Electrifying Performances

Almost all established and budding musicians dream of giving that electrifying performance. The one which leaves the audience in awe of their musical ability; screaming and begging for more. However some musicians have been part of an electrifying performance, but for all the wrong reasons. I recall as a child watching the Royal Variety Performance and eagerly awaiting one of my favourite bands at the time, Shawaddywaddy. Their slot in the schedule arrived and the compare introduced the band, but the curtain did not open. The compare introduced them a second time, but still nothing happened. After a few minutes passed, the curtain finally opened and Shawaddywaddy at long last performed their latest hit. The following day it was revealed in the newspapers that one of the band members touched his microphone and suffered a minor electric shock which caused the delay. Although of little consequence, the incident could have easily been averted with adequate electrical testing prior to their performance.

A similar thing happened to Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley in 1976, this time he touched an ungrounded metal railing during a concert and received a considerable shock. Luckily, Ace Frehley survived and the experience inspired the song 'shock me', penned by Frehley himself. But it just goes to show how the slightest bit of negligence with regards to electrical testing for safety can have potentially disastrous effects. That very same year, former singer and harmonica player with the legendary Yardbirds was killed when playing his electric bass guitar in his basement. His death being caused by a fault (presumably) in his amplifier which meant his guitar strings carried live electricity.

A few years earlier in 1973, John Rostill, the former bass player with The Shadows and Tom Jones' backing band was also killed by electrocution whilst playing his guitar. Again his death was entirely due to improperly grounded electrical equipment, sending enough electrical current through his strings to kill him on the spot. Equally tragically in 1972, Leslie Harvey of Scottish band Stone The Crows died on stage after touching his microphone. For some reason the microphone was not properly grounded and this oversight cost the 27 year old musician his life. Although portable appliance testing was not mandatory back in the 1970's, even rudimentary electrical testing on a regular basis could have saved all these lives.

These days, most electrical equipment is designed in a such a way that the risk of electric shock is highly unlikely. However the unexpected can easily happen, especially where electrical equipment such as amplifiers are moved frequently when a band is on tour. To ensure everybody who will be using such equipment is safe it is essential that all electrical equipment undergoes portable appliance testing using a dedicated PAT tester. This will tell you whether or not each piece of equipment is safe for use by checking that it's polarity is correct, that it is properly insulated and earthed. After all, you want your performance to be electrifying for all the right reasons.