Worst performance experience

Can't point to a single incident, but I never cared for opening for national acts. We were there all day, got paid next to nothing and were treated like the sound check punching bags we were. But the two sisters who fronted the band wanted "the exposure."

Originally Posted by The dman

Somewhere in the early 1980's my band was touring clubs in the Midwest. We were a former country rock band in the midst changing into a full fledged rock band after the Suburban cowboy fad had passed.

We got a 5 day booking in Quincy Illinois with rooms provided so as we pull into town we see a Holiday Inn near where we're going so we assumed that's where we'd be staying. It looked like a nice town until we got to the bar to setup and we notice that this one block of town was pretty seedy looking and run down with a flea bag motel, a sex shop and the bar. We were informed that we would be staying in said flea bag motel

To make a long story short we played and on the first night our soundman was threatened by the good old boy bouncer with a gun to turn the volume down, the bar we were in was attached by doors to another bar loaded with transsexuals, transvestites, prostitutes and men seeking their comfort. We were hit on and propositioned back at the hotel which was a breeding ground for this kind of activity and the place was so disgusting you didn't want to touch anything. The hotel was full of down and outers and addicts and next day they carried out 2 dead bodies from the hotel and we met all kinds of "interesting" people that were living there

We played the second night and at the end of the night we were informed that our services would no longer be required so at 3 am 8 hours away from home we packed up and drove home that night, we couldn't get out of there fast enough it was literally like the scene in The Blues Brothers but with some Twilight Zone thrown in.

I remember waking up in my bed and thinking the whole thing was some kind of surreal dream. We were a group of 19-22 year old rural kids that had never seen anything like this in our lives

Wow, what a nightmare! Dave I think we have a winner

[Kettil]

One of my first gigs was playing at a hotel pub in a relatively small town. We were booked for the weekend and on Fri night, there was nobody there. We played from 9 til 1 and the cumulative crowd probably numbered in the single digits and there was never more than a single table at a time. The owner paced the back of the bar, scowling at us, and we could hear him occasionally mumbling at us between sets about needing to play "our kinda music". I have played empty venues before and since, but that was the only time having a long gig with seething hate glaring at us the whole time from someone who mattered.

On Sat night, we started off to the same thing. 1 table - 4 people. Owner scowling. But very shortly into our first set that table called some friends to join them. And so on. By 10, the bar was packed, and for the rest of the night it was standing room only, packed dance floor, screaming fans, owner buying us drinks, and an all around great night. The owner came up to us after finishing our second set with John Cougar's "Cherry Bomb" and said "now that's our kinda music!".

I learned a valuable lesson that weekend. There's only so much control you have over the crowd at a gig. The funny thing was we played pretty much exactly the same sets both nights and one night it was terrible and the next it was exactly right. The only difference on the second night was we played a handful of requests (a few as full songs that we just happened to know but a couple as just 30 sec fakes just for the fun of the crowd).

[Alex Matthews]

Two stand out:

Playing for a wedding in the sun. Black pants, black shirt, broke a nail, sweating profusely, not my best.

At a late night eolo gig, Two guys started asking me who I was. "Are you Waldo?" Just teen age hecklers who wouldn't stop. I took up a break, grabbed the neck of the guitar like a baseball bat and told them it was time to leave. They looked at me with wonder and I repeated my directions. I escorted them outside and told them to never come back.

I had that guitar ready to swing at any moment.

[Smitty70]

I was playing bass fiddle in a joint out on the Tamiami trail back in 64, BTW, same place I was playing when Ervin Rouse came in and set in with us, anyway between songs this women jumps up and hits a guy at her table over the head with a beer bottle. He jumps up to retaliate and another guy at the table jumps up to defend her. He jerks his shirt off to show his muscles I assume, and they argue. I hadn't experienced this stuff before, even having played in several military clubs, so I asked, "what should we do"? Brock says, "play loud"which we did.

[Wooden Music]

A few years ago I played guitar in a group, who used to play shows at old folks homes for charity.

Each Christmas, we used to play a concert at a local old folks home, which was on 4 levels. So we would meet up on the ground floor, tune up, perform a few carols and then take the lift to the next floor and do a few carols there before moving on up the building. Being Christmas, we all had our Santa hats and Christmas waistcoats on, to wish everyone compliments of the season.

On one floor, the lift doors opened, and we disembarked and lined up, ready to begin. An elderly lady resident walked towards us and the conversation went as follows:

Old lady: "Are you here to sing us some carols?"

Me (with a smile): "Yes"

Her: "Well why don't you just . . . ."

Me: "And a Merry Christmas to you too"

We still went ahead with our "show", a little sheepishly.

-------------------------------------

We then moved on to the next floor, where the residents were mostly quite severe dementia patients. There was no point in asking them to sing along with the carols, as most of them barely even looked up to acknowledge our presence. It was hard to tell if they even understood what we were doing there. But we pressed on and did some carols anyway.

When we finished a carol, we became aware that the lady in a chair in the front row was singing to herself the carol we had just finished. She had the tune correct and obviously remembered most of the words. The staff were amazed, as they said no one could normally get her to talk at all, even for everyday conversation, but here she was singing a carol that must have been locked away somewhere in her memory. So we did that one again, to accompany her, although I was struggling to see the words through tears......

[bbarkow]

I've had a few horrific gig failures, but one stands out.

We were booked in on a weeknight to play a large club 100+ miles from home. I don't know how it came about, as I was just a guitar player/singer at the time - as much a hired hand as a member of the band. So we made the trip, got set up and played three sets in a 500 seat club to the bartenders and wait staff. Literally not ONE paying customer came through the door.

[Balke-Collender]

Here is Doc Watson's reply to the same question (taken from an interview conducted by Peter K. Siegel in 2000.)

“I want to tell you about an experience that almost ruined me as a performer, and it happened when I was 12 years old. I was going to school over at Raleigh [State School for the Blind] in the ‘30s. There was an amateur hour on the stage of the auditorium on Friday evenings.

“I got up there with my little homemade fretless banjo and played ‘Cripple Creek,’ ‘Shortenin’ Bread,’ and ‘I Like Mountain Music.’ I was just as happy as I could be, patting my little old foot and picking that banjo the best I could.

“I got back to the little boys’ dormitory and the matron slapped my face and told me I was conceited. That about fixed it for me forever as an entertainer. They had almighty authority you know, and to do a thing like that to me at that time in my life… well, it drove deep. There were other factors I guess, but nothing like that.

“It took a long, long time. Even in later years, when I had an opportunity to really get out there and play music for people, sometimes I’d go on the stage at a college folk festival and I was so scared my heartbeat would be flying.”

[lmacmil]

Originally Posted by piper_guitarist

Getting booed off stage at an open mic. Need I say more?

Needless to say I never performed again after that incident.

That's cold. I've never been to an open mic where the audience was hostile. They generally know they're not seeing professionals and there is almost always some polite applause after each number. You just need to find a better class of open mic!

[Steve DeRosa]

June 1970, Brooklyn College, Whitman Auditorium (a couple weeks after Santana played there, a couple months before I started freshman year)...

A talent contest sponsored by the NYC Housing Authority (I was a project resident at the time)...

Just me, my guitar, a massive stage, and a full 2500+ seat house...

Rent a copy of Neil Diamond's remake of The Jazz Singer and cue up to the part where he sings "You Baby"...

Same deal, same reason, larger scale...

[T Texas]

Originally Posted by Wooden Music

A few years ago I played guitar in a group, who used to play shows at old folks homes for charity.

Each Christmas, we used to play a concert at a local old folks home, which was on 4 levels. So we would meet up on the ground floor, tune up, perform a few carols and then take the lift to the next floor and do a few carols there before moving on up the building. Being Christmas, we all had our Santa hats and Christmas waistcoats on, to wish everyone compliments of the season.

On one floor, the lift doors opened, and we disembarked and lined up, ready to begin. An elderly lady resident walked towards us and the conversation went as follows:

Old lady: "Are you here to sing us some carols?"

Me (with a smile): "Yes"

Her: "Well why don't you just . . . .

Me: "And a Merry Christmas to you too"

We still went ahead with our "show", a little sheepishly.

-------------------------------------

oh man, that made me laugh! it's like something from a movie

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Wooden Music

A few years ago I played guitar in a group, who used to play shows at old folks homes for charity.

Each Christmas, we used to play a concert at a local old folks home, which was on 4 levels. So we would meet up on the ground floor, tune up, perform a few carols and then take the lift to the next floor and do a few carols there before moving on up the building. Being Christmas, we all had our Santa hats and Christmas waistcoats on, to wish everyone compliments of the season.

On one floor, the lift doors opened, and we disembarked and lined up, ready to begin. An elderly lady resident walked towards us and the conversation went as follows:

Old lady: "Are you here to sing us some carols?"

Me (with a smile): "Yes"

Her: "Well why don't you just . . . . "

Me: "And a Merry Christmas to you too"

We still went ahead with our "show", a little sheepishly.

I think her grandson posts regularly on Open Mic...

[aknow]

Worst - playing a B.D. party at the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood/Beverly Hills. A beautiful drunk woman spilled a full drink into the back of my amp, a Fender Deluxe Reverb 1964, a pop, then no sound.

Most Embarrassing: In California, high desert area near Riverside, Open mic at a restaurant/bar with a nice stage and dance floor. I was playing "Stepping Out" on electric, and just killing it, for me, at about 10 years of playing. Women are shrieking, guys are getting into it, and suddenly the emcee, leader of the house band turns off the amplifier, mid solo.
I was so embarrassed! What do you do?
Some guy from the audience popped him with a backhand, behind the drums/amps just a minute later as I was sheepishly going back to my car.
Never played there again.

[OddKiddAcoustic]

I've told this story many, many times. I suppose it deserves another round. Anyways, I was 18, greenhorn, wet behind the ears. Had played in a couple punk/metal bands (when I was still playing drums) & had just recently quit a heavy metal band because my girlfriend at the time thought I was too good for them. Which, may have been true, but they were my best friends. In hindsight, I CAN'T BELIEVE I LET HER TALK ME INTO IT! A few months later I'm asked to try out for a band in Southern Indiana. About an hour & 1/2 drive from where I live. So I go try out, takes me about 2 weeks to learn all their "fan favorites". The singer had built my ego ten-fold. The bassist knew I was good, but kept his composure. (I guess I should add this "band" consisted of a bassist & singer, both mid 20's... without 2 guitarists & a keyboard player, over 1/2 the band quit!) I knew some good guitarists so I invited them to try out. Without question they got the spot because they were both good, 1 was actually really awesome. I had to beg him to play lead in this band. We go on & practice for a couple weeks & started playing shows. We recorded a new song which got a lot of attention from the fans.

Then comes the battle of the bands! We make it to the finals & win 5 grand! I get kicked out & they get they're old drummer back. My friends stay with the group because of the huge fan base.

Looking back I wish things had gone differently. There's MUCH more to the story. Girls & more girls, band mates conspiring.... However, I think it best to just leave the water under the bridge. Or at least save the details for a drunken camp fire night.

You all's stories are great! I can't even imagine being a musician in the 60's-80's! You're all truly an inspiration to a young 'gent such as myself. I can only hope to have such experiences.

Take care guys,

OKA