In a recent post about PA (the system, not the State), Travelin' Easy mentioned the bad acoustics on a recent gig in a large tent.

This got me wondering: Come on, everyone, tell us your acoustics horror stories.

Just to get the ball rolling, here's my own favourite.

In 1973 my old band did a four-month stint at Sigonella U.S. Naval Air Station in Sicily. We had been touring U.S. military bases around Europe for several months and the standard of these places was uniformly (pardon the pun) pretty good. However, the same certainly could not be said of Sigonella's facility.

The 'Club' turned out to be a former bakery building complete with hard floors, tiled walls, metal ceiiling and no sound absorbing qualities at all; the sound just bounced around everywhere. There was absolutely no remedy. You only had to snap your fingers and it sounded almost like a gunshot.

The only thing that saved the day was the fact that we usually ended up playing only about 35 minutes into the first set before all the drunken sailors and marines (what a mix that is) would initiate their own 'entertainment' and the Shore Patrol would move in and put an end to the proceedings; luckily the stage was about five feet above the floor. We became quite adept at dodging flying objects, and we'd be out the stage door in seconds flat.

I guess these would be what some people would call the "good old days". I don't think so.