Roland Rock Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 At last night's rehearsal, the guitarist said to the singer not to be afraid to 'rewind' if things go wrong at a gig, ie stop the song, and do it again properly. I was surprised, as I'm from the 'keep on going, don't draw attention to it'' school. What do you think the punters would prefer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyBiskit Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 FFS Keep going-at all costs,get it finished and blow 'em away with the next song-well thats what i have always done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 If it's something that happens at the same point every time, rewind and get it right. If someone's just done a flub, crack on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 If I was watching a band and they stopped mid-song to start again 'cos of a mistake, I'd think it was laughable. It would ruin the gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 The only 'thing going wrong' that should necessitate the band stopping a song and starting again is a band member dying. IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Naw, you have to keep going and try and get it back together. And once the song if finished, have a laugh about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 [quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1366366265' post='2051458'] At last night's rehearsal, the guitarist said to the singer not to be afraid to 'rewind' if things go wrong at a gig, ie stop the song, and do it again properly. I was surprised, as I'm from the 'keep on going, don't draw attention to it'' school. What do you think the punters would prefer? [/quote] If you make a pigs bollock of the 1st 10 seconds, by all means, call a halt and start again, make a joke of it, but once you're in and going then keep going to the end, I've switched guitars mid verse after a string break and nobody noticed, except the bass player, who looked over and wondered how my strat turned into an SG. Drawing attention to your mistakes draws attention to them, people won't notice if you don't tell them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Oh, at the gig? Press on, unless its a total car-crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 A few times drummers have got the rhythm so wrong (boom where the whack should be) that I've just stopped the song and got us to start again. It happens and audiences don't really have a problem with it. It's usually the musicians own embarrassment that makes them continue to grind their way through the song instead of stopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 If you can carry off a stoppage, then make a joke of it and start it again. But if the songs in general are dodgy, then you will not recover from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 We stop and start again - We've done it twice that I can remember. The punters loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Oh yes. I can see the conductor stopping the whole orchestra halfway through a [size=4]Beethoven symphony, looking at the second violin and say "you made a mistake there, we'll start the whole thing again" [/size] [size=4] [/size][size=4]I once saw Level 42 at Whitley Bay Ice Rink. Part way through one song Mike Lindup took a piano solo. He played a really bum note that ended up getting a huge cheer from the crowd. Take from that what you will.[/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynottfan Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 I have had to do this once, stop the song, it was about 30 seconds, singer covered it with some blag about a technical issue, bottom line we were all over the place and it was a disgrace, we got away with it, but I did feel like I wanted the ground to open up and take us all, I vowed there and then never again, whatever it takes, be it vocals on there own, a guitar or bass guitar playing the melody line, or just a simple backing and build the song up, the show must go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 In general the punters wont notice anything wrong unless the singer totally messes up so I dont see the point in starting over. I was involved in one particular calamity though when I used to play guitar in a band - we went into radar love with the bass player playing the intro riff in the wrong key and since its played bass-guitar unison it sounded absolutely dreadful. The over guitarist insisted we stop and try again. It took us 2 more attempts at starting the song before we worked out what was going wrong, by which time the audience were pissing themselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjVJuHCGYQA&feature=youtube_gdata_player Prime example from my band! 1st note ffs! ; ) I'd say if its early in fess up & laugh about it, start again, broke the ice with the audience that night for sure. I've seen PJ Harvey stop a song halfway through & start it again with a smiling apology. Just dont get mardy about the cock-up, audience will think yer right up yerselves! Norm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 [quote name='Norm' timestamp='1366370587' post='2051573'] 1st note ffs! ; ) [/quote] Bin there, dun that. Switching between 4-string and 5-string basses, on two occasions I've come in on the G where it should have been a C. Both times the band laughed themselves silly but never missed a beat. I've also played one song at a gig while yelling at the drummer: "It's NOT a shuffle! It's NOT a shuffle!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Getting over a mishap well and quickly is part of being a band, get on with it. However if it happens to often, then it most likely means you are not gig ready either on the whole, or those songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 I'd say the show must go on. As long as you're making some kind of racket it's unlikely anyone will notice much anyway. The number of gigs I've been to and seen various band members shaking their heads ruefully, and I'm thinking... 'why?' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1366367484' post='2051489'] If you make a pigs bollock of the 1st 10 seconds, by all means, call a halt and start again, make a joke of it, but once you're in and going then keep going to the end, I've switched guitars mid verse after a string break and nobody noticed, except the bass player, who looked over and wondered how my strat turned into an SG. Drawing attention to your mistakes draws attention to them, people won't notice if you don't tell them. [/quote] I agree, if you do lots of covers with more than one band and in different keys in think its fair to start in the wrong key and have to have a rewind as the OP calls it, if you are generally good for the rest of the set its ok and a good front person should be able to lighten the mood! As long as its not every other song though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1366370878' post='2051580'] Bin there, dun that. I've also played one song at a gig while yelling at the drummer: "It's NOT a shuffle! It's NOT a shuffle!" [/quote] Brilliant! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil_d Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Keep going... Especially the drummer, as we can all join in again and it looks planned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 [quote name='neil_d' timestamp='1366372011' post='2051606'] Especially the drummer, as we can all join in again and it looks planned... [/quote] But when it goes tits-up it's usually the shed-builder's fault! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Metallica frequently f@@k timings up and redo song again. Me, I don't believe in stopping unless its a 'safe' gig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 (edited) At a gig you must carry on. Unless you are a famous band playing your best-known song I guarantee no one in the audience will have noticed anything was off. And don't draw any attention to the fact that things haven't gone as planned. The mark of a decent band is one that can recover from any on-stage calamity. Edited April 19, 2013 by BigRedX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1366367484' post='2051489'] If you make a pigs bollock of the 1st 10 seconds, by all means, call a halt and start again, make a joke of it, but once you're in and going then keep going to the end, [/quote] +1 for this. Been there & got the T-Shirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.