jam rooms and stories

[Benoit]

I watched an old tape of practice sessions I had with an old band.

I wasn't part very long, but I remember how much fun that jam room was. We were renting a small space in a building where we could jam after office hours.

The walls weren't painted so everyone who came by signed the walls!! That was so cool.

I loved the feeling of going out to practice, that was our time.

I`d like to hear about your experience and where you practiced, what was it like. Fun stories are always a blast to read.


Let me be the first. Once, one of the guitarist was really drunk and deceided to take a leak outside in the alley. One of the houses nearby had a decorative plastic cow in the garbage. Looking at the thing you could really see why they threw it away. It was the most ugly looking peice of decoration I've had ever seen. So, the guitarist goes and takes the cow out of the garbage (that thing was so dirty and stinked real bad). he runs into the room with the cow in his hand and looked at us. Then he shouted real loud "tonight we sacrifice a cow!!!!!!!". I got to say he was into slayer back then so it was all about sacrifice, lol. The next thing we know, he's on his knees and going throught his girlfriend purse looking for something. Then he takes out her bottle of red nail polish and start painting blood on the plastic cow. We were all laughing so hard, just looking at him so concentrated to paint that thing. he could barely stand still. After that he took a rope and hung the cow from the celling and passed out a couple of minutes later, too drunk to stay awake. You should a seen his face when he woke up the next morning, looking at his hands all red then seeing the plastic cow hanging from the celling. Man that was so funny.

Anyway, that was a long time ago. Fun memories... You got any?

[Bardsley]

Very funny. I can imagine what his girlfriend thought of him using all of her nail polish to paint a cow.

[James]

LOL :)

That's funny. Unfortunately, no, I don't have memories such as thoughs as of yet. But hey, I'm auditioning for a Guns and Roses cover band and they're hitting Quebec soon.. maybe I'll pay you a visit Benoit!

[Raskolnikov]

I haven't got anything that good. I just remember some jams, writing some songs, and a lot of failed attempts at playing To Defy the Laws of Tradition.

[Benoit]

I'm 5 hours from Montreal and about 8 from Quebec city but If you get the gig and visit one those city's, let me know.

I might do the trip if it's on a saturday night :)

It would be cool to put a face on the posts. You know, most people here look like this :)

I could tell you so many nights like these ones, I got some really cool friends but most of the stories are alcool related :) it does bring the worst in us, but damn is it funny sometimes...

[mkchoiboy]

Awesome story

....but I'm a newbie at the whole band thing and needed to get a place to jam loud. My neighbors hate me because I play .... How do i go about findin a place?

[pstring]

Once upon a time, long ago in my sorted past, I was going to an all day jam,prior to leaving the house, I was how should I say, getting myself mentally prepared, well I hopped in the car, drove to the guy's house, started chatting with everyone, this chick I had just started seeing was there, well anyhow started getting set up, went to the car and noticed I had left my amp at home, shame on me, so the chick and I hop in car, drive back to my place, get the amp, we do some more mental prep on the ride back, get there, lug the amp out of the car, everthing is cool right? NO, I then notice I have also forgotten my guitar also! Well so much for being mentally prepared,, well at least I did have a nice riding partner that day.....

[Lordathestrings]

We used to practice in the basement of our bass player's house. When we first set up, there was this little crack in the wall at one corner of the window. Three months later, that crack zig-zagged all the way down to the floor!

[yukonc5]

We got real desperate and rented a mini-warehouse out in a section of town that was mostly industrial (no neighbors to complain). It was a hoot trying to plug everything into one electric outlet. This didn't last long because the owner got real tired of having to reset the breaker. The acoustics in the place were pretty cool...lots of natural reverb.

[kingdavid]

I've never been in band or anything,so there's no real stories,funny or otherwise,to talk about.
But I was once playing with some guys in a some sort of hostel that is affiliated to some catholic stuff.So a father walks into the room we're playing in,makes some small talk,then,out of the blues,he tells me,"out of all you guys(we were four),you're the one who looks like a musician..."
That surprised me.There's nothing "alternative"about the way I look.Nothing "Musicianlike".Just what some people call a cute guy.I wonder what made him say that.

[Willdridge]

Not from a jam session, but on the way back from a gig...We were playing two sets (we found out after finishing the first and decided it was safe to start the alcohol intake...) Our drummer started having a few more than perhaps he should have, so we gave him the "get the set out the way and you can drink all you want" deal...anyway, we do the second set and everything goes okay and, as it's starting to get a little late, we pack up our stuff and start the two hour journey home, myself, my bass player and the drummer in the bassplayer's dad's car, while the other guitarist and singer sod off in another car...
So, everything's going fine. For the first half of the journey, Tom doesn't shut up, tries attacking pringles and can hardly keep his head up...then all goes quiet...We pull over so me and Tom can swap to give him the window, try and get him some fresh air. Soon we're off again...about five minutes later, he decides he's going to be sick, so being the considerate person he is, he sticks his head out the window...however, what he forgot was that we were traveling at 70mph and the laws of physics would suggest that, if you throw up forwards out of a car...it's going to come back in.......The bass player and I spent the next hour with our heads out the other window sharing as much as one seat as we could...
Ah, fun times!

[Lordathestrings]

Originally posted by Willdridge
...however, what he forgot was that we were traveling at 70mph and the laws of physics would suggest that, if you throw up forwards out of a car...ROFLMAO

That puts a whole new twist on the lyrics for that Grace Slick song, "Face To The Wind"! :D

[Benoit]

Nothing like a good vomit story :)

[pstring]

Originally posted by Benoit

Nothing like a good vomit story :)


My thoughts exactly! It's great to be a MAN, even the most vile body functions are entertaining......

[Benoit]

That is so true.

But you know the saying :

He who does not burb or fart is facing explosion.

That's a really bad french translation but still...

[kingdavid]

I've seen it happen in a bus.Someone upfront is doing the puking.He apparently went to a few physics classes,so he has his head out out.A few rows behind,someone else decides he could with a whiff of fresh air,and opens the window.....

[Willdridge]

Originally posted by kingdavid
....A few rows behind,someone else decides he could with a whiff of fresh air,and opens the window.....

Awwwwh...man! That's rough! Heheh - gotta feel sorry for the victims of these travels...
Sadly, I can't remember anyother amusing tales of from my band...(y'know that gut feeling, you've got one, you just don't know what!)
How's about anyone else? More tales! More tales I say!!!

[Benoit]

I remember once, I get to our practice room and when I get there, 4 of my friends are taking a beer and listening to some Slayer.

I sit down and get into the conversation when suddenly one of my friends stands up and say "that song is really great". The song was skeleton of society by slayer. He's standing there, not moving just listening to the music. Then out of nowhere starts dancing the acky breaky heart dance!!!

I still can see him. Just picture this. A guy that looks like a serial killer, with long hair, metal pins and necklaces doing the acky breaky heart on Skeleton of society.

Man did we laugh, and he was trying so hard to get the moves right.

[Bodomchild]

Here's one a friend of mine told me I thought was pretty good. He was holding auditions for lead vocals and this guy shows up that seemed a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. Anyways they start jammin' and this guy absolutely goes berzerk. He's headbangin' flailing around like a complete freak of nature. To top things off, there is a water pipe that runs through the studio about a foot below the ceiling. This crazy bastard climbs up there swinging and hanging upside down like a mad gorrilla. The pipe could not take the stress and snapped with water gushing everywhere. Fotunatley, no gear was damaged and when my buddy was telling me this he was completely pissed off, and I was trying so hard not to laugh but I did...PS Hey Benoit, I cringe at what Kerry King would say about your buddy- hA!

[Edited by Bodomchild on 05-05-2002 at 10:28 PM]

[edgranholm]

I don't have any good jam stories, just thought I'd talk about the place we jam at. My friend's folks own the movie theater, so after the last show is over we set up and play all night. It's usually just me and my friend who also playes the guitar. We usually just write new songs and stuff and talk about how we need a bass player and a drummer. We've looked high and low, but no luck:( . Anyway you couldn't ask for a better place to jam. plenty of space, plenty of outlets, free drinks, and nobody to fuss about the noise.We've kindof got into a rut without haveing any accompanying musicians to play with.

[Benoit]

You probably get a really good natural reverb too.

[kimbob]

Since we're swapping stories. One night we were gigging at "LILI'S" in Hamtramck, Mi. and this guy had it out for the Bass player. I mean this guy would not let up. He was three sheets to the wind and was falling into the Bass player all night. I'm sure some of you know the type. After two sets of this guys B.S the lead guitar player,singer, Rudy, had heard enough. In the middle of Chuck Berry's "Oh Carole" this drunk grabbed the Bass player by the leg and was trying to pull him off the stage. Rudy saw what was going on and without missing a note or a beat, leaned over, and right when it goes to "F", Rudy beaned this guy in the forehead with his Telecaster Custom(a very heavy and solid guitar).TWWWAAAANNNGGGG!! Right on cue. The guy was out cold, the crowd went nuts. They wanted us to do an encore. The crowd kept sending us shots of Apple Schnapps for the rest of the night. What a night.