What's Your Gigging Bane or Nemesis?

[Phaedrus]

Mine is making mistakes - fluffed notes, missed notes, forgetting parts, losing concentration, failed attempts to improvise, etc...

I hate doing it, but I always do. Sure, punters rarely notice, and even other musos in the audience will always say, "yeah, you f*!ked up a couple of times, but so do we all - great gig all the same."

But I know, and I hate it. Specially when I get some sort of mental block or fixation on something - I seem to just make the same dumb mistake again and again. For ages, I used to come back in on bass in the second verse of Green Day's Holiday. Even now, I actually have a mild fear of that song.

And I play the keyboards for the bit in the middle of When You Were Young by The Killers. I can play it 10 mistake-free times in a row at home, and get it right in all the rehearsals, but when it comes to gigging it - blank. It's almost a running joke. I hate it.

I run the band PA from stage and the little bit of extra concern (it's not stress or anxiety anymore) on that does affect me, and I'm a dad, with a day job, playing in a gigging hobby band for fun and pocket money, and I've never dropped a real show-stopping clanger, so I probably shouldn't let it bother me too much, but I still hate it.

What's yours?


Mark

[Machines]

Other bands being slow or faffing about. That being when sound checking or over playing their slot... I don't like being delayed.

[bremen]

[quote name='Machines' post='197061' date='May 12 2008, 12:23 PM']Other bands being slow or faffing about. That being when sound checking or over playing their slot... I don't like being delayed.[/quote]

Sound guys that stick a mic in the bass drum and an overhead over the kit then mix it up with the vocals and put it all through a pair of graphic equalisers, a puny power amp and a pair of 'full-range' speakers on poles. For a pub gig.


Bands that insist that the sound guy sticks a mic in the bass drum and an overhead over the kit then mix it up with the vocals and put it all through a pair of graphic equalisers, a puny power amp and a pair of 'full-range' speakers on poles. For a pub gig.

[wateroftyne]

I dunno.. I'm fairly carefree when I'm up there doing it. It's probably when I'm at my most un-wind-up-able (Yay! a new word!).

When I'm not playing though, I'm like a coiled spring when it comes to band matters. They love me for it.

[Bilbo]

Doing loads of jazz gigs and then one heavy funk or Latin gig that requires me to play so hard/fast that I get a blister/sore fingers that means I can't play at the top of my game for days. It doesn't happen often but, when it does....ouch.

WE HATESSS IT FOREVER!!

[johnnylager]

Lifting heavy stuff. Then driving 70 miles home while everyone else gets mullered. My fault though, should've bought lighter gear and moved.

Edited May 12, 2008 by johnnylager

[jakenewmanbass]

Transiting through Mumbai airport with a double bass (in a flight case of course).
Done it three times and been bribed "or leave your bass here" every time.

[spike]

Punters who stand in the doorway when I'm trying to get my gear through.

[BOD2]

Mine is/was getting distracted at the last moment just before we were about to start our first set.

Like Phaedrus, I looked after the band PA. I remember one gig, we'd been out for a something to eatc, came back and started switching everything on ready to play. Then one of the audience asked me something about a CD she wanted to hear in the break and totally broke my train of thought.

We started the first number, and I'm listening to the sound thinking "..Hmmm - seems unusually quiet ?" then I visually checked the gear while playing and found I'd forgotten to switch on the active PA speakers and all I was hearing was our monitors !

Another time we were saked to play a particular song as a start number, different to what we'd normally start in that the drummer took lead vocal. Of course I forgot to turn up the drummer's mic...

[Finbar]

Mic stands. I hate them. I always end up hitting them with my bass. Pain in the bum. Grr.

[sticker]

Singers who arrive for soundcheck late so avoid the carrying of weighty P.A gear in to the venue , still can't remember the words to songs we have rehearsed a hundred times and then always have an excuse to leave early and avoid the loading of the van !

[crez5150]

...All those bloody groupies.....

[Welshbassist]

Falling over stuff - cables, guitarists etc.
And forgetting to tune to standard after being in drop d - but that's easily fixed!

[Mikey D]

NEVER being able to solo/improvise as well as I can when in the practice room or with my tutor.
Drummer's who take a decade to setup and break down their gear (I play kit as well and if i can do both in under 8 minutes why can't you!)
Using other peoples basses at jams/deps etc without having spent some quality time with it...I flat out refuse to play any instrument but mine as I am super picky with my setup.
Idiots who shout things like "'ere...I bet you can't play (insert something they deem to be cool/Hard!)"

[Johnzy]

No hang ups at all. use to have loads, but sorted it last year.
the only thing i struggle with sometimes is narrow minded people.
"so what if my bass is active? doesnt mean i cant play any better or worst!"
"jazz is sh*t"
et al...

[niceguyhomer]

The nob-head who dances idiotically right in front of you taking the p155 with his brain dead mates watching on. I wish I could put my bass down and break that f*ckers legs. Winds me up every time

[Oscar South]

Discussing a musical idea or aspect of performance with the band before a gig then having everyone else chicken out and apologise afterwards or half-arse it so I'm the only one who goes through with it and ends up looking like an idiot. Always happened with this one band as well as every time we agreed to do a jam section it'd sound amazing in practice but live people would just stand around playing whichever riff or groove was relevant and looking at each other. Fair enough I suggested a lot of ideas and not all were good, but if they weren't going to go through with them they shouldn't have agreed to them.

[P-T-P]

Without fail, once a gig I will misjudge the distance between my noggin and my mic in one of two ways.

Either it involves a hasty dash to catch word two of the chorus or being in heads down, no nonsense boogie mode and smacking my noggin on the mic when I come up for air. All 'cause I'm not paying attention to where I am on the stage.

[WalMan]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='197141' date='May 12 2008, 01:43 PM']The nob-head who dances idiotically right in front of you taking the p155 with his brain dead mates watching on. I wish I could put my bass down and break that f*ckers legs. Winds me up every time[/quote]
Get a bit of a dance thing going yourself and smack him in the face with your headstock - accidentally of course

[Kiwi]

My nightmare gig scenario would be along the following lines:
[list]
[*]Having to arrive early at the percussionists house to help load in the PA because of an need to set up by 2pm.
[*]Leave in loaded van at 9:30am and drive 2.5 hours to the venue because noone checked the drive time when the booking and fee was taken.
[*]Finding we have 5 hours to kill because we're not actually going on until 9:30pm, but we still have to finish at 11:30.
[*]Discovering during set up that the clients request to hook up his own wireless mic and the lack of power sockets means we're a couple of multi plugs short.
[*]Discovering the venue has a noise limiter that wasn't mentioned in the original booking form.
[*]Getting there to discover our dressing room is in fact a grubby store cupboard full of furniture moved from the main room where the dance floor is.
[*]One particular singer decides to have a diva hissy fit over the state of the room just so everyone knows she's upset and then she takes it out on anyone who even approaches her about anything related to the gig or the client.
[*]No soft drinks or water provided, or food organised (as per our contract).
[*]No chairs in the dressing room.
[*]No air-conditioning or heating.
[*]No privacy coz punters keep walking through dressing room on the way to the toilets.
[*]The speeches go over time by so much that we face having to slash our 2 sets to 1.5 and we forgo a break.
[*]When we start playing, the punters spend the first half either watching us or (worse yet) ignoring us and talking over the music.
[*]Half way through, the guitarist starts deviating from the set list he gave out before the gig and we have to wait for him to make his mind up after each song finishes to hear which song is coming next.
[*]Some old bugger in the crowd staggers up to me half pissed while I'm performing wanting to request "Mustang Sally", I can't hear him because I have plugs in and he has to scream it 3 or 4 times before I can actually lip read him. My playing goes to pot because I can't hold a conversation and play at the same time. I get funny looks from the rest of the band.
[*]The punters start dancing 3 songs from the end and when we finish and give them one more encore, they still want more and won't take no for an answer.
[*]When we start packing up, the grooms group decide they want to make their own entertainment and start trying to have a go on our equipment.
[*]Sound man charges in and tells ushers and best man to all f*** off and give him the mics back.
[*]Percussionist/manager hauls sound man off group of angry ushers and best man and explains carefully to the group that we're packing up and need the equipment back.
[*]Client comes up to the percussionist and notes that we played one set instead of two and he isn't happy. Percussionist has to explain the reasons were that the speeches went on too long and we had to play with a fixed ending time because the venue staff want to clear up.
[*]We finally pack the PA up and start the 2.5 hour journey back to London instead of sleeping over in a B&B somewhere.
[*]Load out of PA back in garage at 3:30am.
[*]Go to car to find that someone's creased it where it was parked and driven off without leaving any details.
[*]Get home after 30min drive and realise I've left a coat back at the venue. Curse loudly and go to sleep angry at 4:30am after hauling bass rig up stairs to flat.
[/list]
Next morning:
[list]
[*]Wake up at 7am like a normal weekday, feeling like I've gone ten rounds with Evander Holyfield and nursing a stinking hangover despite not having consumed any alcohol because I've become so dehydrated.
[*]After consuming copious quantities of fruit juice and water as a pick-me-up, brain is on sugar high but body wants to be left alone to die. Too tired to cook any kind of breakfast.
[*]I call venue and they say they haven't seen my coat. I try to remember if I left anything in pockets...
[*]Rest of the day is useless as I'm too tired to do anything but stare at the TV or computer monitor like a brain dead zombie.
[/list]

NB: All of this stuff has happened (apart from leaving the coat) at one gig or another. Hasn't all happened at the same gig yet.

[gafbass02]

All of the above but then work at 9.15am being shouted at by customers

[crez5150]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='197187' date='May 12 2008, 02:48 PM']My nightmare gig scenario would be along the following lines:
[list]
[*]Having to arrive early at the percussionists house to help load in the PA because of an need to set up by 2pm.
[*]Leave in loaded van at 9:30am and drive 2.5 hours to the venue because noone checked the drive time when the booking and fee was taken.
[*]Finding we have 5 hours to kill because we're not actually going on until 9:30pm, but we still have to finish at 11:30.
[*]Discovering during set up that the clients request to hook up his own wireless mic and the lack of power sockets means we're a couple of multi plugs short.
[*]Discovering the venue has a noise limiter that wasn't mentioned in the original booking form.
[*]Getting there to discover our dressing room is in fact a grubby store cupboard full of furniture moved from the main room where the dance floor is.
[*]One particular singer decides to have a diva hissy fit over the state of the room just so everyone knows she's upset and then she takes it out on anyone who even approaches her about anything related to the gig or the client.
[*]No soft drinks or water provided, or food organised (as per our contract).
[*]No chairs in the dressing room.
[*]No air-conditioning or heating.
[*]No privacy coz punters keep walking through dressing room on the way to the toilets.
[*]The speeches go over time by so much that we face having to slash our 2 sets to 1.5 and we forgo a break.
[*]When we start playing, the punters spend the first half either watching us or (worse yet) ignoring us and talking over the music.
[*]Half way through, the guitarist starts deviating from the set list he gave out before the gig and we have to wait for him to make his mind up after each song finishes to hear which song is coming next.
[*]Some old bugger in the crowd staggers up to me half pissed while I'm performing wanting to request "Mustang Sally", I can't hear him because I have plugs in and he has to scream it 3 or 4 times before I can actually lip read him. My playing goes to pot because I can't hold a conversation and play at the same time. I get funny looks from the rest of the band.
[*]The punters start dancing 3 songs from the end and when we finish and give them one more encore, they still want more and won't take no for an answer.
[*]When we start packing up, the grooms group decide they want to make their own entertainment and start trying to have a go our equipment.
[*]Sound man charges in and tells ushers and best man to all f*** off and give him the mics back.
[*]Percussionist/manager hauls sound man off group of angry ushers and best man and explains carefully to the group that we're packing up and need the equipment back.
[*]Client comes up to the percussionist and notes that we played one set instead of two and he isn't happy. Percussionist has to explain the reasons were that the speeches went on too long and we had to play with a fixed ending time because the venue staff want to clear up.
[*]We finally pack the PA up and start the 2.5 hour journey back to London instead of sleeping over in a B&B somewhere.
[*]Load out of PA back in garage at 3:30am.
[*]Go to car to find that someone's creased it where it was parked and driven off without leaving any details.
[*]Get home after 30min drive and realise I've left a coat back at the venue. Curse loudly and go to sleep angry at 4:30am after hauling bass rig up stairs to flat.
[/list]
Next morning:
[list]
[*]Wake up at 7am like a normal weekday, feeling like I've gone ten rounds with Evander Holyfield and nursing a stinking hangover despite not having consumed any alcohol because I've become so dehydrated.
[*]After consuming copious quantities of fruit juice and water as a pick-me-up, brain is on sugar high but body wants to be left alone to die. Too tired to cook any kind of breakfast.
[*]I call venue and they say they haven't seen my coat. I try to remember if I left anything in pockets...
[*]Rest of the day is useless as I'm too tired to do anything but stare at the TV or computer monitor like a brain dead zombie.
[/list][/quote]


........It's like we're in the same band....... left my jeans at the venue Sat night..... and not in a good way either...

[tauzero]

[quote name='sticker' post='197126' date='May 12 2008, 01:28 PM']Singers who arrive for soundcheck late so avoid the carrying of weighty P.A gear in to the venue , still can't remember the words to songs we have rehearsed a hundred times and then always have an excuse to leave early and avoid the loading of the van !

[/quote]
So you've met our singer too?

The worst bit is when he says "Any requests?". He doesn't know the songs in the set, what chance has he of knowing some random song that someone asks for? And on the wild off-chance that he does, what chance is there of us knowing it too?

The guitarist with the other band tries to sneak off without helping with the loading. We have taken to paying him after all the loading hasn't been done. This has proved a very successful system which I commend to the house.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='crez5150' post='197203' date='May 12 2008, 03:09 PM']........It's like we're in the same band....... left my jeans at the venue Sat night..... and not in a good way either...[/quote]
I've just quoted precedents so far. Haven't yet mentioned turning up and finding one of the guests is an ex gf (happened to our keyboardist) or worse yet, Jordan...

[ahpook]

there's a certain style of music, let's call it style 'X'...

i hate playing with bands who play this style...and it's not a dislike for the type of music per se...it's the poeple who make it.

as a rule they're rude, self centred, never have the right equipment with them and expect people to bail them out.

case in point...last gig one of my bands played...we were on the bill with three style 'X' bands...and one of their guitarists tunred up without a strap, a a cable and a distortion pedal. he went around aksing. i flat-out said 'no' as i've been in this situation before, lent stuff out and it's come back broken, without even a mention of it.

as it happens our guitarist loaned out a cable and his distortion pedal. the pedal came back looking like it had been used to hammer in nails and the cable was ruined.

so yeah - my gigging nemesis ? style 'X'.

Edited May 12, 2008 by ahpook