Worst Gig Ever.

[lukedavo]

Last gig with my band Worse Off, because I was moving away ( to the US for College). Made the mistake of drinking wine before the show, I didn't just get a bottle.... I got a magnum. Not sure what I was thinking at the time, maybe I'll share with the band its our last show blah blah blah, but imagine 2.5 liters of wine in an hour, with a combination of several other illegal substances. When it was time for us to play, I could not see the drums let alone play them. I kept losing my sticks, slowing things way down which in a hardcore band is sacralidge, missing cymbal hits, trying sooo hard to feel the song and just couldn't find it the whole set. I managed to painfully work my way through the set with band members frequently turning around and looking at me with disgust. The fans were dissapointed, and the newbies were immediatley turned off. That was the first and final time I play blind.

I did however make ammends, playing our reunion show last year, I tore that shit up, nailed the backup harmonies, and helped the band sound tight without a practice in 2 1/2 years.

[plishous]

It's been a long time now but, I will never forget the night my band had a big show ahead us when the fright elevator got stuck in the basement of the building we had my guitarist's girl freind with us when she started to freak out and could not breath. All the fire trucks,cops,ambulance,came and saved the night.And we got to the show and we we're never so happy to be on that stage....

[teledeluxe]

So I leave work and arrive at my practice space at 7:00pm only to find out that we were supposed to be at this place Mix at like 5:30pm (formerly Crush, formerly Tippling House). Evidently we were scheduled to go on at 8:30 as the opening act. Previously I had been told we were the middle act and there was a fashion show at 7, followed by a dj, then the opening act starting around 10pm. So this new time change was completely new to me, and not welcomed.

My band is 5 people with currently only 2 cars. We had 3 but our drummer is so poor he hasn't had insurance for months and has expired tags. He had arranged for one of the other bands (a friend) to pick up his drums for him, but that dude decides calld 4pm day of show to cancel picking him up. Our bass player (the one with the other car) wasn't going to be able to make it to the space until 8 because of work. We are sort of used to this, but always under the assumption that the first band goes on at 10. We are no stranger to missing sound check, and hey, we're okay with that.

We load up my car with what we can and 2 of us go to the club and load in. 25 mins. later the other car shows up with 2 of the other guys. We set up everything but the drums and wait for our drummer. 9pm rolls around and he shows up with the rest of his stuff (he somehow got his girlfriend's car). By now we are a half hour later than we were supposed to go on, but are assured that's okay. He sets up his stuff and we play immediately. The set is cut short because our drummer only had a few sticks that were all on their last legs (all were already cracked and he was using them backwards so they were still playable). He broke them all.

We tear down and the second band starts (who are friends of ours). Two songs into their set they are told they have time for 3 more. They finish and are enraged. They remove their stuff. a few minutes go by and we see the worst "fashion show" I've ever been privy to witness. No explanation, no introduction, no anything. No idea what we are looking at or why we should care. Just really bad music and 5 girls almost jogging they were going so fast.

That ends and the "headliner" starts. Laptop electronica with a live drummer playing to a click track, very poorly I might add. The singer is a cute pseudo-goth chick in a schoolgirl type outfit singing very flat. Behind her are 2 more girl-clone backup dancers. They play and play and play and play. An hour later we are so sick of everything that we start loading our stuff out the door that is right beside the stage. Literally walking our stuff out right in front of her performance.

Did I mention the crowd? Imagine young lincoln park professionals with a truckload of eye candy girlfriends. Which is funny considering what my band sounds like -- sort of a noisy Sonic Youth meets the Jesus Lizard meets 90's shoegazing.

The only good things were the hour-long open bar and cleavage galore.

We got paid $20. That's a sweet, sweet cut of $4 apiece.

Lamest show EVER.

[Danny!]

While running an in ear system for a band playing to about 1500 people, the house monitor guy decided to pack up early. He turned off the board that I was getting my signals from leaving the band with no monitors at all. With their fancy molded earplugs in, the band couldn't even hear the sound from the cabs on stage.

It felt like it took a lifetime to figure out what the problem was; I was on the other side of the stage from the monitor board. I went to go ask the monitor guy how stupid he could be, but the reeking smell of illegal substances coming from his tech room was all the answer I needed.