Shuting down because of lightning

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 24 Jul 2008 5:09 pm

Two week ends, our band was contracted to play four gigs on an outdoor stage (under an open sided tent) at a fair for a Friday and Saturday night outdoor dance and two afternoon entertainment sessions. Unfortunately, the thunder and lightning started about 1/3 of the way through our Friday night dance and show. By 9:30P the lightning and thunder was putting on a show that would have rivaled any 4th of July fireworks display. I was the first band member to shut it down, unplug my steel and amp and cover everything with their respective covers.

Within two minutes the rest of the band followed suit and the dance & show ended then and there. Though we were under cover of a huge tent, the wind was blowing dust through the tent and the lightning was flashing closer and closer. I just plain did not want to fry $3500.00 worth of electronic equipment just for the sake of “The Show Must Go On” concept.

The guy who hired us was steaming mad and demanded that we fire up again, lightning or no lightning or be sued for breach of contract. Our band leader was a bit hesitant but the lead guitarist, bass and myself absolutely refused to plug our equipment back in to the power outlets.

Did I/we over react? In my mind the lightning was a little too close for comfort and gaining in strength. What’s your take on this guys?

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 24 Jul 2008 6:30 pm

You did the right thing. No doubt about it.

joe long · Post by **joe long** » 24 Jul 2008 7:01 pm

No question about it. You made the right decession. Any selfrespecting bandleader should understand and not subject his band to the chance of being electrocuted or for that matter damaging expensive equipment.

I got dinged with electricty many years ago playing outside and I have not forgotten it.

James Morehead · Post by **James Morehead** » 24 Jul 2008 7:10 pm

Les Anderson wrote:
The guy who hired us was steaming mad and demanded that we fire up again, lightning or no lightning or be sued for breach of contract.

It's so nice that he is SO concerned with everyones health and well being---what a nice, nice man!!

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 24 Jul 2008 7:47 pm

He's an unadulterated constipated ass.

Geo

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 24 Jul 2008 7:58 pm

Always unplug your steel and amp when lightnin' comes around, no matter how close it is.

Brett

Tobie Schalkwyk · Post by **Tobie Schalkwyk** » 24 Jul 2008 9:00 pm

It's simple: this man does not know the power of Nature and therefore
has no respect for it. A couple of years ago lightning took out a corner of my house,

entered it through steel enforcement in the walls

and took out most of our electrical stuff (fortunately not my instruments).
After this I got myself into the habbit of removing all plugs from its sockets when not practicing my music!

My neighbour picked up pieces of brick in his fish pond on the other side of his house!

You really want to challenge this force or fool around with it? Better make your own funeral arrangements first!

Stuart Legg · Post by **Stuart Legg** » 24 Jul 2008 10:16 pm

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 24 Jul 2008 10:18 pm

It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature. When lightening threatens, unplug and lay low.

Ron Randall · Post by **Ron Randall** » 24 Jul 2008 11:42 pm

You did the right thing, and encouraged your band mates by securing your gear first.

R2

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 25 Jul 2008 12:06 am

Yep ! you did right & i have done the very same
Lightning is quick, powerful & deadly

c c johnson · Post by **c c johnson** » 25 Jul 2008 2:37 am

no doubt you did the right thing however depending on the wording of your contract and if the screwball has a good lawyer; he will probably win. Speaking from experience. cc

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 25 Jul 2008 3:11 am

We showed up to an outdoor show last year, and the stage was soaking wet from rain. There was no stage covering at all. The DI's were floating. I told the promoter no way. He couldn't believe it. And I told him I wanted a cheque cut for the $3,000 he owed us. He reluctantly cut the cheque, but was pretty ticked off. I told him to have adequate stage covering if he didn't want this to happen to him again. He called us this year to play again but wanted a discount because we stiffed him last year!!

There's no way I'm playing in the rain with electrical equipment. This situation was obviously the fault of the promoter and venue. Most of the places we play outside have big tarps over the stage. In Newfoundland, it rains approximately 65% of the time. Any promoter of an outdoor show in such a climate should know better than to leave the stage exposed to the elements.

We've played in heavy mist, light rain, etc. But a stage with 6 inches of water on it and more coming out of the sky? No way.

Mark Edwards · Post by **Mark Edwards** » 25 Jul 2008 4:07 am

Let's see if I have this right, your band playing outside and lightning begins to strike up along with powerful wind. Your sitting behind a $3000.00 lightning rod. The lightning could possibly send a butt load of electricity through your steel and blow you across the stage, but the guy that hired you is steaming mad and wants you to plug back in! I would have invited that gentleman (for lack of a better word) that I would be more than happy to give him free steel lessons if he would just sit behind my steel plug her in give him the steel bar and metal picks and let him get blown across the stage. What an idiot. You definitely did the right thing. I have seen what lightning can do to the human body and it ain't pretty.

Unfortunately I have been in that same position and the lead wanted to keep playing (he had been drinking since we started). I explained to him that the band would be less a steel player and the drummer followed suit.

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 25 Jul 2008 5:32 am

He's an unadulterated constipated ass.

Ron Brennan · Post by **Ron Brennan** » 25 Jul 2008 6:59 am

Les,

(Did we do the right thing?)........

Your here to talk about it, eh?

Nuff said.

.......TX

Rgds,

Ron

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 25 Jul 2008 7:11 am

Sometimes ya gotta "hold your ground" just to stay alive...

Steve Alcott · Post by **Steve Alcott** » 25 Jul 2008 7:52 am

I've been told a couple of times to set up on damp grass or bare ground; no way will I do either. Mark E. has the right idea.

Jerry H. Moore · Post by **Jerry H. Moore** » 25 Jul 2008 8:24 am

We always shut down if lightning gets close. The pay may change but we won't play in a storm. You did the right thing. You mentioned breach of contract....add to your contract about storms etc. just to cover you if it happens again.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 25 Jul 2008 8:34 am

Les - from what you say, I gather the stage was protected from the rain and not wet, so this sounds different than Chris L's scenario. Still, I totally agree that with a powerful lightning storm right there, it's reasonable to take a break from a tent show like this until the storm passes. I consider that a promoter has a duty to protect life and property on their premises, nor do I think that has to be written down specifically in a contract. I'm no lawyer, but I think there are provisions in general contract law for "Acts of God".

But in this situation - as long as the stage was dry afterward - why not just start back up after the storm passes? Or was this storm long enough to kill the whole show for the rest of the evening? Overall, it seems to me that one has the obvious right to protect life and property, but also the responsibility to minimize the disruption of the show, within safe limits. I have stopped playing for a bad storm like this, but then resumed if and when conditions were OK again.

How many of you stop playing in a club during a thunderstorm? Myself, I have played through plenty without ever knowing they happened. In a basement club, unless the storm is a real corker, it's often true that nobody knows it's happening unless the power flickers or goes out. I agree that a basement club provides more personal protection than a tent, but the danger to electronic equipment is definitely still there.

Lem Smith · Post by **Lem Smith** » 25 Jul 2008 7:08 pm

Both myself and a lead guitar playing friend got a fairly good jolt several years back while playing in a church during a thunderstorm. Fortunately we didn't take a direct hit, but it was still enough to feel the shock while touching the strings. That was enough for me. Anytime that it's lighting close by, regardless if I'm playing indoors or out, I'm unplugging and certainly not going to be sitting there touching an electrified instrument.

As far as I'm concerned, you did the right thing by unplugging, as I would have done the same thing. As Dave mentioned above, once the storm had passed, I wouldn't have a problem plugging back up and continuing, but I flat out refuse to play during a raging electrical storm.

smike · Post by **smike** » 27 Jul 2008 5:13 pm

years ago i had a band called 'smike' that played dances for disabled kids... and corporate parties!

we were booked to play the special olympics in marin (california)... it was raining a lot, so i called to make sure the gig would be either sheltered, or moved indoors.

i was told that the show must go on, and that it would be ok because we would be playing on a concrete pad in the middle of the track on a sports field.

when i asked how big this concrete pad was, and if it was elevated, i was told that it was flush with the ground, 24" wide, and 20 or so feet long.

i explained to the person in charge that if the gig wasn't moved indoors, we couldn't do it... we needed more depth than 24" because we were not a mariachi band with acoustic guitars and horns that only needed standing room. i further explained that we had 10s of thousands of dollars of electric equipment that was susceptible to power surges (and dropouts), lightning strikes, etc.

i was told that 'the show must go on'... and then the guy said the words i had never had anyone say before:

"you play this gig or i'll make sure you never play this town again"

i laughed in his face, and said that i would not risk the lives of my band to satisfy some egotistical blowhard who i had never heard of, and who had no grasp of reality. i suggested that if he thought he actually had the power to affect anything related to my musical career, or that of my band, he was more than welcome to try... but that the things he was saying indicated he didn't have much of clue about anything.

i tendered the band's regrets, and never did find out what happened to the event... although the amount of rain that fell that weekend set 10 or 20 year records.

i was truly sorry that any kids might be disappointed, and wish that i had kept that guy's information, so i could google him.

also, i used to work for tut systems, who made boxes that would allow ethernet to run over a single pair of twisted phone wire extending a couple of thousand feet or so between buildings (i.e., on a university campus, where it would cost too much to run new cables, but there might already be phone wires running between buildings). lightning strikes up to three miles away were enough to blow out the boxes.

you don't want to piss of mother nature!

bruce

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 27 Jul 2008 9:16 pm

Most of the agencies' contracts that we work under
cover these scenarios with a paragraph addressing
"Unsafe Stage Conditions." If you don't have this in
your contract, you should, because it will hold up
in any arbitration over pay!

James Cann · Post by **James Cann** » 28 Jul 2008 8:56 am

Always unplug your steel and amp when lightnin' comes around, no matter how close it is.

Lightning pays little attention to laws of physics and science as it takes its route to destination; if that doesn't convince you, play on, be happy, and we'll keep you in our hearts!

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 28 Jul 2008 10:33 am

Dave Mudgett wrote: But in this situation - as long as the stage was dry afterward - why not just start back up after the storm passes? Or was this storm long enough to kill the whole show for the rest of the evening?

Dave; I read you. Though we were undercover of the big tent, we still had all of our equipment plugged in and it was a six hour major lightning storm that did not end until well after 2:00AM.

**It is also a known fact now that, 90% of brand name electrical surge protectors are complete failures in government tests.** With that being said, I would guess that our total $$$$$$ value of sound and musical equipment on stage, with five band members & the sound mixer, was in the neighbourhood of $15,000.00: plus the female vocalist has a bad a habit of holding the metal mic stand while she sings.

I would also guess that in the contract our band leader had there would be mention of adverse weather conditions, being that all four venues were outdoors. Other than that, we did play on the Saturday afternoon and Sat. night. The guy who hired us lost his liquor sales for the Friday evening dance and that is what he was most steamed most about.

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Shuting down because of lightning

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