How about a whole band walk-out? Nearly happened with my band a couple of years ago, absolute farce of a gig. Here's the tale...
We were playing a dinner dance at a biggish function venue. We'd played there several times before and always done well, loads of good feedback. We were looking forward to this gig, big crowd, 500+ doctors and their partners (event was their annual party). Nice fat fee!
Note - our client was the doctor's Association who organised the event, not the venue.
Anyway, after the dinner there was a charity auction and some "presentations to the committee" stuff. This took place in an adjoining room where the auction lots were displayed. The organiser's plan was for us to start playing our first set after they finished the presentations, his idea being to draw the crowd back into the main space more quickly, get the dancing started.
All was going to plan but as we start our set the venue owner looks in. Now this guy is very bombastic, very controlling, some would say a bully. Seeing the (still) mostly empty room he rushes to the conclusion that we had driven the crowd away!
OK so he should have been in the loop but did he wait until the first song was finished before approaching us to establish the situation? No - he runs onto the stage and starts to rant (scream) at our band leader while we were still playing. Unbelievable. Meantime a few hundred bemused doctors are coming back into the room behind him.
We ground to a halt in frank amazement at his behaviour. We couldn't ignore him - he was in our faces and trying to grab instruments. So we stop and he continued to shout. After a few minutes he quietens enough for the band leader to get a word in and tell him what we had been asked to do. The client's organiser comes up and confirms it, asks what all the fuss is about and why we have started packing up!
Anyway the organiser insisted we carry on and the owner went off in a rage. We played two sets and had a great time with the crowd who (fortunately) found the whole thing highly amusing.
One thing for sure, we won't go back to that venue - have declined to play there ever since.
Richard