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Smoking, drinking, eating, watching TV etc.while on stage?


Barking Spiders

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5 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Or even...no, maybe not. Just ignore my profile pic, nothing to see here.

Last time I did that I couldn't find my purple sheep because I was distracted by all the cobwebs in the trees. And I kept tripping over frogs, which were everywhere, for some reason...

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58 minutes ago, casapete said:

Mentioned on here before - Rick Wakeman famously ate a full Indian meal.

"It was 1973 and we had released Tales from Topographic Oceans, which I didn't particularly like. The third piece in the show was a particularly long percussive piece and I didn't have much to do. Now, I used to have this roadie that worked for me, he would lie underneath my keyboard ostensibly to fix things, but mostly he would just mix me drinks and pass them up. So on this occasion he asks me if there's anything I need, but I heard it as him asking what I felt like doing after the show. I just replied 'oh, I'll probably go for a curry' and then he asked me what I would have so I started naming various menu items, 'onion bhaji', you know...and then, 20 minutes later there is this smell. Of course you know that curry is a smell that wafts, you detect it. And he's standing there under the keyboard rig with these bags of takeaway curry."

The story, a classic pull-the-other-one, is "absolutely true". And Wakeman says he proceeded to "lay out the meal across my keyboards to have some." If you are thinking Spinal Tap right now, remember this is 10 years before that film. And Wakeman chuckles as he adds the coda, "I've probably been offered curry at gigs a couple of dozen times since, I don't have it on stage, but I'll arrive backstage to find that someone's sent a takeaway curry to me, or it's been ordered, or there's a takeout menu there. It's nice. It's funny.

I'm not a fan of Yes or any of Rick's own stuff. But I could listen to him talking about his experiences for hours.

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4 minutes ago, discreet said:

Last time I did that I couldn't find my purple sheep because I was distracted by all the cobwebs in the trees. And I kept tripping over frogs, which were everywhere, for some reason...

Yeah, the frogs can be a real problem. I did once play a gig under the influence....in the 70s, on synth, not bass...decided it was too dark in stage so wandered around in the audience for a while, I think someone helped me back on the stage after a while. Too long ago to remember much more, other than the overall feeling that playing bass on stage in that state probably wouldn't be such a great idea.

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1 hour ago, ambient said:

I don’t drink anyway, but drinking on stage to me at least seems very unprofessional, also though it seems like you don’t care somehow. Alcohol would surely affect how you play?

 

30 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

I think that's the point though! In some places it's really not appropriate. On tour with Hayseed Dixie though? Those guys had a giant icebox of 50% lager and 50% ale as part of their stage setup!

At a sit down recital it might not be the right thing, but it front of a baying crowd, half-cut and wanting to rock? You can get a round of applause for just standing on the monitor and downing a bottle if you do it right.

I think this is it - it does come down very much to the type of music you're playing. If I were still playing jazz, I'd be much more discreet about my drinking. As it's mainly rock and blues for me these days, having a pint in one hand while I talk to the crowd between songs is all part of the necessary swagger people expect from the show.

That, and the "...if anyone's buying, mine's a bitter/stout/mild...wink ,wink" can help convince the guv'nor that you're helping him/her to shift units. Especially on the few occasions it actually works!

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16 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

...playing bass on stage in that state probably wouldn't be such a great idea.

No. Gigged once after about 200 mushrooms and was very disconcerted by sounds, which manifested themselves as large, colourful geometric shapes... interesting, but not necessarily conducive to a good performance... 

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If I am not driving then I will have a beer strategically placed somewhere I can reach between songs, otherwise it’s Diet Coke and water. I always have bananas with me, it’s a leftover from when I used to fence at uni, they are great at preventing cramp and work brilliantly for a long gig. They have become something of a tradition in the band as well with all the others taking the pee out of them so I now place them in as obvious place as I can. Last gig one spent the first set in a spare microphone stand.

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3 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

It can be done- turns out practise makes perfect! In fact I also know a band who rehearsed high as kites, as that is how they intended to play.

In the 70s we would rehearse stoned, gig stoned and do everything else stoned. The audiences would be stoned, too. In fact most people were stoned, all the time. Or at least that's what it seemed like!

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Aye a few beers before, during and after is how I roll. Unless I'm driving obv. 

I don't play any worse after a few beers. I've practiced playing drunk enough and usually have a couple at rehearsals too. I might take a few more risks but hey ho. I don't see it as unprofessional at all. We play in pubs, bars and clubs, not concert halls and theatres. I don't really see it as an us and them situation.  

What I hate is when one song segues into another and I forgetfully reach for my beer. :drinks:

 

 

 

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43 minutes ago, discreet said:

In the 70s we would rehearse stoned, gig stoned and do everything else stoned. The audiences would be stoned, too. In fact most people were stoned, all the time. Or at least that's what it seemed like!

I think we lived the same decade.

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4 hours ago, ambient said:

I don’t drink anyway, but drinking on stage to me at least seems very unprofessional, also though it seems like you don’t care somehow. Alcohol would surely affect how you play?

Our audience would be very suspicious of any gig we did without drinking. It's not unusual for us to have a 30L box of cider on stage. 

We don't drink it all on stage of course, there's usually enough left to share on the drive home.

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17 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

As the miserable git who runs the PA, I try to bar drinks on stage. Nothing worse than trying to clean up a load of cables, stage box, etc after someone has kicked a pint all over them.

Yup, I always carried a pack of wet-wipes.

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16 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

I think that's the point though! In some places it's really not appropriate. On tour with Hayseed Dixie though? Those guys had a giant icebox of 50% lager and 50% ale as part of their stage setup!

At a sit down recital it might not be the right thing, but it front of a baying crowd, half-cut and wanting to rock? You can get a round of applause for just standing on the monitor and downing a bottle if you do it right. In fact, there is a technique whereby one can take vast swigs from a half-full bottle and yet somehow still have it left by the end of the gig. Smoke and mirrors, but enhances the show for certain punters. Just don't let on to the kids, right...

Still, you can't have rock'n'roll without at least a nod to the sex and drugs! xD

Ale in an ice box?! Philistines!!

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Whether or not I watch TV when on stage depends on the match. For some reason, there has recently been a run of particularly entertaining Arsenal games, leading to major distractions.

We played a pub on a golf course before Xmas. As we walked on stage to start tuning up, they went 1-0 down. Halfway through our opening number they went 2-0 down. As we started our second number they clawed one back for 2-1. As we finished the third number they equalised.

 

Edited by Happy Jack
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16 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Bottles of water on stage, but on the stage itself, not on my amp/the amp I`m using. And if I`ve lent my amp to anyone and they put drinks on it I`ll happily walk on stage whilst they`re playing and remove them. How very dare they!

With one of my bands, I spend half the gig removing assorted crap, including drinks, from my amp that the drummer keeps putting there.

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