Accidents on stage

*Translated with Google Translate 

The stage can be a dangerous place. Look on YouTube for accidents on stage and it's a roll of falls, shocks, electrocutions. Some were perfectly avoidable, others are just bad luck, although you never get to understand why there are bands that throw their instruments at the drums and the man with the drumsticks dodges.

Perhaps it's The Who's fault, who were among the first to destroy amps and guitars at their concerts. Keith Moon, who didn't want to be left behind his partners, decided to put explosives around his drum set on a TV show, but he went overboard on gunpowder. The result was an explosion that permanently damaged Jon Entwistle's hearing and scattered shrapnel that they carried with them for the rest of their career.

There are also those comical moments, like Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, who decided to throw the bass in the air, and grab it headfirst. Or the Bret Michaels who had an immediate encounter with the set.

Then there are the stoic and highly professional who, despite getting injured on stage, continue to fulfill their mission of entertaining fans. The Kaiser Chiefs singer, in Paredes de Coura, twisted his foot right at the beginning of the concert and, despite the pain, made the show until the end, without disappointing the audience. The boy, whose name is Ricky Wilson, told an English magazine that he was stretched out backstage in pain to be watched, when he looks up and sees Dave Grohl, from the Foo Fighters, with beer in hand asking him: “ So how's it going?" Wilson said he was close to crying in pain, but he held on, because you can't cry in front of Dave Grohl.

Grohl happened to be involved in an incident in Sweden when, midway through a song, he trips and falls off the stage below. Grohl managed to ask for a microphone there, to say “I think I broke my leg. Yes, I did break my leg.” He even came back to sing Under Pressure.

Take this as an excellent warning for those who don't arrange their material well on stage.

The Foo Fighters frontman, who happened to be the sidekick of Krist-throw-bass-in-the-air-and-catch-them-in-the-Novoselic, replaced the drummer of Cage the Elephant when he became ill. It looks like he didn't behave badly, but Grohl is starting to look like a dangerous person to share the stage with. Hey, the risk pays off.

Another famous replacement was that of Waylon Jennings, who played a series of concerts with Johnny Cash when Bob Wooton, Cash's guitarist, fell ill mid-tour in Canada. Jennings was already a country legend in his own right, and Cash, as he explained in his bio, said he couldn't be the replacement guitarist: "No, that's not right, a star of your stature playing for me." The truth is that the two, who were already great friends, took full advantage of the situation, revealing Jennings' identity with the concert well advanced. The public was delirious and these concerts became part of the history of music.

And then we have the off-stage accidents. Meatloaf's dive for the crowd that walked away because they couldn't bear their hundred and many kilos, falls below light structures, from above amplifiers, slips like many of Axl Rose but especially the 1994 one in Alvalade. There are those who literally jump headfirst. These went well.

What we recommend is that you be careful with yourself and your bandmates, take a good look at where the pedals, cables and monitors are, where the stage ends and only dive into the deep part of the pool, and if you know how to swim.

Concerts are for fun, not crippling. And if you're unlucky, see if there's someone famous who can replace you with dates. Sometimes Dave Grohl is free.

If your musical instrument is damaged in an unfortunate accident, we have good replacements at great prices. Just visit the Salão Musical de Lisboa, we guarantee delivery to your home and in excellent conditions.