What's the worst accident you've had involving your gear or a gig?

[rob1963]

After my quiz last night, I tripped over and went flying...with a speaker in one hand & my quiz console (containing a mixer amp & minidisc player) in the other :eek:

I hurt my leg & left wrist, grazed both arms & ripped my jeans.

When I got home, the first thing I did was to test the speaker, mixer amp & minidisc player...and amazingly they all still worked fine!

I'm not a clumsy person & have never done anything like this before.

So, what's the worst accident YOU'VE had involving your gear or a gig?

[sleah]

Funny how gear only ever seems to go wrong when your treating it with respect.:(
Give it some major abuse and it seem to survive remarkably well!!!!:eek:

Classic example of "Sod's" law in action:D

[Shaun]

Last December I slipped off the edge of a School stage. I fell backwards followed by my winch stands. Luckily the stands had a soft landing (me), I didn't fair as well..lol. Luckily no bones were broken...just pride.

[CRAZY K]

:eek:
After my quiz last night, I tripped over and went flying...with a speaker in one hand & my quiz console (containing a mixer amp & minidisc player) in the other :eek:

I hurt my leg & left wrist, grazed both arms & ripped my jeans.

When I got home, the first thing I did was to test the speaker, mixer amp & minidisc player...and amazingly they all still worked fine!

I'm not a clumsy person & have never done anything like this before.

So, what's the worst accident YOU'VE had involving your gear or a gig?

Sorry to hear that Rob--hope your fit and well for the next gig:D

Last September I was setting up in a Marquee on an uneven floor (field)
and my Goalpost with lights was up but looked a bit dodgy--I said to someone ill have to get something to even this up--they said dont worry theres some pieces of wood over here--as they went out the Marquee the whole lot tipped over smashing all my lights into the marquee floor:eek:

One of those rare times when you feel a muppet:D

There was no one near me so didnt matter too much--just didnt fancy doing the gig with no lights:eek:

Apart from a bent light clamp and a slight dent on one Dynatwin everything worked--I think the guests thought it was a cabaret act--how could those lights possibly work again?

The only lasting damage was one of the fuses in my par colours went a month later which was probably the impact.

The event went very well and the Brides father even helped me get my gear to the car at the end.

YES THIS DISCO GEAR CAN TAKE IT:)

Ripped Jeans--isnt that the latest fashion where you live:D :D :D

CRAZY K

[Tony Scott]

DJing at my sisters 21st b'day back in 1989.

One of my absolutely drunk cousins climbed up onto the stage, lost his balance and grabbed one of my light stands to stop himself falling.

The tripod, t-bar & lights came down onto my Technics SL1200's & snapped both.........BOTH!! tone arms.
We ended up in the middle of the dancefloor punching hell out of each other, nice night that.

Strange how time heals things.....he paid for repairs and I then started talking to him again!

[TONYTIGER]

1979 St Albans punk gig, pogoed of stage broke both legs(femur) for you medical geeks still got the pins in both legs to prove it otherwise good gig.
Tony Tiger [email protected]

[Dragonfly]

table collapse that i was stood on trying to hang lights but the worst .....

fully loaded truss landing on me when i was trying after a gig to take down a datamoon that wasnt playing the game.

chauvet nebula across the noggin and 4 nebulas and 4 datamoons plus truss on top of me.

hence my wind up option now lol

or now im going to get it .....

uv tube wasnt working to took it to bits and the coil bit that you get in them had actually snapped????? so grabbed hold of it to have a closer look ........ you guessed it ........




plugged in! :daft:

[Paul James Promotions]

After a show a couple of years back, my old amp rack decided to roll off the 5ft high stage after one of my crew decided to leave it on it's wheels unattended. Very lucky there wasn't a small child in it's path, around 100kg would most definately have killed them.

Very little damage to the gear, cracked the case which i managed to repair properly, amps and processor survived with minimum damage, just slightly bent rack ears.

Also had a nasty shock from a strobe light many years ago, repairing the supply cable, someone (who doesn't realise I am working on it) decides to plug it into the wall.

[rob1963]

Funny how gear only ever seems to go wrong when your treating it with respect.:(
Give it some major abuse and it seem to survive remarkably well!!!!:eek:

Classic example of "Sod's" law in action:D

Sleah...that is SO true!


:eek:

Sorry to hear that Rob--hope your fit and well for the next gig:D
Ripped Jeans--isnt that the latest fashion where you live:D :D :D
CRAZY K

Thanks Crazy...I'll be fine for Saturday. It was only a few bumps & bruises - nothing serious.

As for your ripped jeans comment.....:lol:


uv tube wasnt working to took it to bits and the coil bit that you get in them had actually snapped????? so grabbed hold of it to have a closer look ........ you guessed it ........plugged in! :daft:

To quote from an old Bond film, that's shocking...positively shocking! :p

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Many years ago I had a strobe fall on my head from a speaker stack....

It nearly knocked me out and cut my head quite badly.

I haven't used strobes for a very long time funnily enough....

[Vectis]

The one and only time in 23 years I've not turned up for a gig happened 21 years ago. At the time I had use of my dad's Lada estate and a big old wooden trailer (1" ply on a metal frame with a tarp tied across the top) for humping gear around.

On my way to the gig I was in the middle of a junction turning right at a major set of lights just as they went amber, and as I did so some loon on a (big BMW) motorbike coming the other way decided to race the red light. He saw my car turn and braked, then assumed he could still make it (not noticing the trailer which was obscured by other traffic turning right in the opposite direction back in the good ol' days when we used to pass nearside-to-nearside...). By the time the trailer came into his view ... BANG!

Him and his girlfriend (helmetless) flew right over the trailer and into the path of traffic just pulling away across the junction the other way.

A few bumps & bruises but nothing too serious. Bike was written off though. Problem was, the impact had yanked the trailer off the back of the car and broken the mounts so we weren't going anywhere :mad:

Luckily managed to get hold of an agency on the phone and got some kind of cover sorted though!

Lots of aggro and a few months/court hearings later and the biker admitted running a red light :p

Damage to kit? A 3" crack in the corner of a lightbox.

That was one dam fine trailer!

[colint]

not really at a gig but related!
I was cleaning out my van years ago (bout 20) and put most of the gear in the road, including a pair of 2 x 15 martin bins

whilst I was busy sweeping on of the bins (which had wheels on) went for a little trip down the road (I lived on a hill) about a hundred yards down the road was a blokes new car compleat with 2 x 15 martin audio system built into the bonnet

cost me about £1600 to repair the damage!

[rob1963]

Many years ago I had a strobe fall on my head from a speaker stack

Darren, it's lucky it fell on your HEAD...at least it had a soft landing! :p :D


not really at a gig but related!
I was cleaning out my van years ago (bout 20) and put most of the gear in the road, including a pair of 2 x 15 martin bins

whilst I was busy sweeping on of the bins (which had wheels on) went for a little trip down the road (I lived on a hill) about a hundred yards down the road was a blokes new car compleat with 2 x 15 martin audio system built into the bonnet

cost me about £1600 to repair the damage!

Ouch, colin!

[colint]

Ouch is about right, but you have to see the funny side! had I not settled you could just imagine an insurance claim now thats funny!!!! :p
didn't do a thing to the bin though!

[Tony Scott]

didn't do a thing to the bin though!

Martin Audio 215's Awsome, Awsome, strong, long-throw, Fantastic bins!
Pink Floyd used to own about 100 of them before they went down the Court Sound System route, 100, imagine how that sounded!! :D :D

Sorry went off on one then :o :)

[spin mobile disco]

Worst i've had (and i've been luckiy so far touch wood) i opened the back of my car couple of weeks ago and my dynamos in there case fell out the back onto the road. Ouch as I drive a partner van it was about a metre drop onto concrete. Then last week opened the door and it happened again. Since then started to use side door of van lol. No bulbs broken but units took a couple of chips in paintwork.

[PropellerHeadCase]

Ouch is about right, but you have to see the funny side! had I not settled you could just imagine an insurance claim now thats funny!!!! :p

My grandmother was able to put on an insurance claim, without a word of a lie, "hit by helicopter". It was only by reading further into the claim that you found out that it was strapped (poorly) to the back of a truck. The main rotor blade came untied and swung out from the truck, gouged the roof of her car.

[colint]

Martin Audio 215's Awsome, Awsome, strong, long-throw, Fantastic bins!
Pink Floyd used to own about 100 of them before they went down the Court Sound System route, 100, imagine how that sounded!! :D :D

Sorry went off on one then :o :)

and really heavy I had 4 of them and even in a big room the bass hurt!

I got mine direct from dave martin whom i met through my job at jw parker's the man was a compleat nutter but so clever with sound

he loaded 2 bin's with JBL E140's and the other two with Gauss 4583a's and the effect was un-real
got all the thump from the JBL's and the really low bass from the Gauss and only had 2 HH v800's driving them! scary bass

the court system was good too but not as refind as the martin:cool:

[BeerFunk]

Many years ago I had a strobe fall on my head from a speaker stack....

It nearly knocked me out and cut my head quite badly.

I haven't used strobes for a very long time funnily enough....
Ouch! Strobes are seriously bad for your health!

Some nasty, and some funny stories here, I have to say I've been a little fortunate so far (touch wood), but I'm sure something will happen sooner or later!

Knowing my luck...

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/1/16/Unlucky_alf.jpg

:D

[Corabar Steve]

some loon on a (big BMW) motorbike coming the other way decided to race the red light.

Lots of aggro and a few months/court hearings later and the biker admitted running a red light :p


I think what you encountered was actually a motorcyclist, "bikers" don't tend to ride big BMs :sj:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I think what you encountered was actually a motorcyclist, "bikers" don't tend to ride big BMs :sj:

What about trikes? :p

[Corabar Steve]

What about trikes? :p

Oh yes. (when they're not broken :( )

[Penfold42]

Oh what a laugh.....there are some very good stories on here...cheered me up no end from a really awful week!!


When I got home, the first thing I did was to test the speaker, mixer amp & minidisc player...and amazingly they all still worked fine!


Why is this...???
Is my gear alright....not 'Why is my wrist pointing at a funny angle?' or 'I thought bones were suposed to be on the inside?'...

Just a thought...LOL

[Skins]

I can recall a incident 4 years ago after a xmas gig.

My "roadie" and I were packing away one night and he decided that it would be "easier" to remove the lighting from the stand by gradully lowering the stands to its minimum height and then just lift all the lights off......

My concern was with 4 destroyers, two datamoons and 2 spin masters that it was gonna be risky..........

we tried it....and the whole bloomin lot went lopsided, snapped, and hit me straight on........:eek:

Lost a tooth, split lip, and bruised face................

He no longer works for me, and Ive since upgraded to winch stands and trilite!

Lesson learnt the hard way!

Shaun

[Arnold_disco]

I can recall a incident 4 years ago after a xmas gig.

My "roadie" and I were packing away one night and he decided that it would be "easier" to remove the lighting from the stand by gradully lowering the stands to its minimum height and then just lift all the lights off......

My concern was with 4 destroyers, two datamoons and 2 spin masters that it was gonna be risky..........

we tried it....and the whole bloomin lot went lopsided, snapped, and hit me straight on........:eek:

Lost a tooth, split lip, and bruised face................

He no longer works for me, and Ive since upgraded to winch stands and trilite!

Lesson learnt the hard way!

Shaun

Ouch thats got to be the worst so far:quiet:

[Flex]

:Embarassed: Last week I was going to post a 'Never had an accident, touch wood' comment. However on Saturday I manged to drive my van off a 3' ledge while reversing up to the function hall. This left the van with a disturbing list to the right. Fortunately it was on a RM Comando base (Falklands Veterans reunion) and it only took eight squadies to lift it back onto the road. (I had emptied it first mind you)

[Arnold_disco]

Can honestly post that i have never had an acciden't:)

[BeerFunk]

Can honestly post that i have never had an acciden't:)
Umm... you're 12 mate, give it time! :D

[PropellerHeadCase]

Can honestly post that i have never had an acciden't:)

What on earth is that apostrophe doing there?

[BeerFunk]

What on earth is that apostrophe doing there?
It was an accident

[Alex - Cream Ents]

I distinctly remember around 5 years ago, when I had a partner in the disco business we were still using a trailer. On one very dark and snowy Norfolk evening pushing the trailer round to load out, my partner did not allow for the wheel arch on the trailer - and side swiped a brand new VW Golf....oops!

The only other event that springs to mind is while de-rigging a T Bar (good ole' T bars..) I "misjudged" the weight distribution and the stand toppled to one side. Despite a loud clatter everything still worked afterwards - not a scratch!

[leighinstoke]

No on-stage accidents to report but was repairing a strobe that was supposedly broken - took out strobe tube, cleaned contacts, put back together, still not working, took tube back out, noticed part of the holder was not making contact.

At this point, I didn't realise I hadn't disconnected the power - so on putting a screwdriver into the terminal to close the gap and reduce the contact - the thing burst into life but discharging the tube charger into me rather than a strobe tube as I was now part of the circuit!

Many palputations later, gasping for breath, being dazed, confused and electrocuted at a rapid rate, I managed to disconnect myself and live to tell the tail.

Leigh.....

[BeerFunk]

No on-stage accidents to report but was repairing a strobe that was supposedly broken - took out strobe tube, cleaned contacts, put back together, still not working, took tube back out, noticed part of the holder was not making contact.

At this point, I didn't realise I hadn't disconnected the power - so on putting a screwdriver into the terminal to close the gap and reduce the contact - the thing burst into life but discharging the tube charger into me rather than a strobe tube as I was now part of the circuit!

Many palputations later, gasping for breath, being dazed, confused and electrocuted at a rapid rate, I managed to disconnect myself and live to tell the tail.

Leigh.....
That sounds pretty terrifying, did you think your number was up?

[Skins]

That sounds pretty terrifying, did you think your number was up?

or did your life flash before you?!!!:D :lol:

Shaun

[rob1963]

That's shocking

[PropellerHeadCase]

or did your life flash before you?!!!:D :lol:

Repeatedly and rapidly!



That's shocking

So's that!

[leighinstoke]

Certainly hurt I can tell you - though I've learnt my lesson about shoving screwdrivers into holes.

Leigh....

[Corabar Steve]

I'm suprised Will hasn't mentioned his trailor incident.

[rob1963]

I'm suprised Will hasn't mentioned his trailor incident.

Will...it's over to you!

[Corabar Steve]

Found the thread (http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=3288)

[sleah]

Certainly hurt I can tell you - though I've learnt my lesson about shoving screwdrivers into holes.

Leigh....

Trust me Leigh, you NEVER learn!! :D :D :D

Biggest accident that didn't happen to me, but a friend whom I worked with/for.

Back in the early 90's, his truss collapsed due to over loading and nearly landed on Bucks Fizz (Yes, the band) during sound/lighting checks.
Truss trashed but all the gear worked fine!
Won't be giving any details about where who etc:rolleyes:

[Cj_The_Dj]

a few years a go in a small pub. i had the upsairs room and the stairs was steep
i was using boxers of bulbs [with other effects] but at the end of the gig i left my bulbs at the bottom of the stairs and i droped my speakers down the stairs and i fell after it but my speakers smashed up the bulbs

[Arnold_disco]

a few years a go in a small pub. i had the upsairs room and the stairs was steep
i was using boxers of bulbs [with other effects] but at the end of the gig i left my bulbs at the bottom of the stairs and i droped my speakers down the stairs and i fell after it but my speakers smashed up the bulbs

Ouch, did you have any injuries/broken bones?

[Cj_The_Dj]

lookly no lol

[Jiggles]

Well i have spilled some bubble mixture on to a stage i went awy yo get somthing to wipe it up i came back forgot about it and sliped on it. I came off the stage and landed at a funny angle! it was d@mn sore it was!!!!

[pagan_flame]

As I was off to a gig over Midlands way 3 weeks ago, half way round the roundabout at the A14 / A1 junction I noticed that my rear window had lost its' smoked tint...

...ohh no b^gger my tailgate is open!

Stopped immediately - the only thing to fall out was The World's Thinnest Lightbox (http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5990&highlight=thinnest). :eek: My in-car sub box, box of car stuff, truss fittings and trolley all stayed in place.

Now I knew that the tailgate was down at the traffic lights coming on to the roundabout, so I drove back around - and sure enough there it was lying in the road by the traffic lights, being run over every few seconds or so by cars coming off the A14.

When the lights changed I managed to rescue it, and get most of the perspex off the road - light net is trashed but the ply came through surprisingly well. Now I have a spare net - multicoloured though, not blue - so could reconstruct for the cost of another sheet of perspex... dunno if I want to though!

Oh yeah, and I fixed the tailgate problem (catch had jammed open when loading, a shot of WD40 sorted it out - but it had stayed shut for 15 miles or so from home to that point, which was odd...) :confused:

[Have a disco]

someone leaning on my 4ft UV light strip shattering it to pieces over 15 years ago, customer gained shard in his hand ex wife removed it, but was OK and paid for the new bulb He felt a atad silly a pillock was drunk at the time

[pdarnett]

got a bit enthusiastic leaping about on stage at a student gig (i was playing skunk anansi) and managed to jam foot down between gap in portable staging and as i fell over broke my leg just above the ankle, still finished the gig though! and drove myself to casualty after driving home and getting wife to unload the car!!!