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Craziest thing ever said to you at a gig


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Then there was the gig at a backwoods place called the "Eagle's Roost" in waaaaaaay northern NJ near the NY state border.

 

We were a Grateful Dead covers/original project. After the first set the owner said, "I dig your stuff, but any band that plays here damn well better play 'God Bless America'."

 

This was several years before 9/11 and way before smartphones so none of us had a clue as to the words or chords, just the basic melody.

 

Thankfully he let us get away with "American the Beautiful."

 

Never played that joint again.

Nord Stage 2 SW73, Kurzweil PC3LE7, Moog Sub 37, Alesis Ion, Rhodes Stage 73, Moog Werkstatt-01, Yamaha CP-300

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Knock knock

Who's there?

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Settin' The Woods on Fire, actually.

Nord Stage 2 SW73, Kurzweil PC3LE7, Moog Sub 37, Alesis Ion, Rhodes Stage 73, Moog Werkstatt-01, Yamaha CP-300

-------------

Knock knock

Who's there?

Interrupting synthesizer

Interrup-MOOOOOOOOOG

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At my old 80s band's very first gig in 2010 this very drunk, older woman walks up to our drummer (who has red hair) as we're setting up and announces that she's never had a redhead. Then she warns us that Pour Some Sugar On Me is her "jam" and that she might have to strip to it if we play it. Fortunately for all involved, that was not in our repertoire.

 

 

Korg Kronos 61 (2); Kurzweil PC4, Roland Fantom-06, Casio PX-350M; 2015 Macbook Pro and 2012 Mac Mini (Logic Pro X and Mainstage), GigPerformer 4.

 

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A female singer told me and others on different occasions - she 'can sing any tune, in any key'.. sweet woman, but she is a bit clueless.

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I had never been paid to not play. That streak ended last week, when my band was bribed $50 per man to stop playing for an hour by the producers of NCIS New Orleans, who were filming next door. The club was okay with it, so we took the bribe. There was paperwork involved and everything, so now I can add "hired to perform for an episode of NCIS Nola" to my resume. I don't see any need to specify that what I was hired to play was silence.
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One I had forgotten about from years ago: when the band launched into some classic New Orleans tune, a guy in the audience yelled "Yeah brah! Yeah you right! Take me back to Tchoupitoulas Street!", and started waving a hanky over his head and second-lining through the audience.

 

What made this reaction "crazy" rather than just kinda comically stereotypical, you ask? The fact that it happened on a gig at a prison in northern Ohio. Apparently the guy was from New Orleans, but got busted on a drug run up there, so that's where he was doing his time. All the other inmates were looking at him like "What the hell is this guy's problem?", but he was having the time of his life.

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If asked what you performed for NCIS Nola, just tell them that you played a John Cage song, and they liked it well enough to ask for a repeat.

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

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"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Jim

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  • 2 weeks later...

My list is very long. My band play lots of wee-hour gigs at clubs (over 450 gigs since 2009 at over 40 different venues), and, as many of you know, that means one is gonna get a bunch of alcohol-prompted and slurred comments.

 

But two recent ones were.....

 

#1 - A tipsy young woman comes up and asks us "Don't you guys play any young music?" This was just after playing I'm Yours" (Jason Mraz) and "Rude" (by Magic), so not quite sure exactly what she was asking....

 

#2 - After we played our announced last song of the night, a guy comes us and says "Man, you are, without a doubt, the best band I've heard in a long time! Greatly appreciated the way you mix up the different styles of music and your talents. I'll come here when y'all play again!" We thank him for the kind words. Then he says, "Listen, could you play one more tune, as an encore?" We told him we couldn't as it was just after venue closing time, and management wouldn't allow it. He says "Really? Well, you guys just pissed me off! Bunch of assholes! You suck!" He kept ranting to the point that he got over-excited and loud and had to be physically removed by the venue's rent-a-cop.

KB: Hammond SK1

Bass KB: Yamaha MX49

KB Amps: CPS SS3, linked to TurboSound IP300

Bass KB amp: Fender Rumble 500 combo

 

 

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I don't have anything really crazy (keyboard player, so who cares, amirite!), but a guitar player (unknown to me at the time) actually called "Drown in My Own Tears" and before I could get out "so, like Eb, Bb, or what" he was like "Yeah C is good."

 

OK, so do some gospel in C. With guitar! For me that was pretty cray.

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#2 - After we played our announced last song of the night, a guy comes us and says "Man, you are, without a doubt, the best band I've heard in a long time! Greatly appreciated the way you mix up the different styles of music and your talents. I'll come here when y'all play again!" We thank him for the kind words. Then he says, "Listen, could you play one more tune, as an encore?" We told him we couldn't as it was just after venue closing time, and management wouldn't allow it. He says "Really? Well, you guys just pissed me off! Bunch of assholes! You suck!" He kept ranting to the point that he got over-excited and loud and had to be physically removed by the venue's rent-a-cop.

 

That's just classic. Both been there as a recipient and a giver.

 

Reason number 1 to avoid the club scene. Lots of "customers" out there. Whatever, I only do it for the money.

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Last night we had just opened with Only Girl (Rihanna) - Talk Dirty (Jason Derullo) - Blow (Ke$ha) and some middle aged Asian guy yelled requesting Red House.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Last night we had just opened with Only Girl (Rihanna) - Talk Dirty (Jason Derullo) - Blow (Ke$ha) and some middle aged Asian guy yelled requesting Red House.

 

You should've told him that the other band over yonder plays that.

Custom handmade clocks: www.etsy.com/shop/ClockLight
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  • 10 months later...

You guys are right about the gear thing though, it's almost like we develop a paternal instinct, especially towards new gear!

 

Loved reading these . . . I know what you mean about the maternal in my case instinct. I have a Roland E-16 that is now 22 years old and it is like my child! Now I just have to worry that it is old enough to drink and buy lottery tickets.

 

:(

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1. I do look a little bit like the rhythm guitarist in one of the bands I play in, particularly if you've had 20 beers during our show. Post-gig an audience member bailed me up with plenty of compliments. Which was very nice, but during the conversation I gradually started to work out a case of mistaken identity was happening.

 

When I delicately and politely pointed out that I was, in fact, the keys player, I was met with a rather underwhelming "Oh...right...umm...are you sure?"

 

2. Slightly OT, but late last year we played an outdoor show where a stray dog got up on stage just before we started and promptly sat next to the singer. We couldn't shift her (the dog)! I thought the pooch would disappear for sure once we started up due to our oppressively loud on-stage sound. But no dice, the dog quite happily sat there amidst all the chaos.

 

Eventually a helpful audience member came to our rescue, but sure enough, the dog was back up there two songs later. Nice dog, though.

 

 

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"Can one of you guys announce that Elvis is coming in to sing to the brides?" (it was a lesbian wedding with an Elvis tribute who spent the rest of the night after that going from the bar to table to table singing to individual guests).

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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A well known Hungarian singer (with meaningful lyrics indeed, some religious references) told this story.

 

"Guy comes up to me while I'm signing CDs and says:

- Man I love your lyrics! They are full of meaning! It is so heartwarming to me that you believe in UFOs too!"

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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  • 1 year later...
I once had a man who I would describe as "out of it" come up and sit on the corner of my stage, and start swearing at me, saying that if I couldn't play rap, and some strange song about chickens, that I was a worthless performer. I was playing ACCORDION! He sat there for ten minutes and never quit!

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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Not crazy... In fact, pretty predictable considering...

 

During break after the first set playing to a packed club, I went up to the club owner and said: "Great crowd tonight!" He responded: "Yeah, but your audiences don't drink...".

 

But he did not complain about 300 people paying a $20 cover charge.... he made $6000 on cover alone, and paid us $1200.

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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