Hey folks! Jeff from The Surf Trio/Blood Red Vinyl & Discs here. Sorry to sound negative, but this earlier subject got me to thinking. Our band had plenty of both good and bad nights over the years, but one bad one that stands out for me is Magdeburg (sp?), Germany in about 1996. Having had one of our BEST shows in Cologne (packed house, sweaty, wild rock&roll abandon, etc.), The Surf Trio rode in a van all night long to former East Germany. The show was in this dreary little youth center which, we learned, had previously been a prison. About 13 really scary street-punk type kids bothered to show up along with a few equally terrifying dogs. We played fine - outdoors in the rain - but it couldn't have mattered less. Magdeburg is easily the most DEPRESSING place I've ever been in my life, and the baker's dozen of concertgoers wasn't about to be swayed to our side by a few tasty surf licks. I can't say they hated us (nary a brick was thrown), but I've never seen an audience so utterly consumed by apathy. Ah, The Surf Trio...Magdeburg - suffering at it's finest!

With the Daytonas, due to some confused booking, we once had to play in front of a crowd of senior citizens. They expected a pleasant evening of musical entertainment but were shocked over how loud we played. They told us to turn the volume down... well, we told them to turn down their hearing aids. Needless to say, at the end of our set, the room was more or less empty

T H E ✠ S U R F I T E S

That's so sad, I remember that show there Bill.
I have been to a few surf shows at Rusty's. Bu tnot in a long time.
too bad, as it has the perfect vibe for it, shack on a pier, surf boards and old beach , and surfing ads all over the walls.
But I don't see it happening anymore.
I keep wanting to go back to See the Red Elvis's , that used to be there home turf for a long time. But I still have a bad taste in my mouth, over what they did to you guys.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Jeff(bigtikidude)

You might want to check out the "Stories from the Road" thread... I think we could classify our experience in the little log cabin right up there in the Worst gigs ever category!!

Ron (ToneBoy)
The Mariners (1964 to Present) www.myspace.com/themarinersfirstwave
Lonzo & Oscar (1999 to Present) www.lonzoandoscar.net
www.myspace.com/lonzoandoscarcomedy
Billy Henson & Summerstorm (2001 to Present)

More from the Lava Rats past.

We had a regular gig for a while at a restaurant in Half Moon Bay. It wasn't a big place so we did our best to keep it down-way down...I could hear more sound from Bill's pick making contact with the strings than tone from his amp.

Anyhow, we're doing our thing, there's probably 3 parties seated throughout the place and this family comes in and is seated on the otherside of the room. They'd been there for about 2 minutes when one of them gets up, takes a direct course for us and says, "Everyone here thinks your great but could you turn it down just a little?" How she managed to get the opinion of "everone here" after 2 minutes and not speaking to a single person outside her table was just fascinating.

-Taylor

drummer-Lava Rats

ReddTyde_
Last Sunday was pretty bad for us. Jeff (BTD) and Tiki Tena could vouch for me on this one. Besides having P.A. and power issues all night. OUr drummer was so wasted he started to pass out numerous times during our second set.

Fortunate for us, people still were managing to have a good time. The bar was happy and we still got paid.

You should never let any member of your band get that messed up. I just think that it is un-professional. But if everyone still had a great time, then it's all good.

I am super sweet
www.myspace.com/thetremblors

Welcome to SG101 Mr. “Punk Rock” M…. excellent entrance!

I try hard to forget those really BAD shows (and as I’m getting older, it’s getting easier to forget), but aside from rickety stages where the reverb tanks crash every time I hit the bass drum, most shows have enough redeeming qualities to make them an enjoyable experience…

…BUT…
I gotta say, last month we played a show at what I thought was one of the better Portland clubs (rhymes with Dante’s-- oh wait, it WAS Dante’s!) and I think our set was great… one of our best ever. But within 3 minutes of our last song I found myself, my gear and my empty cases hustled out a side door, onto the STREET (3rd & Burnside… NOT one of Portland’s nicer neighborhoods), where the security dude LOCKED ME OUTSIDE to fend for myself. I pounded on the door… no answer. The other guys were inside tending to their own gear and had no idea where I was. I had to break down my kit, put everything into cases while dealing with homeless dudes, tweaked out dudes and tough dudes showing off for their dates. THEN I had to figure out a way to get everything to my car without leaving anything unattended. Luckily I was parked nearby and got it handled but I was nervous!

AND we got stiffed. Oh… the glamour of rock and roll!

Steve
The Apollo Four 2012-present
https://www.facebook.com/ApolloFour/
The Verbtones 2002-2012

several years ago we used to play at a little bar/sub shop down the street, mostly rock stuff, and our drummer didn't show up so another drummer sat in that had never played with us. obviously he'd been dipping in the nose candy and had a bottle of jack daniels with him. he played every song at warp speed. i played the lead for 'mr moto' and the whole time i'm thinking i can't play this song this fast, but surprisingly enough i made it through. my nerves were wrecked after that hour and a half set.

www.surfintheeye.com

Re: the getting wasted onstage. This is why I don't think I can do another birthday show. This year I was so gone that about 3 songs before the end of the set, I managed to play most of a song about three frets too high. I don't know that I made it through the last song. Well, I don't know a lot of things that happened that night.

Here's a little example of what was going on:
http://www.thelavarats.com/images/bbday07/pages/9.htm

~B~