Staying safe on stage

[Lozz196]

4 hours ago, gjones said:

 

Although my comments above were lighthearted, I have played places where the drunken antics of the knuckle dragging, audience were so extreme, that I refused to play there again. It resulted in me getting sacked from the band but my physical wellbeing was more important to me than a gig in a very dodgy pub.

 

So my advice is, if the pub is dodgy, don't play there.

Def agree with this. I`ve only played one place where I thought there might be problems and said afterwards to the band at the time I thought best to not play there again, fortunately they all agreed. I`m not that bothered by bother if that makes sense, but I don`t want my gear trashed, a punch on the chin no sweat, a broken bass would upset me.

[BigRedX]

51 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Def agree with this. I`ve only played one place where I thought there might be problems and said afterwards to the band at the time I thought best to not play there again, fortunately they all agreed. I`m not that bothered by bother if that makes sense, but I don`t want my gear trashed, a punch on the chin no sweat, a broken bass would upset me.

 

For me it's the other way around. A broken bass or other gear can be replaced. What I don't want is an injury that could cause me to miss important gigs or even stop me from playing.

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Def agree with this. I`ve only played one place where I thought there might be problems and said afterwards to the band at the time I thought best to not play there again, fortunately they all agreed. I`m not that bothered by bother if that makes sense, but I don`t want my gear trashed, a punch on the chin no sweat, a broken bass would upset me.

 

19 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

For me it's the other way around. A broken bass or other gear can be replaced. What I don't want is an injury that could cause me to miss important gigs or even stop me from playing.

 

We were booked to play at a pub opposite a cricket ground on a Friday night a few years back. For reasons on which I'm still unclear - although partly because I could walk to the venue - I decided to take my Breedlove Fretless rather than my double bass, which turned out to be a wise move. We got close to the pub and there seemed to be a lot of lads and a few girls from a certain 1970s/80s youth culture milling around, very short hair, Doc Martens, rolled up jeans, Harringtons, Fred Perry shirts........

 

Anyway, got to the pub and it was rammed full with members of said culture. We started setting up and sound checking and it was clear that the volumes/speed of booze being put away, plus the contrast between us and the band this lot had come to see later night, might lead from some mild sarcasm to a bit worse. To his credit the landlord paid us in full and said "Get out while you still can lads, we'll be out of booze soon anyway.....'. We were genuinely relieved, but I would not have wanted to navigate a double bass out of there 

 

But I do remember feeling genuinely quite scared, streets full of skinheads was a little too close to my childhood for comfort, even if most of them were in their 40's  

[Lozz196]

I get that, even though I’ve been part of that scene and never really seen any real bother I can appreciate that to someone on the outside looking in it can look a bit daunting, especially to those who grew up with skinheads running amok and kicking everyones heads in. And yes, they can definitely put the booze away.

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

I get that, even though I’ve been part of that scene and never really seen any real bother I can appreciate that to someone on the outside looking in it can look a bit daunting, especially to those who grew up with skinheads running amok and kicking everyones heads in. And yes, they can definitely put the booze away.

I get that mate, and I doubt there was any trouble that night, but when a landlord suggests you leave in that situation, you leave 👍

[Lozz196]

Def with you there, always best to take a landlords advice re his establishment, especially where safety is concerned.

[chris_b]

In the very early 70's we did a residency on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. It was in Ladbroke Grove and there was usually a punch up on 2 out of the 3 nights. Not just handbags but real John Wayne bar room brawls, tables and chairs and everything. The fights never came our way but the management advised us if we kept playing the fighters would ignore us. And they did!!

[urbanx]

One of our fave band 'inside stories' is when we were playing the Hawley Arms in Camden a couple of years back (great pub) 

This guy was off his face, dancing, falling on stage grabbing the mic stand. We weren't overly bothered as he was friendly, just out of it. 

 

But the landlord quickly intervened and threw him out the front door...

 

Only for him to appear seconds later from the gents where he'd climbed back in through the window 🤣

[redbandit599]

Our singer also plays a keytar and has a pedal board for a vocal effects processor in front of him. We occasionally play some pretty tight or packed pubs and he was often getting his mic bumped back and into his teeth.

He's recently got one of these stands which goes under and through his pedal board and means that there isn't a boom sticking out in front for people to bump into - certainly seems to help https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stage-GPA1003-Utility-Stand-Pedal/dp/B01N5U61TN/ref=asc_df_B01N5U61TN/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5260036389465926351&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045997&hvtargid=pla-2281435176658&mcid=51805f9e5ca73cd68f0b7a8361ffdcb2&th=1&hvocijid=5260036389465926351-B01N5U61TN-&hvexpln=74&gad_source=1

 

Pic of it in action below.

 

We also have a heavy duty LED rope light which we've made some flat floor mounts for to go in front of us - works well and looks good in places with a bit of space but no stage, but in really tight ones there's no point.

[MacDaddy]

On 16/09/2024 at 10:49, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Play better venues?

 

In a previous band we used to play a pub which had a private car park which was locked after we loaded in, and was always packed for the band.

But there were always fights (which were not limited to the men) and we always had to load out walking over broken glass.

We stopped playing there.

[Happy Jack]

10 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

In a previous band we used to play a pub which had a private car park which was locked after we loaded in, and was always packed for the band.

But there were always fights (which were not limited to the men) and we always had to load out walking over broken glass.

We stopped playing there.

 

Hey @Lozz196, see if you can guess which pub he's talking about. 😂

[Lozz196]

Hmm, going from that description @Happy Jack, White Hart in Hemel Hempstead perchance?

[Silvia Bluejay]

Only place where the sound engineer does not get asked about the magic on her tablet (yes I know) - instead she gets propositioned by drunks.

 

The fights could be spectacular (we were often trapped onstage while all hell was breaking loose in front of it), but the load in and out via a badly maintained steep little staircase with a narrow door were even worse.

 

[Lozz196]

It`s so sad, that was my local for years, and honestly it was a lovely pub, yeah a few bouts of aggro over the years and the landlord used to give me a pint or two if I`d thrown said bother-merchant out but in general it was an oasis of relative calm in comparison to the other pubs in Hemel.