You never know who will be watching.

[Outrider]

We're playing a block party on Steve's back porch. He lives in a very posh, gated & guarded neighborhood up on the ridge. My name had to bee on the guard's list just to drive to the house.

It was a loose confederation of musicians, all of which have played together numerous times in various configurations. We know all the songs. We're taking requests. I am drinking. And playing bass.

So we're chugging through...something you'd recognize, but I don't remember...and I decide that since I'm only bouncing back and forth between I and V, I was going to grab a drink with my potentialy unused right hand while fretting the changes with my left. It worked out so well that I decided I could probably down the rest of the bottle without missing a note.

I was wrong. I think I screwed up something Mustang-Sally-ish worse than any other bass player in history. It was a wreck. I didn't derail the band, but I don't know how they kept it together. Then I looked up and about 12 feet away, looking at me, was...Oteil Burbridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oteil_Burbridge)

He's the bassist for the Allman Brothers, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, and The Peacemakers. Collaborator with Victor Wooten, Trey Anastasio, and Marc Ribot. Multi-issue cover boy for and oft-awarded by Bass Player magazine. Unbeknownst to me, he lived two doors down the hill.

He just shook his head and walked away.


:facepalm:

[Kikaruu]

Wow. I'm not poking fun, but you failed.

[Outrider]

Wow. I'm not poking fun, but you failed.

On the contrary...I managed to get extremely drunk. I see that as sort of a secondary objective that met with WIN.

...and helped with the fail.

No, you are correct. :facepalm::mad:

[Kikaruu]

Sorry, dude. You've just win.

Now, isn't this forum full of irony? :)

[crowquill]

Bump teh on topic threadz :thu:

[Mark Wein]

This is a story I've posted elsewhere but it fits the topic:

I've run into Alan Holdsworth twice in the last 20 years, and both were horrifically embarrassing moments.

The first was when I was 18 and a friends band was recording at a studio in Costa Mesa that Holdsworth used quite a bit. I was inspecting my buddies B.C. Rich Warlock with a big lightning bolt painted on it when Mr Holdsworth walked into the studio lounge, looked at me holding this ridiculous guitar turned around and walked out. Didn't even say hi....

The second time was probably about 5-6 years ago and I was playing at The Harp Inn in Costa Mesa with a bad coverband. It was the kind of night you couldn't wait to have end...bad music, bad band...I was playing like shit and my Bassman was acting up during the gig. The stage was right next to the side door and out of the corner of my eye I see someone standing next to me just off stage watching...I look over and there is Allan Holdsworth watching me absolutely butcher "Sweet Home Chicago". He just shook his head and walked to the other end of the bar to meet his friends. A few weeks later I was back playing in the same place and he just walked through the bar and sat down.

Not that he would ever remember me or even be remotely interested in anything I would have to say on the guitar but it just seems like every time I run into the guy I look like a reject from Wayne's World...:freak:

[Kikaruu]

I love how everyone just shakes their head in shame and just walks out. Most people at least give the courtesy to say hi or stick around, but... man...

[Jealousblues]

these were awesome stories.

I mean how can it really be a fail when you can entertain us with them?

__________________________________________________ ________________________---


the best fail story I can think of of the top of my head is this.

In one of the first gigs I have with my band, i was using a PODXTL and a Line 6 Variax.
For those of you who dont know (pretty much anyone since no one uses them) you can set your pod ot control "patch" changes on the guitar. Say you hit a dirty alt rock patch it can set the guitar to a les paul or something.
anyway, I had that set up to do that in advance, and we were doing "all right now."
Well we changed the key for some reason (we have two different versions of the band and in one we were doing it in A and the other Ab for some reason). Well in my infinate wisdom I dicided just to learn it in A and use the dutune feature of the guitar in the five piece...so my hand didnt just start playing in the other key or so I wouldnt start it in the other key.

Well we start the song...everythings going great until the solo.
Stepped on patch D...and bam wrong key!

so im trying to figure out what happened. I saw everythign on the guitar was set right and I was playing it in the right spot. SO I flipped the pup selector (which controls the pitch if you have tuned it down) and put it back to where it was supposed to be mid solo.

So I finish out the solo, everything is ok.

Until I go back to my rythem sound.

Right off of that Eb, I switch the patch and hit the main riff...off fucking key by a half step again.

It took me a couple of days to figure out what the fuck had happened.