Weirdest place you've ever done a gig?

[b3maniac]

After a lifetime of gigging I suppose not too much seems weird, but I've played for private function for: a few different "madam's"; on a trailer bed just before the NASCAR race at Darlington SC; roof of a burger restaurant; numerous times on a private island; back yard of a Southern plantation home; airplane hangers; inside the hanger of an aircraft carrier; on an ocean pier;tour boat; parade float; roof terrace of a high rise; on a pontoon boat; private yacht; beside the 18th hole of a golf course; grocery store parking lots; numerous time in TV studio; custom train car; tobacco barn shed,etc. Are any of these considered "weird", or just par for the course for having gigged a lot over several decades?

[NoLights]

Someone earlier mentioned a mental hospital. My band did a gig at one a few years ago -- one of those scary, horror-movie type places. We were told that, in the crowd, was a guy who had recently killed a nun with an ax. Yep -- an ax murderer. He had gone to the local university's music school and was an accomplished trumpet player. He brought his horn and asked if he could sit in. We said... umm ... sure.

[KenElevenShadows]

Nudist Colony. Played there with the same band for three gigs. Fun crowd..

 

...and when in Rome?

[ChiefDanG]

Strip club - "My Way Lounge" - Passaic, NJ - 16 years old with an ABC card. Welcome to show biz, kid.

[timwat]

1) Display window of a men's clothing store. Across the street from AT&T Park.

 

2) Prison.

 

3) Sea of hundreds of bikinis. Cal Expo.

 

4) Right in front of the up escalator at Macys.

[David Loving]

Played a graduation dance for a morticians college. shame this forum doesn't have a "like" button like Facebook. I like all these

 

[Losendoskeys]

The Peel in Kingston, Surrey - should have realised when I tried to load the gear in through the doors.......the name is a giveaway.

Rock venue in one half and strip club in the other.......

[Dr88s]

Playing a C3 with a nice flat surface, I regularly had a lovely nude woman lying right in front of me. Usually playing with other devices that the drummer would supply.

 

Hope you didn't end up with crabs on your organ.

 

(Sorry - couldn't resist)

 

[kelp]

Almost forgot... just this past fall I played "TrashFest 2014." The audience is encouraged to throw trash at the band, which is graciously provided by the house. [the trash is all paper and foam]

 

I'm on the left on a Gaia. My buddy is similarly dressed (alternating red/black shirt and cape) and on a Juno D. After this show we were dubbed the "Identikeys."

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/600/cr3f.jpg

[Sospiri]

Way back in the severe winter of 1963, my trio did a few months in a night club in a mansion which opened in the middle of the New Forest, southern England. The venture had technically run out of money before it even opened and within a week there was no money to keep the central heating going. There were also few customers and they were huddled round the bar whilst we played at the opposite end of a long room in our overcoats, hoping that the bar took enough money to pay the band at the end of the night. Frequently a guitar player, who was an excellent player and Wes Montgomery fan, but still a schoolboy, used to come and sit in. In 1977 he became a member of an internationally known 3-piece supergroup, so I won't divulge his name, but we had some fun until the money finally ran out!

[allan_evett]

Nudist Colony. Played there with the same band for three gigs. Fun crowd..

 

...and when in Rome?

 

 

Not that band....A drummer friend spoke of playing there several times with one of his bands, and they played nekked. One of the former guitar players in my band did miss a lot cues, though (I'll refrain from saying he 'fluffed'); guy looked like a deer in the headlights most of the night.

The best dancers at the 'colony gigs were a couple who were big fans of the act; dude was 85, and in great shape. Leave it to Colorado, eh ? This is the state in which, if the temp goes over 35 F, the uniform becomes shorts, t-shirt, and hiking boots (well, maybe a light jacket over that - until the temp hits 40 F). It's an easy next-step to go clothes-free.

[Shamanczarek]

I once did a 3 week, 6 nights a week gig at a strip club in Pendleton, OR. Not only did we play the club but the owner provided a house for the 5-piece band and 2 strippers so we all lived together. On top of that a couple of band members' girlfriends and a couple of their friends hitchhiked from Salem, OR and stayed there, too. One stripper also had her boyfriend with her. The club employed 2 girls at a time but went through 5 in that three weeks.

[area51recording]

Strip club - "My Way Lounge" - Passaic, NJ - 16 years old with an ABC card. Welcome to show biz, kid.

 

I played there as well!

[Les Mizzell]

Nudist Colony. Played there with the same band for three gigs. Fun crowd..

 

Uhhh ... clothing optional for the band?

[Curly99]

1. Hay Trailer at a car show

2. Pumpkin patch

[ArnoldLayne]

Jackson State Prison.

 

We didn't need to bring anything. I couldn't believe all the equipment they had.

[J. Dan]

I don't think I've done any as weird as on here, but I've had some that appeared impossible to get to with the gear.

 

1 was a loft over a bar. It literally just looked like a hole cut out of the wall overhead. It was my duo, but we still had PA and instruments. To get the gear up there, you had to go to the basement and load it into a little freight elevator and send it up, then go upstairs and climb a ladder to get to the space. All night you're looking down at the tops of people's heads.

 

2 was a boat house on the Mississippi River. The main house was up on a bluff and there were probably hundreds of steps down to the boathouse and dock. I'm thinking "no frickin' way!". Luckily that had this cable drawn cart that rode a track down to the dock. We loaded all the gear on that and they lowered it down.

[Morizzle]

1. Playing with a big band on a floating stage in a giant water show arena

2. on a public viewing at a funeral parlor

[cleomenesII]

I remember an anecdote told by Stephane Grappelli. His band was booked to play at a nudist colony, and they debated for a long time about whether the band should wear clothes. Eventually, they decided that the polite thing would be to play naked. Of course, as soon as the curtain came up they saw that the audience were all clothed.... You have to really imagine Stephane poised at the violin ready to play for the full image to coalesce..

[Pale]

Hippie gathering on a farm in the middle of nowhere 30km from one town that is also in the middle of nowhere.

Everyone I talked to that night was speaking about Love and higher Energies and things like that. We had to postpone our soundcheck so that their guru or teacher or whatnot can finish his lecture. They fed us vegeterian pasta, and made us wash our own dishes.

 

They had good, erm...stuff . We had a blast.

[Asa]

I can't really compete with many of the scenarios already posted, but the strangest place I ever played was during a ski holiday in the Austrian alps - we stopped off at a restaurant halfway up the mountain which had a honky old upright in the corner, so naturally my friends persuaded me to give it a tinkle. I played for about 20 mins (just improv over some basic jazz chords), after which many half-drunk locals started cheering and talking to me, quite bewildering since I can barely speak a word of German.

 

Still, it made quite an experience, though pedalling in ski boots was awkward to say the least

 

 

[ChiefDanG]

Hey, Area51-

A big tune back then was "Knock Three Times" and the three knocks were synced up nicely with moves by the girls, as were the "twice on the pipes.....". Patrons wanted that song at least once a set. I was happy to be seated behind my Farfisa, hiding my delight in the girls performance. I think I lied about being 16, prolly 18 - still an eye-opening gig for a young lad. I think the Vanilla Fudge played there, whatever they were called in their formative years. Place was full of Sinatra memorabilia, IIRC.

Ever play the Choo-Choo Club in Garfield?

[allan_evett]

Another unusual gig: The folk-rock band I was in was hired to play a late afternoon, mid December 'Welcome Santa to town' fest in East Troy, WI. The gig was two, forty minute sets - outdoors. Downbeat temp at 4PM was about 18°F. Though I tried playing wearing gloves with the fingers cut out,eventually the gloves had to go. I remember that, after about ten minutes into each set, I could see my fingers moving - but couldn't quite feel them. Thankfully the hosts let us cut the second set to twenty minutes, then helped us tear down and load out. The town council bought us dinner afterward; I recall that liberal amounts of hot coffee were consumed.

[The Wind]

I did get offered a gig at a ski resort, playing in the main lodge where all the skiers go to eat/drink after they are done. The logistics of getting all the gear through the snow made me reconsider and I turned it down.

 

The remuneration was... you guessed it, a free ski pass for the day.

[I-missRichardTee]

A retired Navy carrier, now museum.-

A football field-

A TV news room ( the weather map we see on the TV screen is not "there" in the room- the weather gal is actually seeing an empty screen! )-

NYC midtown with John Gotti and his crew of about 13 wiseguys all seated at one large table right in front of bandstand - sucked- I never enjoyed that experience. due to an innate dislike of those bums.-

An old peoples retirement home with all Chinese people. Just struck me as weird. I have no issues with the Chinese people, as distinct from,, well, better leave that one alone.-

A polo field-

behind a bar with a Stripper in licking distance ha ha-

Chicago, opening for Tower of Power and EWF, and the weird part was this "friendly town", was anything but friendly to us. Stage hands, sound guys, audience.. it was like being invisible.

Here is another invisible scene

A lesbian birthday party.. the weirdest of all of the above

I never ever in my life felt so invisible, so invalidated in my career, in my life as in these lesbians' presence. I have zero use for them.

As the expression goes, "you had to be there"... I did not act rudely, I did not hit on anyone, nor flirt, nor nothing, just endured the black hole.

Curious if I will be blamed for this negative experience or not

THAT was by far the weirdest experience in my long career.

Feeling absolutely invisible. I am speaking about OFF STAGE!

 

[rce1]

Not necessarily a weird place to play but my weirdest gig. It was a hot day back in the mid 70's at a private, hippieish, outdoor birthday party on the outskirts of a small rural town in northern California. I was very young and even more naive. After the first set I went to the punch bowl to quench my thirst. Even at this time I knew my skills declined rapidly if I drank alcohol and since I was being paid (a very small amount) I was determined, in my extreme youth, to be professional despite my surroundings thus I was only going to drink the fruit punch. As I was on my third or fourth cup I noticed a guy nearby laughing. I asked what he was laughing at and he replied. "You DO know that's electric kool aid, don't you?" With a sinking feeling I went back to my keyboard rig, a RMI Electa Piano topped with a Vox Super Continental, and continued on with the gig. I don't remember much after that although I'm pretty sure the memory of a dog pissing on my amp was real. Probably a commentary on how I was playing the rest of the gig.

[I-missRichardTee]

Another unusual gig: The folk-rock band I was in was hired to play a late afternoon, mid December 'Welcome Santa to town' fest in East Troy, WI. The gig was two, forty minute sets - outdoors. Downbeat temp at 4PM was about 18°F. Though I tried playing wearing gloves with the fingers cut out,eventually the gloves had to go. I remember that, after about ten minutes into each set, I could see my fingers moving - but couldn't quite feel them. Thankfully the hosts let us cut the second set to twenty minutes, then helped us tear down and load out. The town council bought us dinner afterward; I recall that liberal amounts of hot coffee were consumed.

 

You reminded me of a gig outside in the cold- not 18 degrees but continuously outside for 3 hours.

Key for me is "bundling up". I met a Swedish woman in a Target where I was buying long underwear for this gig. She said lots of layers, they do not have to be thick, just numerous layers. So I wore three pair of layers on my legs.. pants, etc. Head neck ears covered. and it worked. But Chicago is a bitch.. you have my sympathy -)

edit, I play bass there, no gloves, obviously. bone player uses an electric heater. piano player uses white gloves.. like an English butler or something like that!

[ChiefDanG]

Once played at Dover Downs raceway. After the race, a radio station did interviews with the drivers, we played songs going in/out of commercial breaks.

Poor man's Paul Shaefer (sp?).

[smanzella]

I played on Mardi Gras floats all throughout the 90's. And then again about 3 years ago. Always lots of booze, beads, and t!ts. One NYE I played in a tree-house that was converted into a stage. This structure was built into an oak tree that was probably 100+ years old.

[area51recording]

Hey, Area51-

A big tune back then was "Knock Three Times" and the three knocks were synced up nicely with moves by the girls, as were the "twice on the pipes.....". Patrons wanted that song at least once a set. I was happy to be seated behind my Farfisa, hiding my delight in the girls performance. I think I lied about being 16, prolly 18 - still an eye-opening gig for a young lad. I think the Vanilla Fudge played there, whatever they were called in their formative years. Place was full of Sinatra memorabilia, IIRC.

Ever play the Choo-Choo Club in Garfield?

 

Never played the choo-choo, but I'm familiar with the name....I played a Farfisa back then as well...yeah, I remember all the Frank stuff. Out here in Indiana I occasionally run into folks from the garden state, and the My Way comes up occasionally. Another real funky place I remember was the Satellite Lounge, which was across the street from Macguire AFB. I remember playing the 1:30 to 6am shift, and it was like a scene out of MASH....there were Korean hookers all over the place....