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Has anyone got any horror stories about forgetting or breaking gear mid-performance?

Polinfraisy

New member
Notes
♬13
Hey everyone!

I personally have a horror story from one of my very first gigs. I was an R&B vocalist, and I was so anxious during setup and soundcheck that I completely forgot my USB drive—the one containing all my backing tracks, backing vocals, and harmonies. The only thing left for me to do was sing the main melody live.

Right before the show started, the sound engineer asked me for the USB, and that’s when total panic set in. It was one of the most embarrassing and overwhelming moments of my life. I had to perform my entire set completely acapella. I was running out of breath and panicking so badly that I couldn’t stop coughing mid-song. It got so bad that the event organiser literally had to pause my set and hand me a glass of water on stage! 😭

Looking back now, I can laugh about it and be glad I survived, but it was an absolute nightmare at the time.

Because of that disaster (and seeing so many other artists run into last-minute emergencies), I’m looking into creating a music vending machine for venues—something placed backstage or in green rooms that dispenses emergency gear like backup USBs, cables, guitar strings, drum keys, and adapters right when you need them most.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories:

  1. What’s your worst live gig or rehearsal emergency?
If you’ve got 90 seconds to spare, I’d really appreciate it if you could drop your feedback on my university research survey! As a thank you, taking the survey enters you into a raffle to win a £20 e-gift card:


👉 🎸 Ever forgotten gear or broken gear at a gig or rehearsal? (2) – Fill in form

Drop your worst venue horror stories below—I'd love to read them!
 
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