Annoying punters at gigs.

mudslide73

After finishing a particularly difficult pub set last weekend (dep. bassist and extremely hot and muggy weather) some bloke decided to offer me the benefit of his "industry" experience. It wasn't a complete stormer of a gig technically but we did get some of the women dancing on tables at the end. 

I used to be a bit jealous in the old days but I stopped short of telling people they were "shit" and "didn't deserve it". I was completely taken aback - proper ruined it for me he did...I suppose his ploy worked.

I feel better now I've got it off my chest.... exhale.

mike_l

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dv1bM0pp_o4

 

Enjoy

John_P

Really anoying - all you can do is move on to the next gig and know to avoid the idiot next time you play there..It's part of gigging -   not as annoying but it's odd how some gigs I think me or the band have played awful and people loved it and then other nights you feel you've played fantastic and it get a poor response....

The audience in pub gigs are hard to predict -  apart from their never ending love of sex on fire, living on a prayer and summer of 69.

Grunfeld

mudslide73 said:

...I was completely taken aback - proper ruined it for me he did...I suppose his ploy worked.

The unexpectedness of the criticism is the thing isn't it.  Because rationally the guy's got nothing on you:  you were the one playing the gig; you were the one who got the ladies up and dancing; you were the one going home with wages in your pocket -- and he did none of those thing, he was a random punter, a three-pint wanker.  You know how sometimes you walk past a gate and a dog barks and catches you unaware?  That was this bloke.  Next time, give him a dog biscuit.  :-)

monquixote

I've had a few idiots. 

A hammered bloke who pulled the PA down onto himself because the singer called him on heckling.

A bunch of rugby players who again knocked the PA down having a fight

A pissed twat in a Slayer t-shirt shouting that anyone who played anything but metal was a "poof" and we should play some proper music. (And I mean for about half an hour)

and about twenty others. 

I did a gig once where I did a jazz version of Blackbird which was nothing like the original (swung for a start). A bloke found me afterwards and told me I was playing it wrong and he knew because he had been taught it by Paul McCartney. It later turned out said bloke was a comedian who I saw on TV (he was shit and unfunny) 

tonyrath

Yes but everyone is a critic, particularly on the beer. So many descriptions and analogies of critics with eunuchs, see it done every night but cannot do it. 

TTony

"Annoying punters at gigs".

 

No, you shouldn't - there'll be more of them than there is of you (hopefully) and some of them might have paid to get in.  Don't annoy them.  Try to entertain them instead.

stickyfiddle

I've had the usual drink muppets who start a fight and land on a PA tripod. New Years' Eve was like that right through, but we got paid loads and was a lot of fun.

I did have one very special chap at one gig last year though- same rough venue as that NYE (Duke of Nothumberland in Erith if anyone's in SE London). We were playing in the usual spot in the corner, where the fruit machine used to be, but had long been moved. Either way, there was a small coat hook at waist height right by where I was standing, well beyond the improvised punter/stage line marked by monitors and mic-stands. So some plonker decides to squeeze past me and hangs his jacket on there, then spends the next 30 minutes or so eyeballing me as if he thinks I'm going to nick it or something. Eventually he came and got it back, not during the mid-set interval, but about 5 minutes into the second half, again squeezing past. I didn't say anything, just looked back at the drummer and laughed. I think he got kicked out later for fighting...

OilCityPickups

You always get the odd one ... part of the entertainment game. Being as I started in punk bands in the seventies it was seen as fair sport ... and plenty of abuse used to happen on both sides ... made me grow a thick skin ... and be able to gob about fifteen feet!

spacecadet

Never had anyone say anything about my playing (which I'm obviously quite happy about) but have had plenty of pissed up twats falling into the stage, grabbing the mic stand etc. It always seems to be my side of the stage too. I swap with the singer and I still get everyone falling into me!
I did have to laugh though when one guy, after falling onto my pedal board twice, fell onto it a third time face first and lost a tooth in the process. He was subsequently ejected from the premises after a nod to the bouncers.

ICBM

mike_l said:

(Keith Richards Guitar Hit)

This is even more effective... 70s P-Bass over the head.

Pyroman

  You could always try singing Rebecca Black's "Friday" even worse than she does.  That would be annoying.

  There's a vid on youtube of some dimwit heckling a pms-ing Shirley Manson, and getting himself  a new arsehole ripped.  I just cheered -"Yeah! Go Shirley!"

 Could be worse- I've seen videos from Kittie shows where a drunken broad climbed on stage, and dry humped the lead guitarist from behind mid song.  ( and she's female...)  another of the same lady getting her arse grabbed.  The lead vocalist got her boobs grabbed mid song by a "fan".  ( the dude got his arse KICKED by an angry crowd after that- we're talkng serious beat-down here)

 Some people are just classless twats...

mudslide73

I don't get out much these days unless we're playing so I forgot about the twats. Is it me or are people more drunk generally nowadays? - Anyway, thanks for the support lads.

Handsome_Chris

@pyroman , was it this clip?

ragingben

What a grade a knob head. Like others have said though, just let it slide. I've noticed in general it's those guys who comment on either your playing or gear (for good or worse) that you then ask if they play and usually respond with some big-headed twollop like "Yeah, I'm effing amazing" - it's at that point you should just give up with them. One thing I've noticed about guitarists that are worth any cop is they usually don't like to be big headed about it - if you ask them about it they will say they are ok. Never trust a guitarist who claims to be the next Guthrie!

The other thing that does my head in at gigs is people who (usually drunk) want to talk gear and come up to talk to you in a break sloshing beer all over the place, usually the pedal board. If they knew anything about gear they would know that I don't appreciate it getting drenched!

The other one which really is a bit selfish is I get tired of people asking me which of the pedals I built myself. It's nice they take an interest in that side of things, but it is the look when I say I don't currently use any of my own live - as if that invalidates them! I just have no need of anything I have ever built from a gigging perspective, and my gigging board is a board setup so that if my amp goes down providing I can borrow an amp with a clean channel I will have everything I need to limp through.

bertie

at the end of the day, you've chosen to be up there and the punter is (indirectly) paying your wages so is legitimately entitled to say what they like - however full of wankshit it is. so for all the things Oli Grun has said..........salt/take/on/move/pinch.   

Mrs bert still gets affected by moments like these, dreadfully so,  so much that she can be down for days  - and she's been in the front line for over 30 years !! so it affects even the most battle worn of us !!    however some days, she does just tell them to f*ck off 

mike_l

Reminds me of seeing maiden a few years ago, with Trivium in support. Some jackass kept throwing things at them, so Matt Heafy (sp?) stopped the show, and the crowd almost literally lifted him up, and forced him to the front so security could throw him out.

what a twat...

monquixote

bertie said:

at the end of the day, you've chosen to be up there and the punter is (indirectly) paying your wages so is legitimately entitled to say what they like - however full of wankshit it is. so for all the things Oli Grun has said..........salt/take/on/move/pinch.   

Perhaps the odd cheeky comment, but I don't get paid to take abuse from dickheads or have people try and damage my equipment. 

Pyroman

Handsome_Chris said:

@pyroman , was it this clip?

   That's the one!  A pissed off redhead is a force to be reckoned with!

chillidoggy

I'd second the bit about a pissed-off redhead.

RocknRollDave

We get our share of drunk people falling over the monitors/ speaker stands, but I think that goes with the territory - we often get very little space to set up in, and it's nigh-on impossible to put the gear somewhere un-trip-overable, so hey sometimes it'll happen. I'd probably be the idiot falling over the speakers if I was in the crowd...

We also seem to get a lot of people wanting to sing. As long as they aren't visibly drunk to the point of wrecking our gear, we tend to let them as you never quite know whether they are a close relative of the bride or whatever. We had an email not long back from a groom thanking us for letting his uncle get up and sing Suspsicious Minds..so there you go!


I get annoyed at people trying to talk to me during a song - not waiting until a break between songs, right in the middle of a song as I'm heading towards the mic for some backing vocals. And I wear in ears! Can they not see I'm busy playing AND singing AND I can't hear a damn thing you're saying anyway?!