Playing Blind?

[lawson-stone]

So I was recording my daily practice and thought I was doing really great when the overcast day suddenly was blown up by blinding sunshine coming through my window. No kidding, it was literally searing and I felt very heroic finishing the tune, though not without some "sunspots" as it were.

So what are the oddest distractions you ever had to put up with while playing?

[neatomic]

i've played through earthquakes!!

but my first thought is our own mr B...he's cookin in his kitchen, has his kids being kids all around and yet he's got that guitar in hand...fretboard probably smells of garlic!! haha

you gotta smile...tho i wouldnt trade him!! hah

cheers

[sergio.bello]

I have serious problems when I see someone pass a mug of beer to the drummer holding it over my ampli...

Sergio

[citizenk74]

Ya gotta watch that sunshine! It could spoil you studio tan....

[citizenk74]

We were playing in a "battle of the bands" in a Vets club. Suddenly all that was left of the drums was the kick, and the drummer was not to be seen. Turns out his drumstool was slowly retreating to the edge of the riser, and he fell backwards off the stage, but kept the bass drum going. He never missed a beat.

We came in second.

[cosmic gumbo]

It never ceases to amaze me when someone comes over to me at a gig and tries to engage me in a conversation....while I'm playing. Happens more than you'd think. What are these folks thinking?

[christianm77]

It never ceases to amaze me when someone comes over to me at a gig and tries engage me in a conversation....while I'm playing. Happens more than you'd think. What are these folks thinking?

they've clearly read Kenny Werner’s effortless mastery and are testing you

[basinstreet]

It never ceases to amaze me when someone comes over to me at a gig and tries to engage me in a conversation....while I'm playing. Happens more than you'd think. What are these folks thinking?

I had the opposite the other day. I was leaving a bar (as a punter) and a guitarist who i hadn't seen for a year or two was playing near the door. (i know i know , dont leave mid song)

I tried a discrete nod of the head to say bye, and he launched into "alright mate, you ok? havent seen you in AGES!' just as he was starting his solo

[whiskey02]

Funny you say “playing blind”; I recently checked out a local music store close to me. While there and standing close to the counter, I witnessed a woman with a red tipped cane almost walk into a upright bass then turn and almost walk into a cello. She found where she was going, into a room with a sliding glass door. When she closed the door, I made a comment to the counter guy along the lines of..” geez, sometimes we think we’re having a tough day or things just aren’t going our way”. He replied “ yeah, and she just bought a $3000 saxophone, played it for a minute then mentioned several aspects of its tone characteristics. She was absolutely right, I’ve played that horn myself and never noticed the things she said but they were all there”.
I guess at times anything but? the music is a distraction from the music.

[pilotony]

June, 1965. Playing at a graduation party at a VFW hall in the neighborhood (now a part of the new gentrified Brooklyn!). Five piece rock band. Leaned forward and brushed a mic with the side of my face while playing the lead on "Eight Days a Week". The shock left me with a burn mark on my face and about 10 minutes or so of seeing stars. After that, I made sure I was "in phase" with the guitar and the PA system.

Tony D.

[FredH]

Sometime in the late 1960s, the wedding band I played with did an afternoon wedding in South Philly. At some point in the gig, we were playing the rock standard of the day, "Wipeout," when we realized that a fight had broken out on the dance floor between the bride and one of the bridesmaid. It was pretty raucous and soon, most of the women on the floor were involved. We immediately stopped playing, figuring that would be a distraction that would end the fisticuffs. The female pugilists yelled at us to keep playing. It was surreal. So we resumed and fortunately enough cooler heads prevailed to end the bridal "wipe out." As it turned out, the dust-up resulted because the groom had been an ex-boyfriend of one of the bridesmaids. Only in South Philly!

[citizenk74]

Sometime in the late 1960s, the wedding band I played with did an afternoon wedding in South Philly. At some point in the gig, we were playing the rock standard of the day, "Wipeout," when we realized that a fight had broken out on the dance floor between the bride and one of the bridesmaid. It was pretty raucous and soon, most of the women on the floor were involved. We immediately stopped playing, figuring that would be a distraction that would end the fisticuffs. The female pugilists yelled at us to keep playing. It was surreal. So we resumed and fortunately enough cooler heads prevailed to end the bridal "wipe out." As it turned out, the dust-up resulted because the groom had been an ex-boyfriend of one of the bridesmaids. Only in South Philly!

I have never seen a fight at a wedding, though at one or three joints we played they seemed to be a feature, not a bug. I did read a newspaper account of a wedding reception in the Pittsburg area involving two rival boxing families. Over a hundred people were arrested. Were any JGO-ers on that gig? Personally, I'm glad I missed it.

[fep]

About 1981, college big band, playing a short European tour, on the lawn in Geneva... 110 volt polytone mini brute through some sort of converter, my guitar string grazed my music stand, a large spark or should I say small fire occured at about the 3rd fret of the neck, the low E and A string snapped, I survived.