The Show Must Go On?...

[Diablo]

well done old chap, putting the greater good before your own. My personal opinion is that if I'm not dead, I'm playing. I mean if you had stayed in hospital you'd have only laid in bed and probably caught something much worse off the others in there. May as well have dosed up as you did and got on with it, then gone to bed at home for a day or two after to get over it all.

[MacDaddy]

Once when single, I was on a promise, but left to get to the gig on time.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1398632316' post='2436078']
Two words - John Glascock.
[/quote]

Well yes, but he had plenty of form when it came to neglecting his health . . .

[i]Despite the diagnosis of heart valve damage caused by an infection, he continued his previous lifestyle, which involved heavy drinking, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana"]marijuana[/url] usage, and wild parties. His health continued to deteriorate.[/i]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glascock


All I'm suggesting is that there's a difference between playing while feeling ill and playing while risking something serious and permanent. Not very 'rock n roll' of course, but graveyards contain plenty of people who ignored medical advice. Thing is, those who don't survive don't talk about it much.

[chriswareham]

Not so much an illness, more of a self inflicted injury when I did a gig following an afternoon being extensively tattooed over my upper arm and shoulder. Turned up to the gig with my arm smeared in vaseline and wrapped up in cling film, having ignored the tattoo artist's advice to not do anything that would cause me to sweat. The tattoo was hidden by a rolled up shirt sleeve, but half way through the set (on a stage with extremely hot lights) a mixture of sweat and blood started pouring down my arm and eventually over the body of my bass. Not sure what the audience made of that!

[Weststarx]

What you did sir was very Rock n Roll!

I salute you!

[EMG456]

Pete, I was at the gig on Saturday- top job!
You had a great sound and played all the bits I was hoping to hear- from a performance point of view, no one would even have suspected you were under the weather!

I guess anyone who has done regular gigging over an extended period will have had to play through some kind of illness or injury.

My best was tripping and falling down the last three stairs whilst carrying my amp rack out to the car on the way to the gig. 'Twas very painful but managed to finish packing and drive to the gig.

When I got there, I couldn't walk and had to play the gig sitting down.

Managed to drive home again in constant third gear trying to gauge the traffic lights so as not to have to stop! (Was my clutch foot which was the problem)

My wife took me to A&E the next morning and x-rays revealed that I had torn all the tendons in my left ankle- they told me that it would have been better if I had broken the ankle instead. Was on crutches for a few weeks and to be honest, the ankle never fully recovered.

Even better was the tale of a band I was in back in the late 70s. The drummer tripped up on his way from the house to the van and was rolling around in agony. We told him to man up and get on with it and he ended up playing the gig with what turned out to be a broken leg (bass drum!)

It's true- the show must go on!

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Cheers

Ed

[woodster]

"No matter how you feel today, get up, dress up & show up."

Paulo Coelho

[lowdown]

The only way I would have done that, was If there was absolutely no dep available.
So top marks mate.

[KevB]

Well I just sacked off a gig at the weekend so I could go to watch Huddersfield's last home match and attend a family christening the next morning. Wasn't even ill Actually I'd already voluntarily given it up so someone else could keep up to speed with the current setlist so not quite as lacking in commitment as you might think. Well done for not letting folks down though Pete, top marks.

Edited April 28, 2014 by KevB

[Bilbo]

I would but my wife wouldn't have let me (really). And she would have been right.

[The Admiral]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1398623900' post='2435923']
Bernard Edwards did a gig back at the Budokhan while suffering from...as he put it...the 'Tokyo Flu'. Turned out it was actually pneumonia and he died a day or two later.
[/quote]
The full story is in Nile Rodgers book : which from memory goes like this : Edwards didn't feel well on the second night and the Japanese doctor wanted him to go to hospital, but he refused, had a vitamin b shot, and went on. He collapsed just before the end of the first set - spark out, and came around in time to finish the song. They then had an interval, and he played the second set from a chair. He went to bed in short order at the hotel, and the front desk rang Rodgers the next day when Edwards wasn't answering his morning call. Nile spent minutes banging on the door, before getting the housekeeper to let him in. Bernard was laying on the sofa, clothed, shoes off, with his hand under his head and his feet up on the end of the sofa. "as soon as I saw him, I knew he was dead". Very sad, and still something which affects Nile Rodgers to this day. Toothache is one thing, but pneumonia is something else - but it's surprising how it can catch up with you. As I write, a neighbours wife is in an induced coma in an overseas hospital, fighting for her life, with pneumonia. She had a 'bit of a cold' when the went away 10 days ago.

[thisnameistaken]

If the painkillers worked I would've done the same as you.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1398727141' post='2437098']
Toothache is one thing, but pneumonia is something else - but it's surprising how it can catch up with you. As I write, a neighbours wife is in an induced coma in an overseas hospital, fighting for her life, with pneumonia. She had a 'bit of a cold' when the went away 10 days ago.
[/quote]

Our guitarist was hospitalised with pneumonia a few years ago and was really seriously ill with it - quite a shock for a normally fit and heathy guy. Fortunately he made a full recovery but these things make you realise how easy it is to take our health for granted.

I hope your neightbour's wife has good health insurance. A good friend went on a carribean holiday in January and suffered a brain aneurysm within a few days. Fortunately he has made a full recovery and is now back home and rapidly recovering his physical condition - the insurance claim was £1.17m

[BigRedX]

In the end it all comes down to what your priorities are.

For me, death - my own - would be the only acceptable excuse for not being there to play a gig with the rest of my band.

But that's because AFAIAC playing music with my band is what makes all the other sh*t I need to do in life acceptable.

[charic]

I played a gig with a papercut once

[hubrad]

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1398616157' post='2435755']
Our band, Nearly Dan, had gigs pre-booked in Edinburgh and Glasgow on April 25 and 26. This is an annual jaunt for us. The Friday was sold out, and the Saturday was selling well. On the Thursday before, I started to get an infection in a tooth that had recently been filled. My face started to become swollen. I called my dentist, but the jobsworth receptionist told me I couldn't get in for a check. The next day I was supposed to be picked up at 10.50am. My face was massively swollen, and my eye looked like it had been hit by Mike Tyson. I went to my doctor, expecting her to give me a strong antibiotic, but she took one look at me said I needed to go to A & E for emergency treatment. I told her I needed to go to Scotland for gigs, but she said it would not happen. At the hospital they said I needed to have the tooth out and would have to spend the next 24 hours on an intravenous antibiotic drip. I maintained that I'd already missed our minibus and needed to be in Scotland for the gigs. The doctor said: 'Do you value your health or your gigs?' I asked if there was any alternative. Against their advice, I agreed to have the tooth removed and a intravenous shot of antibiotics, plus a course of strong antibiotic tablets to take. Thanks to my girlfriend, I made a train that got me to Edinburgh just in time, at a cost of £91.50. The gigs were great and I'm now on the mend. What I ask is: Would you have done the same thing and risked your health for a gig? What lengths have you gone to in order to let ensure the show must go on?
[/quote]
Tough call.. it all worked out, so well done! Sometimes such an infection can actually spread further, so there's always a risk.. if such a thing goes pear-shaped you're in hospital, and no messing.
Meanwhile, my first thought was that if your dentist's couldn't get you in a pain slot - especially where the tooth had recently been filled - you really need to change your dentist!

[steantval]

Brave for doing the gig.

The question I would be asking myself would be - if it was any of your other band members, would they have done the same?

[Pete Academy]

I'm not sure if they would have done the same. What was going through my mind was: A load of people having already bought tickets; the band were on their way in a hired minibus; the hotel rooms had been pre-booked. I just didn't want to let everyone down, so I took the risk. I couldn't help feeling the hospital staff were trying to cover their arses, but in retrospect I can't really blame them.

[Pete Academy]

It was a daft thing to do, but now I think it was worth it.

[flyfisher]

Daft risks are always worth it when they work out . . .

Edited April 29, 2014 by flyfisher

[TimR]

If you're an otherwise fit and healthy person you're unlikely to die from a tooth infection in two days. The fact that it was swelling up meant that you were already fighting the infection.

Assuming you weren't running a temperature, although if you took paracetamol it can mask infection, you were probably fairly ok.

The most danger you were in was that your mouth and throat swelled up so much you couldn't breathe.

However, if you had a medical condition that meant your immune system was compromised then you'd not take the chance.

I ran a 10mile race once with an abscess, wasn't as bad as yours but I wasn't very happy the next day

Edited April 29, 2014 by TimR

[Bassman Sam]

I think you did the right thing Pete, I know you would put the band first. I once broke three ribs a couple of hours before a gig, I fell badly down some stairs. I played sat on a stool, trying to find a comfy position to hold the bass and breath at the same time. The guys in the band carried my gear out for me, the only time they ever did and reminded me for years if thought I was slacking.