So I got my gear to the gig and I forgot ... ...

[Spudmurphy]

No BP I didn't forget what night we were supposed to play (memories of Spud going to see Albert lee play on a Saturday when he had already played the night before!! - that's another story told on this forum!)

So I got my gear to the gig and I forgot ... ...

Well it's a local venue - 20mins away.Played there loads of times and just got the gear down to one guitar, bag of leads,strings etc, MM amp, and voice box (home made based on a Yammy 10 watt amp and a horn driver).

Wales are playing rugby against Samoa and there's loads of punters in the venue. Landlady says "Spud here's yer usual (Pint of Brains beer, she's well trained!)and can the band go on after the match - I'll make it up to you - she always gives us an extra 50 quid!!

So I get the leads out, get the guitar out of the case, and what had I forgotten? I'd forgotten my 8loody guitar strap!!!
No body had a spare and anyway as I play with strap locks it's inconceivable to use a belt/bit of webbing/string/sky hooks ... so I managed to get home and back in 40 minutes and then start the first set with no soundcheck - lucky we know the venue!!

So have any of you arrived at a gig/rehearsal/recording session and forgetting something important?
.. and what did you do about it?
Spud

 

[spkirby]

Haven't forgotten anything, but one time we were on stage just waiting for the curtain to be pulled back to start the gig (theatrical venue!), I gave my guitar a strum and broke the G string!!! Cue utter horror and the fastest floyd rose based string change in history! Gig was a blinder though!

 

[Jonny Dubai]

Forgot all my pics once. Had to cut up a bank card to play!!! Now I always put a pick at the bottom of every gig bag for emergencies.

 

[BUC]

Hilarious as I actually forgot ALL my picks just last night. Never done that before. The other guitar player in the band uses these tiny jazz picks that I just couldn't get to work. I was finally able to find a single normal pick that someone lent me. It was a souvenier pick they got from the guitar player in Fallout Boy so I had to take special care of it and give it back to them after the gig.

Also forgot the power supply for my laptop. Since I use Mainstage for my keyboards, it's a bit of an issue. Through judicial use of power up and power down I was able to limp through the gig.

Normally I have my stuff all together...

 

[Gio_Force_One]

I have forgotten various things over the years , power supplies , picks , guitar straps. However one of the most boneheaded things I ever done was I forgot my epiphone dot at the club after a gig droe all the way home which was about and hour and a half then realized it. Luckily we did two opening sets so someone from the band was still close by and drove back and picked it up. I never did that again , but it is not a good feeling at all.
One time I was getting in my car after a gig and turned On My lights and leaning against the wall was my drummers cymbal bag and he left about an hour before me he's soundly no one took that bag.

 

[TNT]

lol,lol,lol,lol, - Now, you will appreciate more than ever the very lowly and uncelebrated life of a guitar strap.

"bungee chords and ski rope" (yes, on more than one "hey dude, come on up and play" occasions).

 

[Purple ASS]

Yep...done the guitar strap one, used to play drums years ago and turned up without a bass drum pedal. My most recent is leaving my shoes and only having a pair of white trainers to wear with a black 'stage' suit

 

[banjoplayer]

funny story comes to my mind... 6 years ago we played at our singers wedding.it was outside as it was summer and very hot. after the gig (in the dark) we packed all our stuff into a van which stayed over night at the parking lot beacause we were all drinking that night. the next day we came back around afternoon to grab our stuff and the Silver Marshall Jubilee Head of the other guitar player stood right there on the groud next to the bus. So in the dark somebody set it there and forgot about it and nobody did see it because it was dark. We simply forgot to put it in the van. It stood there the whole night and most of the following day. A miracle nobody stole it and what a luck it didn´t rain.

 

[DrKev]

What I love about Ernie Ball Superlocks - without your usual strap, you still have perfectly good strap buttons for any other strap.

I order picks by the 100 and keep them in a zip lock bag with my spare strings, clippers, winder, hex keys and screwdriver, so I never forget those.

If there is something I forget, it'll be a cable, or one-spot or daisy-chain cable. One time I forgot my mandolin, and another I was half way out the door of the building before I realised that I hadn't thought of my amp!

 

[threeminutesboy]

funny stories I never forgot anything but my band mate did I had to give him my capo for wonderwall, I managed to play without during the chorus but was not an easy one

 

[DrKev]

For a little while I stopped bringing spares to the gig - too many band members without their own stuff borrow something from me and then lose it! It worked too, they I know I won't bail them out and they always have their stuff together now.

 

[peterd79]

i forgot my power cable to my pedalboard once... fortunately I build my own pedalboard and thought ahead and used a standard three prong cable just incase i forgot my cable...

was able to use a spare electrical cord to power 'er up...

 

[fbecir]

The only things I forget during my gigs are the notes I have to play !!!!

 

[musikarero]

The only things I forget during my gigs are the notes I have to play !!!!

I've done that more than once......nothing worse than playing bad and having nothing to blame it on!

 

[Dr.Strangenote]

I've done that before! I almost thought about pulling up a chair, seriously! luckily, we found a strap from another guitarist who had one in his car.

 

[spkirby]

After another gig, while loading up the cars, I forgot that my car keys were inside the car when I shut the boot/tailgate and got locked out... Ford used to boast of it's millions of key combinations to prove how secure it's vehicles are against theft, turns out my drummer's Ford key opened my car

 

[Tollywood]

I've showed up and forgotten some of the songs. That's just as bad, right?!?

 

[James_E]

Not a gig.. but last week, at our first rehearsal in over a month, I forgot my microphone. I brought all the cables, guitar everything, including my mic pre-amp. No microphone. I'm the only singer . 30 minute drive each way to go home and get one.

Drummer went over to his parents house and they had some old, crappy, thin mic about is big as a highlighter or magic marker, with an attached mono cable about 3 feet long (not XLR). Moved the PA to be right beside me (literally) and got through the night...

 

[Spudmurphy]

Uhh Tollie - yeah it's bad!!!!

... and James that just brings a smile to my face.

 

[paranoid70]

I forgot a mic stand once, that's not too bad........except the lead singer forgot his too! D'oh

We found one on craigslist and the guy actually brought it to the bar.