I have just survived a weekend gig that turned in an audio fiasco when both power amps for the PA mains started intermittently but simultaneously dropping out, ending the gig one set early. I thought it might be good therapy to hear about fiascoes you recall. (No the tech had no idea at the time and is working on it. Yes it is good name brand stuff.)

Guess everybody here has perfect gigs without fiascos brotherdave.
All of my major bad gig moments have involved worthless drummers...go figure.

Yes I'm sure stuff like that only happens to my outfit.

the drummer in a band i played with in the mid 70's was too sick to play. i suggested we call an old friend of mine who was a great drummer. he agreed to played.

1st set everything goes great. i then notice his 12 pack next to him. he drank the whole thing down, and by the third set was trashed and couldn't play.

about 10 years later the drinking-and drugs-caught up with him, and he joined the big gig in the sky. what a wasted talent- gone way to soon at 30 years old

I remember a Gig/Political Rally in the early 60's it was for Nixon/Lodge remember those guys? Some smart a$3 threw an M-80 or something at us and it landed under the tire of the Trailer we were using as a stage. It blue out the tire and the thing dropped about 6 inches . It scared us all so bad we decided not to go back on. The first set was over.
----Danny,

You're not alone Dave. I had a friend video our Sunday morning set so I could see it later. I was wailin away on my guitar and not one note to be heard in the audience that the camera mic could pick up. At first I thought it was a sign from God but it turned out to be a "volunteer" on the sound board who should have "volunteered somewhere else... like the nursery.

Another one: My very first gig some friends needed someone to play lead and sing. I was on that like a duck on a June bug, until I plugged in My guitar. I froze, Stiffer than a board and couldn't play anything. Never been so embarrassed in my life. And the other guys were just Pi@#$%. Cant imagine why. Did I play? Nope, Packed up my Sh@$ and went home.
----Danny,

Ok I feel better now. Do you guys feel better now?

About the 30 yr old drummer. Dang shame. It happens everyday.

My first band - 1971 or 72 - was a country thing with a hot blonde singer named Irene, and her weird little husband was our "manager." When we added a keyboard player, Irene got all morose after she heard us jamming on rock tunes - "you don't need me, etc." - and she quit.

But her husband wanted his cut of the upcoming gigs, so we didn't cancel, we just changed our material. First place we played was the Aero Club, a little quonset hut bar at the airport where pro and amateur pilots hung out. They were expecting curvy, big-haired Irene to do her Tammy Wynette thing, and they got four hippies who opened with "Black Magic Woman."

Oh, my god, did they HATE us! We got fired three songs in, in the worst way possible... The bartender went in to a closet near the stage and killed the breakers, so the lights and sound went dead. To a huge ovation, I might add. It's a wonder we had the nerve to play in public again.

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
Composer, producer, Egnater Artist

Last april in school some of the sixth years organised a concert at lunch for the school's charity campaign. Unfortunately the wingnuts and foam things that hold the cymbals onto their stands had "gone missing" and about half way through one of the bands' sets the ride cymbal became airborne, landing sideways on a lead and cutting the power to the entire stage.
I was fairly impressed.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

Third gig as the Screamin' Armadillos; we had already built up a good following, and we were playing to a packed club/restaurant. During the first sing we figured out the electrician who converted the old garage/service station had not wired everything correctly. When my lip hit the mic while I had my guitar in my hand, and it bit me so hard it drew blood. That song became an instrumental for the first (and last) time ever. We plugged the PA into the same outlet as my amp, and had no more issues.

Same gig, two songs later; other guitarist intermittently has no sound, followed by a loud static-y noise, followed by no sound. Of course, he tries to remedy this by turning his amp louder,which means the static-y noise gets louder (the silence didn't). Both of us figure his amp (an old Roland JC120) had died (He was sad, I was happy, because I hate those amps). So between songs 3 & 4, I set him up through my backup amp, a Line 6 POD through the PA. Bad sounds (silence, static, silence, repeat) start again. He changed guitars, he unplugged his pedalboard, same problem. Eventually he figures out that it is his five month old guitar cable, and he (sarcasm font) serenely (sarcasm font closed) whips out a seven inch Bowie knife, cuts off the end of the cable, impales the "head" of he cable to the stage, and throws the rest of the cable into the street (through the open doorway of the porch we're playing on. He then asked, "Do you have an extra cable?" I did, but I wasn't sure if I wanted him to use it or not at that point.

This was not a rough and tough biker bar or anything--this was a laid-back funky little restaurant/bar that catered to older professionals and families. Fortunately, the owner had a sense of humor and overlooked his little explosion, as well as the large hunting knife sticking out of his stage.

I took the "head" of the plug and put it in a frame with the set list and the reminder, "Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you..."
We had a small mock ceremony, presenting it to him on stage before the next gig. He failed to see the humor.

We ended up firing him a year or so later, because he wouldn't stay sober during gigs. Oh well.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

One of the worthless drummer moments.
We had some song,don't remember now what it was,but the band stopped near the end of the song and the drummer was supposed to lead us back in with some rolls or whatever they call them,and when we were supposed to hear the drums there was silence,we all look back at the guy and he had laid his sticks down and was lighting a smoke,he looked at us and honestly said "what the foook are y'all lookin' at?..I snarled back at him,"for you to lead us back into the song!"...needless to say we all looked like a bunch of rank beginners in front of the crowd....who politely clapped...just a little.
The guy's problem was like the other post mentioned,he was a drunk.
I quit wasting my time with that bunch because of him and his antics,the bass player left with me,as we had been playing together for years with different groups.