Clifton Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 This is long-winded I know but I'm curious: At a charity gig my piano trio and I did about a month ago, we played two songs, and in the second our drummer took a 'trade' solo, which in this one tune of ours is pretty much a drum solo but with regular band 'interjections', so to speak. Our drummer possesses very impressive technique, and hence, you give him a solo, he has to remind everyone that he does. And often, plays too loud in the process, drowning everyone out, being obscenely flashy and technical, and basically just being a great bloody tosser. When this happens, myself and the bassist tend to get a bit pissed off, but the crowd always love it, so we let him do his thing. So here he was doing his thing, and by about the 5th band 'interjection', what does he do? He drops one of his sticks, falling out over the stage. This was very funny, because now our drummer was having to solo with one stick. Then his other stick broke (He had no other sticks with him on stage). The bassist & I were extremely amused at the site of our virtouso drummer reduced to using his bare hands and feet. He carried on with uninterrupted flashiness regardless, to his credit. This was a charity gig, in a theatre, in front of a good 300 people. The MC of the evening ran onto the stage, picked up our drummers unbroken stick and handed back to him, which was just a funny sight, really. Call us easily amused, but the bassist & I were laughing so hard by this point that we were struggling to stay in time. We very nearly lost it. We recovered happily and finished the tune. Sorry I took so long to tell my story, but question, have any of you experienced giggers out there ever been really distracted by something while you were playing? And did you or the group nearly (or actually) lose it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Yep, on a nightly basis a few bands I played with had to deal with women coming up on stage and stripping (XX rated) during our set. We didn't lose it. Not even a single buck. Free entertainment. Kept the band motivated. PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StillFightingIt Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 hahaha, yeah that's a great story. I, being in a indie rock band, was shocked at a gig a few weeks ago when we were playing in front of a large group of 20 somethings, when my 70 year old grandmother picked up a young guy and started dancing with him in front of the stage. Of course she was Waltzing to a rock song in 4/4! How embarassing, I was trying to stop myself from laughing, I was certainly struggling to get the lyrics out. My Band: www.myspace.com/fergusband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Usually women lifting their shirts will distract me. Not much else. Live: Nord Stage 3 Compact, Nord Wave 2, Viscount Legend Toys: Korg Kronos 2 88, Roland Fantom 08, Nord Lead A1,Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP www.echoesrocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Summers Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 In my twenties I joined a country Band that would routinely play on while knock-down drag-out fights were going on in the club(s)we played. At first I was kind of distracted by this, but after awhile I was pretty oblivious to it all as well. The only exception to this were two occaisions when guns became involved. In one case we ducked into a room behind the stage and locked the door. Fortunately it was resolved with noone getting hurt. I did leave the group after 8 or 9 months, but they sure paid well compared many other groups i've been involved with--would that be HAZARD PAY?! "Music should never be harmless." Robbie Robertson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 You drummer only has one pair of sticks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Young ladies dancing close and rubbing together always makes me drop a line or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Tee Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 The girls lifting their shirts is often a distraction...girl on girl...but one interesting thing is to play in a sports bar where there are TV's everywhere.....if it is a slow night I've often observed the band members watching the baseball/football/hockey game..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Lifting shirts? Child's play. Around here, they got undressed. PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I've posted this before, but it certainly is consistent with the topic of the present thread. Can't beat women undressing, however..... Originally posted by Moonglow: .......we're playing this club gig, and these two hot chicks are groping and making out with each other approximately 4-5 feet in front of my side of the stage. At one point, one of them puts her foot/leg up on the stage (other leg on the floor) and the other girl crawls underneath, upside down (you get the idea....), and starts having a blast with her friend. This went on all night, and it was hard to determine as to who received more attention, these chicks or the band. BTW, this was very distracting to deal with while playing. The basic intervention was to look at my hands/keys as much as possible, because if I looked up, well, there they were, and I would get locked into their frolicking and screw up my part! Ironically, I ran into one of these girls earlier this week in a totally unrelated setting. She asked where we were playing this weekend and I advised that it will be at the same place she last saw us. She said she and her friend will be coming out. I'll see if I can get them a back-stage pass. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmp Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Originally posted by Joe Tee: I've often observed the band members watching the baseball/football/hockey game..... Guilty as charged. I used to pick my spot on stage so I could watch the game during the Larry Bird years. Legendary Boston pianist Dave McKenna played the Copley six nights a week and always brought his own TV so he could watch the Red Sox. Got flashed last Saturday Night. There were some cute babes there, but they weren't the ones flashing. Fifty plus year old, very overweight biker ladies. Not a pretty sight. --wmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmp Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Moonglow, wanna swap gigs? --wmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nightime Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Originally posted by Joe Tee: The girls lifting their shirts is often a distraction...girl on girl...but one interesting thing is to play in a sports bar where there are TV's everywhere.....if it is a slow night I've often observed the band members watching the baseball/football/hockey game..... If there's a Packers game on, the drummer will bring a small TV and watch the game while playing. Surprisingly, he doesn't miss a beat. Living in Florida, and playing a lot of outdoor gigs, we see ladies in the audience in all manner of undress. One girl was wearing shorts, then found out she could go in her bathing suit, So off came the shorts, with just a thong bikini underneath. And she had the body for it. Takes a lot to distract us now. Sure, I'll watch, but I can leer and play at the same time. "In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome. So God helped him and created woman. Now everybody's got the blues." Willie Dixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DafDuc Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I used to play this truck stop gig, and there was always a hbo or showtime movie running. I'd spend the whole night watching the movies. Didn't mess up though. We played both kinds of music there... I played in an 8 piece horn band. We would often get bored. So...three words: "Tower of Polka." - Calumet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 This didn't happen while I was on stage, but I think it's funny enough to relate. It was maybe '87, I was in a New York club, attending a concert by The Gadd Gang - Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez, Richard Tee and Cornell Dupree! A stellar group, as you can see. Well, out of nowhere came these three gorgeous girls, obviously loaded with alchool. They started dancing, laughing, kissing each other and undressing themselves. Now, all other members of the audience were sitting at their tables; and these girls were doing their thing a few inches from Cornell Dupree's guitar (the stage was pratically at floor level). If you consider that Cornell is a unique character, totally cool in every situation, pipe constantly in his mouth, totally motionless except for what's absolutlely necessary to play - and he was playing an hot solo when the three young women decided it was time to get crazy! So they started to scream "Yeah"! at every phrase of the guitar - sometimes even before he played it..! And he just went on with the solo, looking hard at the girls, but keeping the focus to the music without a glitch. Then the solo ended to a roaring applause, someone stopped the 'dancers' before they got naked, and the concert went on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp2 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I didn't realize there were so many other people with various distracting experiences while playing. Well, here's one of my contributions. While playing horn in a St Patty's Day parade, the band marched right behind the horses. (The discerned reader probably already knows where I'm going with this. ) Anyway, one of the horses took a dump right in front of us; the beside me and I were marching directly in the line of fire. I immediately split the rank, and lead the right half (since I was on the right side) to march slightly to sidestep the horsey-mine to the right. However, the guy beside me opted to keep his course. BAM! His right foot lands, in the middle of the load (but slightly off to the left), but not firmly. His left foot lands partially in the load at about the same time as his right foot slips. He and his trumpet go airborn, and he lands right on top of the pile. (I tried so hard to not laugh--but lost it later when another friend erupted in laughter over the scene) It's still not over yet. That dude tries to get up, does another backflip, lands into the pile again, and splatters some of that crap onto the pants of a couple of his friends. I don't remember much else about that parade, but that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to play through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nightime Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Originally posted by DafDuc: I used to play this truck stop gig, and there was always a hbo or showtime movie running. I'd spend the whole night watching the movies. Didn't mess up though. We played both kinds of music there... What, Rock AND Roll? "In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome. So God helped him and created woman. Now everybody's got the blues." Willie Dixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Originally posted by Sven Golly: You drummer only has one pair of sticks? I know a drummer that has had only one pair for decades. The kicker is that one is his left stick and the other is his right. Ridiculous jazz drummer. A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDragonSoun Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Posted by DanL: Usually women lifting their shirts will distract me. Not much else +1 here. I was flashed during a show years ago and I was unable to gather myself. Fortunately my mistakes and my stopping play didn't affect our sound too much. In my defense it was a rather pleasant site Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion, unobtrusive - Rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Originally posted by Mr. Nightime: Originally posted by DafDuc: We played both kinds of music there... What, Rock AND Roll? Nope... Country and Western. Can't believe you'd miss a quote from The Blues Brothers, Ronnie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Originally posted by kanker, apparently: Originally posted by Sven Golly: You drummer only has one pair of sticks? I know a drummer that has had only one pair for decades. The kicker is that one is his left stick and the other is his right. Ridiculous jazz drummer. Hmmm... I guess I can see a jazz drummer pulling that off... but in any other form of music, I've never played with a drummer that didn't have a stick bag hanging over his floor tom, or on top of his kick, or otherwise nearby. Well, not since I was in high school, at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 This is not exactly archivable under the 'distracting' file. A bit heavier... read on. I'm the pianist for a modern dance company. We are in a rather big theatre; the piano is placed stage right, quite close to the edge of the stage - which is about two meters high. There is barely enough space for the piano bench, with myself on it, between the piano and the edge. (Can you see it coming?) There's a number where I play a piece by Debussy, then I'm supposed to play some improvised "intermission music" for about a minute, to allow the dancers to change costumes and breathe a bit; then, I have to start Hindemith's "Second Sonata" to a dance about Nazis harassing a woman in a bar - heavy stuff. OK, during the "intermission", one of the dancers, who is not included in the following number, is supposed to come out with a bottle, and just improvise a few 'drunk' moves - he's playing a drunk wandering in the street. Needless to say, at some point in the tour, he decides that the drunk routine would have been more entertaining by including the pianist... so he started making moves around the piano, talking with me, trying to sit at the bench, etc. It was unavoidable. One night at this theatre, maybe he was *really* drunk, he came directly to me, trying to get me out of the bench. Please understand the I'm also supposed to *play*, so I can't be too condiscendent with this. He pushes me - I try to make a countermove... Next thing I know, I am on the floor at audience level two meters below, my belly to the floor. The piano bench is over my back, and over the piano bench is the dancer, an enormous French guy. No time to moan; he gets up in no time and jump onstage, leaving me checking if I'm still in one piece - then crawling miserably up there again, trying to carrying the bench too! Every single part of my body was aching, and it was in front of 700 people. And yes, guys and girls, I made it back to my combat position, and I played the whole damn Sonata for the damn dance company waiting for their damn pianist. As the show ended, I started looking for the French guy, with the firm intention to make some permanent damage to him. But guess what - he was unbelievably quick to leave the theatre that night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp2 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 a bag of marbles and jacks would have been "magically" unleashed on stage during his routine the area where his routine is performed also might have had some Armor All "magically" pre-applied too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted October 21, 2006 Author Share Posted October 21, 2006 Originally posted by Moonglow: I've posted this before, but it certainly is consistent with the topic of the present thread. Can't beat women undressing, however..... Originally posted by Moonglow: .......we're playing this club gig, and these two hot chicks are groping and making out with each other approximately 4-5 feet in front of my side of the stage. At one point, one of them puts her foot/leg up on the stage (other leg on the floor) and the other girl crawls underneath, upside down (you get the idea....), and starts having a blast with her friend. This went on all night, and it was hard to determine as to who received more attention, these chicks or the band. BTW, this was very distracting to deal with while playing. The basic intervention was to look at my hands/keys as much as possible, because if I looked up, well, there they were, and I would get locked into their frolicking and screw up my part! Ironically, I ran into one of these girls earlier this week in a totally unrelated setting. She asked where we were playing this weekend and I advised that it will be at the same place she last saw us. She said she and her friend will be coming out. I'll see if I can get them a back-stage pass. See if you can get them as dancers in your band. You'll work 7 nights a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted October 21, 2006 Author Share Posted October 21, 2006 Originally posted by Edgar Summers: In my twenties I joined a country Band that would routinely play on while knock-down drag-out fights were going on in the club(s)we played. At first I was kind of distracted by this, but after awhile I was pretty oblivious to it all as well. The only exception to this were two occaisions when guns became involved. In one case we ducked into a room behind the stage and locked the door. Fortunately it was resolved with noone getting hurt. I did leave the group after 8 or 9 months, but they sure paid well compared many other groups i've been involved with--would that be HAZARD PAY?! Christ almighty. Was there chicken wire in front of the stage ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nightime Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 Originally posted by Sven Golly: Originally posted by Mr. Nightime: Originally posted by DafDuc: We played both kinds of music there... What, Rock AND Roll? Nope... Country and Western. Can't believe you'd miss a quote from The Blues Brothers, Ronnie! That's why I put in the smileys. I was trying to be a smart-ass. The Blues Brothers 2000 was on TV just the other night. "In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome. So God helped him and created woman. Now everybody's got the blues." Willie Dixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 One band I toured with for many years played some crazy drunk clubs and hot chicks flashing the band became kind of a given. We did see our share of the saucy 'girl meets girl' on dance floor moments as well. I've posted about this before, but I was also a 'mobile' keyboard guy in this era and it sometimes was distracting when members of the crowd tried to play my keyboard. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/e888000008/e_1995.jpg Regards, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 Originally posted by Clifton: See if you can get them as dancers in your band. You'll work 7 nights a week. Lovely idea. However, all of the proceeds would end up going to some fortunate divorce attorney! "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon May Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 Ok...this is pretty basic, but I'm easily distracted when drunks approach me while I'm playing and make requests (for songs! ). Partly my distraction is because I have the Gerald Ford gene - I can't talk and play at the same time! But it's like these people think that playing a keyboard is as easy as scratching your butt, and that you should be able to decipher their evil-breath-slurred-request over the din of the band. "Hey mate, can you play that one...how does it go...awww you know!...da da dee dee doooo...from that show....you know ...with that guy in it..." Then they want to fight me cos I'm trying to ignore them. Sheesh! "I'm well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 I play keyboards standing up. I was singing at this gig and my back was to the dance floor. This girl goosed me - while I'm singing - and it was missed by nobody in the bar. It wasn't much distraction, but your pitch control will suffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.