Posted by Bruce Sanborn on April 17, 2012 - 7:53pm
Had a little issue develop last week. I was at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood for the TCM Festival. I was working at Grauman's Chinese for the weekend and last Tuesday we had a meeting in a second floor conference room. As I headed down the stylishly dark hall, unbeknownst to me, some techs had strewn cables across the floor, covered with a black rubber mat. A security guard was standing there warning people to watch their step. That's exactly what he said to me as my foot caught on the rubber and sent me sprawling across the hard tiled floor.
So I finally went to the doctor today and he told me that I had torn or strained the tendons in my left leg. I was happy the damage wasn't worse. I've been in considerable pain all weekend. The bad news is that there is virtually nothing they can do about it. It will heal itself, he said. Until then, take Motrin and he gave me a super-sized pharmaceutical prescription. So, I live with the pain. Nothing new there. I've been dealing with a back injury for going on 25 years. But I've got a gig at a new venue Thursday and now I'm sure the load-in will be extra fun.
Musicians and football players do it all the time but musicians rarely get credit for it. Playing through the pain. Over the years I've seen and heard of several who've done some extraordinary things believing the show must go on. Michael Stipe broke his leg while on tour with R.E.M. and yet there he was, standing at the center mic on crutches. Pete Townshend of The Who broke his hand. Now he's a guitarist, see. And using your hand is pretty important to playing guitar. But he just bandaged it up and played, occasionally staggering offstage to get a pain killing shot. This is what he did while in L.A. While he was getting juiced, Roger Daltrey called him a "...tough old bloke." Then he led the audience at the Sports Arena in a round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" I kid you not.
My favorite injured onstage story comes from Keith Richards autobiography. In it he relates the time fireworks were going off when they started their set. A burning piece of phosphorous landed on his strumming hand as he was playing. He says it burned down to the bone, hurt like hell, but he never stopped playing. Couldn't let the audience down. He's another personal hero of mine.
So gimping around Thursday night shouldn't be too overwhelming. But if you're there, don't expect me to do much dancing.
If you can make it, it's at Bar Pico, 2819 Pico Blvd. between 28th and 29th. Just up the street from McCabe's. We're on from 8 to 10pm.
B
TheBruceSanbornBand.com
So I finally went to the doctor today and he told me that I had torn or strained the tendons in my left leg. I was happy the damage wasn't worse. I've been in considerable pain all weekend. The bad news is that there is virtually nothing they can do about it. It will heal itself, he said. Until then, take Motrin and he gave me a super-sized pharmaceutical prescription. So, I live with the pain. Nothing new there. I've been dealing with a back injury for going on 25 years. But I've got a gig at a new venue Thursday and now I'm sure the load-in will be extra fun.
Musicians and football players do it all the time but musicians rarely get credit for it. Playing through the pain. Over the years I've seen and heard of several who've done some extraordinary things believing the show must go on. Michael Stipe broke his leg while on tour with R.E.M. and yet there he was, standing at the center mic on crutches. Pete Townshend of The Who broke his hand. Now he's a guitarist, see. And using your hand is pretty important to playing guitar. But he just bandaged it up and played, occasionally staggering offstage to get a pain killing shot. This is what he did while in L.A. While he was getting juiced, Roger Daltrey called him a "...tough old bloke." Then he led the audience at the Sports Arena in a round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" I kid you not.
My favorite injured onstage story comes from Keith Richards autobiography. In it he relates the time fireworks were going off when they started their set. A burning piece of phosphorous landed on his strumming hand as he was playing. He says it burned down to the bone, hurt like hell, but he never stopped playing. Couldn't let the audience down. He's another personal hero of mine.
So gimping around Thursday night shouldn't be too overwhelming. But if you're there, don't expect me to do much dancing.
If you can make it, it's at Bar Pico, 2819 Pico Blvd. between 28th and 29th. Just up the street from McCabe's. We're on from 8 to 10pm.
B
TheBruceSanbornBand.com
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