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gig disasters
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xirdneH_imiJ
Posts: 1893
Joined: Dec. 2 2006
From: Budapest, now in Southampton
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 RE: gig disasters (in reply to Mark2)
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no real disasters - one time a spanish rumbero broke my d string, i had five minutes without a spare D, so i put on an A, tuned as high as i could, lowered the others, capoed really high, and played the guajira i was supposed to...it sounded really crap but it was the last piece in the show so i was glad to have survived...i've kept a spare set in my case at all times since...
another time my dancer landed on her ass on a slippery floor mid-piece...it was painful and we didn't stop playing, she needed a few seconds, but she got up and continued, fortunately...
oh and of course i broke the ring nail once and i had to glue it back on on stage...
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Date Sep. 17 2015 21:48:31
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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RE: gig disasters (in reply to Mark2)
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Think I've shared most of them here already.
... the first flamenco show, I was to play with my teacher. A buddy known to be a heavy-handed player saw my brand new Vicente Carrillo blanca and asked to play it for his number right before ours. Well, you can guess what happened. Broke a string. Someone else stuffed a guitar in my hands. It was cold and felt big and I had to try to tune it on stage very quickly. It was a good thing I was just doubling what my teacher was playing.
... playing for a birthday party in someone's big house. They failed to turn off the automatic sprinklers. I came back from a break to find my guitar filled with water.
... playing in a duo, I complained I couldn't hear myself, partner told me that I sounded great. After the set was over, noticed that I had failed to plug in.
... showed up to play at a wedding and observed, in the program, the client had programmed me to play an Elvis song in the ceremony that I had neither knew or agreed to play. Spent the next fifteen minutes making a quickie arrangement, by memory, and writing it on some hotel stationary so it wouldn't vanish from memory under pressure.
... had a lovely meal with my family the night before a gig, and drank only half a bottle of Cava. Woke up the next morning with a terrible headache and food poisoning. By noon, I realized I wasn't going to be able to make the gig as I was spending half the time in the bathroom and half lying in bed. Called up the wedding planner and she was an absolute bitch, saying if I sent a sub then I should also cut my fee. It didn't help that I had agreed to accompany two of the bride's cousins singing two separate songs, both obscure. My sub was also being an ass and insisting on the money up front. I decided it wasn't worth it, took a handful of Pepto-Bismo and staggered to the mansion where the wedding was being held. The wedding planner put me in a sunny spot with no shade, and the desert sun blasted me between trips to the bathroom. Managed to pull off the gig without medical dehydration or ruining my clothes with effluvia, the client never noticed or knew that I was sick; still, no tip was forthcoming.
...the worst of all, was hired to play for a guy's birthday party by his wife. He was a charismatic, likable fellow who had started his own business and was very successful. When I arrived, they had been blasting country on the stereo. I always hate that, because solo guitar just is a huge energetic let down after that. I played a set, then there was a movie commemorating him. It was such a good movie, it made me like the guy and want to please him. I started on my next set, and the birthday boy clapped me on the shoulder. "Miguel! We've got to kick this party up the notch. Gimme everything you've got!" Okay! I started playing my most energetic rumbas. Ten minutes later, he came back. "Miguel, thanks, but I've got to put on some tunes!" He sent me home early with a $200 tip. I was very embarrassed!
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Arizona Wedding Music Guitar
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Date Sep. 18 2015 18:00:15
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Leñador
Posts: 5237
Joined: Jun. 8 2012
From: Los Angeles
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RE: gig disasters (in reply to Mark2)
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quote:
...the worst of all, was hired to play for a guy's birthday party by his wife. He was a charismatic, likable fellow who had started his own business and was very successful. When I arrived, they had been blasting country on the stereo. I always hate that, because solo guitar just is a huge energetic let down after that. I played a set, then there was a movie commemorating him. It was such a good movie, it made me like the guy and want to please him. I started on my next set, and the birthday boy clapped me on the shoulder. "Miguel! We've got to kick this party up the notch. Gimme everything you've got!" Okay! I started playing my most energetic rumbas. Ten minutes later, he came back. "Miguel, thanks, but I've got to put on some tunes!" He sent me home early with a $200 tip. I was very embarrassed!
That one gets under my skin.....
What kind of person says "My husband and his friends love to get drunk and blast country music, we should have a solo nylon string guitar at his birthday!" How can someone misjudge a situation so badly??
Though, kinda reminds me of when I have parties at my place, when I get tired of hosting I turn off Slayer and make everyone listen to me play solea and granainas. I'm usually comfy in bed within the hour. 
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Date Sep. 18 2015 19:56:25
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Mark2
Posts: 1872
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
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RE: gig disasters (in reply to Mark2)
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I've posted this one before but:
Just got started playing solo and only had a few gigs under my belt. Got hired to play a wedding. Went to the rehearsal dinner and met the nice families-all Latin Americans. Get to the church and it's massive. The priest sets up the mike and says he will tap me on the shoulder when its time to stop playing. As the first folks arrive, I'm fairly nervous. Every note is ringing out throughout the huge church. As more folks arrive, I began to get some confidence, start playing better, more expressively. After 20 minutes, I'm playing close to my top level, feeling good, but can't help noticing the folks in the church are not latins.....the priest comes over and taps me, leans into my ear and says "This is the wrong wedding. Yours is at 2pm. But, they love your music!"
Also this one: I was playing in theatre flamenco of SF and we were doing "Anda Jaleo" There were two singer/dancers doing the singing and dancing and they were equipped with wireless mikes. As they danced around each other, their setups got tangled. They kept singing and trying to do their steps as they tried to untangle. The audience was in stitches.
Rock band days -playing the 50th anniversary of the golden gate bridge. Outside on a stage we had an elaborate stage setup-our props included a full bar complete with bartender and patrons(the roadies). The band members would be served shots during the set if desired. A huge gust of wind came up and the whole 10 ft long bar started moving quickly across the stage threatening to plow me over. I stepped out the way and managed to avoid being thrown off the stage into the audience but bar deeply gouged the wooden stage. It was like trying to play in the middle of the street and dodging a car coming at you. I never stopped playing. Production company wasn't happy with the damage to their stage.
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Date Sep. 18 2015 22:51:02
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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RE: gig disasters (in reply to Mark2)
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The wedding stories remind me of a couple more...
... I played two weddings in a row where nothing happened, but I did get a very queer feeling. The people looked at me a bit oddly, it seemed. Just a strange vibe, nothing I could put my finger on. As I finished up the second, the wedding planner took me aside--the bride was there, looking furious. They began to ask me questions about how I had been booked (another guitarist who moonlit as a small-time agent booked me), when he had booked me, other details like that. At first I thought I had done something wrong, but soon it became apparent that they were mad at the other guitarist. Apparently he had been booking these weddings and then sending other players (taking a cut, of course) without ever clearing it with the brides. This was especially problematic, because he was the singer/leader of a popular band, so was in no way anonymous or interchangeable. The $hit hit the fan on this occasion, because not only had he pulled a switcheroo, but had also taken a higher-paying gig _the next room over_!
It did work out well for me, because that particular venue put me on the preferred list and I got lots of gigs there for awhile.
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Arizona Wedding Music Guitar
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Date Sep. 19 2015 1:53:57
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Mark2
Posts: 1872
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
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RE: gig disasters (in reply to Mark2)
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Some good ones so far.
Can't remember if I posted this one. It actually wasn't a disaster though. My group got hired to play a corporate for salesforce inc at the Ritz in half moon bay, CA. It's an amazing beachfront resort. We get there and set up, and they say wait in the green room. They ask if we'd like to eat and invite us to order from the room service menu. We spend the next hour eating steak and prawns, hanging out and telling jokes. About 7pm we figure we should do a sound check so we play a tune and return to the green room. About 9pm, they come in and said the speeches went longer than planned and we can go home. They paid us the full rate. And mentioned that they would hire us again so they could actually hear us, which they did. Every musician has heard the advice of playing fewer notes and saying more, but this was one time when playing zero notes paid off quite well.
Another time we were contracted to play in a park, which was really a forest. Problem was it rained, so maybe five people showed up. They left, but the sound in the forest was so incredible we played a set for ourselves, while it drizzled on us. I guess it's hard to call it a disaster if you get paid.
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Date Sep. 21 2015 18:20:17
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