So apparently a bass guitar has an A string?

Played a gig tonight, and shit, I stuffed it up big time.

Thought I was in for a great night, and all the signs were there - Big stage and good sound, "In Pieces" by Linkin Park was blaring over the bistro sound system, and a decent meal for a good price. But man, I kinda made an arse out of myself.

So there we are, three songs in, and I start playing the song on the wrong goddamn string. I was playing on the E string, and of course, I should have been playing on the A. I knew it didn't sound right, and I kept looking down trying to see what was wrong, but I couldn't figure it out. I thought I was playing it on the right string. I thought wrong. So, almost half a song in, I realized my mistake. At first, my mind raced. I've played this song more times that I can count, why have I fucked it up now? And it all started to fall apart. I wasn't thinking. I made more mistakes throughout the song. I even missed my back-up vocal cues. I'm amazed somebody didn't throw a bottle.

But hey, we got through it. I apologized to the boys and we got on with it. At this point, I started thinking, well I've already screwed up so badly that it can't get any worse, so I let loose. I like to think I redeemed myself for the other half of the set, and we had a few people nodding their heads and jumping around. In the end, I think we did alright, regardless of my epic/stupid/moronic mistake.

But a harsh lesson has been learned -  don't be too over confident! And also, no matter how bad it gets, try and hold it together and keep going. As long as the audience is with you, just keep going.

- JD