Live gigs - do you accept requests for audience members to sing or play?

Rocker

When I gigged regularly, back in the 1970s, it was standard practice to get audience members up on stage to sing a song or two. This had hilarious moments like the time I was strumming away when the singer said ‘take it away Tom’ and I had to improvise a country solo on the spot. Somehow I got through it (reasonably well as it happened) but I made a mental note to make up a few solos that could be played in different keys in case this should ever occur again. 

In pre Covid-19 days this practice seems to have been dropped by bands as they strive to sound close to the recorded version of whatever songs they perform in their set. A pity as an amount of unpredictably really lights up a gig. So does your gigging band step into the unknown and ask audience members up to sing?

fastonebaz

No.  I don't want some drunken punter slobbering and stumbling all over my gear.

Plus I don't play songs that people know anyway  

Musicwolf

If you want to get up and sing then no problem, it's £30 per song to hire the band and the PA.  Any takers?

mudslide73

We don't. I don't expect bands to let me get up on stage and play their nice guitars either. 

viz

Always

Stratavarious

They do try to join us occasionally… usually drunk and slobbering and trying to touch up the girls. 

We don’t aim to sound like the records.   If a venue wants crap music and singers as entertainment they can hire a Karaoke IMO.

Jalapeno

Never again !

It was a Bond themed pary and we'd dedicatedly learned half a dozen Bond tunes. A young lady pesters us to sing Carly Simon's Spy Who Loved Me, and she sounded like she knew her stuff.  She was dire, totally tone deaf !

EricTheWeary

In one band we were once threatened at knife point to allow someone on the mic to sing Elvis songs which we tunelessly played behind. At another gig there was a heavily implied threat and our entire set up was taken over by a group of bikers for ten minutes for them to do a blues jam. Oh when I was in a band that did, gulp, Mustang Sally we would try to drag audience members to join us to do BVs. 

Requests - happily tell people where that song falls in the set or ooh that’s a good idea we should learn that for next time. 

The last major bit of audience participation I remember seeing was Chic who had multiple audience members on stage to dance during the encore. I guess a basic faith that their audience wouldn’t kick stuff over/ had security watching carefully. 

monquixote

Jalapeno said:

Never again !

It was a Bond themed pary and we'd dedicatedly learned half a dozen Bond tunes. A young lady pesters us to sing Carly Simon's Spy Who Loved Me, and she sounded like she knew her stuff.  She was dire, totally tone deaf !

This ^

Even people who are competent Karaoke singers usually can't sing with a band. It's often the timing that goes all over the place.

mrkb

It’s part of the act in my Steel Panther covers band

CaseOfAce

Nope - if you let one audience member up to sing - you open the floodgates as anybody who's ever sang in the shower wants to get up and have their moment!

Lestratcaster

No. I don't want anyone touching my gear!

TheBigDipper

"Do we look like a f**king request band?" 

Roland

Lestratcaster said:

No. I don't want anyone touching my gear!

“Can I have a go on your guitar?”
”Yes, if I can have a go on your girlfriend”

Danny1969

We did a wedding once where the groom got on the drums and turned out to be a useful drummer. 



He's dep'ed for the band a few times since and done other projects with the singer so that turned out alright. 

Nine times out of ten though people think they can drum / play / sing but they really can't and it's not a fun listen for the audience. 

ricky50

Avoid it like the plague but occasionally something happens that makes your night.  Playing a pub gig about 10 years ago - landlady asks if she can sing Zombies by the Cranberries.  She was pretty pissed and wouldn't take no for an answer. She actually sang it really well but when we reached the final bit she collapsed face forward onto the floor in front of us and just lay there.  Her husband who was behind the bar just ignored her and carried on serving. Perfect ending to a perfect song.

maharg101

No.

Roysterdoyster

I remember about 30+ years ago playing a gig and 3 guys asked if they could play a song. We naively said “yeah ok then”. They introduced themselves as “The Bollox Brothers” and the drummer then proceeded to put his stick through one of the drum skins! 

DrumBob

We will let musicians and singers we know get up and jam with us, but only if we know them. No strangers. Ever. Too many times, we've had problems with no-talent jokers. Here's an example.

Years ago, I had a blues/rock band that played a lot of Stevie Ray, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, etc. One night, we let a harp player sit in on the first set. What a mistake. He was terrible. People started walking out. The bar owner sat at the front door, watching his clientele exiting. At the end of the night, he fired us. 

Another night, we were doing a gig in Pennsylvania and a harp player wanted to sit in. Hardened by our experience of being fired, we said no, but wouldn't stop and kept bothering us. So much so, I got the 6' 3" young bouncer at the door and he collared the harp player and threw him right out, with his hysterical, screaming girlfriend in tow. That was the end of that problem. 

Handsome_Chris

Jalapeno said:

Never again !

It was a Bond themed pary and we'd dedicatedly learned half a dozen Bond tunes. A young lady pesters us to sing Carly Simon's Spy Who Loved Me, and she sounded like she knew her stuff.  She was dire, totally tone deaf !

She probably would have done better if you'd played Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better.

Logie

I've never asked but I've been dragged up a few times to sing an AC/DC or Led Zep number by various cover bands in my area.
It doesn't always work out especially if you're a bit hammered so I'd certainly be reluctant to say yes to a request just in case it goes horribly wrong