It always amazes me when....

Larry

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
At a gig, how many people grab the guitarist and talk to them right when he's in a middle of a solo, like it's easy for the guy to listen to them jabber and play a solo. This happens every night it seems. Like would you walk up to Roger Waters and talk to him right when he's in the middle of "Comfortably Numb? Wacky.

It always amazes me that when music moves people to the point where they think they can grab the mic off the stand and start singing. We had a girl rush the stage the other night going for the mic. (postage stamp stage, with a railing enclosing it in...she almost tromped on the guys pedalboard setup..he was pushing her off and her friends were pushing her on...

Then you get the ones who pick a member and dance for them, like all night. I find it amusing. Probably because I'm protected by the drum set. The guitarist didn't like it so much when that chick rushed the stage. You can't let people do that though.
 
the singing always get me. I had a girl back up against my bass drum and ride cymbal and stand there to sing. the cymbal was choked against the side of her and she must have been able to feel me playing it but never moved! at our last gig, a bar back( kind of an "off" guy) tried to come on stage from the front over the monitor to get a beer can off of an amp. He stepped fight on our rhythm guys pedals and set off this loud pop. all for an empty can? people LOVE to get in the way! we had one girl ( sounded like a couple of cats making love in your back yard), ask us how well we thought she sang! " its my first time ever". hahaha live music!
 
Baring one's breasts. What's that all about then? It doesn't happen often at our gigs, but it does happen. Not that I'm complaining, I just don't understand the drivers.

On the subject of breasts (& in line with your thread to some extent Larry), we were severely held up during our setup period last Saturday. The landlord had arranged for a stripper to "perform" early evening for his invited guests. Well, this (ahem) "lady" strutted her stuff for over an hour (involving a selection of unfortunate victims), & that left us fumbling around circumnavigating said "actress". All of which might have been palatable if she was on the more attractive end of the scale, but overall, still a PITA. How a girl can be so ugly with only one head I'll never know.
 
Re: It always amazes me when...

Just messing with you. On a serious note, these kind of things have happened to me in the past and it's gotten out of control a couple times. Add an attractive female lead singer into the mix and you'll be dealing with lots of morons trying to get on stage. I have no tolerance for drunk idiots, especially when thousands of dollars worth of equipment are at risk.

Idiot on stage without permission= no music until management handles the situation. Not much you can do about people talking to you while you're playing except ignore them.
 
Last edited:
My old bandmate, David, played in another band on the side. He thought it would be temporary, get him some much needed contacts for us, and be all original music. The female singer seemed nice and appeared to be "in" with the local Maine "scene". Maine is scenic, but does not have a scene except for Portland, the big city. Even Augusta where she was from doesn't have a big music scene. He soon found out every gig was at a dive bar, they mostly did covers, he was to be the official new guitarist and they were no longer looking for a permanent one. He was it. The singer was a shameless self promoter. She would do ANYTHING and play ANYwhere as long as she sold many copies of her CD. Each gig was a "release party" for the years old CD and she would shamelessly flirt with each guy. Also every drunk would have to get up and do something in the mic. Their blasted brain would say "Look a mic! Go up there and SCREAM into it! Say anything! Make mouth noises! and punch anyone who won't let you!" That was the tipping point for him. Between her diva actions and the drunken madness, he quit.
And what bugs me is how careless bars are about it. They don't give a crap what happens to you. Lucky for me the bar I do an open Mic/jam in has a great bouncer. He just knows when to step in. It s awesome. Hardly any problems so far.
 
B_HALF19 said:
Yes I would. And I would ask him why he's playing the guitar, since David Gilmour played that solo.
Click to expand...

Ooopsy, my bad. But yea, security is non existent at the places I play. It's every musician for themselves out there.
 
larryace said:
It always amazes me that when music moves people to the point where they think they can grab the mic off the stand and start singing. We had a girl rush the stage the other night going for the mic. (postage stamp stage, with a railing enclosing it in...
Click to expand...

I would suggest it's not the music moving them - otherwise they wouldn't interfere and jeopardise the performance. My guess is that people like this woman and her friends are moved by alcohol and egotism.

I wonder if people are doing this more now because they think of events like gigs as being like reality programming? Everyone can be a star! (so the story goes)
 
larryace said:
We had a girl rush the stage the other night going for the mic. (postage stamp stage, with a railing enclosing it in...she almost tromped on the guys pedalboard setup..he was pushing her off and her friends were pushing her on...
Click to expand...

Some years ago, that actually happened at one of our gigs....the girl ran to grab the mic but she actually tripped and almost knocked down the guitar player!!! The funny part was that my friends just looked at her and we kept playing like nothing happened.

If that wasn't enough, between what it must have been our 4th and 5th song, a girl I had just met that night for a few minutes got on the stage and up to where I was and gave me a big french kiss!!

That was a great night!! ;)
 
Just use a TASER on them or maybe some pepper spray on the first few that try getting on stage or start talking to the guitarist. That'll put a stop to that nonsense I tell ya'. Or maybe give one of them a non grounded mic...surprise!

The nerve of some people.:):):)

Steve B
 
Last edited:
My bands have always interacted with the audience at a friendly distance. I consider the stage (or designated performing area) to be sacred. I have been pretty lucky over the years to really only have one bad experience with an idiot hopping on stage. This was almost 25 years ago, and my band was playing a graduation party at a frat house. Booze, 18 year olds, drugs, and a snotty punk band = not a good combination.

Anyhow, this jerk who I had trouble with in the past, got on stage and started yelling at me to "turn my drums down". This really struck me as excessively stupid since I was playing an un-mic'd accoustic drum set, and that he wasn't yelling at the amplified (and speed fueled) guitarists in front. I also took into consideration that this jerk had been !@#$%^& with me since we were kids, so he got a well placed 5A upside the head. In grand punk band solidarity, my band mates stopped playing, landed a few punches of their own, and that was when the fun started. But we all lived to tell the story.

Then there was that time with the lead singer and a fire extinguisher....

Maybe that is why nobody ever tries to get on stage with me anymore.
 
It's not a big deal to get song requests, but every once in a while you'll get someone who is really insistent and even gets mad that you won't play their song.
A buddy of mine says "write it on our official request form:"
 

Attachments

  • HundredDollarBill (Small).jpg
    HundredDollarBill (Small).jpg
    43.5 KB · Views: 380
Having grown up playing punk shows at dive bars I have had fans actually come on stage and start trashing our shit. I have literally been in fights on stage during the set. Its all part of the show.
 
Anon La Ply said:
My guess is that people like this woman and her friends are moved by alcohol and egotism.
Click to expand...

Yep, a great mix, uber-booze with uber-ego, for man or woman. This century-old bad combo is magnified by reality shows that now fuel the "I CAN be a star" gene in humans.
 
How about the guy/gal that is three sheets to the wind and, while chatting with said soloist, lays their drink on top of the amp / keyboard / floor tom while they loudly deploy their booze-soaked wisdom?

Serenity now! (G. Costanza)

radman
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top