Post some fun/cool gig stories here...

[Greg_L]

our late great bassist Tony didn't miss a beat and shot back "hey I don't show up at your job and knock the dicks out of your mouth".

Lol oldie but a goodie.

[muttley]

How did I miss this thread?

However on the plus side I can now spend a full day reading through all your stories and then I will know that my storiy will have to be good to top them.

Mind you there was that time I ended up playing "God Save The Queen" solo on the banjo at a Remembrance Day vigil. That was good one.....

[WhiskeyJack]

HA!

lol @ @Greg_L Holyfield. That's too funny. Wayne would be so proud of you.

Some of the guys say he's jealous of other bands getting attention that he is not.

I have been in a band with a guy like this before. The damage and embarrassment they can cause "when you aren't looking" is brutal. All for the sake of generating a buzz or getting a little ego fluffing.

I have a few stories but it requires time i don't have at the moment to hammer them out. Maybe tonight if i can get this crap off my desk and find a few spare mins to chill.

[vomitHatSteve]

Oh yeah, we're supposed to be telling gig stories!

So for my old alt rock band, I used to do bass spins when I could. (Depends a lot on the stage, obviously)
I've got strap locks. I'm not dumb.
I also play barefoot whenever possible.

So we're playing this outdoor sidewalk chalk festival. It's the middle of the summer in Tennessee, so I'm wearing flip-flops when I get to the gig.
I kick the flip-flops off to hop on stage (because who wants to see an energetic rock band wearing sandals?) Only then do I realize that the stage is matte black and in direct sunlight. I spend the entire gig mincing around with my feet on fire.
Then 3 songs from the end, I decide to try the bass spin. The screw holding the strap in decides that now it's time to strip out. Bass goes flying lands directly on my cable, snapping it. Fortunately, I have a spare cable, but then I spend the rest of the show squatting awkwardly because I no longer have a strap, feet still burning up, looking the most awkward I ever have on stage.

[Greg_L]

Oh yeah, we're supposed to be telling gig stories!

So for my old alt rock band, I used to do bass spins when I could. (Depends a lot on the stage, obviously)
I've got strap locks. I'm not dumb.
I also play barefoot whenever possible.

So we're playing this outdoor sidewalk chalk festival. It's the middle of the summer in Tennessee, so I'm wearing flip-flops when I get to the gig.
I kick the flip-flops off to hop on stage (because who wants to see an energetic rock band wearing sandals?) Only then do I realize that the stage is matte black and in direct sunlight. I spend the entire gig mincing around with my feet on fire.
Then 3 songs from the end, I decide to try the bass spin. The screw holding the strap in decides that now it's time to strip out. Bass goes flying lands directly on my cable, snapping it. Fortunately, I have a spare cable, but then I spend the rest of the show squatting awkwardly because I no longer have a strap, feet still burning up, looking the most awkward I ever have on stage.

[JD01]

Oh yeah, we're supposed to be telling gig stories!

So for my old alt rock band, I used to do bass spins when I could. (Depends a lot on the stage, obviously)
I've got strap locks. I'm not dumb.
I also play barefoot whenever possible.

So we're playing this outdoor sidewalk chalk festival. It's the middle of the summer in Tennessee, so I'm wearing flip-flops when I get to the gig.
I kick the flip-flops off to hop on stage (because who wants to see an energetic rock band wearing sandals?) Only then do I realize that the stage is matte black and in direct sunlight. I spend the entire gig mincing around with my feet on fire.
Then 3 songs from the end, I decide to try the bass spin. The screw holding the strap in decides that now it's time to strip out. Bass goes flying lands directly on my cable, snapping it. Fortunately, I have a spare cable, but then I spend the rest of the show squatting awkwardly because I no longer have a strap, feet still burning up, looking the most awkward I ever have on stage.

This is brilliant!

[WhiskeyJack]

Oh yeah, we're supposed to be telling gig stories!

So for my old alt rock band, I used to do bass spins when I could. (Depends a lot on the stage, obviously)
I've got strap locks. I'm not dumb.
I also play barefoot whenever possible.

So we're playing this outdoor sidewalk chalk festival. It's the middle of the summer in Tennessee, so I'm wearing flip-flops when I get to the gig.
I kick the flip-flops off to hop on stage (because who wants to see an energetic rock band wearing sandals?) Only then do I realize that the stage is matte black and in direct sunlight. I spend the entire gig mincing around with my feet on fire.
Then 3 songs from the end, I decide to try the bass spin. The screw holding the strap in decides that now it's time to strip out. Bass goes flying lands directly on my cable, snapping it. Fortunately, I have a spare cable, but then I spend the rest of the show squatting awkwardly because I no longer have a strap, feet still burning up, looking the most awkward I ever have on stage.

AHAHAHA!!! Amazing.

[Greg_L]

@vomitHatSteve Why barefoot though? I can't imagine playing live barefooted. Few places on earth are as gross as a stage floor.

[vomitHatSteve]

@vomitHatSteve Why barefoot though? I can't imagine playing live barefooted. Few places on earth are as gross as a stage floor.

A couple of reasons.
1) my feet get hot! it's more comfortable than shoes.
2) Part of marketing a band is its cultivating it's visual appearance: wardrobe, makeup, etc. I have no taste in shoes, so my options are either find something innocuous that no one will notice, let someone who has good taste pick out footwear for me, or go barefoot - which is a visually distinct choice if nothing else.
3) depending on the band, there are practical artistic reasons to be barefoot. With this particular band, it wasn't a huge deal, but for Regdar and the Fighters, I can't wear shoes on the DDR pad; and for my psychedelic band, toes are good for adjusting pedal settings.

[JD01]

Ergh, minging. Hadn't thought of that... are your feet all grim and stained after a show.

[Greg_L]

Haha. VHS is the rare punk rocker that gets foot rot without wearing Docs 24/7.

[JD01]

I went into a night club which had carpet in flip flops while on acid once. Fuck, that was a weird experience. The floor was really really sticky and gross.

[Greg_L]

Man I don't even walk barefooted around my own house. Slip-on Vans are my "house shoes". My feet are so white they're damn near translucent.

[JD01]

Haha, don't you have slippers? I wear Ugg boots in the house.

Carpet in a nightclub... back when you could still smoke in clubs was a terrible idea though. I've played in that club a few times too.

[Greg_L]

Haha, don't you have slippers? I wear Ugg boots in the house.

Carpet in a nightclub... back when you could still smoke in clubs was a terrible idea though. I've played in that club a few times too.

I do have these moccasin slipper things but I never wear them because the bottoms aren't waterproof, so they're useless if I walk out into the yard or something. And the floor of my house is all ceramic tile and that shit is cold. I really do just wear my Vans pretty much at all times.

[JD01]

Yeah. My downstairs is all tiles and woodblock too. Hence the Ugg boots.

[WhiskeyJack]

Haha. VHS is the rare punk rocker that gets foot rot without wearing Docs 24/7.

I got the worst athletes foot from docs.

[muttley]

Man I don't even walk barefooted around my own house. Slip-on Vans are my "house shoes". My feet are so white they're damn near translucent.

We have all wood floors and man are they hilarious when the dogs decide to rough out.

I wear standard trainers indoors. Slip off the old work boot by the back door and straight into trainers. I used to wear moccasin slippers but Benji (of MuttPup fame) loves to eat them up. I think I had a pair for nearly a week once before he found them.

[vomitHatSteve]

Ergh, minging. Hadn't thought of that... are your feet all grim and stained after a show.

Yes
http://raywen.org/concert/SV071313/images/foto89.html

[Bill L]

I've been meaning to add to this thread for a while, so...

I'm doing sound for a band by the water, summer time, pre COVID, there's a British car show in this huge open feild, plenty of people milling about, lots of venders selling their wares. The band is playing on a (somewhat) flat bed trailer. The available power is from 2 circuits using very long extension cords. I plug everything in, run the line tests; everything is working and going great. The band starts up, rocking and rolling and everything is great. Then, all of a sudden, half of the stage power goes out. I assume we popped a circuit, so I start chasing shit down. I follow my extension cord to where the "supplied" power is so I can see if we tripped a circuit. I look down and someone has unplugged my ext cord. I look around and ask this seemingly pleasant older lady if she saw who unplugged my stuff. Her reply was, "oh, I did that. I needed to plug my crock pot in so I can heat my chowder". I attempt to explain to her that that particular power is for the band only and she should use the power supplied for her. She wasn't very nice through exchange but I was biting my tongue because I was obviously not happy about this. So I get the band up and running again. Everything is cool for about 15 mins when the power goes out again (the same half as previous) so I run over and she's unplugged my stuff again. I calmly explain to her that that's twice now and if any of my gear is fucked up, she's paying for it. I'm less cordial and more stern. She couldn't have been more dismissive of me. I explained she would be on the hook for upwards of $20 k she indicates to me is chump change. The band finishes the set, we have some house music up and as we're hanging around half of the stage goes out again. This time she pulled off of my circuit without unplugging me but every time the crock pot kicked on, it blew the circuit (as opposed to her just unplugging my stuff). So I again have to explain, by this time I'm mansplaining which obviously isn't being received all that well. I pretty much tell her that if she touches my power again I'm going to dump her chowder over her head and I'm going to beat her with a guitar. She didn't think that was as funny as the band did. Obviously. But the guy running the event, who'd been advised of the developments up to this point, basically stood next to our power feed and wouldn't let her touch for the rest of the gig. Thankfully nothing got fucked up; thankfully the guy in charge appreciated my restraint, the band had a great laugh. And the lady was a miserable old piece of shit the whole time. And we get asked back every year and they've moved her tent far away from us. The guys in the band still bust my balls about it. Thankfully I can laugh too because none of my shit got blown. But it could have. Fuckin old, entitled people really bother the fuck out of me.