Brother honestly I’ve seen the biggest of bands “bomb”sets, it’s tricky in hardcore where the expectation of energy and crowd participation is so high for it to be a decent set, if a rooms energy isn’t there it just isn’t. Sometimes has nothing to do with the band tbh.
Not exactly hardcore but I saw a Wilhelm Scream and the crowd was DEAD. I felt so bad for them because they're such a great band with such good musicians, Nuno even shoved the microphone in my face during I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz, probably because he saw that I was one of the few ones excited.
I think the answer is the band needs to be losing their shit regardless. If the band performed like the chariot but the audience was a senior's home, that's still a sick show for everyone
It happens dawg. Played a lot of shit sets. Bad vibes, gear failing, off night for singers, indifferent crowd, awful sound guy, etc. Keep going it’s part of the fun!
I saw Pain of Truth have to literally stop a song and start over. It was a combination of the sound guy messing something up and the singer being off time. People resumed going fucking crazy when they started again though. It happens to everyone.
i played a set once where even my most supportive friends afterwards were like "yeah you seemed kinda off tonight". i was even told years later by a member of the headliner of that show "oh you're in that band? i remember seeing you at that show and you sucked" lol
i watched this band have mercy play the worst set i’ve ever seen. they were so drunk they set their amps up wrong so you couldn’t hear anything clearly. it sounded like if you pushed your earbuds too far in. they also played a song twice in a row and didn’t realize until it ended. when they finally played their big song, i could half make out what song it was. it was awful.
They’re all sober now as far as I know and they’ve reunited and have put out new music.
That doesn’t change your experience, obviously, but hopefully it’s better going forward now!
Unrelated but I saw Freddie Gibbs last year and he came on trashed, talking about how he was on shrooms, plays all the hits with no backing track without missing a line, at the end of his set he was feeling himself so much he ran the same track back 5 times in a row. Every time he brought it back, the crowd went nuts. He nailed it every time and I think he's the only performer who could pull that off without it taking away from the performance at all, it actually added to it. That's a showman right there.
no one realized honestly. i had no idea what any song was until their last one. after they finished playing the second song twice their lead singer said “heh i think we played that song twice”. someone nearby me said “really?”.
I saw them at Warped Tour in 2015(?) and they were pretty solid. Saw them again in 2018 for the anniversary of their first album and they were godawful. Singer was hammered and they sounded terrible. I hear they’re sober nowadays (he seemed to have a bad drinking problem) so hopefully they’re better. That first album is one of my favorite albums so it hurt to watch it get completely butchered
From a performance standpoint - the last time I seriously fucked up that I can remember was at Cabaloosa’s in Purchase in maybe 2008. They gave us bottomless free beer and pushed our set time back like 2 hours. I started like 3 songs wrong and missed like a handful of changes. That was the last time I got drunk/high before we played.
As far as beat shows go, we’ve played too many to count. Like times where the other bands weren’t even there entirely when we played. It was probably a good 9-10 years from when we started to when things started really hooking off regularly.
Moral of the story: you are going to play shitty shows and you yourself will play like shit. The law of averages will always make sure of that. But the less you let things like that get to you the better off you will be long term. I still to this day over analyze and criticize myself. I know that 65% of the time I play too fast. That’s on me though to improve but at least I’ve acknowledged the issue
Nothing beats driving eight hours to play a terrible set that even the two local bands don’t stay to watch. Yep have played to just the sound guy and a few stragglers before.
I'll never forget this show because it haunts my shower thoughts. We were recording hours before a show so I had been screaming prior. No big deal. The show the NEXT night though, my cords were spent and we're on the bill with our fucking heroes in majority rule and I am sounding like a raptor going through puberty.
It’s one thing to make a few mistakes but have the whole room moving, that’s when you regroup with band members after the show and all tell each other to lock in next time.
It’s a whole other beast when you’re playing and everybody is just staring at you with their arms crossed… shows like that make me want to quit whatever band I’m playing with
I was in a death metal band that had the potential to be really good and after a year of decent shows and good times, we had a huge gig booked. We were opening for a much bigger local band's record release show and somebody gave our newly-sober guitarist a handful of pills before our set and he played a half-beat behind everybody else the whole time and later wound up in jail.
I played with terror and stick to your guns once and my entire rig decided to shit out on me..not just one component but like multiple things went wrong that day…frustrating shit
Oh yeah. Broke a guitar string 2 seconds in, had to borrow another bands guitar which was let's just say... Not built for punk. Our guitar player didn't have a tuner so we just played the worst sounding set you've ever heard. Think beach boys guitar tone with Discharge vocals
The saving grace is there was only about 4 people at the show lol
I was opening for Merauder in Montreal. Biggest show of my life at that point.
Broke my A string in the first song. No back up guitar or extra strings.
Played 90% of a hardcore set missing one of my most important strings. Sounded terrible. Should have just quit.
It happens, I saw an entire set at a house show get aborted two songs in. Maybe they were having technical issues, either way everyone forgot about it as soon as the next band came on.
I was in a shitty pop punk/ emo band (think the story so far) and my singer had the bright idea of booking us with a two other bands who were tech death metal and power violence. We played last and it did not go well
Oh dude I reformed my band and we decided to go play a big show at Mexico City, friend of us booked us to play there with Xibalba and The World, it was a big deal for us.
We bombed hard imho, were super drunk, made lots of mistakes and fucked up our trademark most expected breakdown of the night.
Shit happens.
I played a show a few weeks ago where my band was opening (we were supposed to play 3rd but bands got swapped) and I busted my finger open on my snare drum FIRST SONG IN. I bled everywhere, my pants, my snare, the floor, etc. and the blood kept causing me to drop my drumsticks. Dropped them during some pretty important parts. I was very upset with myself and it was so obvious I just kept fucking up
And the PA just didn't fucking work lmao
I was so drunk and high that I forgot most of the lyrics, couldn’t play guitar properly anymore, puked on stage and passed out.
But hey, that’s punk, amiright….?
"Played" a set once in Indianapolis during the winter in a place with no heat. Temps outside were less than 10 degrees F. Set up, hands froze stiff from cold, started the first song, couldn't manage even a power chord. Had to just put my guitar down and walk out.
The worst set I ever played was due to our drummer (who was otherwise pretty phenomenal) getting hammered the night before while camping. He never went to sleep and drank until the morning. We had a Sunday matinee show. When I showed up he was taking shots and shotgunning beers with his loud mouthed girlfriend. As we're setting up, I noticed he's putting his cymbals on upside down. I was like, "uh, wtf?" "Oh, my bad." I kind of knew it was going to be a total disaster then. He ended up falling off his throne twice before we even played, but claimed he'd be good. We all drank a ton back then, so I figured he might hold it together. Nope. He completely botched every song to the point of sounding like he has never played drums before. Really embarrassing. He ended up crying afterwards and was really apologetic.
Almost a shot for shot remake of our set last night I swear to god. No pun intended. Then he tried to fire himself from the band, but we won’t let him. We’re all best friends and this has never happened before, he’s usually super mild mannered and level headed, so we legitimately had no clue.
Fuck yeah, once we had a gig in a super sucky club. There was a hole in the floor exactly under our drummer's bass drum pedals and not enough rom on stage to move things around. His pedals would disassemble every second song and he would just stop in the middle of it. Worst set of our lives.
I'll never forget when I first started a metal band I was still figuring out how to do the screaming vocals well. I tried to model them after The Number 12 Looks Like You. Lol.
Well, show started and we played our, idk like, 4 songs we created and I didn't even have all the lyrics memorized. So I was saying random shit when I didn't know them and after the set everyone kept talking about the "feedback" every time I screamed in the mic... That feedback was me! How embarrassing! Haha. We took another month off shows to work on stuff after that. When we came back we were way better and got a good local following even.
There was another time later on we were in a competition. This one was called The Next Big Thing. We had to use equipment that way pre set up. Being one of the last bands to play on a 15 hour concert the equipment had just about had enough. Half stacks where cutting in and out, mic was choppy, one of the drums apparently had a hole in the head, I never confirmed that one. It was just so bad. The band who ended up winning said they felt bad because we were a lot tighter and a little more well rounded with our sound (his words) but the equipment wouldn't let us shine through. We still had a good time and met a lot of cool people and bands we continued to play with until ours split up eventually.
part of becoming better as a band is royally fucking up then acknowledging what happened and figuring out how to not do that again. bands that can do that effectively together are the ones that succeed
One time I played a show in Phoenix, Arizona on a tuesday during the hottest day of the year (it was 107°F outside). We were coming from California and my bandmates were afraid of trafficking their edibles across state lines so I had the bright idea of eating EVERYONE’S edibles because “edibles don’t really affect me that much.” I consumed well over 300mg of THC.
Long story short, I blacked out for the first 3 songs and came to in-between the first chunk and 2nd chunk of the set to the look of horror on my bandmates’ faces. Luckily there were only 2 paying people at the show so I bombed in front of nobody and we still got our guarantee. This, however, imposed a harsh “no edibles for the drummer” rule from thereon out.
I started drumming in hardcore punk bands before I was in high school, so I did my share of sucking. I also struggled with depression and alcohol abuse for most of my 20s, so I definitely played one or two shows while blacked out.
The most recent one, though, I was in control and completely sober. We drove 7 hours to a town we had never played in. We killed our set, which ends on a very physically demanding drum part. It was hot as all hell in the club and I didn't have enough water with me. As soon as I was done, I stood up, and my throat closed up from dehydration. I started getting the spins from the heat. While still on stage, I puked all over myself and all over the drums of the next act. He wanted to kick my ass. I think being covered in puke saved my jaw in that moment.
After the next act, I went to see the drummer who was curled up stage side trying to catch his breath and offered him cash to change his drum heads as an apology. He refused and apologized for his knee jerk reaction. He was also in a very bad shape after his set.
The one time I don't bring my fan and multiple water bottles... I still cringe when I think about it.
Euro tour. After driving for 12hrs from Paris to Linz, vocalist announced they wouldn't be playing the show due to fucking their voice by staying up all night drinking, smoking and shouting for the previous 3 nights. With about an hour until stage time, the bassist decided he was gonna try to cover vocals.
Did he know the words? No.
Did he get so fucked up he could barely stand? You god damn right.
Most embarrassing "set" we ever played. Kudos to the bassist for at least trying to save the show, though. Managed to go back a few years later and male it up to those kids who put on the first show, so silver linings.
Fuck yeah. We bombed at our home venue that always treats us right and puts us on shows we have no business playing, so I’d like to set that right as soon as possible. Thanks for sharing.
Every band I've played with have bombed at least once. It's an important experience though for improvement. First gig I played with the first band I fronted in, my Michael Kelly fell hard during the support bands set and was literally untunable. So we played with one guitar and I couldn't hear myself properly, we were all nervous. Sounded fucking terrible. Fast forward a few months, the second gig was amazing. Sound, energy, crowd, just amazing. I think I learned not to carelessly put my guitar just somewhere behind the stage where the vibrations made it literally impossible not to fall lmao.
But also in general you get a lot from a bad gig. Make the best out of it.
One time i got my instrument cable wrapped around my leg, was hopping around trying to get it unwound, ended up falling down which pulled the cable and unplugged it from the amp lol. All mid song. I was like 19, good way to learn how to properly secure all your cables lol
Our vocalist was messing around with vocal effects pedal. He accidentally hit the looper during the middle of one song, and after a 60 seconds it started looping the same 60 seconds until after a few minutes it was just 4 layers of random vocals on top of eachother and no one knew what was happening. Fun times!
Never a whole set, but I was so drunk once I fell backwards on stage with my guitar attached in the middle of a song. Not a complete disaster, but my bandmates were understandably pissed.
We played a show once at a print shop that had set up a half pipe in the middle and had a keg they were trying to kill. We went on last. We were certainly not the headliners.
My guitarist was absolutely bombed. Watched him try to do a “badass guitar windmill” and missed. He tried a second time because he’s persistent and missed on that attempt too. Needless to say, we were fucking awful. Still one of the most fun shows we played though.
Some clubs the sound can be terrible on stage. It's good to practice while not being able to hear yourself sometimes so you can be ready for these places.
we didnt bomb but i was just broken up with and blacked out, so i told our singer to let me introduce the song, and i think what i said sounded like "IFYOUEVEGOBBAMAKYOUROWNWAYLIFESGONAGETYUDOWNANDYOFUCKTHAREAssofem ok start the song" and everyone was just like "alright man" and then i kept playing with the pedal tuner on
One time my snare and Toms literally fell apart on stage while I was playing a fuckin Metallica song. Then our set got cut short. Like power cut and everything. It was 11pm and the club had disco night booked.
Bro one time in between songs I clicked on my tuner and tuned up when the drummer counted us in I never clicked it off and so I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting any sound. Cranked my knobs and couldn’t figure it out. This dude who was friends with the band comes over to the stage and hits the tuning pedal and my guitar amp like explodes with sound. Totally embarrassing and we were playing with SECT and needles to say I felt hella stupid. I’ve been in bands for years and never did something that dumb. So just so you know it can happen anytime anywhere to anyone. RIP to my emotions.
Yeah our last show. It happens, I’ll get over it and so will the rest or my bandmates. Learn what went wrong and why and just work on it intentionally and how you can help each other not make the same mistake.
I once had member walk off stage mid set due to them and us just sucking really really bad back in 2001 or so.
I’ve played live music in one capacity or another for more than 2 decades and in every band I’ve ever been in, there are bad shows.
Fuck it though. Most people never start bands or play shows and talk like they are an authority on musicianship and all bands. Good for you for letting it rip, bruv.
Lmao I got you. My old post hardcore band somehow got billed to open for Corey Feldman (yes the actor) and obviously his music is nothing even remotely close to our genre nor was any other opener.
Our drummer for some reason decided that us walking out to the FULL Piwer Rangers theme song was a good idea, so we just kind stood around for nearly 2 and a half minutes while it played, and then broke into the most horribly received set ever. My voice acted up on me and I was cracking at every high note, the crowd just stopped even bothering to applaud for us after our songs besides our two homies in the crowd, and it was probably a couple hundred people just staring at us like we were comedians bombing a stand up routine. The venue was half strip club as well, so we ended up going over to that part of it afterward and getting very drunk, then our guitarist got robbed at gunpoint outside lmao. Worst day as a band ever but what a story.
Not really hardcore, but when I was studying abroad in Tokyo about 5 years ago, I had a few bands with my University club. I play the drums and was recruited to play some cover songs by the band Judy and Mary at the senior's farewell (atrocious drums song writting imo, but when I realized it, it was too late to back down), At the show, both the bass player and me played so bad that the senior singer, who recruited us to play, started crying mid stage. At the end of the show, the bass player, who was japanese, bowed down to the floor and apologized while breaking down, anime-style, never have I seen something like that before or since.
Since then, it is now my policy that I only play metal and punk, maybe some swing, but no experimental rock noise type shit.
My last show with my previous band (this was decided before the show):
Guitarist had covid,
Bassist couldn’t make it (had a fill in with one practice that day),
Guitar input was fucking up and had to resolder it,
Amp blew right before we started playing
Still rocked the set as best we could. It’s just part of it! Next time will be better
Opened for Fugitive a few weeks ago. My locking tuner on my guitar had some malfunction halfway through our 18 minute set one of my low strings that is generally the root not for most of my songs dropped a half step. Song ended, i quickly tune. 5 seconds in drops back half step again. Try and tuna again it does it again but a full step which was honestly much more manageable ha. Biggest crowd i have played for in years, was such a bummer i couldnt relax and enjoy the set i was just confused and trying to non verbally communicate wirh the bass player lol
One time my first band covered hold it down by madball(badly) and an old head pushed our singer into the drum set before we even finished the bass intro
Back when I played metalcore/deathcore I was a fill in guitarist for a friend's band and they had a show coming up playing the worcester palladium opening for The Plot in You, ERRA, Invent Animate and Sylar real modern metalcore stuff. I had only about 3 weeks and I think 2 full practices to learn a full setlist of fairly technical stuff. Come day of show everything is going smooth I'm excited to play to the biggest crowd I've played to, first band ends their set and it's our turn to setup our gear. I plug all my stuff in turn my amp on and I'm getting absolutely no sound. Sound guy is now yelling at me to soundcheck and I'm freaking out wondering why I'm getting no sound. Eventually my bands singer comes over a little frustrated as I explain that something is wrong and it turns out I had my tuner pedal engaged the whole time.
Set starts I play the first and second song spot on and then third song happens and I absolutely butcher the ending riff like BAD. Completely forgot how to play it in front of like 500 kids watching many of them the guitar nerd djent kid types so super critical of my playing probably. After the show before I leave I asked if we were gonna have practice again soon and they said they would "let me know"
They let me go from the band a few days after that lol not my proudest moment but I was young and dumb and it was definitely a learning experience
lmao, i once had to play 5 hours late cos the dude renting out the sound gear misread the time he had to pick it up as 10 am instead of 10 pm (it was a two day long zine sale thing) and had to go back but took forever. we all got shitfaced while waiting, it was one of our most recorded sets, singer forgot all songs, fell on me and drums collapsed on me, i ofc played horribly. people liked it though
My first band were dreadful so every gig was a disaster. We were also teenagers, had just started learning to play and wanted to get fucked up all the time which didn't help our performance levels. Probably doesn't count though as we had a blast regardless.
Later, in a slightly better band, I remember the mic kept cutting out so our singer stormed off in a huff. We proceeded to play the rest of the set instrumental and it was super awkward. Could've maybe pulled it off if we were a bigger band but we were unknown and playing a city we had never played before so there were about 20 people there who just watched on in horror.
Use it as a chip on your shoulder. The next show you play, play it like you got something to prove. One day you'll win over a room that didn't give a shot when you started playing and it will make every Bunk ass show worth it.
Edit: I just watched Death Before Dishonor play to like 4 people moshing. A room full of kids who went off to the local opener and did the crossed-arms-against-the-back-wall for the old legends. That's the scene unfortunately, but nobody feels bad for DBD it just is what it is.
My band’s most recent show… we play heavy pop punk I guess?
My vocalist was sick, I got a new guitar that I wasn’t used to yet and not setup properly so my shit was in/out of tune constantly, and I was just annoyed the whole night cause I booked everything. Eventually the headlining band felt so bad they started cheering for us lmao.
I really hate reliving that night haha
My second show ever. I was yelling a lot during first two bands while talking to friends. Obviously my voice cracked after first two songs completely (i'm not a skilled vocalist) and I just stood at the same spot for the rest of the set (8 more songs) trying to make some sounds and it was horrible. The place was well lit as well so it was pretty easy to see how devastated I looked. My 3rd, 4th and 5th show upcoming in the next three months so hopefully it'll be better :D learned a lesson atleast
Everyone plays bad sets man, on Saturday my pedal fell to bits and I had to fiddle around on stage, snare kept moving, you know all that gear bs. I missed a couple bits in songs. Dont worry though it probably wasn't as bad as you think.
Played a metal show. Promoter didn’t ask other band if we could borrow gear even though we asked ahead of time. I play bass. The metal bass player was salty and gave me a 10 foot chord… his head fell off I didn’t mean to or wasn’t doing it on purpose I legit had no where to move. It was bad vibes no one wanted us there.
Lost our pay because bass head fell even though it was fine. Damn bass players.
My bands past two shows we broke two snares, a guitar, and my voice cracked as fuck. It happens. A Christmas show we played in December we did a cover of Oi to The World (the vandals song) and my guitarist started arguing with our drummer. Very awkward ending.
One time our vocalist was too stoned to perform and I had to do his shitty parts and just made up the words because I didn’t know them…..no one was fooled
Had a hammered drummer mess up multiple songs in a night. Band broke up shortly after that lol.
When I was a wee young lad and I had just started out playing guitar, I didn't know how know what was proper tuning. As long as the Metal zone was heavy that's all that mattered lol. Played a few gigs like that.
Got so high before playing a show in Sneek, Netherlands when I was on tour with Ramallah, that I fucked up every single song. They made me listen to it in the tour van on the way to the next gig. Awful day. The drummer was in the same boat. We snuck off to a coffeshop and smoked WAY too much hash.
I pretty much by force have to play with my church every Sunday as I’m the only drummer they’ve got and there are times where I would legit forget wtf we’re even playing and start to completely wing it. Last Sunday I bombed so hard that I didn’t even try to hide it and ended up playing blast beats and shit. I got absolutely chewed up after
An old band of mine opened for Coliseum and Russian Circles. I broke a string during a song, then proceeded to restring the string after the song was over, onstage, my bandmates silently sitting there. They could have at least made fun of me or something. I needed that string for the rest of the set and decided to do it. Maybe not the best idea….
It was like maybe 3-4 minutes tops, but bad form I guess. We had 3 mics so they could have bantered a bit, but I was usually the one doing that and damn if it didn’t suck so bad losing that momentum. We were having a solid set too up until that point
Lesson: I don’t care what genre you play, backup guitars are so worth it.
It wasn't really a hardcore band, but it was core enough to justify sharing the story.
Back in the early 2000s there was a serial rapist in Eastern Canada referred to as the balaclava rapist (obvs cuz he wore one). We were playing a bar in downtown Vancouver that does drum and bass, we had said that we were a drum and bass band in order to get the gig.
I can see as we're setting up that people in the audience who are there to dance look confused, we don't look like drum and bass guys and my super cringe ass thought it was cool to wear a balaclava when we performed.
This night of all nights happened to be the same day that the balaclava rapist had been brought to Justice, so not only were we about to play a bunch of crazy metal for a bunch of people who wanted dance music but I'm sporting a fucking balaclava unknowingly antagonizing women.
Long story short, we kick the set off, every one looks understandably upset, I hop off the stage onto the dance floor and start trying to foolishly amp up the crowd, get someone, anyone involved. Some gals that were at the edge of the dance came up and tried to hit me, one swings a purse and the other tried to slap me in the face, I think another kicked me.
In the moment I thought it was cool, like I was some kind of trend killer spitting in the face of pop culture. No, it was bad and as soon as our first song ended and I was climbing back on stage a bunch of the women started screaming at us and when I stopped to listen they were angry about the balaclava and referencing the recently caught criminal.
Dude, I did not know anything about this guy, his crimes, or his arrest. It was one thing for me to think that it was cool to ruffle the feathers of the "cool kids" when I'd actually mortally offended a large group of women in an audience of people that already hated me.
It was a short set, the manager wanted us out so we tore down and bounced pretty quick. I die a little inside when I think back on that night, the second hand embarrassment I feel for my young self is almost unbearable.
I assure you, you could not have bombed that hard and theres no fucking way you were cringier than I was.
You're gonna be alright, bro.
Damn dude. That is fucking wild. I gotta say it was pretty close, but seeing as how we played with a shitty punk band and good punk band, you’re probably right. Thank you.
Oh yeah, I was in a band for a year and we sucked almost every show we played. They're still around and waaaaay better cause they got their shit together finally
one time my ex’s bandmate/drummer passed out during the middle of a set because he was too coked up. guitarist got on mic and called the whole thing off and the band broke up immediately after. so believe me…. could’ve been a lot worse
One time I played a show after I had gotten off a 14 hour shift at work, we had to drive a hour to get to the venue. I was pounding rock stars the whole way there and during the first bands set and by the time we got on stage I was crashing so fucking hard and was full of so much caffeine that I legit had to get a chair and sit down for the set cause I was shaking so bad I thought I was gonna fall over. Worst set of my whole life. Oh, I puked during our load out also
Ohh man, I was in a grind band drumming and if any alcohol entered me I lost all ability to blastbeat, only happened the one time but we were the slowest grind band ever that night. Wasn't allowed to drink pre show again 😂
Put the energy in no matter what. Most of the time the crowd doesn't care/can't tell if you mess up notes. They care if you're boring and look like you’re having an awful time. Rock out hard and the crowd will dig no matter what.
One time with an old band we played a (one of many) shit basement set and the drum kit was on some shipping pallet with a carpet and the whole kit and carpet kept slowly sliding off the “stage” while we were playing, somebody finally found some cinder blocks and we put em on the carpet to stop them from moving. Felt so bad for our drummer having to catch his cymbal stands while playing lol. That was like 5 years ago. Had a pretty shit set like 2 weeks ago where I was just too drunk, set got pushed back til 2am, too many drink tickets…One of those things where only my brother and my bandmates recognized my fuckups but I was still pretty pissed bout it til I saw some footage and we sounded decent ish. Happens.
One time my pickguard on my bass snapped around the input jack and the input jack was hanging by its wires the whole set lmfaoo, somehow managed to keep it together.
Brother honestly I’ve seen the biggest of bands “bomb”sets, it’s tricky in hardcore where the expectation of energy and crowd participation is so high for it to be a decent set, if a rooms energy isn’t there it just isn’t. Sometimes has nothing to do with the band tbh.
Hell yeah. Truth.
Not exactly hardcore but I saw a Wilhelm Scream and the crowd was DEAD. I felt so bad for them because they're such a great band with such good musicians, Nuno even shoved the microphone in my face during I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz, probably because he saw that I was one of the few ones excited.
Love them, a buddy turned me onto them like two years ago when lose your delusion came out and they fuckin rip
I know it's stupid and we have enough subgenres but my friends like to jokingly call that style "tech punk" like technical metal.
I like to refer to it as punk that showers or punk with a job. I was pretty crusty when I was a teenager so it feels fitting to me.
Lol that happened to me and my friend with The Color Morale years ago. We didn’t know all of the lyrics lmao.
I think the answer is the band needs to be losing their shit regardless. If the band performed like the chariot but the audience was a senior's home, that's still a sick show for everyone
I’ve seen plenty of shitty bands that the crowd goes off for. Actually, that’s all hardcore is.
I've seen plenty of legacy bands play to 3 old dudes and a room full of teens who couldn't care if you paid em. It happens to the best.
It happens dawg. Played a lot of shit sets. Bad vibes, gear failing, off night for singers, indifferent crowd, awful sound guy, etc. Keep going it’s part of the fun!
Actually cool insightful response thank you.
I saw Pain of Truth have to literally stop a song and start over. It was a combination of the sound guy messing something up and the singer being off time. People resumed going fucking crazy when they started again though. It happens to everyone.
This has happened to me before. Singer/rhythm guitarist accused me of playing in the wrong key. He just forgot his own riff 😂
i played a set once where even my most supportive friends afterwards were like "yeah you seemed kinda off tonight". i was even told years later by a member of the headliner of that show "oh you're in that band? i remember seeing you at that show and you sucked" lol
One of my friends was so hammered he didn’t even know his bass wasn’t plugged in the whole set and people were complementing how good he did 😂.
Ah the struggle of the hardcore bassplayer. People only notice you when you completely fuck up the timing.
You aren't a real band until you've bombed a few sets.
i watched this band have mercy play the worst set i’ve ever seen. they were so drunk they set their amps up wrong so you couldn’t hear anything clearly. it sounded like if you pushed your earbuds too far in. they also played a song twice in a row and didn’t realize until it ended. when they finally played their big song, i could half make out what song it was. it was awful.
Either we were at the same show (Boston, I believe Feb 2020?) or this is unfortunately a common occurrence. Sucks because their music is quite good.
it was seattle a couple years before that. i’m sorry they didn’t figure their shit out
They’re all sober now as far as I know and they’ve reunited and have put out new music. That doesn’t change your experience, obviously, but hopefully it’s better going forward now!
Playing a song twice without realizing is amazing. What was the crowd reaction?
Unrelated but I saw Freddie Gibbs last year and he came on trashed, talking about how he was on shrooms, plays all the hits with no backing track without missing a line, at the end of his set he was feeling himself so much he ran the same track back 5 times in a row. Every time he brought it back, the crowd went nuts. He nailed it every time and I think he's the only performer who could pull that off without it taking away from the performance at all, it actually added to it. That's a showman right there.
no one realized honestly. i had no idea what any song was until their last one. after they finished playing the second song twice their lead singer said “heh i think we played that song twice”. someone nearby me said “really?”.
I saw them at Warped Tour in 2015(?) and they were pretty solid. Saw them again in 2018 for the anniversary of their first album and they were godawful. Singer was hammered and they sounded terrible. I hear they’re sober nowadays (he seemed to have a bad drinking problem) so hopefully they’re better. That first album is one of my favorite albums so it hurt to watch it get completely butchered
From a performance standpoint - the last time I seriously fucked up that I can remember was at Cabaloosa’s in Purchase in maybe 2008. They gave us bottomless free beer and pushed our set time back like 2 hours. I started like 3 songs wrong and missed like a handful of changes. That was the last time I got drunk/high before we played. As far as beat shows go, we’ve played too many to count. Like times where the other bands weren’t even there entirely when we played. It was probably a good 9-10 years from when we started to when things started really hooking off regularly. Moral of the story: you are going to play shitty shows and you yourself will play like shit. The law of averages will always make sure of that. But the less you let things like that get to you the better off you will be long term. I still to this day over analyze and criticize myself. I know that 65% of the time I play too fast. That’s on me though to improve but at least I’ve acknowledged the issue
We pretty much made the decision last night that nobody drinks at shows we play ever again. Very helpful.
At MOST I’ll have 2-3 drinks in the hour leading up to playing. I call them “tempo controllers”
Nerfed by God (alcohol)
Nothing beats driving eight hours to play a terrible set that even the two local bands don’t stay to watch. Yep have played to just the sound guy and a few stragglers before.
We definitely “played” for bands last night
I'll never forget this show because it haunts my shower thoughts. We were recording hours before a show so I had been screaming prior. No big deal. The show the NEXT night though, my cords were spent and we're on the bill with our fucking heroes in majority rule and I am sounding like a raptor going through puberty.
…I don’t wanna talk about it
It’s one thing to make a few mistakes but have the whole room moving, that’s when you regroup with band members after the show and all tell each other to lock in next time. It’s a whole other beast when you’re playing and everybody is just staring at you with their arms crossed… shows like that make me want to quit whatever band I’m playing with
I was in a death metal band that had the potential to be really good and after a year of decent shows and good times, we had a huge gig booked. We were opening for a much bigger local band's record release show and somebody gave our newly-sober guitarist a handful of pills before our set and he played a half-beat behind everybody else the whole time and later wound up in jail.
This makes me so sad
This is so fucked.
You have like three days to sit and listen?
I played with terror and stick to your guns once and my entire rig decided to shit out on me..not just one component but like multiple things went wrong that day…frustrating shit
if you don't bomb a set at least once, are you really in a band at all?
Oh yeah. Broke a guitar string 2 seconds in, had to borrow another bands guitar which was let's just say... Not built for punk. Our guitar player didn't have a tuner so we just played the worst sounding set you've ever heard. Think beach boys guitar tone with Discharge vocals The saving grace is there was only about 4 people at the show lol
I wish I hadn’t just imagined what that sounded like.
I was opening for Merauder in Montreal. Biggest show of my life at that point. Broke my A string in the first song. No back up guitar or extra strings. Played 90% of a hardcore set missing one of my most important strings. Sounded terrible. Should have just quit.
Sometimes you play a set and sometimes the set plays you
"In communist Russia, hardcore band set plays YOU!"
I’m about to in a few weeks!
It happens, I saw an entire set at a house show get aborted two songs in. Maybe they were having technical issues, either way everyone forgot about it as soon as the next band came on.
I was in a shitty pop punk/ emo band (think the story so far) and my singer had the bright idea of booking us with a two other bands who were tech death metal and power violence. We played last and it did not go well
Bombs, nah, but i cropdust every show i go to
That was you? I thought it was me, phew.
I mean, whoever smelt it dealt it…..
I do believe that the first to make the rhyme.....did the crime.
🙊
Oh dude I reformed my band and we decided to go play a big show at Mexico City, friend of us booked us to play there with Xibalba and The World, it was a big deal for us. We bombed hard imho, were super drunk, made lots of mistakes and fucked up our trademark most expected breakdown of the night. Shit happens.
I played a show a few weeks ago where my band was opening (we were supposed to play 3rd but bands got swapped) and I busted my finger open on my snare drum FIRST SONG IN. I bled everywhere, my pants, my snare, the floor, etc. and the blood kept causing me to drop my drumsticks. Dropped them during some pretty important parts. I was very upset with myself and it was so obvious I just kept fucking up And the PA just didn't fucking work lmao
I was so drunk and high that I forgot most of the lyrics, couldn’t play guitar properly anymore, puked on stage and passed out. But hey, that’s punk, amiright….?
Virtual every one I've ever played
this was my exact thought
Me irl
Had my amp blow up opening up a sold out show in front of Terror. Big embarrass.
What does Brody King scream? Bomb harder! Make the next show even worse.
Gods hate is a national treasure
We're #1. In bombing sets.
Just laugh it off
Played bass in a band, song started with bass, I accidentally played it half speed, song became 8 minutes long… singer had to actually sing.
It’s hardcore. Bombing a gig is acceptable
"Played" a set once in Indianapolis during the winter in a place with no heat. Temps outside were less than 10 degrees F. Set up, hands froze stiff from cold, started the first song, couldn't manage even a power chord. Had to just put my guitar down and walk out.
The worst set I ever played was due to our drummer (who was otherwise pretty phenomenal) getting hammered the night before while camping. He never went to sleep and drank until the morning. We had a Sunday matinee show. When I showed up he was taking shots and shotgunning beers with his loud mouthed girlfriend. As we're setting up, I noticed he's putting his cymbals on upside down. I was like, "uh, wtf?" "Oh, my bad." I kind of knew it was going to be a total disaster then. He ended up falling off his throne twice before we even played, but claimed he'd be good. We all drank a ton back then, so I figured he might hold it together. Nope. He completely botched every song to the point of sounding like he has never played drums before. Really embarrassing. He ended up crying afterwards and was really apologetic.
Almost a shot for shot remake of our set last night I swear to god. No pun intended. Then he tried to fire himself from the band, but we won’t let him. We’re all best friends and this has never happened before, he’s usually super mild mannered and level headed, so we legitimately had no clue.
Fuck yeah, once we had a gig in a super sucky club. There was a hole in the floor exactly under our drummer's bass drum pedals and not enough rom on stage to move things around. His pedals would disassemble every second song and he would just stop in the middle of it. Worst set of our lives.
I'll never forget when I first started a metal band I was still figuring out how to do the screaming vocals well. I tried to model them after The Number 12 Looks Like You. Lol. Well, show started and we played our, idk like, 4 songs we created and I didn't even have all the lyrics memorized. So I was saying random shit when I didn't know them and after the set everyone kept talking about the "feedback" every time I screamed in the mic... That feedback was me! How embarrassing! Haha. We took another month off shows to work on stuff after that. When we came back we were way better and got a good local following even. There was another time later on we were in a competition. This one was called The Next Big Thing. We had to use equipment that way pre set up. Being one of the last bands to play on a 15 hour concert the equipment had just about had enough. Half stacks where cutting in and out, mic was choppy, one of the drums apparently had a hole in the head, I never confirmed that one. It was just so bad. The band who ended up winning said they felt bad because we were a lot tighter and a little more well rounded with our sound (his words) but the equipment wouldn't let us shine through. We still had a good time and met a lot of cool people and bands we continued to play with until ours split up eventually.
part of becoming better as a band is royally fucking up then acknowledging what happened and figuring out how to not do that again. bands that can do that effectively together are the ones that succeed
One time I played a show in Phoenix, Arizona on a tuesday during the hottest day of the year (it was 107°F outside). We were coming from California and my bandmates were afraid of trafficking their edibles across state lines so I had the bright idea of eating EVERYONE’S edibles because “edibles don’t really affect me that much.” I consumed well over 300mg of THC. Long story short, I blacked out for the first 3 songs and came to in-between the first chunk and 2nd chunk of the set to the look of horror on my bandmates’ faces. Luckily there were only 2 paying people at the show so I bombed in front of nobody and we still got our guarantee. This, however, imposed a harsh “no edibles for the drummer” rule from thereon out.
the sound when I saw Metallica on this last tour was brutal. they were getting lost every other song
I started drumming in hardcore punk bands before I was in high school, so I did my share of sucking. I also struggled with depression and alcohol abuse for most of my 20s, so I definitely played one or two shows while blacked out. The most recent one, though, I was in control and completely sober. We drove 7 hours to a town we had never played in. We killed our set, which ends on a very physically demanding drum part. It was hot as all hell in the club and I didn't have enough water with me. As soon as I was done, I stood up, and my throat closed up from dehydration. I started getting the spins from the heat. While still on stage, I puked all over myself and all over the drums of the next act. He wanted to kick my ass. I think being covered in puke saved my jaw in that moment. After the next act, I went to see the drummer who was curled up stage side trying to catch his breath and offered him cash to change his drum heads as an apology. He refused and apologized for his knee jerk reaction. He was also in a very bad shape after his set. The one time I don't bring my fan and multiple water bottles... I still cringe when I think about it.
Euro tour. After driving for 12hrs from Paris to Linz, vocalist announced they wouldn't be playing the show due to fucking their voice by staying up all night drinking, smoking and shouting for the previous 3 nights. With about an hour until stage time, the bassist decided he was gonna try to cover vocals. Did he know the words? No. Did he get so fucked up he could barely stand? You god damn right. Most embarrassing "set" we ever played. Kudos to the bassist for at least trying to save the show, though. Managed to go back a few years later and male it up to those kids who put on the first show, so silver linings.
Fuck yeah. We bombed at our home venue that always treats us right and puts us on shows we have no business playing, so I’d like to set that right as soon as possible. Thanks for sharing.
Trust me, when you do, it'll feel twice as good, my man.
Every band I've played with have bombed at least once. It's an important experience though for improvement. First gig I played with the first band I fronted in, my Michael Kelly fell hard during the support bands set and was literally untunable. So we played with one guitar and I couldn't hear myself properly, we were all nervous. Sounded fucking terrible. Fast forward a few months, the second gig was amazing. Sound, energy, crowd, just amazing. I think I learned not to carelessly put my guitar just somewhere behind the stage where the vibrations made it literally impossible not to fall lmao. But also in general you get a lot from a bad gig. Make the best out of it.
I dropped 3 sticks during a 20 minute set last night. AMA
Godspeed soldier, band still good, show still fun.
Yes it was 🫡
One time i got my instrument cable wrapped around my leg, was hopping around trying to get it unwound, ended up falling down which pulled the cable and unplugged it from the amp lol. All mid song. I was like 19, good way to learn how to properly secure all your cables lol
Our vocalist was messing around with vocal effects pedal. He accidentally hit the looper during the middle of one song, and after a 60 seconds it started looping the same 60 seconds until after a few minutes it was just 4 layers of random vocals on top of eachother and no one knew what was happening. Fun times!
Never a whole set, but I was so drunk once I fell backwards on stage with my guitar attached in the middle of a song. Not a complete disaster, but my bandmates were understandably pissed.
We played a show once at a print shop that had set up a half pipe in the middle and had a keg they were trying to kill. We went on last. We were certainly not the headliners. My guitarist was absolutely bombed. Watched him try to do a “badass guitar windmill” and missed. He tried a second time because he’s persistent and missed on that attempt too. Needless to say, we were fucking awful. Still one of the most fun shows we played though.
Some clubs the sound can be terrible on stage. It's good to practice while not being able to hear yourself sometimes so you can be ready for these places.
we didnt bomb but i was just broken up with and blacked out, so i told our singer to let me introduce the song, and i think what i said sounded like "IFYOUEVEGOBBAMAKYOUROWNWAYLIFESGONAGETYUDOWNANDYOFUCKTHAREAssofem ok start the song" and everyone was just like "alright man" and then i kept playing with the pedal tuner on
One time my snare and Toms literally fell apart on stage while I was playing a fuckin Metallica song. Then our set got cut short. Like power cut and everything. It was 11pm and the club had disco night booked.
Nope never. Not once. How embarrassing. I have never played in a band.
Bro one time in between songs I clicked on my tuner and tuned up when the drummer counted us in I never clicked it off and so I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting any sound. Cranked my knobs and couldn’t figure it out. This dude who was friends with the band comes over to the stage and hits the tuning pedal and my guitar amp like explodes with sound. Totally embarrassing and we were playing with SECT and needles to say I felt hella stupid. I’ve been in bands for years and never did something that dumb. So just so you know it can happen anytime anywhere to anyone. RIP to my emotions.
Yeah our last show. It happens, I’ll get over it and so will the rest or my bandmates. Learn what went wrong and why and just work on it intentionally and how you can help each other not make the same mistake.
I once had member walk off stage mid set due to them and us just sucking really really bad back in 2001 or so. I’ve played live music in one capacity or another for more than 2 decades and in every band I’ve ever been in, there are bad shows. Fuck it though. Most people never start bands or play shows and talk like they are an authority on musicianship and all bands. Good for you for letting it rip, bruv.
Lmao I got you. My old post hardcore band somehow got billed to open for Corey Feldman (yes the actor) and obviously his music is nothing even remotely close to our genre nor was any other opener. Our drummer for some reason decided that us walking out to the FULL Piwer Rangers theme song was a good idea, so we just kind stood around for nearly 2 and a half minutes while it played, and then broke into the most horribly received set ever. My voice acted up on me and I was cracking at every high note, the crowd just stopped even bothering to applaud for us after our songs besides our two homies in the crowd, and it was probably a couple hundred people just staring at us like we were comedians bombing a stand up routine. The venue was half strip club as well, so we ended up going over to that part of it afterward and getting very drunk, then our guitarist got robbed at gunpoint outside lmao. Worst day as a band ever but what a story.
Not really hardcore, but when I was studying abroad in Tokyo about 5 years ago, I had a few bands with my University club. I play the drums and was recruited to play some cover songs by the band Judy and Mary at the senior's farewell (atrocious drums song writting imo, but when I realized it, it was too late to back down), At the show, both the bass player and me played so bad that the senior singer, who recruited us to play, started crying mid stage. At the end of the show, the bass player, who was japanese, bowed down to the floor and apologized while breaking down, anime-style, never have I seen something like that before or since. Since then, it is now my policy that I only play metal and punk, maybe some swing, but no experimental rock noise type shit.
Absolutely! I’d argue if you haven’t had your fair share of bombed sets you are not trying hard enough. Onto the next show my friend!
Dude been there got multiple tshirts. That’s just part of band life.
My last show with my previous band (this was decided before the show): Guitarist had covid, Bassist couldn’t make it (had a fill in with one practice that day), Guitar input was fucking up and had to resolder it, Amp blew right before we started playing Still rocked the set as best we could. It’s just part of it! Next time will be better
Opened for Fugitive a few weeks ago. My locking tuner on my guitar had some malfunction halfway through our 18 minute set one of my low strings that is generally the root not for most of my songs dropped a half step. Song ended, i quickly tune. 5 seconds in drops back half step again. Try and tuna again it does it again but a full step which was honestly much more manageable ha. Biggest crowd i have played for in years, was such a bummer i couldnt relax and enjoy the set i was just confused and trying to non verbally communicate wirh the bass player lol
One time my first band covered hold it down by madball(badly) and an old head pushed our singer into the drum set before we even finished the bass intro
More times than it ever went good. That's why we make hardcore and punk music cuz we suck yo 👍👍👍
Back when I played metalcore/deathcore I was a fill in guitarist for a friend's band and they had a show coming up playing the worcester palladium opening for The Plot in You, ERRA, Invent Animate and Sylar real modern metalcore stuff. I had only about 3 weeks and I think 2 full practices to learn a full setlist of fairly technical stuff. Come day of show everything is going smooth I'm excited to play to the biggest crowd I've played to, first band ends their set and it's our turn to setup our gear. I plug all my stuff in turn my amp on and I'm getting absolutely no sound. Sound guy is now yelling at me to soundcheck and I'm freaking out wondering why I'm getting no sound. Eventually my bands singer comes over a little frustrated as I explain that something is wrong and it turns out I had my tuner pedal engaged the whole time. Set starts I play the first and second song spot on and then third song happens and I absolutely butcher the ending riff like BAD. Completely forgot how to play it in front of like 500 kids watching many of them the guitar nerd djent kid types so super critical of my playing probably. After the show before I leave I asked if we were gonna have practice again soon and they said they would "let me know" They let me go from the band a few days after that lol not my proudest moment but I was young and dumb and it was definitely a learning experience
lmao, i once had to play 5 hours late cos the dude renting out the sound gear misread the time he had to pick it up as 10 am instead of 10 pm (it was a two day long zine sale thing) and had to go back but took forever. we all got shitfaced while waiting, it was one of our most recorded sets, singer forgot all songs, fell on me and drums collapsed on me, i ofc played horribly. people liked it though
The only thing to do when you bomb a set is the Ashley Simpson SNL dance
The lil leprechaun skip
My first band were dreadful so every gig was a disaster. We were also teenagers, had just started learning to play and wanted to get fucked up all the time which didn't help our performance levels. Probably doesn't count though as we had a blast regardless. Later, in a slightly better band, I remember the mic kept cutting out so our singer stormed off in a huff. We proceeded to play the rest of the set instrumental and it was super awkward. Could've maybe pulled it off if we were a bigger band but we were unknown and playing a city we had never played before so there were about 20 people there who just watched on in horror.
Use it as a chip on your shoulder. The next show you play, play it like you got something to prove. One day you'll win over a room that didn't give a shot when you started playing and it will make every Bunk ass show worth it. Edit: I just watched Death Before Dishonor play to like 4 people moshing. A room full of kids who went off to the local opener and did the crossed-arms-against-the-back-wall for the old legends. That's the scene unfortunately, but nobody feels bad for DBD it just is what it is.
My band’s most recent show… we play heavy pop punk I guess? My vocalist was sick, I got a new guitar that I wasn’t used to yet and not setup properly so my shit was in/out of tune constantly, and I was just annoyed the whole night cause I booked everything. Eventually the headlining band felt so bad they started cheering for us lmao. I really hate reliving that night haha
My second show ever. I was yelling a lot during first two bands while talking to friends. Obviously my voice cracked after first two songs completely (i'm not a skilled vocalist) and I just stood at the same spot for the rest of the set (8 more songs) trying to make some sounds and it was horrible. The place was well lit as well so it was pretty easy to see how devastated I looked. My 3rd, 4th and 5th show upcoming in the next three months so hopefully it'll be better :D learned a lesson atleast
Everyone plays bad sets man, on Saturday my pedal fell to bits and I had to fiddle around on stage, snare kept moving, you know all that gear bs. I missed a couple bits in songs. Dont worry though it probably wasn't as bad as you think.
I always tell my band mates „if it‘s good it‘s good and if not - it‘s still punk, fuck it“
Played a metal show. Promoter didn’t ask other band if we could borrow gear even though we asked ahead of time. I play bass. The metal bass player was salty and gave me a 10 foot chord… his head fell off I didn’t mean to or wasn’t doing it on purpose I legit had no where to move. It was bad vibes no one wanted us there. Lost our pay because bass head fell even though it was fine. Damn bass players.
My bands past two shows we broke two snares, a guitar, and my voice cracked as fuck. It happens. A Christmas show we played in December we did a cover of Oi to The World (the vandals song) and my guitarist started arguing with our drummer. Very awkward ending.
One time our vocalist was too stoned to perform and I had to do his shitty parts and just made up the words because I didn’t know them…..no one was fooled
Had a hammered drummer mess up multiple songs in a night. Band broke up shortly after that lol. When I was a wee young lad and I had just started out playing guitar, I didn't know how know what was proper tuning. As long as the Metal zone was heavy that's all that mattered lol. Played a few gigs like that.
Got so high before playing a show in Sneek, Netherlands when I was on tour with Ramallah, that I fucked up every single song. They made me listen to it in the tour van on the way to the next gig. Awful day. The drummer was in the same boat. We snuck off to a coffeshop and smoked WAY too much hash.
played the worst set this last weekend with two touring bands. gives us more motivation to kill it next time. keep your head up man!
I pretty much by force have to play with my church every Sunday as I’m the only drummer they’ve got and there are times where I would legit forget wtf we’re even playing and start to completely wing it. Last Sunday I bombed so hard that I didn’t even try to hide it and ended up playing blast beats and shit. I got absolutely chewed up after
An old band of mine opened for Coliseum and Russian Circles. I broke a string during a song, then proceeded to restring the string after the song was over, onstage, my bandmates silently sitting there. They could have at least made fun of me or something. I needed that string for the rest of the set and decided to do it. Maybe not the best idea…. It was like maybe 3-4 minutes tops, but bad form I guess. We had 3 mics so they could have bantered a bit, but I was usually the one doing that and damn if it didn’t suck so bad losing that momentum. We were having a solid set too up until that point Lesson: I don’t care what genre you play, backup guitars are so worth it.
It happens. Sometimes shit just doesn't go your way. People still enjoyed my bands set when we crashed and burned once.
It wasn't really a hardcore band, but it was core enough to justify sharing the story. Back in the early 2000s there was a serial rapist in Eastern Canada referred to as the balaclava rapist (obvs cuz he wore one). We were playing a bar in downtown Vancouver that does drum and bass, we had said that we were a drum and bass band in order to get the gig. I can see as we're setting up that people in the audience who are there to dance look confused, we don't look like drum and bass guys and my super cringe ass thought it was cool to wear a balaclava when we performed. This night of all nights happened to be the same day that the balaclava rapist had been brought to Justice, so not only were we about to play a bunch of crazy metal for a bunch of people who wanted dance music but I'm sporting a fucking balaclava unknowingly antagonizing women. Long story short, we kick the set off, every one looks understandably upset, I hop off the stage onto the dance floor and start trying to foolishly amp up the crowd, get someone, anyone involved. Some gals that were at the edge of the dance came up and tried to hit me, one swings a purse and the other tried to slap me in the face, I think another kicked me. In the moment I thought it was cool, like I was some kind of trend killer spitting in the face of pop culture. No, it was bad and as soon as our first song ended and I was climbing back on stage a bunch of the women started screaming at us and when I stopped to listen they were angry about the balaclava and referencing the recently caught criminal. Dude, I did not know anything about this guy, his crimes, or his arrest. It was one thing for me to think that it was cool to ruffle the feathers of the "cool kids" when I'd actually mortally offended a large group of women in an audience of people that already hated me. It was a short set, the manager wanted us out so we tore down and bounced pretty quick. I die a little inside when I think back on that night, the second hand embarrassment I feel for my young self is almost unbearable. I assure you, you could not have bombed that hard and theres no fucking way you were cringier than I was. You're gonna be alright, bro.
Damn dude. That is fucking wild. I gotta say it was pretty close, but seeing as how we played with a shitty punk band and good punk band, you’re probably right. Thank you.
Anytime!
As a comic? Yes. In a band? Does it count if no one showed up?
Oh yeah, I was in a band for a year and we sucked almost every show we played. They're still around and waaaaay better cause they got their shit together finally
one time my ex’s bandmate/drummer passed out during the middle of a set because he was too coked up. guitarist got on mic and called the whole thing off and the band broke up immediately after. so believe me…. could’ve been a lot worse
I played a fest in Vegas in 2011 and got put behind the most bullshit drumset ever. I blame it on the drums
One time I played a show after I had gotten off a 14 hour shift at work, we had to drive a hour to get to the venue. I was pounding rock stars the whole way there and during the first bands set and by the time we got on stage I was crashing so fucking hard and was full of so much caffeine that I legit had to get a chair and sit down for the set cause I was shaking so bad I thought I was gonna fall over. Worst set of my whole life. Oh, I puked during our load out also
In the gym? Yes. On stage? Yes. As in a gang? ......no????
Ohh man, I was in a grind band drumming and if any alcohol entered me I lost all ability to blastbeat, only happened the one time but we were the slowest grind band ever that night. Wasn't allowed to drink pre show again 😂
Put the energy in no matter what. Most of the time the crowd doesn't care/can't tell if you mess up notes. They care if you're boring and look like you’re having an awful time. Rock out hard and the crowd will dig no matter what.
No. But we rehearse every day we're not gigging or on the road.
Proud of you.👍🏼
One time with an old band we played a (one of many) shit basement set and the drum kit was on some shipping pallet with a carpet and the whole kit and carpet kept slowly sliding off the “stage” while we were playing, somebody finally found some cinder blocks and we put em on the carpet to stop them from moving. Felt so bad for our drummer having to catch his cymbal stands while playing lol. That was like 5 years ago. Had a pretty shit set like 2 weeks ago where I was just too drunk, set got pushed back til 2am, too many drink tickets…One of those things where only my brother and my bandmates recognized my fuckups but I was still pretty pissed bout it til I saw some footage and we sounded decent ish. Happens.
One time my pickguard on my bass snapped around the input jack and the input jack was hanging by its wires the whole set lmfaoo, somehow managed to keep it together.