What is it like to PERFORM LIVE?

[squids]

I got blown 20 ft in the air and set my hair on fire once at an outdoor concert. Stupid rain anyway!! Stepped up to the mic and shazam! Blast-off!! Complete with all-systems failure body-wise and my hair was a glorious bonfire. All in front of about 3,000 muddy, drunk fans who thought it was all in good fun. I couldn't walk right fo a few minutes and my speech was a bit slow but it caught up by the end of the tune.I think they thought it was part of the show. . If I'd needed an ambulance, it was gonna be a while fo anyone called one.Had ta cut my hair short afta that. Ta this day I respect The Mic.

[sgs4u]

Wow Nita, that sounds insane. Blech. I've been shot of my chair by a Hammond organ grounding to the microphone before, but your shock sounds way better!Hey there are a couple of really old threads about best & worst gig evr. I think I'll find them.

[deantaylor]

Ted,Wow .. over 1 million people ... where were these performances .. when .. what .. curious minds have to know. Great list of people you've performed with .. quite a variety. Very cool. Tell us more.Cam,My wife is gonna be so jealous about the Springsteen story .. she loves him. From laundrymats to The Boss ... cool.Big Blue,Actual video .. very cool ... good drummer headbob .. you got the hair for it.Rich, thanks for sharing.Mewman, wow ... you play a great variety of instruments and styles .. play on.Derek .. more death stories.Squids .. death by mic.Steve .. death by organ.

[jsnow915]

wow...I used to smash guitars at the end of the night...our big finally was "Love Lies Bleeding"...I bought crap guitars for that,set them up and smashed them after doing the end lead break....I actually broke an Ibanez Artist for no good reason(I know.....idiot!)....I had to kick a guy in the back becasue he hit my mike stand and chipped my tooth...so many stories,not enough space....lol

[squids]

May 2, 2009, 12:36am, sgs4u wrote:Wow Nita, that sounds insane. Blech. I've been shot of my chair by a Hammond organ grounding to the microphone before, but your shock sounds way better!Hey there are a couple of really old threads about best & worst gig evr. I think I'll find them. didn't you put that in the worst eva gig? I think I remember that. It sounded really painful.The things we do fo love.

[mojobone]

Sure as heck ain't the money.

[squids]

Amen, Rev. (sigh)

[cmrmurray]

Performance: different every time and never quite goes how I expect it will.Bad: electrocution (let's form a support group), middle-of-nowhere gigs with rabid audiences, playing with lousy bands, the despair of thinking you're getting nowhere.Good: converting new fans, people turning up where you thought no-one would, the thrill of thinking you're getting somewhere.Perhaps we need these emotional rollercoasters to feel alive.

[allends]

I'm not a regular gigging musician, so my stories are few and far between. I was the lead guitarist in a '50s music band. We played a college gig one night when I thought it would be fun to hop off stage into the crowd during my lead to Johnny B. Goode. The girls in the front row were really stoked for the show and they came dressed up in bobbie socks and poodle skirts. These fine ladies thought it would be fun to mob me and rip my shirt off while I was playing. Everyone else in the audience thought it was a cheap pre-planned stunt. I was a bit scared, to tell you the truth. Most of my performing experience has been low-key but fulfilling...In the folk rock days.I used to have hair!Fast forward to last year. Helping out Raags.....Allen DeSomerPlayin' The Pub!April 29 @ 9:30 PMFIDDLER'S HEARTHMy new "band" Darshan

[suzdoyle]

Thousands of gigs here, as well. My 2 fav memories:Playing the White House with my piano/ sax duo Another Dave at Christmastime during the Clinton years. Setting off the metal detectors with our sequined dresses (er, the gals, not Dave!); accidentally leaving a bag of music on the floor near the piano -- suddenly, secret service agents swarmed around the bag, thinking it might have explosives. Oopsie.Stale cookies and punch (weird) + a box of M & M's signed by Clinton topped off the refreshments. Due to the Clintons being en route from Bosnia, the big "to do" we were scheduled to play for was canceled (we're told this happens all the time), so we instead played for interns, staff and Buddy, the Clinton's dog (who, BTW, had 6 secret service agents of his own). It was mellow and relaxing.The coolest part was getting to leisurely poke around the white house with the intern (a guy, BTW), seeing the presidential library, the elevator leading to the private quarters, etc. All in all, a very leisurely gig. Fun stuff!(gig # 2 continued in next post) . . .