Story's

[Rocker911]

i want the all performers to put there funniest, moments in performing on stage. i dosent have to be funny it could be scary, sad etc. I know theres a section on this but i want to do this anyway

[Its_Me]

Well recently at a gig, we were playing a song with 2 solos. Each time we had practised it me and the other guitarist had taken turns. First solo for me 2nd for him. On the day we were rocking away, I did my solo and it went fine, then as we get near the second solo I nod at Dan but he looks beack and then nods at me. Right until the last minute we were nodding at each other. He did his solo but then the whole thing started to fall apart we normall play the bridge of the song at half speed after the solo. I did this probably to early. Then Dan played at normal speed. The bass plaer played something else, a verse or something. We each kept changing to try and fix it but it was too late. Funny thing is I dont think the crowd even noticed.

An open mic we went to play had decided last minute to only do acoustic stuff that night (we are a full rock band). We didnt give up. we just grabbed some accoustics and did Born to be wild, Paranoid etc all acoustic. It was really weird but they loved it!

[Slipstream]

LOL, that made me laugh, thinkin' about a time when a keyboard player gave me the nod. It was my turn to come in, but I wasn't ready. He kinda just sprung it on me. He wanted me to start playin' a lead, but I was waitin' for it to come around again. He kept nodding at me like "hey man, play some lead - HEY MAN, PLAY SOME LEAD". I thought he was gonna sprain his neck. I didn't want to come in halfway through a progression. I just kept playin' a rhythm 'till it came around again.

[Its_Me]

Yeah I have been playing a song I dont know before and someone nods at me and I just jump into a solo. Turns out they were just nodding. :)

[Slipstream]

LOL, I can see that happening. How 'bout a drummer that gets into it at a jam, then starts playing with his eyes closed. Then there's a stop in the song, and when he opens his eyes I'm standing right in front of him yelling and waving my arms.

[Plstrcast]

Anyone ever hear Jimmi Page tell the story of the time Zep was playing Kashmere and they got stuck in the middle section because no one could remember how to get out of it?
LMAO @ Its Me's story, I can imagine all the nodding.. lmao!

[gtrhrcane]

LOL, I can see that happening. How 'bout a drummer that gets into it at a jam, then starts playing with his eyes closed. Then there's a stop in the song, and when he opens his eyes I'm standing right in front of him yelling and waving my arms.

ha ha , all of the above and esp this! Too often this happened and Jerry is standnig in front of Toms kit waving his arms..... Those were usually after the really long days of jamming though.

A few of the first times, and still to this day I'm afflicted with what I'm going to call Performance Rigamortis.

I'm still green, but having played my first public performance back in April or May, I lost a lot of the jitters with small shows. To this day, even if I'm warming up right up until I get on, when I have to do my lead stuff my fingers go stiff. I have to work on relaxing in the heat of the moment enough to loosen up. Even when I've jammed with Plstrcast online, idk why, I'm not even usually nervous but it still happens.

[Slipstream]

When I first started playin' in front of people my fingers used to shake so much I could hardly fret a note. I found that hiding behind sunglasses helped.

[gtrhrcane]

Yeah, I can see that. Most of the time at these outdoor jams I've been wearing shades right up until dark. I'm getting better though, that's why I've been jamming online more... it's an easy shot at playing live.

[phingerboard]

One guy I know, a street performer who is an excellent musician, has a pretty cool gag.

If he breaks a string, he'll just keep playing, compensating wherever necessary. But when "solo" time comes, he camps it up and plays a "silent" solo where there is no string. Then he pops the broken end of the string into his mouth and yells out "Bass Solo!!!" and rubs the string aginst the mike while he plucks it washtub-style. Freakin' hilarious.

[phingerboard]

When I first started playin' in front of people my fingers used to shake so much I could hardly fret a note. I found that hiding behind sunglasses helped.
I've been wearing shades right up until dark. I'm getting better though, that's why I've been jamming online more... it's an easy shot at playing live.


Makeup is the way to go. It really works. Ask Gene. He knows.

http://nittygrittyshop.com/gene.jpg

[Its_Me]

One guy I know, a street performer who is an excellent musician, has a pretty cool gag.

If he breaks a string, he'll just keep playing, compensating wherever necessary. But when "solo" time comes, he camps it up and plays a "silent" solo where there is no string. Then he pops the broken end of the string into his mouth and yells out "Bass Solo!!!" and rubs the string aginst the mike while he plucks it washtub-style. Freakin' hilarious.


Thats Brilliant :D

[Aleysius]

heh heh well this thread reminded of a gig we did this summer, we were playing some song by the beatles..i think it was back in the USSR, and we decided to do a half time bit in the middle and move our legs in synchronization with the beat starting with the right leg going left then hopping onto the left leg going right...if you get what i mean, sorta like a russian dance, anyways the point being, the rhythm guitarist remembered it and I remembered it but the rest forgot , so in the end it was just him and me and that too we started off on different feet...HAHA, it was hilarious

[PerianArdocyl]

These are all delightful stories! It's nice to know that if you screw up at a gig, it's not the end of the world.

And speaking of screwing up, at my first gig (ok, second, but this time I actually had a mic), I was going to play Traveling Wilbury's - Handle Me with Care, and I got into it, and screwed up bad. I was like "Wait, wait, hang on a sec..." and then got it and continued.

A few minutes later I was saying the same thing...everyone was really supportive though. Finally, after screwing up a third time, I just decided to play Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Learning to Fly instead. :D

[Aleysius]

heh heh

[Its_Me]

PerianArdocyl, were you playing on your own? I always think that would be scarier than in a band. Everyone knows who scewed up :)

Aleysius I think that russian dance thing sounds like an awesome idea!

[PerianArdocyl]

Yeah, at the time, I didn't have a band, and even now, we're just getting things underway.

Also, though, at the time, I would've preferred solo to a band. Playing in a band would be restricting in the way that if you screw up, you can't improv your way out of it, and you only have one person to worry about in solo mode.

I still really wanna play in a band, though. :p

[mishmannah]

I had a hairy moment when a song was to be played in capo...the keyboard player would realise a third into a song that they needed to transpose...

Ameteurs!!!!!

[PerianArdocyl]

Wait, I know what a capo is, but I'm not really sure what transpose means. *melts into a puddle of slime*

Hey! You got a keyboard, too? That was the first bandmate I recruited! They rock hardcore. :toohappy: