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You Mess Up On A Gig


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[quote name='Green Alsatian' post='1349562' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:42 PM']I remember the words to one of our songs completely exiting my head at one gig, after the first line. I stayed at the mic and said (in character for the song) "You know, I do believe I've forgotten what I was going to say. I blame all these dashed pretty girls putting me off".[/quote]

Brilliant! That does sound intentional too :)

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[quote name='tauzero' post='1349514' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:21 PM']Play a little flurry of notes in chromatic runs and rapidly don my beret, trusting that the audience will recognise jazz when they hear it.[/quote]


Ha ha! yup - play the same mistake twice, second time with conviction - yeh, I meant to do it... it's called Jazz lol..

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+1 for the big slide... and sometimes it is a BIG slide.

I'm also a big fan of the approach that Buddy Guy claimed he took... if you stuff something up, just play the same thing again and fix your face as if you meant to play it that way... it's never worked for me, but I still like it!

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It's simple I do what I do on all depping gigs. I turn my volume down and smile, while looking like I'm plonking away furiously on my bass.
I told this trick to a guitarist I was depping in a wedding band with. He had been thrown in the deep end as well and during one song that I hadn't a clue how to play I turned around to find him strumming happily away with his volume turned right down..........just like I was! When he realised I was doing exactly the same thing we broke into hysterical laughter - much to the confusion of the keyboard player who could see us playing away but could only hear himself and the drummer.

Edited by gjones
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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='tauzero' post='1349514' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:21 PM']Play a little flurry of notes in chromatic runs and rapidly don my beret, trusting that the audience will recognise jazz when they hear it.[/quote]

As the old joke goes .... one wrong note is a mistake - two is jazz :)

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Guest bassman7755

No matter what musical solution you chose to bluff your way out NEVER start making accusatory faces or look sheepish and mouthing sorry to fellow band mates. Save it till after gig. IMO nothing looks worse and more amateurish that the "oh dear" faces when people are playing.

The point being that audience will generally not notice the musical error even if its pretty bad - only your guilty face. I watched a band recently that I used to play in and so know their song pretty intimately was only able to tell they messed up a couple of things by the guilty/accusatory face syndrome.

Sorry to go on a bit but it really gets my goat.

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[quote name='Doddy' post='1349511' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:19 PM']I'll just lay out for a beat or two and get my bearings. Fiddling about can sometimes work unless there
is a key change or whatever..then it can just be a train wreck. If I balls up badly I'll hold my hand up
to it.[/quote]

+1000!

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[quote name='gjones' post='1349600' date='Aug 23 2011, 10:10 PM']It's simple I do what I do on all depping gigs. I turn my volume down and smile, while looking like I'm plonking away furiously on my bass.
I told this trick to a guitarist I was depping in a wedding band with. He had been thrown in the deep end as well and during one song that I hadn't a clue how to play I turned around to find him strumming happily away with his volume turned right down..........just like I was! When he realised I was doing exactly the same thing we broke into hysterical laughter - much to the confusion of the keyboard player who could see us playing away but could only hear himself and the drummer.[/quote]

Now that I like :)

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[quote name='bassman7755' post='1349628' date='Aug 23 2011, 10:28 PM']No matter what musical solution you chose to bluff your way out NEVER start making accusatory faces or look sheepish and mouthing sorry to fellow band mates. Save it till after gig. IMO nothing looks worse and more amateurish that the "oh dear" faces when people are playing.

The point being that audience will generally not notice the musical error even if its pretty bad - only your guilty face. I watched a band recently that I used to play in and so know their song pretty intimately was only able to tell they messed up a couple of things by the guilty/accusatory face syndrome.

Sorry to go on a bit but it really gets my goat.[/quote]

Top advice! I see this all the time.

EDIT: In fact, at a gig recently, the vocalist made a miniature speech apologising in advance for a part in the song where his voice almost always breaks... He might have got away with it being intentional if he didn't make this mistake!

Edited by chrismuzz
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[quote name='bassman7755' post='1349628' date='Aug 23 2011, 10:28 PM']No matter what musical solution you chose to bluff your way out NEVER start making accusatory faces or look sheepish and mouthing sorry to fellow band mates. Save it till after gig. IMO nothing looks worse and more amateurish that the "oh dear" faces when people are playing.

The point being that audience will generally not notice the musical error even if its pretty bad - only your guilty face. I watched a band recently that I used to play in and so know their song pretty intimately was only able to tell they messed up a couple of things by the guilty/accusatory face syndrome.

Sorry to go on a bit but it really gets my goat.[/quote]

^^^^^^this.

I normally just laugh if one of us screws up. If you all look like you're having fun and you all keep going then no one will notice any mistakes.

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I can usually recover quite rapidly but during Sweet child of Mine last weekend it all went horribly wrong, the singer missed a bit, which threw me and it was probably two or three bars before I caught on to how bad it sounded. This was followed by one of those hideous total brain blank moments which resulted in me forgetting that I could play a bass guitar.

Other than that got through the gig with hardly a duff note.

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[quote name='chrismuzz' post='1349540' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:32 PM']Slightly off topic, but I once attended a gig where the bassist broke a string mid song. He didn't quite throw his hands up and admit defeat... What he actually did was to shout "F*CK!!!" into the mic and storm offstage :lol: cue the entire band stopping the song and the vocalist awkwardly mumbling "Erm... has anyone got a spare bass?"

True story![/quote]


Was recently watching a gig when a precious gtr broke 2 strings on 2 gtrs on 2 songs.

He said over the mic that this sh** shouldn't be happening and they needed a break to get things together.... whence his girlfriend came over and restrung both guitars taking the best part of an hours break.
We rolled up laughing..... should have taken 5 mins max.... but I don't think the gtr felt he should have to do that sort of thing. The rest of the band brought all his gear in as well...so he doesn't feel that need either :) :)

Still makes me chuckle now

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I missed a change on the 3rd song of a set last week, dropped out for a bar, my mind wondered into something else, anyway, bad mistake but after I recovered had a little chuckle with the drummer and then really relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the set more than usual , think the mistake made me decide Sod it just enjoy yourself


Re the guy who walked off after breaking a string, surely you would have to try to Play at least a minimal line on what you had left at least to get to the end if the song?

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Don't tend to have this problem so much on bass, but I certainly do with vocals. A whole line will just vanish from my head, usually when I'm thinking about it in advance. So, I turn my head away from the mic, make out I'm saying something to the drummer and then come back to the mic for the next line. Works a treat and no-one knows I've messed up.

If it did happen on bass, I'd just scream "FIRE, FIRE, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE"

That would probably divert attention away from my playing.

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