Muzz

See, that's a pro setup, that is... 🙂 Ohhhh, I don't want to even introduce the concept of playing something from the set again: that'd give the BL 40 more songs to go at, we'd be there till it was light... 😐🙂

What is it with some singers and not being able to frickin stop? I was spoiled for years with a very pro outfit that had a strict 'Two encores and they're lucky to get that' policy, and it never did any harm, in fact it kept us in high regard, but the current band/BL drives me nuts: if there's a single drunk (who's invariably spent most of the evening talking through the set and only come up for the last two) asking for more, it happens...and keeps happening until there's literally no-one asking for more. I've called it at five encores before now. There's a perfectly good get-out clause to stop, too: we used to just tell the drunks we had to stop because of time/the landlord, and that always worked. Bah, humbug, and probably pfffttt... 🙂 Oh, and back OT, if there's a Maccy D's on the way back (and there usually is), the Wrap Of The Day happens in the car (most of my gigs are 20 miles+ away), before a sit at a quiet telly with a brew while my system slows down before bed... 🙂

A late report from last weekend, and another meh one: a last-minute agency fill-in gig, in a mostly-empty and largely indifferent pub - 'Ooooh, we were packed out last night, it's a shame' said the bar staff, which was no bloody consolation. Despite the enthusiasm of a few punters (most of whom only stayed for a couple of drinks here and there), it rapidly became a paid rehearsal sort of thing...there was some live Rugby League on several screens still rolling (they'd turned the big one behind us off, tho that might have been an added draw if we didn't notice people looking over our shoulders), so at least I got to watch some TV while we pretty much went through the motions... And while I'm wingeing, what sort of mentality makes people come into a pub with a band already set up, sit at the table next to one of the PA speakers (when there's plenty more tables everywhere) and then pull their faces when the band starts? Did they think the immediate proximity of a stonking great 15" speaker (and a drummer a few feet from that) would somehow be a quiet place for a chat? Pffffttt... I'm away to Northumberland for my birthday week next week, so I've a bit of time off, which will make a nice break. It'll rain, of course, but at least I can legitimately do Bugger All for a few days... 🙂

Late reply, but...yeah, her shift is supposed to be 13 hours, but it never, ever works out that way: nurses can't just down tools when the clock goes ping (especially not on the type of ward she works on, which is with the terminally elderly and befuddled), and yep, understaffing makes this very much worse - the NHS is being propped up by the goodwill of its workers... On a happier note, she started speaking to me the day after, so all's well... 🙂

Last gig wasn't a good one - Easter Sunday, 7pm start, 45 mile drive, there for half five. I'd arranged (given the early start/early finish) to pick the other half and the Boy up from her mother's on the way back (I'd come straight from the Sunday Lunch there), but the 7pm start morphed into a 10pm start, so it all kicked off. During the third encore after midnight (I'd made my position clear ('I need to go ASAP tonight') during the interminable wait to go on) I packed up (thankfully only Stomp and inears) and left - as I was leaving the car park the fifth encore was still going... Picked them up, had a row (the other half was on a 14 hour (Nurse) shift the next day starting at half seven, so I understandably didn't have a leg to stand on), raided the fridge, watched some telly, went to bed.

I'm loving my 414 so much it's actually perking some GAS, but I'm yet to be convinced that a more expensive BB would have a neck that I'd like; from my digging (fairly extensive, but not completely comprehensive) it appears the 414 has the slimmest neck of all of them (that weigh less than 8 1/2 - 9lbs)...I can't remember for the life of me what the neck on my BB3000A was like: I didn't have a problem with it at the time, but I've got fussier as I've got older (and I'm playing way more gigs)...

Yup, it's a Sumer Music Drive MDB-610F SRS...40 minutes from Unidentified Oddity to It's One Of These...such is the power of the Basschat Hive Mind... 😁

Fantastic - I was obviously going down the wrong internet rabbit hole with my given info (wrong) that it was a Tobias of some sort...I shall pass that along, thanks 👍

A pal of mine has just acquired this thing from a friend, and he's got no idea about it, so he asked me, aaaaannnnddd...neither have I 😐 It says Michael Tobias on it, but the headstock and pickups are Music Drive branded...even a Google Reverse Image search doesn't help, it's all Pedullas 🙂

The Bonnevilles (Sunday night) with Mudlow in Support. Tiny venue, fantastic sound. I should be morally opposed to the Bonnevilles, given they're a guitar/vocal and drummer two-piece, but I was struggling to think where a bass would really add to the sound, and in the end I gave up. Plus, of course, it ups their take-home by 50%...

I have, in no particular order, either chronologically or in fame terms: Had a wee in a pub bogs next to Mick Hucknall when he was still in The Frantic Elevators. Been told to f*ck off by Lemmy - he was occupied at the one armed bandit in the club...I was delighted, went back to my friends and said 'Lemmy's just told me to f*ck off!' 'Brilliant!' Shared a rehearsal room with James. Never saw them. Played a terrible version of Sit Down to Tim Booth in a bar...his wife (very drunk) said if we did it again he'd get up and sing. I looked over her shoulder and he was shaking his head and waving his hands. I didn't blame him. Played a middling version of Not Nineteen Forever in a pub to 75% of the Courteeners. They looked amused, at least. Done the After You Claude Two-Step thing in a bar doorway with Roger McGough (poet, broadcaster, author, etc) in Manchester. Two weeks later I was coming out of a bar in Bruges and exactly the same thing happened. He looked shaken, and I don't blame him, either. Completely failed to strike up a conversation with Richie Sambora when our drummer brought him over to our table. He went 'Hey', we went 'Errrr..hey?'. Cue awkward silence, exit Sambora. Played with JP Cooper at his first pub gig. He's been signed to Island awhile, and was last on the telly doing a BBC2 thing about Bob Marley last year. Played with members of a Number One Album band at a lot of jam nights - The Lottery Winners, who supported Rick Astley at the Arena last week. They were back in the bar again the following day. Been to a solo gig (£8 ticket) in an audience of about 50 people to a new singer/acoustic guitarist lad, he was very good. Got chatting to him afterwards, he was very polite and quite posh. Driving home, I said 'He'll go far, that lad. What was his name again?' 'My other half said 'George Ezra'.

Funnily enough, that's very very close to what happened to us after the Mahooosive Kit Drummer Hoohah I mentioned earlier - a few days after the main auditions, we were running through some songs (without a drummer) on a Satdy afternoon, and three kids banged on the shutter doors of the rehearsal room, and one of them said 'My mate's a drummer, can he have a go?' Said kid was about 14 or 15, but by that point we'd try anything, and within 8 bars we knew he was fantastic. He joined and played with us for a while, but then left and had a career touring and recording around the world with the likes of Blaze Bailey, Kill II This, China Beach and all sorts. Sadly, his Wiki page doesn't mention the backstreet lockup...

Oh, I forgot about that lovely development: played a couple of gigs recently at pubs that have the ANPR 'Fill in your reg number and park for free or get a £60 fine' thing going on...the really, really annoying thing is neither place was in a town centre, or particularly busy parking-wise; it's clearly just a scam (I spoke to both landlords, and they said it's nothing to do with them, they don't get the money, the brewery has just sold the rights on) to trawl £60 off people who forget to register...