My Worst Nightmare

LukeSnyder

Gold Member
So I was playing a gig this last friday night, and I had to leave my drums and cymbals up on the stage for a while before we could do the teardown. I averted my gaze from my stuff for about 2 seconds, and when I turned around, I imagine I must have gaped in horror. This huge 300 pound dude had walked up to my gear, picked up my sticks, and proceeded to mash on my cymbals with gusto.

He made Travis Barker look like a little tapper, this guy literally took both hands above his head and smashed down on my cymbals with BOTH hands at the same time, using as much force as possible. The cymbals flexed so far, they went all the way to vertical, nearly touching the cymbal stands themselves. I had brought some of my more expensive cymbals too, AAX, K custom, etc. I also had my one-of-a-kind pair of Paiste Prototype hats on there as well. Miraculously, nothing broke by the time I got to him. But man, that scared me very badly. Anyone else have stories like this? I'm sure you do, haha.
 
Always bring a tazer to the gig, I say. If someone dropped or broke my stuff, I would go monkey on their asses!
 
Wow...I woulda gone all Chuck Norris on his @$$! Sure he's twice my size, but that's a fight worth peckin in my opinion. That one cymbal brand new costs more than his wordrobe and all his drinks that night.

It does happen though...the curious people will lerk towards, of all things, the drums. It's instant noise, so drunk dumbshits see it as a joke and "funny." To try and prevent such encounters (and it doesn't always work) I keep my sticks in my case and carry that with me at all times. I also close my hats and tighten the wing-nut, switch off the snares, and slide my throne all the way up over/on the pedals boards. If my kits going to be unattended for a long duration I toss a blanket over the whole thing.

Sorry you had such a scare, though. Did "Sir Drinks A Lot" break anything?
 
Agree with Zambizzi's & Thaard's physical solution. The guy should be ashamed of himself. Was he actually a drummer? What a moron!

"I'm sorry officer, he repeatedly headbutted me in the foot!"
 
not in recent years, I watch my gear like a hawk. when I was 14 I had something similar to this happen, except some prick cracked my AA medium crash (it was my pride and joy, all my other stuff was paiste 101). make sure you take away the sticks next time, and give anyone who does this sort of shit a good punch in the face.

I actually used to weigh close to 300 pounds, I wouldn't be scared of people that size, most of them are slow and run out of breath easily.
 
Good ideas to take the sticks with you and "close up shop" so to speak if you can't load up immediately. I had my stick bag stolen last December at a gig at a hole in the wall. Now I watch my stuff like a hawk too or leave someone to watch the gear.

I had similar experiences when I was younger with a$$holes trying to play my drums without permission. One even stepped on my a Zildjian hats while I was loading up and turned the cymbal inside out on one side. I was in my early teens and just lucky to have a set, much less cases for them. I was able to fix it fine, but the prick never even apologized.

As far as drunks, I was at a private party this weekend. Four bands were scheduled to play. The host had free beer, etc. Pretty much everything was fine until the last band started playing at midnight. Once the southern rock started, those drunks out in the audience thought they could sing and got onstage and turned it into Karaoke. The band was cool and let them make asses of themselves, but after a while it got annoying. That's when a member of another band who is about 6'5" started "politely" thanking these drunks for their contrubution and escorting them off the stage. Considering how loaded people were, I thougth this guy handled it pretty good; no fights, no shouting, no shoving, no hard feelings, etc. After one set was over, the lead singer thanked everyone for their "voice" and announced that after a short break, the band would be back to continue "their" show.

Haha. It was fun to watch.
 
this wasn't from a gig but I had my kit set-up at an office I had w/ some friends and one monday morning I found my drums in a real mess. Turns out one of the guys was having some beers w/friends and one idiot went to town on my kit.
The toms were all pushed down and resting against the cymbal stands, the HH rod was bent (I really hate that), skins had dents and everything in general was messed with! It looked like someone fell on them from the drummers side.
I was kinda pissed (ok really pissed) but at that point what could I do? They were drunk (no excuse) and they probably didn't remember or realize what was happening. I know the guy who was behind the kit - complete moron - so there was no point getting into w/him F**kin' idiot - I just thanked him for not puking on my drums. The response was what you'd expect - "uhh, what?"
The drums went home that day...
 
Bad story Luke... some of these morons need a damn good slap. I would go APESH*T in those circumstances.


...one idiot went to town on my kit.

...at that point what could I do? ...I know the guy who was behind the kit - complete moron - so there was no point getting into w/him F**kin' idiot...

I'd have waited a few weeks then gone 'to town' on his car/bike/apartment (delete as applicable) with a sledgehammer... If caught..."Oops sorry I was drunk and didn't know what I was doing" or alternatively if he works in your building just 'accidentally' pushed him down the stairs!
 
Its amazing, but there was no damage to anything, except a couple dents on the tom heads. To be honest, I'm a tiny bit glad in a way, because now I have a MUCH higher level of confidence in the durability of my cymbals. I could have sworn that they would all have bell cracks, but they were all fine! Even my splash!

Let me clarify a little, because I usually do always take the sticks off the set. This was a church gig, and I had to switch out with another drummer for a couple songs. This other drummer was a girl, and she knew what she was doing enough that I trusted her to play my stuff. She didn't hit too hard, and was just generally being careful. However, this big dude was on stage playing some hand percussion, and he sorta went over to the drum set and butted in on her. I don't think she knew how to handle it, and he's a pretty intimidating looking guy. All in all, it was sort of a weird situation... haha

I immediately ran up to the side of the stage and started yelling at him to not hit so hard, and thank God he did. As soon as they finished their song I started tearing down, lol.
 
Its amazing, but there was no damage to anything, except a couple dents on the tom heads. To be honest, I'm a tiny bit glad in a way, because now I have a MUCH higher level of confidence in the durability of my cymbals. I could have sworn that they would all have bell cracks, but they were all fine! Even my splash!

The damage will surface much later as there are now micro-fractures in the metals....You'll be playing along and then you'll see a small crack appear. You will be bummed and think it was your fault. Maybe. ;)
 
Chromium, the guy is a 45 yr old hippie - he doesn't own much more than the clothes on his back and his apartment (which is next to free for him) is never locked and is full of other peoples stuff. I think life is taking it out on him - what goes around comes around...
 
This was a church gig

What is it with church gigs? So many of the horror stories I read here on DW happen at church gigs. This sort of stuff doesn't happen in the worst drunken slaughterhouses I've played in, why is it supposedly acceptable in church? Do people not just sit and listen anymore?

I knew there was a reason why I don't go.....the preservation of my kit far outweighs the preservation of my soul. :)
 
The damage will surface much later as there are now micro-fractures in the metals....You'll be playing along and then you'll see a small crack appear. You will be bummed and think it was your fault. Maybe. ;)
That's just it right there. I don't mind sharing my kit at all. I don't change my heads very often and it's doubtful that most drummers are going to be hitting much harder than me anyway. But cymbals are a different story. I really don't like sharing those at all. Almost without exception (unless I know that the drummer is a really light hitter). Because even if there's no apparent damage just after the fact, there's no telling what might be going on with little micro-cracks that'll rear their ugly little heads later. I'd rather be sure that when I break a cymbal, that it was actually me that broke it.

I was in a band once where the bass player was also a drummer and would occasionally use my kit for jamming with his other friends. That was cool by me, but one day I showed up to practice and one of my crashes was cracked. The bass player fessed up to it and replaced it without any argument, but it did leave me wondering later if perhaps he was simply unlucky enough to be the guy to crack it after I had weakened it on some micro level.

I would have split the cost with him but he just happened to have that exact cymbal at home in his cymbal arsenal (17" A Medium Crash) so we just swapped. That seemed fair because I don't think I could have rightly expected him to replace it with a new one at full cost.

So now, just to keep things simple and everyone honest, I don't share cymbals.
 
What is it with church gigs? So many of the horror stories I read here on DW happen at church gigs. This sort of stuff doesn't happen in the worst drunken slaughterhouses I've played in, why is it supposedly acceptable in church? Do people not just sit and listen anymore?

Once again, I"m not looking to knock religion, but you are correct Pocket. Some of the worst experiences I've had playing drums have been at chruch gigs and I'm at a loss to understand why that is. Either some idiot completely tries to knock my drums into the next county, or egos start flying, or poorly educated worship leaders, lously sound techs, etc. A few I can understand, like leaders who are really trying but not really there yet, or sound techs who genuinely try. A few like idiots or egos I can't understand nor will I accept.

That's why unless I know someone who really needs a favor as a sub, or has a special program going on and needs a hand, I usually now always pass on church gigs, paid or otherwise.
 
OK Big Foot, I understand, and now I know more I would be far more lenient on him... As he's a hippy (or perhaps because he's a hippy) I'd only push him down the stairs now! (check out the 'Free Love' Dude!) :D It ain't my fault he's in a bad place and it don't give him any excuse to trash my stuff.

I still think some people need to have some respect for others property otherwise it's just vandalism. Even though my own kit (which I share with my son) is an extremely cheap cobbled-together-worthless-piece-of-cr*p kit with really sh*tty beginner cymbals (I'm really only a beginner and pretty broke atm) which in total cost me less than £400, it's still mine and I've worked long and hard and scrimped together the money to pay for it. I would be very upset if anyone started bashing on it without asking first. That's just really rude...
 
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So now, just to keep things simple and everyone honest, I don't share cymbals.

100% agree. I never share my cymbals. I wouldn't share them with anyone, even ginger baker or mitch mitchell (ok maybe mitch could have a little play). But the sentiment remains, there is no piece of my drum kit that is more valuable than my cymbals.
 
What is it with church gigs? So many of the horror stories I read here on DW happen at church gigs. This sort of stuff doesn't happen in the worst drunken slaughterhouses I've played in, why is it supposedly acceptable in church? Do people not just sit and listen anymore?

I knew there was a reason why I don't go.....the preservation of my kit far outweighs the preservation of my soul. :)

I just did one Sunday and it was the most laid back place I've played, yet. I'm not even a churchgoer and I had a good time. No one tried to Hulk-out on my cymbals either, thankfully. The house kit is so ugly it naturally deters predators.
 
The damage will surface much later as there are now micro-fractures in the metals....You'll be playing along and then you'll see a small crack appear. You will be bummed and think it was your fault. Maybe. ;)

I'm hoping that doesn't happen. My hats and ride should be fine, I'm just worried about my splash, haha.

What is it with church gigs? So many of the horror stories I read here on DW happen at church gigs. This sort of stuff doesn't happen in the worst drunken slaughterhouses I've played in, why is it supposedly acceptable in church? Do people not just sit and listen anymore?

I knew there was a reason why I don't go.....the preservation of my kit far outweighs the preservation of my soul. :)

I know what you're saying... some of my best gigging experiences have been in churches though, it depends on the church. There can be people with no respect anywhere you go I guess :p
 
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