Lack of security in local pub gigs..........

[Chobbersjnr]

OK threadsters

I've done gigs (havn't we all) from one end of the country to the other and it would appear that the further north you gig the less security there is for the peace of mind of the musicians that have to entertain.

If the band/musician whatever starts to feel threatened at a gig because of the antics of the public it's surely up to the staff to make them feel safe

I've had trouble break out in front of me & in well run venues this isn't a problem because the door staff are right on it & I feel safe in roughly 10 seconds

BUT when it gets to the point where people are too intimidated to move in a public house it's coming to something beyond a joke & IMO it's up to the publican in charge to restore order & make people feel safe.

If you go to the "city" there are usually big burly scary looking people at the door to let you know "we stand for no nonsense". Fortunately it's not just the city, the Central & Skinandi's are well manned security wise & it makes a dude feel safe & able to do the job of entertaining the public without worrying about what the neep in front of you is going to do from one second to the next, that shouldn't be a worry to the band or performer if it is there is problems in the staff line up.

OK it can be said there's one in every crowd, & guess what there usually is BUT it can generally be controlled & kept to a good level of humour in order for the gig to proceed smoothly.

some places are known to be "crash helmet jobs" you go into these gigs knowing what may lie ahead & what might occur in a night the choice is yours but your standard "modern bar" should IMO have a strong presence of security.

all the seasoned muso's on this ere forum can now take this opportunity to share their "one in the crowd" stories as I'm sure there are plenty. I know I've a few to tell....................at a later date

[DOC ROCK]

Remember that private function in a Wick club several years ago, we did end up with the best seats in town. What about that nut "Skippy", I'm sure you haven't forgot him. "He should have stayed in the bush with the other Kangaroos". I have performed at several gigs over the years which have suddenly turned into a battle zone, which as you say is not much fun especially when you have a small fortunes worth of equipment surrounding you. It unfortunately seems to go with the territory on the odd occasion. Pepper spray and steel toe-capped boots, packed in with the kit could be one solution..:mad:

[moncur]

A couple of years ago, I was playing with duress in The Newmarket. While we were setting up, a drunk forty-something year old wifey kicked David's Bass drum skin when he took it out of the case. While we were playing she was stumbling about all over the place, she fell towards me and knocked my mic stand towards me, I promptly booted the mic stand in her direction, putting her on her rear end. She was promptly ejected from the premises (with HUGE roars of joy) and Ian crawford ran over to set my mic back up to carry on with the song. Also had a bad experience in the waterfront with people coming on stage whilst we were still trying to pack our gear away.

[Deemac]

Chobbers, you know doubt remember recently that Whisky gig in Mackays Hotel, Wick. Rossie was attached mid-song by an old geezer who's hearing aid (he claimed) was broken by the band's volume.

And this was at a wedding dance!!

Wick - It's a rough place (almost as bad a Bettyhill!!!)

Also remember playing Thurso Golf Club (the posh do's seem to be the worst!!), the head heagin (spelling??) was well gone and claiming he had already paid the band (which he hadn't). We were very close to an all out battle. (Never gone back to that place thank goodness).

PS: We did get a letter of apology later though, which was a nice touch.

[clash67]

I remember on numerous occasions people coming onto the stage,spilling beer all over our eqiupment. One guy fell against a speaker stack sending it crashing down towards a lady who was sitting at a nearby table, she was totally unaware as she had her back to the incident, if they landed on her she would almost certainly have been hotspitalised,luckily myself and someone from the audience managed to grab them in time.
Another thing I used to hate was when people came up in the middle of a song and start talking to you while your trying to entertain, I had a punter actually screaming in my ear " do you remember such n'such song! it kinda goes DA DA DEE DA DA DEE!" he was doing this while I was trying to do a solo and I don't know to this day what I ended up playing or wether I was in tune or not cause I couldn't hear anything other than the idiot hanging on my shoulder...then there's the drunks who can't see a tambourine on stage without jumping up midsong and start shaking it totally out of time, much to the drummers horror! I could go on and on with stories about the lack of security in venues...good thread chobbersjnr

[moncur]

Ok who else had the guy that wanders up to you, picks up your set-list for that night and points to a song saying to you 'Do you know how to play that one?'. Obviously we know how to play it!!! Why we put it on a set-list if we didn't intend playing it????!!!!!!

[Chobbersjnr]

it's the guy that says "do you know the one that goes do dah dah dee dah doooo????" NO I DON'T..................................why not you're a band & proceeds to look at you as though you're the biggest neep since Jarvis Cocker

[Jeid]

I think everyone looks at you like that, because you are the biggest neep since Jarvis Cocker!

[clash67]

it's the guy that says "do you know the one that goes do dah dah dee dah doooo????" NO I DON'T..................................why not you're a band & proceeds to look at you as though you're the biggest neep since Jarvis Cocker
lol, yeah, funny how people expect you to know every song they can think of at a click of the fingers and when you say yeah I know that song but the rest of the band might not, or might know a different version and we can just start playing it and hope that it all just falls together, they assume that the band must be rubbish.
I had a lady (lets call her a lady for arguments sake) ask me to play "ferry across the mersy" ( or how ever you spell Mersy) when I told her that I didn't know the words ( really I did but who would play that song in a middle of a rock gig...or anywhere else for that matter) she was absolutely insulting to the band and almost started a bar fight! Sometimes it can be funny, but sometimes it makes you want to pack up your gear and confine yourself to being a bedroom player and never giggin again.
I've been playing now for a quarter of a century and I think I must have met every freak throughout Britian that spoils things for the more well behaved punter.
Best behaved audience that I can recall has to be Dundee during the blues festival.

[The Pepsi Challenge]

Best behaved audience that I can recall has to be Dundee during the blues festival.

I'd agree with you on that: the bourgeois blues crowd are too middle-class and middle-aged for aggro.

As for the worst, though, just head along to any of the following gigs:
Any tribute band Stone Roses show; Charlatans; Oasis; The Streets; etc., etc.

[Chobbersjnr]

I think everyone looks at you like that, because you are the biggest neep since Jarvis Cocker!

one day I'll get the opportunity to look at the "spelling nazi" in that way.......................mwhahahaha & request mustang sally & be awfully peeved if you can't do it instantly

[Chobbersjnr]

Remember that private function in a Wick club several years ago, we did end up with the best seats in town. What about that nut "Skippy", I'm sure you haven't forgot him. "He should have stayed in the bush with the other Kangaroos".

heck yeah Skippy...................an ossy drinking whisky in a scottish pub tryin' to be scottish in the middle of a load of scottish people & Geordies (but they don't count)

& the function in wick reminds me of a statement "can I take ye home???, I'm no really fat I've got 2 chakats on"

bleh shudder shudder

[angela5]

"can I take ye home???, I'm no really fat I've got 2 chakats on"



That's the funniest chat-up line i've heard. You should put that on the general.:lol:

[Deemac]

Chobbers - THat's the funniest thing I've heard you say!! Well done . . . .

(The certificate is in the post also!!)

[Reev]

The waterfront and the newmarket, now, the newmarket was hilarious, as moncur cracked the mic off her head, lol, and the waterfront, remember the guy who jumped on the stage and grabbed my bass so i grabbed it off him and pushed him off the stage, hahahaha, but yeah, were there doing our thing, bringing in money for wherever we play, and yeah, the "rowdy" crowd thing is something that bands shouldnt have to worry about, be it shouting abuse, coming on the stage, or attacking our gear, my opinion, someone comes up on a stage and starts kicking off, well, you "kick them off" the freaking stage :D

[moncur]

Ah the good ol' days reev! Mind that time at Wick High School during the 'Ard Rock when some old dude with a dodgy tash ran up on stage and started singing one of 'OUR' Songs?

[Reev]

Darn tootin i do, who was that mysterious good looking individual, hhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm

[Chobbersjnr]

Darn tootin i do, who was that mysterious good looking individual, hhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm

I would gues that it was your auld Public Address system that you sold reev, imagine sellin' yer pa[lol] [lol]