(Another) Worse gig experience

Those strings could easily stick out your eyes, it seems to look cool but actually it's very dangerous when you don't cut the loose ends.

yeah I know that is why I got after him to do so ,oh well it is in the past but at our other gigs he has cut the ends off so that that might not happen again.

I discovered I have a really wimpy bass player by having cut the ends off my strings. He went to prat around with the tuning during a practise because I have trouble with my bridge (it a pain to tune with sometime) and staped (?!) himself on one of the ends, hehe. He then began complainning and saying how he couldn't play proberly because his finger hurt, (the finger he frets with y'see, at the time he only used one). Since then he's learnt to use more than one finger and also to keep a way from messing around near my headstock - workout good in the end.

Bass works much better if you use more than one finger. I'm working on seven. Another helpful hint- it's best NOT to electricute the bassist durring practice.

Anyway, here's my thought for the day:
I'm about to load up the van, drive close to 2 hours and play a show for free. I'm hoping to make back my gas money on CD sales. I'm also hoping to hand out 50 or so flyers that tell people how to get to our web pages. It seems to me that this could either shape up to be a great gig (exposure wise), or it could be a total disaster. Now I haven't a clue what I'm getting at, but I think that I might have a point... someplace...
Maybe that it's that we never really know what we're getting into until it's over.

As I've pointed out on another post, musicians who play electric instruments need to 'get religion' regarding the 'One True Ground' and avoid situations that can be 'shocking'. :eek:

Bandmates are usually friends to begin with: They don't need something gruesome like an untimely death to unite them.

As of yet I've not electrocuted my bass player...yet...Actaully, we've ye to have that experience anywhere. Although after Ed (the other guitarist) saw in science a video of a guitar getting electrocuted by making a circuit when his guitar touched a mike stand he's decided to dig out the spare RCD from the garage.
I think you're right about your pending gig. It'll either be a huge success or an absolute nightmare. Hope it goes well, but if it doesn't than you can add your nightmare tale to the list.

Well, I wouldn't call it a nightmare exactly.... there were good points:

So yes, we manage to actually get there on time, our guitarist meets us at the appropriate rendevous point, we're the first to the venue, and the word from the organizers when we get there is that we're probably the only band playing. So we set up.
After setting up, we get their PA set up, everything sound checked and nobody is there. It turns out that their were several graduation parties last night and so that's where everyone was. Well, after spending a couple of hours messing around to kill time we finally decide to start the show for the people who are there. At the beginning of our first set, another band shows up- which is fine, we were told their was time for everybody to have an hour- hour and a half to play. 3/4 of the way through that set the organizer comes up to the stage and sais "you've got ten minutes to finish."
WHAT!?!?!??
So we consult quickly, decide on our last three songs, tell them that we're doing three songs and procede to rip through them. I'm talking a smoldering pile of ashes was all that was left of the stage for we took our three most up tempo remaining numbers (one of which we stuck in a medley) and blasted through them. Well... by the second part of the medley we see her flash the lights a couple times (at the start of the song we said "this is our last number"- I guess she didn't hear). Next thing we know she's dropping a note on stage (and we've allready dropped segments from the medley). We finished up early, tore down... it basicly ammounted to the musical equivilant of blue balls. Talk about a crappy vibe.
But here come the positive notes before the final insult:
We had several people sign up for our mailing list, we sold a couple cd's and we got asked to play a party that night. TOO BAD THE VAN DIED!
So my drummer, his friend and I spent the night in a parking lot waiting for stores to open so we could buy an alternator belt and a ratchet set. Ever replace an alternator belt while laying in a puddle? Luckily the local Police were cool about the situation (the Littleton Opera House is in the same building as the Littleton PD- we were stuck in their parking lot).
Well, now I'm showered... most of the grease is gone. My hair isn't quite so close to turning into dreadlocks. I found a store with decent prices on Red Bull... I think it's time I vegitate. Maybe I'll unload the van sometime in the near future.

Doesn't sound too bad after all. Look on the good side, you've landed yourself some interest and a gig! You'll also know that maybe it's not worth going back their if you're looking for that good vibe...unless next time they at least pay the fuel fair.
Learning curbs, that's what it's all about isn't it? Learning curbs.

yeah, I think it was overall postive. Especially since we were all messing stuff up and people still loved it (those who were there... except for the organzier as she franticly batted her arms around trying to get us to stop... lol). But it had it's down sides. I really like sleeping in MY bed.