"They're playing your guitars in there"

[stingrayPete1977]

Last nights gig, works christmas party affair, 150+ people with a free bar, live band and disco, you know the score. We play our set, just a straight through 1 1/4 hour set of favourites, went down well, pocket full of money each begrudgingly taken purely to protect the MU members future earnings
Here's the 'stage' area before the gig.....
[URL=http://s997.photobucket.com/user/stingraypete/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-12/20161202_203650_zpsymqo7vph.jpg.html][IMG]http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af100/stingraypete/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-12/20161202_203650_zpsymqo7vph.jpg[/IMG][/URL]


Gig done, dancing crowd happy, DJs take over, All is well so we retreat outside for some fresh air until someone comes out for a smoke and informs us that the audience are on the stage playing our guitars. Great!
Luckily for me they didn't fancy the delicate double bass and went for the guitarist's genuine 70s Gibson Les Paul Gold Top!!!!!
I took this snap after removing my Jazz V and Stingray 5, double bass went in the cleaners cupboard just after.
[URL=http://s997.photobucket.com/user/stingraypete/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-12/20161202_233523_zps2bftkd3m.jpg.html][IMG]http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af100/stingraypete/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-12/20161202_233523_zps2bftkd3m.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Edited December 3, 2016 by stingrayPete1977

[alyctes]

Wow. Double wow. No damage, I hope?

[chris_b]

I've had to stop drunks wandering onto the stage and picking up guitars several times on gigs. One guy looked angry enough to start pushing and shoving, but I was rescued by his friend who defused the situation.

Why don't we get happy drunks these days?

Anyway, I never leave my bass on show when we're not playing.

[Vinny]

This is why, miserable gits that we are, [i]everything[/i] gets packed away as soon as the last chord's over.

[arthurhenry]

What kind of works do?

Office - drink half a bottle of wine and go and muck about with their computers on Monday morning.
Farmers - drink half a bottle of wine and go and drive their tractors Monday morning.
Retail - drink half a bottle of wine and go and create an interesting display in their shop window on Monday morning.

See how they like it.

[Beer of the Bass]

Aargh, I hate it when that kind of thing happens. There have been times I've cheerfully let other people play my instruments, when they're someone who can play, isn't falling over drunk and they've asked in a friendly way, but those are the only times! I hope they didn't get arsey about when you stopped them.

[stingrayPete1977]

Care home staff!

[stingrayPete1977]

They gave up his guitar easily, but stayed on the stage for a while. I normally put my basses in cases straight away but I've only had this sort of thing when the stage area is not a raised stage, we often get idiots shouting into the mics so I muted the whole pa before we got off.

[arthurhenry]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1480783374' post='3187130']
Care home staff!
[/quote]

Ahh. Best ignore my previous post.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Vinny' timestamp='1480783180' post='3187123']
This is why, miserable gits that we are, [i]everything[/i] gets packed away as soon as the last chord's over.
[/quote]

There's often no way of getting the upright bass to safety and it has to go in the van last to avoid it being turned into kindling!

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1480783741' post='3187132']


Ahh. Best ignore my previous post.
[/quote]

I'm sure they've earnt a good night out tbf, could have been a costly one for us if the headstock had been snapped off the Gold Top he's been thinking of retiring it to home use with his vintage strats for a while which he's just substituted with the 87 (?) strat in the picture, I wouldn't be surprised if santa brings him a later model LP now he has an excuse

[barneyg42]

Many moons ago I was in a crowd of people, mostly friends, at half time in a gig when I heard the bass firing up. I casually walked over and said to the guy playing it (Musicman Stingray 5) that it was a nice bass and how long had he had it, he then said oh I'm not the bassist I'm just giving it a go, at which point I got in his face and gave him some real grief just stopping short of throttling the bloke. He was a bit sheepish to say the least and couldn't be more apologetic after we finished the last set. All's well that ends well but I very rarely stray far from the stage/pub corner and tuck my bass behind my gear as much as possible. I sometimes think I should buy a £200 bass and a couple of hundreds of pounds worth of sound gear when I think of some of the places I play!!

[JapanAxe]

The MU standard contract contains a clause plainly stating that the kit is not for the use of the client, but I doubt any of those bozos would have had sight of your booking agreement!

[Twigman]

[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1480784907' post='3187146']
he then said oh I'm not the bassist I'm just giving it a go[/quote]
Shag his mrs and excuse yourself by telling him you're just giving her a go

[stingrayPete1977]

I haven't got any 'budget' basses since selling all my 4 stringers, the US Jazz V is my cheapest one now, it's collecting some mojo along the way but I'd rather it be my damage than from the punters!

[Graham]

I had to extract a punter from behind the kit on NYE last year, he couldn't see what the problem was. Lucky for him it was me that caught him and not the drummer....

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1480785193' post='3187148']
The MU standard contract contains a clause plainly stating that the kit is not for the use of the client, but I doubt any of those bozos would have had sight of your booking agreement!
[/quote]

Haha I'm not a member, it was a reference to the 'playing for nowt' thread, we do have insurance but I doubt they'd be keen to pay for damage to our kit as it annoyingly is there to protect the punters from us, how ironic!

[Lozz196]

Office parties, the worst kind of drunks that there are, two sweet sherries and they think they`re George Best and Oliver Reed rolled into one.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1480785548' post='3187154']
I had to extract a punter from behind the kit on NYE last year, he couldn't see what the problem was. Lucky for him it was me that caught him and not the drummer....
[/quote]

Drum kits are magnets for idiots! You can read whatever you like into that

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1480785597' post='3187156']
Office parties, the worst kind of drunks that there are, two sweet sherries and they think they`re George Best and Oliver Reed rolled into one.
[/quote]

This time they were all women, well I use the term women VERY loosely.

[barneyg42]

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1480785294' post='3187149']

Shag his mrs and excuse yourself by telling him you're just giving her a go
[/quote]

I think a little wee came out!!!!

[TimR]

We play a venue where the entrance is a corridor onto the side of the 'stage' area.

My amp is right next to this coridoor. The last two gigs I've had people put their drinks on top of my stack and lean against it.

The first time the stack started to move and topple over. I stopped playing several times to get him to move away only for him to come back again.

The second time I noticed all the resonance had gone from the cab and turned around to see what had gone wrong only to find someone leaning on the top.

What's wrong with people? If it's not yours don't touch it. Blame it on drink.

.

Edited December 3, 2016 by TimR

[stingrayPete1977]

One of the best things about those full range RCF tops is not having subs for the dancer's drink to be put on. (Before we get any smart arses, the RCF sub in the picture is the DJ's paired to the smaller non full range versions of our tops )

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1480786981' post='3187178']
One of the best things about those full range RCF tops is not having subs for the dancer's drink to be put on. (Before we get any smart arses, the RCF sub in the picture is the DJ's paired to the smaller non full range versions of our tops )
[/quote]

The thought never entered my head!

[stingrayPete1977]