On a recent gig, something out of the band’s control went terribly wrong and shut the entire show down an hour early. In all of our combined years of gigging, none of us on stage had ever had this happen to us before...

This was a typical Friday-night, 8-12 type of cover gig, and we were approaching the 11pm mark. The club was getting busy, and the dance floor was getting crowded. It was almost time for the final set - the set with all the upbeat top 40 hits everybody loves - to finish off the evening. A few of us in the band were hanging out at the back door to the venue, chatting with one of the bouncers as our set break wound down.

To our surprise, it was pouring down rain outside. Looking out across the parking deck you could see a blinding wall of rain coming down out on the street. “I hope this doesn’t keep folks away tonight,” worried the bouncer. “We’re coming up on what’s usually our busiest time of night.” The wind started to...