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September 2004
Posts: 1180
Location: Vermont USA | Dont worry Paul everybody loves ya even Cliff :eek: .
Pauly |
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October 2005
Posts: 5331
Location: Cicero, NY | 17 years old and one of my neighborhood buddies, a few years my senior naturally, was getting married and he wanted the brides sister to sing. She said she would IF I would play (she was 16 and was angling for an older guy I was told) and I let Rick talk me into it. I had been playing about a year and had never played in front of an audience but said I would if we could work out the details (I was standing up for him as well). The day comes and - you can see it coming, right? - it's 95 degrees and about 1,000% humidity. Sweating like a pretty woman dropped off in the Virginia hills, I take the alter, guitar in hand, it falls out of my hand crashing to the floor. I'm half delirious and think nothing about it, so I pick it up, sit and start playing and I'm halfway through the first line before I realize the singer isn't at the mic yet. In all the commotion, I drop the pick into the guitar and, after a huuuuge pause, start fingerpicking. The sister is both singing and glaring at me, making for some classic pictures by the way, and the groom is now giggling.
It's only been 30 years but I still have hoped the bride and her sister will talk to me again some day. And, though they're still married, Rick has often told me that he would never get married again if I wasn't, uh, performing. |
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August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Less than a year ago - went to an open mike nite. I'd been practicing and practicing - getting a few Neil Young songs down pretty darn good in my bedroom - acoustically.
So I arrive at the pub, get up on the stage, opening act, realised that I hadn't sung into a microphone since... well... EVER!!!
And it was SOOOO LOUD!!!!!
So I launch into my first song. Out On the Weekend - harp is sounding real good - guitar playing ain't bad considering the stage fright - then I start singing.
Well, I THOUGHT it was me singing, but the voice coming over the PA sounded awful. Yep. My voice sucks and a microphone just highlights the fact.
So I persevered, struggling to hit the right key through the whole song, but I've NEVER sung so badly. And I'm pretty bad.
Finished the song - one lady clapped. (There were about 40 people in the bar)
Reluctantly launched into Needle and the Damage Done - thinking to myself "this will be better" - but no... who IS that singing??
F@c& I HATE microphones!
Thankfully the longest 3 minutes of my life soon ended, the same sympathetic, reassuring lady duly clapped and the other 39 continued talking - including the event organiser.
I was supposed to do 3 songs, but decided I should only die twice on the same night and thanked my sole supporter (soul supporter!) and walked off stage.
My 1768 was in it's case before even the organiser noticed that I'd stopped playing.
I haven't played in public since.
Still looking for a jamming partner.
Since that night though, I've been given some valuable advice, but I haven't had a chance to test it out yet. Goes somethin like "If there's only one person in the audience that likes what you're playin', play it for that person". |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | at the last open house I was singing back up to Cliff in a mic that was not on.
guess you guys were trying to tell me something |
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December 2001
Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Actually we all heard you sing backup just fine.. guess you didn't need the mic :) |
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May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | Dont feel bad Brad, it's happened to me too (memory blanking out). It's worse though when your wife just finished explaining something really important and you realize that you didnt really hear a word she said. You can't just keep playing the intro riff over and over in that situation.
One of my worst moments was when I was filling in on bass for a rather loud group of rockers. I couldnt really hear myself very well, but I just ket chugging along, I thought I was doing pretty good. Then right at the end of the song I looked at my fretting hand and realized all the scales I was playing were a half-step flat from the key the band was in. I'm not really sure if anyone noticed though. |
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October 2004
Posts: 256
Location: chicago | Did a gig last sunday and we were playing a Chick corea song (No mystery) 15 minutes long with an ending of unison lines played pretty rapid fire...well right before my left hand started falling asleep by the time the end riff approched my entire left hand was imobile and i just sat looking at my partner saying I cant move my hand...the ending was shot!
www.guitarsoffire.com |
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March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | 1976: Richmond, Virginia. My band “Silk and Steel” was just getting ready to start our Fleetwood Mac tribute set...Big venue with a triple tiered stage...we were low budget...used hot water and dry ice for fog (2 25 gallon canisters-one per stage side) and myself and our bass player would drop in the ice and the drummer would hit the lights and we'd start playing...very cool and had always worked before flawlessly. That night we got the water from the kitchen at the venue...it was nearly boiling hot...we'd gotten a bargain on dry ice and used twice the usual amount. On the third click of the drumsticks we both dropped in the ice: when it hit the super hot water, a geyser of fog shot up the canister and hit the ceiling; fanned out in a mushroom cloud and settled over the entire band in an instant! The bass player and I were soaked from the waist up- my Les Paul was dripping wet- and the drummer could not find the light switch. Finally he found it and shouted "GO" and we launched into the set. Our lead singer was a Stevie Nicks clone and her dress fanned the fog and sent it cascading down the steps of the tiered stage front. WE were thinking we were going to be electrocuted any second and could not see anything for at least five minutes and were expecting to get fired--- but we kept playing anyway...The audience, and the club owner loved it: the audience gave us a standing ovation and the club owner booked us for three return gigs. But, we never used that much dry ice again! :cool:
Blessings... |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Great story, Mike. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Weaser said: Sweating like a pretty woman dropped off in the Virginia hills, "...like a pretty woman...."
Sister, you are a pretty women in the Virginia hills. |
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October 2005
Posts: 5331
Location: Cicero, NY | (Wondered if that was going to slide by or not) :D |
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October 2005
Posts: 5331
Location: Cicero, NY | |
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March 2004
Posts: 86
Location: Detroit area | I once did an entire 30 minute worship set in front of 1,000 people with my fly down. And I put my capo on the wrong fret to start a song. I think my guitar hid the open fly, but the 1/2 step-low capo resounded through the room at 90 db. Yeeeehaw! |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | There was a time we were showing the NEW guitar to some salesmen and the bridge came flying off...... |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by Joey Joe:
I once did an entire 30 minute worship set in front of 1,000 people with my fly down. I know the feeling, JJ. In 1987, I opened the second half of a Broadway musical by singing "Give My Regards to Broadway" with my fly down. The critics memorialized the incident in a cartoon. |
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January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by cwk2:
There was a time we were showing the NEW guitar to some salesmen and the bridge came flying off...... ... and then you left Taylor and went to work for your Dad ???
Dave |
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March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | It's not embarassing guitar moment... but it's quite embarassing / funny so...
few weeks ago i was jamming in a bar with two friends. there were about 60-70 people in audience and we were doing pretty well, but - unfortunately - there was a free beer. And after 3 beers and 1,5 hours of playing on guitar i told everyone that there comes a change, and Jacob will now play on guitar and i will take a piano (we were both playing guitars).
And i went to a piano and started to play Star Wars theme. With one hand. From the head. and not knowing how to play on piano at all.
After just few seconds in bar there was a sudden silence and even Jacob stopped playing to look what am i doing.
But at the end i've turned everything into joke, telling people that i was just kidding, and that jacob is going to play on piano for the rest of the night (even though i haven't asked him to play) which turned into a very good move because Jacob is playing on various instruments for 17 years, and our "Let it Be/ Canon / House of the rising sun" jam kicked ass.
At least, i've liked it. |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Brad.. Did you save the cartoon? I'd like to see it. Well.. maybe not "like" to see it. I just want to look at it. Wait.. that's not what I mean either.
Nevermind... I'm just diggin' myself deeper here. |
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April 2003
Posts: 557
Location: Burbank | Back in the '80's doing the new-wave/punk band thing, we were playing the DEVO version of secret agent man and our synthesizer player launches into his solo just as singer is starting to sing the second verse. The singer stops and the synth dope keeps going. There is a guy standing directly in front of the synthesizer player, he starts busting out laughing as loud as he could bringing attention to what just happened where as no one might have noticed.
For me directly, I was playing in church last year, and because we have many different solist, the keys constantly change. Well this day we were playing a song in Eb that is normally played in open D. I didn't have my capo so I have to play the cords a half-step higher than written. I was so worried about transposing the chords corectly I didn't realize that the section that was in 2/4, I was playing in 4/4 so as the song progressed I became farther and farther off. You would think that I should be able to hear that what I am playing doesn't match what everyone else is doing and stop! Well that day the monitor was not connected and I could not hear myself acoustically because I was next to a loud piano. I was getting the oddest looking expressions from many people and I didn't know why. I assumed that they saw I had no capo and thought I was in the wrong key. When I realized they were about to end and I still had many bars left I figured out what the faces were for and felt stupid. My daughters friend told her, "I like the way your dad funked-up the song!" |
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May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | Every time I pick up a guitar I embarrass myself worse than the last time I picked up a guitar. So, every time you see me with a guitar, that's my most embarrassing guitar moment.
(Apologies to Peter Gibbons) |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Originally posted by Weaser P:
By Jeff W |
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May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
Originally posted by Weaser P:
By Jeff W
:p :D |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Cliff posted 10,000...
Waiting for the tipping point.. |
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May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | cliff is Glen Campbell. You heard it here first. |
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March 2007
Posts: 843
Location: CA | Not my faux, but once watched Steve Goodman at a small venue in Huntington Beach. I forget the song he was doing, but right in the middle of it, his strap broke and his Martin clonked and twanged to the floor. He didn't miss a beat and with the backup music still playing 'invented' an extra verse to the effect that 'been on the road so long that old Martin's gettin' tired. . . " or something like that. It was brilliant. He picked up the guitar after the song and it was okay. |
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Worst or Most Embarrassing Guitar Moment
