I played outdoors in the rain last night. It was for a big restaurant, out on their back deck, overlooking a big beautiful lake. It wasn't my band. I was working for someone else (and that someone else is a bit of a control freak).
It started raining on our second set, complete with thunder and lightning. He ordered us to keep playing. Then suddenly BOOM!!! I didn't see it, but the drummer said that it looked like ball lightning right over our heads!
I turned my amp off, and yanked the power cord out of the socket. I then lied telling the bandleader (who was strumming flattop electro-acoustic while his wife continued to sing) that my amp died. The set was going overtime anyway, and there was no good reason to continue. He just wanted us to carry on because he said so.
We took a long break, waiting for the rain to let up. It did, and we went back on. Then here came the rain, thunder and lightning again, just as soon as we set back up. This time I was running the guitar through the Morley JD-10 direct to the PA (because my amp was supposedly dead). Two songs later we quit, with the bandleader making the suggestion that we were wimps and unprofessional, etc. etc.
How DARE we want to quit while getting drenched with lightning striking above us!
