I was 20. My mates and I had this trio called "Erotica", and we were playing every weekend at this pub in Monterrey (Mexico). The audience was not particularly receptive to our music (Metallica, Red Hot, The Knack, Beatles, etc.) so the manager gave us a last chance, threatening to fire us if things didn't change the following weekend.

So during the week, we decided to prepare a new, more energetic repertoire, including a version of "give it away now" from the RHCP. Because the singer (me) couldn't rap at all, we decided that the drummer should sing this song, dancing and rapping at the same time. For sure it had to be a success!

So, in order to free the drummer from his seat, we programmed the drum part in an old R-5 machine drum, consisting of the same 4x4 pattern repeated dozens of times. We programmed something like 400 repetitions to give enough length to the song, and I was in charge of pressing the OFF button whenever we wanted to end it. Fair enough.

The following night started as usual, the band giving its best, and the people reacting as always, that is, just staring silently at us.

I noticed the manager giving us an angry look while shaking his head. So I told the band: "guys, it's now or never, let's play the new song, and let's perform like we never did before, just jump and dance as much as you can, and try to look cool".

And off we went! The drummer took the microphone, and I pressed the ON button on the drum machine. We started playing and moving in this old-fashioned 80's rapping style, jumping and headbanging all around the stage (which was a corner of the pub at floor level).

The people? staring silently at us.

So, in a desperate move, I shouted to the band: "let's go down on our knees, our backs to the floor, that pose will look really good", so we did it, while still playing.

So there we were, playing "give it away now" on our knees, our backs to the floor...

The people? staring silently at us.

By now you could be thinking that this was bad enough, but a rule of life is: "it can always gets worse".

So, after a minute or so playing in the floor, the 400 repetitions in the drum machine ended. When we didn't hear the drum sound anymore, we automatically stopped playing.

Now picture this: a pub in complete silence, the whole audience looking at the stage-corner, three guys with guitars on the floor with a "what happened?"-face...and the manager looking at us and pointing to the exit door.

After a painful half-a-minute lapse (while we realized what was happening), we stood up rapidly and went straight to the exit. Once outside, we heard the silence being broken by a giant laugh of about a hundred people inside the pub.

We didn't dare to go back inside to pick up our equipment. We did it the next day at about 10am, to make sure nobody was there.

That experience probably put a curse on the place, because it went bankrupt after two months. Nowdays, it's a lap-dancing club with a very bad reputation.