mother of the groom cussed her out.

It went downhill from there, and ended with the bride and the best man being arrested and led out in handcuffs. I'll never forget how dejected and confused the groom looked, his hands in his pants pockets and his head cocked slightly to the side, as he watched his new wife being taken away in her torn wedding dress.

We never even finished setting up to play.

And since most of the guests took off around the time the police showed up, we got to take home most of the catered barbecue dinner.

Overall, it was pretty weird.