Where's The STRANGEST Place You've Ever Played?

W5BLT · #1 03-12-2002, 07:57 PM

Many years ago, before I even thought of playing a guitar, I knew a young lady that lived in an old 4 story appartment. I had taken the elevator up to her 4th floor apartment to see her. This was something of an unannounced visit and as it turned out, she wasn't home, but, there was a note on the door that said she'd be back in 20 mins. I decided for some reason to take the stairs down and hang out near the front of the building. As I entered the stair well, I heard this great guitar music.

I went down to the 2ed story landing and there were 3 people playing acoustic guitars. It echoed like crazy, but, it sounded great. After a few minutes, I decided that I need to visit the restroom in the lobby. I went in and there were 2 more guys playing.

I later found out that nearly everyone in the building were budding musicians of some kind and they just enjoyed the acoustics of the stairwells and common bathrooms.

How about you? Played in any interesting places?

Bill Nichols (CaptBill) · #2 03-12-2002, 08:14 PM

Midtown Manhattan, in the middle of Madison Ave.

rsimper · #3 03-12-2002, 08:18 PM

Stairwells and bathrooms at school all the time- 4 floors of concrete reverb...

A park in San Diego in the middle of the night (Mission Gorge Park for any of you that know the area...in the hills above mission gorge blvd)

The back of my truck (it has a camper shell on it) In the middle of the night.

You can tell these middle of the night things are quite frequent...I lived with some people over the summer, I just rented a room, so I couldnt play in the house late at night...had to improvise.

Airports (Chicago Ohare, Dulles, Newark...) Flying to Vermont from Cali every year several times comes with its share of layovers.

Cocobolo is PURDY!

JW · #4 03-12-2002, 09:06 PM

Restrooms,parking lots but I think the stangest place was about 1984 and the wife and I had stopped at a Burger King we were both tired and ill and the wife and I had been fussing and I made her cry(its not that hard to do) and she went into the ladies room at the Burger King we had stpped at. I ran out to the Van grabbed my guitar and went into the ladies room and started playing "Loving You" and I didnt notice the other ladies in the restroom. She left out of the restroom from embarasment and went back to out booth. I played about another 4 songs. She stopped crying. JW

cPaul · #5 03-12-2002, 09:20 PM

While riding a bicycle.

Noflatpick · #6 03-12-2002, 09:23 PM

Empty concrete sludge digester tank at the wastewater treatment plant that I supervise. The acoustics are so good you can mute the guitar and the sound keeps bouncing around the tank for 30 seconds. Pity we only empty it for cleaning every couple of years.

tigerucla · #7 03-12-2002, 09:28 PM

I used to play all the time in the stairwell of my UCLA dorm- 8 floors of concrete walls- LOVED it. People would often stop and listen before moving on to wherever they were going. Many times I never saw them as they never went by my floor. I would love to have an accessible stairwell now.

I think the most unusual place I ever played would be on a guard rail along I-70 heading up the Rockies in Colorado. There was a 20 minute bridge construction delay and I happened to have my guitar in the back seat (unfortunately preTaylor days- had my all blond, flamed maple Ibanez). So I got out of my car, sat on the guard rail, lost myself in the towering Rockie mountains and pretended I was John Denver. "Rockie Mountain Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh!"

Bob Womack · #8 03-12-2002, 09:42 PM

Lessee...

Atlanta Federal Penitentiary (just visiting).

How 'bout the right seat of a Dodge Caravan driving through Smithfield, VA?

Bob

cotten · #9 03-13-2002, 01:06 AM

Several unusual places I've played come to mind:
* at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, Israel
* Jackson Square, New Orleans in the spring
* played an old Stella once while gliding down the gentle rapids of the Nantahala River in North Carolina
* on a Rhine River tourboat outside Frankfort, Germany, watching castle ruins on the mountains nearby ruin some more (but my playing has improved a bit since then....)
* in a Boeing (they call it that because of the sound they make when they bounce) 747 somewhere over Iceland

cotten

rubberdog · #10 03-13-2002, 01:18 AM

Used to practice in an Back then they called me slowhand. Rubberdog is more accurate these days...

teleplyr · #11 03-13-2002, 07:03 AM

Angola State Prison, Louisiana. (also Just Visiting!)

charlemagne52 · #12 03-13-2002, 08:16 AM

Strangest for me was playing in Hartford, CT with a local bluegrass band at the San Gennaro street festival, on an Italian-American politician's float...surrounded by Japanese tourists. Everybody had a camera and they came up and took extreme closeups of our hands, etc.

trombone · #13 03-13-2002, 08:30 AM

Right on the continental divide, on my way to Pasadena for a Star Trek convention. With my trombone.
Also did a Fourth of July parade whilst riding on a straw filled trailer pulled by a stinky pickup truck.

Steve314 · #14 03-13-2002, 09:47 AM

Quote:

[i]
A park in San Diego in the middle of the night (Mission Gorge Park for any of you that know the area...in the hills above mission gorge blvd)[/B]

Oh man. I don't live far from there! On a warm summer night, when the stars are out, I can definitely see how that could inspire one to play. It's gorgeous down there...

Steve

Steve314 · #15 03-13-2002, 09:51 AM

Strangest place? I used to play on the helicopter deck of an Aegis Class Cruiser that I was stationed on; did that while going through the Panama Canal.

1984, in the Philippines: we used to pay the house band (around 20 pesos; a few bucks) to leave the bar, and leave their equipment behind. This particular bar was right on the shore of Subic Bay, and it made for a rather nice setting.

Man, if it wasn't for the Navy, I'd have never have played anywhere interesting...

Steve