Playing A Gig While Sick

[refin]

Okay---pony up here guys.It's open season for headaches,stomach cramps,nausea,even those B.C. hangovers.What's your worst "Oh No!! Not now....Not here!!" story? :oops:


As I'm writing this,there is a banner up above this page about stomach cramps and bloating.....oh dear. :-) :-) :-)

[seagullplayer]

Funny you brought this up. I missed work last Friday, flu. By Sunday I was not feeling much better, it was our Youth Service night at Church. That means I speak and normally lead P&W. I had barely enough air to speak let alone sing. No P&W. :cry:
Service went very well though, guess that was the plan.

[kewlpack]

If I know I'm ailin' before the fact, I usually arrange for a substitute. Now that I say that - I'm the only guitarist doing our kid's P&W. It's just me, a drummer and 2 song leaders... hope the Pepto is nearby when I need it! 8-[

[refin]

I've had a few interesting issues in the past.
One night in my BC days,I had eaten alot of barbecue and drank alot of beer,and got up on stage.Well,something started to rumble and gurgle in my gut and I knew I was in trouble.This club had small restrooms,and at the men's room there was a line outside (one holer).
yipes! 8-[
Well,I had to run out back of the club and find some bushes to hide in...very embarrassing,and the band had a good laugh about it later.

I also did a youth rally once on medication for allergies......I could feel my lips and fingers moving,but to this day I'm not quite sure what I played or said.Walking was like being at the bottom of a swimming pool and trying to walk.I would look over at the other band members and it was like another dimension,almost like seeing them on a theater screen.
Oh,the lessons we learn in life! :biggrin:

[MrMike]

One Saturday afternoon about 8 years ago I came down with an intense case of the flu on the way to a gig, so there was no time to make other arrangements. I had the whole range of symptoms; nausea, vomiting, major headache, body aches, the whole bit. I literally stepped out of the restroom from throwing up and walked onto the stage. We played a 45 minute set, and I made it through without having to leave the stage. We were opening for a Christian comedian named Steve Geyer. After we were done playing, I was sitting backstage with my head down on a table. Steve walked up to my wife and asked, "Is he in time out?" :mrgreen: After my wife explained the situation, he said, "I'll be praying for you, FROM A DISTANCE!"

[refin]

One Saturday afternoon about 8 years ago I came down with an intense case of the flu on the way to a gig, so there was no time to make other arrangements. I had the whole range of symptoms; nausea, vomiting, major headache, body aches, the whole bit. I literally stepped out of the restroom from throwing up and walked onto the stage. We played a 45 minute set, and I made it through without having to leave the stage. We were opening for a Christian comedian named Steve Geyer. After we were done playing, I was sitting backstage with my head down on a table. Steve walked up to my wife and asked, "Is he in time out?" :mrgreen: After my wife explained the situation, he said, "I'll be praying for you, FROM A DISTANCE!"

:ROFL
That's a good one!
A friend of mine had the stomach flu (again,BC days) and got very dramatic---he held his head in between verses,spun around,and finally hit the wall onstage,spewing groceries everwhere (or whistling beef,whichever suits your fancy).

[kewlpack]

Oh man - that had to be ... wild. :-s

[Micter]

We were playing a gig and some folks lit a BBQ right ouside the back door of the coffee house. I got a big wiff of lighter fluid and got all light headed. The song we were doing I sing lead on and I plum forgot the words. Heck, I forgot where I was for a while.

[MrMike]

There were plenty of gigs in my BC days when I certainly should have called in sick because I had, by my own choice, made myself unfit to be in front of people. After I had gotten sober, our old soundman told me that he knew that I had a problem when I blew the solo in "Crazy Train". He'd seen me play it in many levels of intoxication and when I got to the point where I could no longer nail it, he knew I was in trouble.

[stephen]

It wasnt me, but at a gig, I had just stepped off the stage, and sat down with one of my dates for the evening, on a couch backstage.

A buddy of mine was setting there (me on the left, date to my right, buddy a little farther down on the right side of the couch).

Everyone was saying great show, and I heard ny buddy stammer, You mean I've been drinkin 151 all night? (he thought he was drinkin bacardi 80 proof, when in fact he was gulping down straight the 151 proof). I looked over at him and said "Bob you ok?" He turned too me and said " I think.....", and then he calmly opened his mouth (no jerking or heaving, just his lower jaw opens with no other movement), and a solid tubefull of technocolor belch comes hurling towards us! :yikes How I picked my date up and got out of the way so fast, without gettin spewed upon, well that had to set some new world record! :sprint:

So I'm standing there, date in my arms, and Bob closes his mouth then say's, "......I'm gonna barf.", finishing his sentence he started before being interupted! He still hadnt realized he did! :shock

[refin]

It wasnt me, but at a gig, I had just stepped off the stage, and sat down with one of my dates for the evening, on a couch backstage.

A buddy of mine was setting there (me on the left, date to my right, buddy a little farther down on the right side of the couch).

Everyone was saying great show, and I heard ny buddy stammer, You mean I've been drinkin 151 all night? (he thought he was drinkin bacardi 80 proof, when in fact he was gulping down straight the 151 proof). I looked over at him and said "Bob you ok?" He turned too me and said " I think.....", and then he calmly opened his mouth (no jerking or heaving, just his lower jaw opens with no other movement), and a solid tubefull of technocolor belch comes hurling towards us! :yikes How I picked my date up and got out of the way so fast, without gettin spewed upon, well that had to set some new world record! :sprint:

So I'm standing there, date in my arms, and Bob closes his mouth then say's, "......I'm gonna barf.", finishing his sentence he started before being interupted! He still hadnt realized he did! :shock

:ROFL

That is quick....nothing like the old food rewind to get a party really going!

[Crunchyriff]

For some people, "projectile barfing" is a sport ... :dunno :roll:

[Ravindave_3600]

Not musical, but....

I was the best man at my best friend's wedding. I remember nothing about the day except laying on a couch in the church office. My friend is still married though, so I guess I didn't mess anything up too badly.

[stephen]

For some people, "projectile barfing" is a sport ... :dunno :roll:

Ladies and Gentlemen, were sorry to anounce that the Gold Medal Winner in the Technicolor Belch Hurl, has been disqualified! He tested positive for Syrup of Epacac!

[TheViking]

.... I lift some weights from time to time. (now it is kinda far between times hehe) Anyways, I had been doing a pretty exhausting leg routine at the gym the same day as I was going to do a gig. We had to drive for quite a while to get there, and I kinda forgot to stretch out before I got into the car. :banghead
Well we arrived at the venue and I was feeling rather strange. I got this sudden twitching in the back of my right leg. We finished the sound check and grabbed a meal and the twitching stopped for a while. We went on stage and in the middle of the first set, I got some really bad muscle cramps in my right leg. Well the pain was soooo bad I kinda had to jump around a lil trying to shake it off. To me it appeared I was doing this rather discretely, to the audience it apparently looked like a troll version of the Texas two-step. \:D/

Needless to say, the band members noticed it too, and understood what was going on, (if there is ONE thing people know about me, it's that I DO NOT Dance) the bass player (bless his heart) found this incredibly hilarious and copied my moves on his side of the stage. Once we got off stage a couple of the local girls came up to us telling how much they appreciated our synchronized dance hehe :oops:

[Teleguy]

Had some oral surgery in Vietnam, which of course got infected.
Some guys and I had promised to play on some instruments a Chaplain had on the little base we were located at.
We did a couple numbers like "Heat Wave" at a makeshift E.M. club.
As the night wore on I did Alice's Resturant. Somebody took a picture of me.
I had thought the pain meds were certainly wearing off: the picture showed one side of my face swollen like I had a softball in my cheek!

I also did a studio session once while a wisdom tooth was going south!
All my onstage illness has been dental it seems!

[Micter]

For some people, "projectile barfing" is a sport ... :dunno :roll:

Ladies and Gentlemen, were sorry to anounce that the Gold Medal Winner in the Technicolor Belch Hurl, has been disqualified! He tested positive for Syrup of Epacac!

Projectile vomitosi

[refin]

For some people, "projectile barfing" is a sport ... :dunno :roll:

Ladies and Gentlemen, were sorry to anounce that the Gold Medal Winner in the Technicolor Belch Hurl, has been disqualified! He tested positive for Syrup of Epacac!

Projectile vomitosi

"Laughing at the lawn"

[Barry]

This isn't as exciting as some of your stories, but...

I had a cold once when going with a few others to a Cursillo "wake-up". I think this was around 1983 or so. I didn't sing, but spent a lot of time trying to stifle my coughing between strumming on the acoustic.

Cursillo defininition (http://www.episcopalcursillo.org/cursillo.html)

The "wake-up" basically consists of a group of people who walk around outside the building at 5:00am singing praise songs and wake you up on your last morning there. The whole weekend is a really powerful experience. I went on one myself once.

I was heavily involved in the Episcopal church at the time. Music, tape ministry to shut-ins, etc.