Oh, Doctors

Marc Intravaia: “Eve Selis and I played a private show back in 1994 or ’95 for about 1000 doctors at the Hotel Del. A doctor dropped dead at the side of the stage of a massive heart attack. They stopped the show for 15 minutes while they attended to him and then wheeled him out. When we asked what to do next, they said keep playing, as they see this almost every day. It seemed like every song after that had some mention of a breaking heart: ‘Heartbreaker,’ ‘Achy Breaky Heart,’ ‘Hanging on a Heart Attack,’ ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’… We all winced our way through to the end while they took no notice and partied as if nothing had happened.”

Jaime Valle: “Years ago, I was playing an underground Tijuana nightclub. It was a hot summer night. The band was jamming and the joint was jumping. Suddenly, someone shoots the bass player. The bullet was aimed at the singer, missed, and hit the poor bassist. All the cats in TJ know who I’m talking about.”

Ron Fountainberry/the SoftLightes: “Last year we were on tour with Wolfmother, and in Austin one particular guy flipped me off the entire show. I don’t know how he was able to keep his arms up the entire show. There were several times on that tour that I thought we would be murdered for our lack of hard rock.”

Laura Jane/the Tighten Ups: “In the magical summer of 1993, I was dancing and singing in a musical revue/ dinner show in Traverse City, Michigan, and my black high-heeled pump flew off my foot during a high kick. It hit a man eating a steak on his face, pretty hard, and then fell into his plate of food. He immediately stood up with his fists up, ready to punch out whoever smacked him in the chops! We bought him a new steak, and he forgave me. I have worn shoes with ankle straps on stage ever since.”