Trainwreck - Start over or plow through?

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Not a hard rule, but IMO we get about 3 to 4 bars grace during which we can stop and start over. After that, you bought it. Barring a real medical emergency, you gotta finish. Cut it short, morph to a different song, turn it into an instrumental, etc.

And never make excuses or apologize for your performance. It's ok to crack a joke. Little mistakes go unnoticed.

This, 100%.

[Mr. Jelly]

I ran into a video just the other day of Keith Richards starting the wrong song on stage. He stopped and made a joke and went on. I've seen this happen with performers much more than one would think. Run with it as it can be an enduring way for a performer to become personable to an audience. Doing it numerous times in a set would be a different discussion.

[Dave Hicks]

Ah, those pesky harmonickeys - sometimes the wrong one sneaks right up on ya. (A bit over 3 minutes in.)

[leew3]

I'm in the 'start over' camp. I've done it and it's not a problem. I often tell our audiences that live music can be like a stock car race: there might be a wreck!

[mike o]

It happens. You did the right thing when in trouble. Get out asap. Smile and laugh when done. If it’s clearly apparent to those in the audience you might want to add something like, we’ll try that another day, smile and laugh. Move on. This will put folks at ease feeling your pain. Believe it or not, the audience is on your side. A little humor helps. No one expects complete perfection.

And I wouldn’t try it again the same night. .

[SaintClarence27]

Originally Posted by leew3

I'm in the 'start over' camp. I've done it and it's not a problem. I often tell our audiences that live music can be like a stock car race: there might be a wreck!

I like the phrasing of that one, and, with your permission, I might just steal it.

[reeve21]

I saw Springsteen stop and start over once. Not too far into the tune, one of the band missed their cue and everyone got out of sync. No wasted time between stopping and starting again, so while it was jarring the sensation didn't last long.

And at a Grateful Dead concert you were never exactly sure when they had started some tunes, they liked to ease into things

Once you are into the vocal I think you would need to plow ahead to conclusion (maybe pick it up at the next verse) or just segue immediately into another tune-- a hard stop at that point would be pretty disconcerting.

I know a guy who routinely shortens tunes in his solo set when playing in raucous bars where folks are inclined to sing along--if the audience isn't digging it as much as usual he moves on quickly, but no hard stops, right into the next one.

[rmp]

Then there is the moment when you had the chords right, but could not "hear" the melody in your head to start the first verse

My story here was Song for a winters night when someone asked for Lightfoot at a tavern gig I do regulalry.

OK! I've only done that one 600 times.. But once the intro was done, and it was time to start the verse I just couldn't hear it.

I took my time, calmed my brain down, played thru the intro again, but it just wouldn't come.

The moment was there, do I stop, and regroup or pretend like nothing was going on.

I chose the later, tossed through a few chord changes in that key, and slowly came around and transitioned into "If you could read my mind".

Not a soul was the wiser.

The next set, I tempted fate, started that song again, this time went right through it... not a second's hesitation.

the mind is a terrible thing.

[Doug Young]

Craziest example I've seen was Stephen Bennett doing his version of If I Only Had a Brain. He crashed badly part way in, made a joke about not having a brain, restarted, only to crash again. More funny carrying on about not having a brain, then restarted. He was so funny, and given the song, it was totally unclear if he was really lost or if it was all part of the act. I asked him later which it was, and he said "if you'd ask me my name at that moment, I couldn't have told you!". But he turned it into one of the most entertaining songs in his set.

[RodB]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

It is best to get things right of course, but there are times when stopping apologising and restarting is best, and if managed correctly can warm the audience to you.

I think it has happened to most of us at one time.

+1 on this. And the sooner the better…

[soma5]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Craziest example I've seen was Stephen Bennett doing his version of If I Only Had a Brain. He crashed badly part way in, made a joke about not having a brain, restarted, only to crash again. More funny carrying on about not having a brain, then restarted. He was so funny, and given the song, it was totally unclear if he was really lost or if it was all part of the act. I asked him later which it was, and he said "if you'd ask me my name at that moment, I couldn't have told you!". But he turned it into one of the most entertaining songs in his set.

Stephen Bennett is such a performer. He can connect with an audience in ways I can only dream of.

[Ceabeceabe]

I have been going to Bruce Cockburn concerts since the 1980s. In the past few years I have seen Bruce stop progress on a song toward the beginning when he gets off track on the guitar. His guitar work is often super tricky. On the other hand, when he has forgotten the lyric to a new or super wordy song over the years he will either hum, or repeat the verse, and move on - happens very rarely though. This all makes him more human in my eyes.

[difalkner]

A few weeks ago our Worship Pastor started on the keys in G but our music was in A (he doesn't use music sheets or iPads). Everyone else was in A and we caught on quickly. The two electric guitars and bass sort of improvised but all I had to do was take my capo off. He apologized later and told us that he's done that song for years in G and forgot that he had moved it to A.

I was at a Leo Kottke concert years ago and he was amazing, as always. At the end of the concert he said he missed a note somewhere in the middle of the concert and made a comical apology, then asked if we were ok with him playing the song again. We didn't at all and he played the song again, flawlessly this time. And fwiw, I don't think anyone in the audience realized he missed one note.

[JonPR]

Here's Bert Jansch showing how to negotiate a mistake:

0:30 - hits the wrong fret, puts it right without missing a beat, laughs and carries on.

I.e., you have to be that relaxed about it. If it had been right at the start, he might well have started again, but by then he was too far into the song - and just starting the vocal too.

[Mr. Jelly]

This brings about a performing rule I have. Part of my performing procedures if you will. I always (a must) get the song in my head before I start actually performing it. Rather than jumping right into a song. I go through the verse or chorus in my head before starting. It only takes a second. It's part of my being aware and present while performing. It sets me up to move on into the next step of performing which is actually performing the song instead of rendering it.