dwforever

Junior Member
Hey guys, who has any embarrassing gig stories? I need some to make me feel better, because something awful happened to me..

>at gig
>stick flys out of my greasy, gammy, grubby butter hands
>actually execute a manly yell in horror as I realise I have no back up sticks
>in shock and adrenaline, I leap for the stick
>I manage to take a crash, a high-hat, my snare drum, and my tom stand with me
>the whole place falls silent after a dramatic gasp when me and half my kit spill across the stage with a tremendous goulash of CLUNKS and SHWOOMPSHS
>have an anxiety attack and run for the door
>my leg is wounded, so I trip and fall into some chick
>her boyfriend grabs me by my cape, drags me outside, and throws me onto the pavement
>too humiliated to go back and collect my gear
>made my mom do it
>band has cut contact with me
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Two things come to mind.

Firstly - a cape?! That's badass.

Secondly - this is why it's so important to have a second pair of sticks handy.

As for my own horror stories, I have plenty. Nothing as individually as bad as that but my favourite gear-related story involves a metal band I was playing in. I was hitting the china and it fell off the drum riser; at which point a female member of the audience dashes onto the stage, grabs the stand and holds it there for the rest of the number. I'll never forget that.

My worst recent story was my last concert at University. I was playing in a Swing band and the front row decided to sit down slightly to the left of where they were on the rehearsal. Needless to say, I couldn't see the conductor properly - only her upbeat and not the downbeat. Add that to the fact that I was miles from the band and couldn't hear them well. The conductor decided to then count off the song around 25BPM slower than we rehearsed.

Of course, I'm a bar ahead before I realise it and the first eight bars are all hits. I was very, very angry but got through the number. I had a rant afterwards, believe me!
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Hey guys, who has any embarrassing gig stories? I need some to make me feel better, because something awful happened to me..

>at gig
>stick flys out of my greasy, gammy, grubby butter hands
>actually execute a manly yell in horror as I realise I have no back up sticks
>in shock and adrenaline, I leap for the stick
>I manage to take a crash, a high-hat, my snare drum, and my tom stand with me
>the whole place falls silent after a dramatic gasp when me and half my kit spill across the stage with a tremendous goulash of CLUNKS and SHWOOMPSHS
>have an anxiety attack and run for the door
>my leg is wounded, so I trip and fall into some chick
>her boyfriend grabs me by my cape, drags me outside, and throws me onto the pavement
>too humiliated to go back and collect my gear
>made my mom do it
>band has cut contact with me

Not that much gig experience but I was playing in a blues jam and sort of dropped, re-grabbed a stick and messed up a fill. It wasn't that I just didn't crash on one, it sounded like I knocked the whole kit down. Maybe I sneezed or something, possibly a grand mal seizure, I don't know, but the best part of it was the lead and rhythm guitars slowly turning around looking to see what happened. I mean it was a really bad fill but their looks were priceless.

Now more about this cape.
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Dude, dwforever, that could be the worst thing I ever heard happen here. Did it really go down like that?
Say it ain't so...
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Well sorry to hear all that, but a number of concerns.
a Cape? (is this the typical garb of your band?)
Butter hands?
You left DW drums behind?
Made your mom do it?

Mistakes are part of life, driving, drumming, whatever, so is anxiety. You know, Keith Moon kicked his drums over too (intentionally mind you)

You gotta man-up here, clear it up with your band and apologize. Take what you can from the experience and move on. The comfort is you will likely never do this again.
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Dude, these things happen. Don't let it bother you so much - besides, drummers already have an ill reputation with most people, so you probably didn't suprise many with this little incident.

I played a show a while back, and apparently on the road trip my kick pedal tension had loosened. I never thought to check my gear setting it up, and as I play through the set, the intensity kept me from noticing that the tension of the pedal was steadily loosening even more until the spring came completely free of that little joint and the beater went to the head and stayed there.

If I had been more calm and collected, and had my kick drum tension up a bit higher, I may have been able to manage to the end of the song - but none of these 'stars' aligned for me on this night. Our front man got irritated, and just TALKED the rest of the lyrics to the song 'till the end, and looked at me in pure frustration - truthfully, it could have been helped, but it was my mistake. I paid for it.

Next time, just make sure you keep at least two pairs of sticks on you. That's all I have in my bag. I have a pair of sticks I'm using, and then a back-up pair in case I drop or break one - which, I never break sticks. The rest of the bag is occupied by a drum key, and usually a couple of bottled waters.
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Not real embarrassing but...


I was playing in a metal band at the time.I broke a stick in the middle of a song. I threw the broken half to the ground by my feet so I could grab another stick. I didn't realize the stick broke off to a sharp point and it actually stuck in the side of my leg. I let out a pretty good yelp but kept on playing. The stick fell out of my leg by itself but I was bleeding pretty good.


One other time my cymbal stand fell over. I think it was an 18in Z custom. It fell perfectly on my guitarists cable and cut it clean in half.
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Made your mom do it?

Yep. Giggled at that one myself.

Everything else was recoverable......given a little time and water under the bridge you'd eventually have managed to save face......somehow. But getting mum to cover your arse? Your mum? Really? Nup, that complete lack of manliness will be with you forever.....as it should be.

Embarrassing stories? Yeah, I've got a ton. Buy me a few beers and I'll start recalling the horror. Never had to hide behind my old girls skirt though..... :)
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

I just remembered when I was 15. I played at a friend's birthday party and was found an hour later, passed out on the lawn from overindulgence. Bless my ex-girlfriend (of the time) for covering my back but I was so drunk, I have no idea what my playing was like.

That was only the second or third time I'd been drinking. It was apocalyptic.
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

I once had my drum stool fail.. It was a Taye stool with an unbelievable design flaw...
Just a post that the top attached to that went inside the base of the stool.. no threads.. And a memory lock.. I was hosting a Jam the night before..The seat was adjusted several times during the night... I think I played the last song after the jammers everything was fine.. The next gig.. halfway through the first set.. Whamm Memory lock lost its grip.. Post hit the floor.. Stool top popped of the base.. and I wound up on the floor.. I can't believe they would design a stool that the post isn't higher than the base it goes into..


The worst thing I ever heard happening to a drummer while playing was while I was touring on the road in a cover band.. The band that was playing the week before showed up to check us out... We were "Shouldn't you guys be at your next gig?" As you would play 6 nights then travel to the next gig to play 6 more ect..

Turns out their drummer smoked himself in the eye while playing ruptured a blood vessel in the back of his eye.. Created so much swelling in his head they couldn't even move him to a hospital.. They had him in his hotel room for 4 days till the swelling went down enough to move him.......Brutal
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Buttery hands? Eating popcorn in between songs? Sorry, that's one funny story. I hope all of it is true. Just gotta know what song it happened during.
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

This may be a tad insensitive, but I thought it might help lighten the anguish if there were a few more cape jokes. Take for example this:
Name of band .......... Cape Tribulation
or ............................Cape Fear
or ............................Cape Cod, [ ok, I'm not sure about that one either ]
or ............................Ca[r]pe Dieum, [ 'Sieze the Stick' ! ]

P.S. [ When I were a lad, and had no wheels, my Mum used to drive me to and from rehearsals and gigs. It's amazing how much a Triumph Herald can hold! ]
P.P.S. [ Thanks Mum ]
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Hey guys, who has any embarrassing gig stories? I need some to make me feel better, because something awful happened to me..

>at gig
>stick flys out of my greasy, gammy, grubby butter hands
>actually execute a manly yell in horror as I realise I have no back up sticks
>in shock and adrenaline, I leap for the stick
>I manage to take a crash, a high-hat, my snare drum, and my tom stand with me
>the whole place falls silent after a dramatic gasp when me and half my kit spill across the stage with a tremendous goulash of CLUNKS and SHWOOMPSHS
>have an anxiety attack and run for the door
>my leg is wounded, so I trip and fall into some chick
>her boyfriend grabs me by my cape, drags me outside, and throws me onto the pavement
>too humiliated to go back and collect my gear
>made my mom do it
>band has cut contact with me



Your mom.You really ran away?

This summer...................comming to a theater near you.Years in the making.............starting June 30..................DWFOREVER .............IS.....BATMAN .........in........THE CAPED DRUMMER RETURNS.:)

Steve B
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

This may be a tad insensitive,

Aussies? Insensitive? Hell yeah!! We don't seem to do sympathy real well in this country do we? God I love our national sense of piss take and irreverance!! :)

or ............................Ca[r]pe Dieum, [ 'Sieze the Stick' ! ]

Oh stop, I beg you.......I'm crying!!


5678 said:
P.S. [ When I were a lad, and had no wheels, my Mum used to drive me to and from rehearsals and gigs. It's amazing how much a Triumph Herald can hold! ]
P.P.S. [ Thanks Mum ]

Did you make her go back and pack up your gear though?
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

This can be fixed.

Have your mom go talk to your band, I'm sure they will see that the cookies she brought them are more than worth having you in the group.
 
Re: Im so embarrassed...

Here is the problem ...

">have an anxiety attack and run for the door "

Things would have worked out better if you laughed, picked up the gear, said something funny and gotten back to the gig ASAP

To err is human, to run like a startled gazelle is, um, more like a gazelle. Maybe take a meditation class?
 
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