Spooked On Stage

[Pete Academy]

Apologies if this has been discussed previously, but have you ever messed up a relatively simple bass part in a song and then been worried about it at future gigs, to the point where you mess up again and again?

Edited February 12, 2010 by Pete Academy

[MIJ-VI]

Flub phobia?

[grimbeaver]

oh yes indeed, I have a solo to do at the same time as the lead solo (we do the same thing) and I can play it upside down, in the bath, one hand behind my back. but I made a right cock of it once and now every time it comes up I start thinking about it and bingo I cock it up again..... flub phobia indeed

[Happy Jack]

Long Train Running.

I've played it with three different bands, always using the original Doobie Brothers sequence & structure.

I know this song.

But I can be relied upon to cock up the sequence at least every other gig. It has become a standing joke in my band ...

[JTUK]

Sure, ...........indecision on a few things.

Mostly down to someone not giving the right lead..but

Most worrying for me was the bass solo part on "Call me Al" and again that was mostly caused by the drums not teeing up the intro and outro to the part... well, that is my story..

[Low End Bee]

The opening song has a sort of Chuck Berry'esque bass intro.
I must have played it at least 9 different ways and always something's wrong. Including a different key once.
It's tradition to cock it up now. It'd throw the rest of the band if I nailed it.

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='MIJ-VI' post='742827' date='Feb 12 2010, 09:33 AM']Flub phobia?[/quote]

Exactly.

[Krysbass]

"Ruby" by the Kaiser Chiefs - the second verse to be exact. It's not a difficult song and we'd been covering it for about 2 years......

My excuse for getting it wrong was that the rhythm guitarist whose gear is right next to mine decided to turn himself up quite a lot, using a prticularly nasty tone too and it upset my groove.

Or did it? I went through hell for a couple of gigs after that one, worrying that it would happen again

[Rich]

Night Boat To Cairo. There's one little bit in it that really gives me grief. Again, I know how to play it forwards & backwards. It's easy, look. Do-do-do-do. See?
But when it gets to that bit in a gig...

[cetera]

[quote name='Rich' post='742987' date='Feb 12 2010, 12:32 PM']Night Boat To Cairo. There's one little bit in it that really gives me grief. Again, I know how to play it forwards & backwards. It's easy, look. Do-do-do-do. See?
But when it gets to that bit in a gig... [/quote]

I think I suffer in the same bit!

[lemmywinks]

Mostly on songs which i've played in a few different keys from depping with different bands, Hush and Sweet Child O Mine are ones that i get confused on.
I'll never forget the time i was depping for a band that played the latter in C, after the intro i came in a whole tone sharp in front of all my mates who pi$$ed themselves for the rest of the song, waiting for me to cock up again


For years i got the blame for mucking up the post-chorus break on Are You Gona Go My Way, one day our drummer came up to me and said he'd listened to the CD the previous night and realised it was his fault all along

Edited February 12, 2010 by lemmywinks

[BassCat]

We open with Are You Gonna Go My Way until one night when I completely forgot how to play it! The song started & I just stood there with a confused look on my face while the rest of the band looked at me wondering what the hell was wrong! Ever since then I have to play the first couple of bars before we start as a reminder of how it goes as I'm paranoid about doing the same thing again!

[MIJ-VI]

The first country band leader I worked for told us how in a previous incarnation of his group if anyone played a BIG honker he'd stop the band, pull out a kid's cap pistol, shoot the offender, and then resume the tune.

In the first rock band I played with, if the lead player blew a solo he'd turn and glower at the drummer.

[hitchy64]

I'v messed up Are you gonna go my way too. The bass bit that acompanys the guitar solo. Now I have a phobia of that song, although last night I nailed it

[chrisba]

The solo at the beginning of Sweet Child O' Mine. We play it in just about every gig but I think I have only about a 50% success rate on stage. I can play with my eyes closed, standing on one leg whilst reading War and Peace on my own at home.

[allighatt0r]

[quote name='hitchy64' post='743273' date='Feb 12 2010, 04:37 PM']I'v messed up Are you gonna go my way too. The bass bit that acompanys the guitar solo. Now I have a phobia of that song, although last night I nailed it [/quote]

Nailing that bit is the best feeling in the world.

[Tech]

the number of times to play the riff at the beginning of 'by the way'...

i played it in two different bands, and the singer came in at a different time in the second band. i never really adjusted to it and invariably would still be diddling up high on the neck whilst everyone else was looking at me like " "

other than that... that little bass fill in the chorus of chris de burgh's "lady in red" is a killer, especially when we do it in a different key - my fingers just fail. oh and wilson pickett's "in the midnight hour" - that bass riff always goes on for a couple more licks than i expect it to!

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='chrisba' post='743274' date='Feb 12 2010, 04:38 PM']I can play with my eyes closed [snip] whilst reading War and Peace[/quote]

That's pretty impressive.

There's a couple of originals in one of my bands where the guitarist tunes to drop D then unleases some open riffing and I have to keep up with it on a 6 string bass (which I refuse to drop D when I have a B string). I'm ok when I'm relaxed (not quite up to recording standard, but if I was having trouble I'd just drop D for that. But tight enough to play live) but I always tense up because I'm afraid of flunking it. I've not made a complete mess yet, but it's definitely been looser then a very loose thing before.

[Phaedrus]

Not a bass prob, but I played a little keyboard in my last band. When we did The Killers' When You Were Young, I played the part in the middle ("they say the devil's water . . .") on keys. We were using a cheapo keyboard that caused a lot of hum, so I used to have to mute that channel on the PA when the it wasn't being played (I ran the PA from the stage).

I could play the part no prob - never had an issue at all in rehearsals, as you might imagine.

First time we gigged it, the whole band dropped out, the singer started his line, I hit the keys and - silence! I hadn't unmuted the channel on the mixer. I quickly hit the mute button and turned back to the keyboard, but drew a blank on what chord I should be playing, so I had to hit a couple of wrong ones before I landed on the correct (last) chord in the sequence. Remember Derek Smalls when he finally got out of his pod at the end of Rock 'n' Roll Creation?

Forever after, I could be relied on to muck it up, so we dropped it . . .


Mark

[chrisba]

[quote name='chrisba' post='743274' date='Feb 12 2010, 04:38 PM']The solo at the beginning of Sweet Child O' Mine. We play it in just about every gig but I think I have only about a 50% success rate on stage. I can play with my eyes closed, standing on one leg whilst reading War and Peace on my own at home.[/quote]


[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='744300' date='Feb 13 2010, 08:26 PM']That's pretty impressive. [/quote]

I meant reading the Braille version with my toes

[martthebass]

Badge.

Can play it backwards, forwards, upside down etc, but at a gig if the drummer is even a nanosecond out coming into the break I turn to cr@p.

[4000]

Yep. The worst thing is I not only wrote the part, I also wrote the song. It's simple as hell too.