Have you ever got into fight on the gig ???

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 22 Mar 2003 9:04 pm

How many of you guys got into a fight in a bar you played in?I almost got in some sh%&$# tonite.I made a coment about a singers t-shirt and was to close to her husband who was in the audience.It all went good at the and,we shuk hands and it was all cool,but boy was it close.Tell me about your bar fight,why,did you get your butt kicked or you wooped some a$$.

Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 22 Mar 2003 11:44 pm

I punched a guitar player who refused to use a tuner to tune up after a set and then gave me grief in front of my girl. That got his attention and he tuned up and apoligized for being out of tune, turns out he was high on junk! I tossed a Rock n Roll nut off the stage once when he wouldn't shut up about Eddie Van Halen and why I should play like him. I got alot more stories from Texas, but I'm more mellow now a days.

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 23 Mar 2003 12:58 am

I never did but almost did once. We had a guitar player that kicked a guy right in the chest that accused him of having his saxophone. The guitar player had never seen the guy before and he was a black belt in Karate. The guy went sailing into the audience and was carried out.

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 23 Mar 2003 2:03 am

Nope.

An Armed Band is a Polite Band.

-Eric West-

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 23 Mar 2003 2:07 am

According to a guy in a band I've been playing with for several years, there was a memorable one outside a brown bag club in OK some years ago.

Gene?

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 23 Mar 2003 2:50 am

Eric...the past does seem to keep on coming back to haunt me! So here's that story....

While with a road band (about 30 years ago) there was an after-hours club where when we were in town between tours some of our band would haunt to "jam" with the house band. The owner/manager of this club was a good friend of our band leader. One night while we were there playing a fight broke out (not unusual for the place) and the club manager tried to break it up, but in doing so he ended up on his back with two drunks on top of him.

They were really pounding him and I could see he was about to get seriously hurt so I got up from my steel, walked over and grabbed both of the drunks by the back of their collars and slung them off of him. As I did this I was attacked from behind and as I turned to get loose from whoever it was, my elbow accidently connected with someones face and teeth and blood went everywhere.....unfortunately, I discovered just as it happened that it was the two drunks two drunk girlfriends on my back, and when the blood flew someone yelled "that SOB hit that girl" and that was the rallying cry for drunks from all four corners of the club to start coming for me, some with pool cues!

Fortunately for me, the club manager was back on his feet by then and jumped over the bar with what looked like a big, single-action 44 pistol....anyway he had them temporarily at bay and yelled "Gene get out of here',so me and our band piled in one of our cars and bailed out...with two or three cars chasing us down the city streets (I could almost see pool-cues stickin out of their car windows.

There is more, but to shorten the story, I luckily got away, but I had to go back the next day to get my steel before we could go back on the road. Me and the manager were full of gratitude for each others help, and I told him how lucky he was to have that pistol...

.....he said, "let me show it to you", and that's when he pulled out from behind the bar a PLASTIC PISTOL FROM A JAX BEER SIGN!

Eric, as I said, that was many years ago and I'm still trying to live-down some of those days! If your musician friend has any more storys from those days, tell him to forget 'em.......I still get scared and trembly just thinking about it!

www.genejones.com [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 23 March 2003 at 03:01 AM.]

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 23 Mar 2003 3:19 am

(Eric quote)An armed band is a polite band! That "polite" youngster 4th from the left really is me![This message was edited by Gene Jones on 23 March 2003 at 05:19 AM.]

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 23 Mar 2003 3:31 am

Wild story Gene...
I'm glad you're playing calmer places these days!!
I had a 300 lb biker roll the pooltable and then pick up the guy with whom he had been playing,
and throw him in the general direction of the band. I sort of front kicked him as he arrived and deflected him off to the side. Not much choice.
He was the troublemaker on all points. Taking a swing with a pool que, at a 300lb guy in colors who beats you at pool, is non too bright!
He was ejected by management.
The LARGE fellow came up and appoligised for the trajectory of the idiot he was throwing and bought the band drinks all night and tipped us a $20.

I guess we didn't have the appropriate side arms that night.. like in Gene's pic. Massachusetts tends to frown on that!

"An Armed Band is a Polite Band." ahh haa![This message was edited by David L. Donald on 23 March 2003 at 03:34 AM.]

John Lacey · Post by **John Lacey** » 23 Mar 2003 5:37 am

I was fortunate on Sunday's jam to have Amos Garrett relate a funny story to me on one of their gigs on the Festival Train in Calgary with Ian and Sylvia. They were playing at McMahon Stadium on a 15-foot high stage and were in the middle of a song, a deliriously high yet angry fan found his way on stage past security. He was probably a diehard acoustic fan and wasn't impressed with I&S's new country rock band and decided to show his displeasure by holding Norman Smart's arms so he couldn't play. What this uninformed fan didn't know was Norman was a black belt in Karate AND loved to fight. Within seconds, the guy was tumbling down the backstage area, taking with him most of the onstage amps. Amos said that instanteously, there was no sound coming from their instruments and Ian was shooting them dirty looks. I think they were dong "Smiling Wine" at the time, a real feel-good happy tune that Sylvia sings. The poor guy that got the leap ended up in hospital with fractured back, concussion etc. and the backline was wrecked. The price of being a pioneer.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 23 Mar 2003 6:26 am

While I'm on a roll I might as well add another one:

I worked for awhile with HENSON CARGILL and his "live musicians, come see 'em in their cage"band, and there is at least one Henson story that has to be told. (Henson, you have my apology in advance). We were in San Antonio playing a show at one of those big arenas that you find all over Texas, and there was a big crowd gathered around the front of the stage watching Henson sing. At that time he had the long, shoulder length hair, that was typically worn by musicians, except as we were soon to learn, San Antonio, Texas.

An enormous cowboy who looked like either a steer wrestler or an OU lineman, was becoming increasingly agitated because his girlfriend was enjoying Henson's singing too much, so when Henson finished a song and asked if anyone had a request this guy looked up at Henson and said, "Yeah, I got a request....why don't you go somewhere and get a haircut?" Henson gave him a steely look for a moment, handed his guitar to the bass-man, leaned over the edge of the stage and said, "Why don't you come up here and cut it for me?" I was horrified because I was sitting right in front of that guy and I wasn't sure that I could get untangled from my steel guitar quick enough to run.

The security guards arrived about that time to save us and I felt as if we had a commutation of a death sentence when they escorted this big cowboy out the door before Armageddon began. He and some of his equally mean looking friends were still lurking around outside after the job while we loaded the bus, but the security guards stood by until we were safely gone.
www.genejones.com

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 23 Mar 2003 7:38 am

Funny thing is, I was there at Festival Express at McMahon Stadium in Calgary when Ian & Sylvia and the GSB were playing. I was completely oblivious to the incident that John Lacey related! I once had an incident in Toronto where our bass player almost got all of us in a fight over someone trying to pick up his girlfriend. And once a beer fight in Fort McLeod Alberta that turned into a beer bottle fight - an off duty cop in the bar arrested the evil doer before I could get my handss on him, which I was about to.....

Gary Ulinskas · Post by **Gary Ulinskas** » 23 Mar 2003 5:19 pm

I played a gig during the 60's back in Connecticut at a place called the Southbury Training School which was a state run institution. In those days, they put severely retarded, Downs Syndrome, etc., and maybe even mildly insane people all together in places like that. Anyway, we were looking for a place to plug in the extension cords for our amps and were told the outlets were over at stage right, near the lighting control panels. When we found the spot, there was also an approximately 4" dia red button on the wall with a huge decal "PANIC BUTTON" over it. That sure got us wondering. Everything went fine for us that night. In fact, the residents & employees turned out to be a wonderful audience. But after reading the previous stories, I'm thinking it might be a good idea if some of the other places steelers have to play had the same feature on the wall.

------------------
Gary Ulinskas
MSA S-12 + Walker mono

[This message was edited by Gary Ulinskas on 23 March 2003 at 05:22 PM.][This message was edited by Gary Ulinskas on 23 March 2003 at 06:49 PM.][This message was edited by Gary Ulinskas on 24 March 2003 at 04:54 AM.]

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 23 Mar 2003 5:39 pm

Back in Croatia I played in the band with some crazy people.Bass player had a habbit to run after the people swingin` his bass guitar.On the one of the gigs guys at the table asked him to borrow his acoustic,he told them to be careful because every time somebody plays his acoustic they brake a string and that he was tired of that.Sure enough those guys managed to brake a few strings on his guitar and the crazy bass player pulled out a hand granade screaming "I`m going to blow up all of you dumb idiots".Fortunaly I was not at that gig.Needles to say,band was fired

While the war was going on in Croatia gigs were kind of dangerous I guess.One time in the bar we had our equipment set up for a weekend gig, few of the special forces soldiers were playing a dare game.They will light up a dinamite and who waits longest to turn the fuse off was a winner.The last guy was waiting a little too long and blow up the whole bar,killed himself and few others,and the bar owner, friend of mine end up in the hospital.Fortunaly it wasn`t a weekend so we were not in there, but some of our gear was pretty messed up.[This message was edited by Damir Besic on 23 March 2003 at 05:41 PM.]

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 23 Mar 2003 5:59 pm

I was never in a fight, but I was able to prevent one. It was during the Urban Cowboy fad of 20 years ago, and I was hired to play steel in a band that basically consisted of some rock players who knew absolutely nothing about country music and whose entire repetoire consisted of the songs from the movie soundtrack.

At the time I had only been playing steel for w or 3 years, but prior to that I had been gigging around the local circuit as a lead guitarist, so I called up a lot of the people I knew and invited them down to the club to hea me play steel.

These were all people who were somewhat well known on the local level, so naturally they all got up to sing a song or 2 with us.

Well the lead singer get scared. he was sure every one of the singers I invited down was trying to steal his gig. So when Sonny Martin, who I actually did not know, and who I believe had the hit of Truck Drivin' Man came down, the guy refused to let him get up and sing. Sonny was ready to tear the guy apart, limb from limb. I was able to placate him by telling him that he was somebody important, and the guy who had the gig was an insignicant nobody who had reached the zenith of his career playing in a local bar, and not worth the effort it would take to squash him.

Sonny later offered me a gig playing steel for him, but at the time I was already hooked up with somebody else.

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 23 Mar 2003 7:11 pm

Only once, on break and concerning a knife. Fortunately, we got back to the stage with no slices missing.

The bass player and I spent the rest of the night kicking each other in the a$$ for getting involved.

Ted Solesky · Post by **Ted Solesky** » 23 Mar 2003 7:58 pm

I don't know if this counts, but I had an ex-wife and girlfriend get into a good brawl while I was a pickin. My girlfriend was only about 90 lbs and beat her before they made my ex leave the premises.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 24 Mar 2003 10:29 am

NEVER been in a fight! Coward? Perhaps, however as a very young bank repossessor that looked much younger than 22 years, I've found that good, understanding, non-threatening conversation with the potential adversary wins more than bare knuckels could ever do.
A memorable fight does come to mind tho'.
I played the Division Street Corral here in Portland for nearly 15 years. It was a very popular place for many, many years. The ticket taker, parking guards, etc., were all moonlighting deputy sheriff's from the area.
One night, a slightly built, almost petite
Marine in full dress blues with leg stripe, etc., was dancing, enjoying himself with any number of young ladies and at all times behaving himself.
A couple of male hecklers started harassing the guy and he kept his cool. Finally, one of the local red necks directly confronted him and with one lightening fast blow, the aggressor was out of commission.
Quick and fast, no fuss. The Marine merely danced away.
Well, the owner of the Corral, a well built, muscular Italian gentleman plowed out across the floor and walked up behind the short statured Marine and from behind, grabbed the top of his shoulder. In less time than it would take to think "steel guitar", the ROCK SOLID BIG GUY was airborn
and hit the hardwood floors with a resounding crash. It ultimately required five deputies to remove the Marine. Two more to carry the owner outside for air.
Great fight. Unfortunately, the one guy that was minding his own business, is the one they hauled off to jail. Sad, sad, sad. And the band, played on!!

Terry Wood · Post by **Terry Wood** » 24 Mar 2003 11:33 am

Never got in a fight at a gig, but had a few before I went!

Anybody ever been there and donethat?

Woody

Charlie Vaughn · Post by **Charlie Vaughn** » 26 Mar 2003 4:56 pm

At a club I played for on Stewart Avenue in Atlanta, 3 pretty good sized guys came in from Florida. One of them came to the stage and asked bass player if he could sit in. Our bass player being nice said he would talk to him at break. He explained that our boss did not allow us to let people sit unless they were well known musicians or someone the band knew personally. On the second set the guy came back to the stage (which was about 3 feet off the floor)and motioned for the bass player to learn over so he could speak to him. When he did he grabbed by the hair and yanked him off the stage. All 3 guys stormed the stage and attacke the entire band. We defended ourselves as best we could. It took 4 police officers who were working security to finally subdue these guys and cuff them. They went to jail and the band was asked to appear in court the next morning. They admitted they were high on drugs and the judge ordered them to pay for any damages and fined them. The band was asked to come up with a figure to cover the damages. there was a lot of damage to the equipment. The only damage to my Sho-Bud was the pedal rods got bent a little and I straightened them myself. That night the guys came back, apologized, gave each guy in the band $250.00 and as it turned out, they were just super nice guys. They still didn't get to sit in.

Terry Farmer · Post by **Terry Farmer** » 26 Mar 2003 8:23 pm

35 years ago I was playing with a high school band at a wedding dance. We finished the gig and this guy came up wanting us to play some more. I was closest so I explained that the party was over and we were done. I caught an uppercut that left a scar to this day. The rest of the band quickly settled the dispute in our favor. To this day, however, I still consider the punch an off-handed compliment. (no pun intended!}

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 27 Mar 2003 3:35 am

Charlie,
I guess you wanted us to know that "THE 3 GUYS STILL DIDN'T GET TO SIT IN AFTER IT WAS ALL OVER". LOL
I have posted MORE than ONCE also like that.
Embarrasses the hell out of ya.

Sure you SUBMITTED only ONCE, FOUR TIMES IN A ROW?
Your funny, Charlie.

We all do that sometime or another. (Well, Some of us...I know Bobbie "SEEYAAMOREE the III does it A LOT) He's quite a RIOT also.

[This message was edited by RON PRESTON on 27 March 2003 at 03:43 AM.]

David Reeves · Post by **David Reeves** » 27 Mar 2003 3:39 am

Next time you post 4 times there's gonna be fight!

------------------
Stump Reeves

Charlie Vaughn · Post by **Charlie Vaughn** » 27 Mar 2003 9:06 am

LOL thank guys and good fighting.

Post by **Joey Ace** » 27 Mar 2003 9:34 am

Break it up boys, I deleted Charlie's three redundant posts.

Randy Reams · Post by **Randy Reams** » 27 Mar 2003 6:53 pm

I was 16, playig drums in my Dads band in a bar in La Grange OH. Dads Girlfriend, who was also the lead singer in the band, looked extremly good that night I guess. A guy kept coming up to the stage and reaching for her. She danced around each time and politely got away . Then this guy stepped up on to the stage. I will never forget the sound that telecaster head stock made when it hit his forehead. This drunk went backwards over the monitors and dad never missed a note. He just got up shook it off and we never saw him again. Makes me laugh just thinking about it.