Howdy from Norway - I'm on the last leg of a short Scandinavian tour, and am finally starting to feel human. I've been sick as a dog for several days - sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and feverish. Oh, and gigging.

I'm sure a lot of you have been there. "The show must go on" sounds like a great idea until you're sick. Then you start wondering just how important that show is...

I've toured for years, and think of myself as a smart traveler, but this time I dropped the ball. I haven't been sick on the road in a long time, so in my hurried packing, the "pharmacy" I used to always haul around the globe got left at home. That left me stomping around the rainy streets of Stockholm unsuccessfully hunting for a bottle of Nyquil. Nobody I found had ever heard of the stuff.

Anyway, it made me think of posting, to see how everybody else copes with this. On the worst night, I cut back on my rather physical approach to playing, and ALMOST lowered my cymbals. I purposely wore rather heavy clothes, and sweated my @ss off, drinking almost 2 litres of water during the show. It was unpleasant during the show, but I think I sweated a lot of the bad stuff out of my system. And I played very carefully, not wanting my illness to cause my performance to suffer, particularly in the large venues we were playing. Historically I play okay when I'm sick, because I'm so intent on compensating for my lack of energy with musical accuracy.

All in all, things went fairly well, although I couldn't live up to the "Animal" vibe to which I typically aspire. The drummer in the opening act seemed to dig it, and was asking for all kinds of tips and pointers, which I tried to deliver between coughs.

So how about you? How do you cope with gigging when you don't feel up to par? Any horror stories?

I know our pal Drumgun has a puke bucket onstage to help him cope with his migraines - my hat's forever off to him for his ability to "play through the pain." And I also have a very vivid way of keeping things in perspective: our organ player is fighting prostate cancer, and spends most of his days on the road throwing up in hotel bathrooms, which makes me feel pretty puny for complaining about a mere fever.

Still, at whatever level, playing when you're sick is hard work, so I thought I'd throw the subject out for discussion.

Ugg...

Playing sick stinks.

The worst part of playing when you're sick is afterwards.

All the adrenalin that gets you over set-up and the actual gig leaves faster than inmates on a prison break.

Sorry to hear that you were battling the bug Mr A.



Re: Nyquil - You should have tried some of this stuff instead...



It's just about the same.

(And if it didn't work as well as Nyquil, you wouldn't have cared anyway.   )

hope you are better soon...and sweating will not make you better. sweat glands do not remove viral or bacteria matter

eat well, sleep well and rest

I've never missed a show due to illness (knock wood!).

There have been times when I didn't WANT to play, but did anyway.

It seems like during the sets I would be OK--adrenaline rush, I suppose.  Then during breaks, I'd sink.  Then back up in the next set.

Then die when I got home.

Like you mentioned--LOTS of H2O!

Man - sorry to hear about you being sick on the road. No matter what, it always sucks! When I was touring with a pretty heavy schedule, there were several times when I felt like whoever said "The show must go on" should have been shot! I've played with the flu and a fever several times but the worst pain was playing with an abscessed wisdom tooth - hurts just thinking about it.

Hope you're feeling better.

Billy G.

I got hit with a stomach flu the day of a gig a few weeks ago. I dealt with it by...

- Cutting whatever corners I could. "I only hit that china once during the set. I'm not taking it tonight."

- Asking for help. I've helped my bassist through some nasty back-injury issues, so he was happy to help me pack and set up.

- Overconcentrate. I don't remember the show, but I was told that I played really well. I streamline and try to anticipate as best I can.

- Layers of clothing. I wore a long-sleeved, button-down shirt with a tank-top underneath. The next day, my wife told me that she liked it when I pulled my shirt off between songs. I smiled, thinking that's probably when my fever peaked.

- I hid in the bathroom until the moment I had to be onstage, and I asked our singer to apologize to the other band for me for leaving before they played.

No, but you sweat because of the high temperature, and that assists in killing the invaders. Hopefully slight before it kills you. Also sweating helps dump toxins.

Still, if you're in Norway Mr. A, you should jump into a fjord. That cures most things. Permanently, sometimes, though you should be beautifully preserved...  

My hats off to you. I know what it's like doing a gig while your whole body is telling you to give it up. It's about the worst thing you can go thru.But, and there always is a but, when you go thru this and your on the road. If you can make it thru the night and get home, there usually is some one to help you gather your strength and build back up for the next night. When you on the road it's twice as bad, since I can't invision one of the guys helping you over those rough spots. They just don't have the right touch. I sure hope you feel batter soon, so you can end that tour with a bang, not a sneeze.
Good Luck my friend. Keep the beat hot and the temp. coooool

The worst "sick gig" I remember was a musical (either "Annie" or "Oliver", I don't remember).  I had such a sinus infection, with intense pain, that afterward I crashed on the couch at home.  It reduced me to tears.

At the performance, I seem to remember trying to "time" my spray decongestant puffs, nose blowing, and general moaning with the sound effects and action on stage.  Unfortunately, I wasn't in a pit -- I was at the foot of the stage in front of everyone.

Halfway through a European tour, myself, the lighting guy and one of the riggers picked up a horrible stomach bug. Basically I had to live in the bathroom. The really bad thing was that we had to drive from Germany to Belgium and play that night.

I remember my roadie having a bucket ready just in case, but during the acoustic number I slipped off the stage and ran to the nearest bathroom. I nearly didn't make it back as I wasn't wearing my pass and the security didn't believe me when I told him I needed to get back to the stage!

I had that bug for a week and lost so much weight, but the adrenaline certainly got me through.

I've seen you play in Cleveland Commander.  You guys were good.

Sorry you were so sick Mac.  It's really going around now for I'm starting to get over this flu thing and it's been 2 weeks.

There are two drummers in the cover band I play in now... it's GREAT.  We switch weekends, cover for each other etc.  I've never done this before and it was a little weird at first, but I have to tell you- it's the way to go.  We both love it.