toneknob

No problem sound-wise at the London show, but these enormodomes can be patchy depending on where you're sitting. I've spotted Tony Levin's road diary is now updated for UK shows - lots of great photos and info here. https://tonylevin.com/road-diaries/peter-gabriel-io-tour/

Yep, the whole band are having a great time. Great to see some newbies in the line-up, while at the same time as well as TLev, you've got David Rhodes and Manu Katche who were in the band when I first saw them in 1987 (and from years before then as well). Ayanna Witter-Johnson did a great job of duetting with PG on Don't Give Up. Also for time-perspective I am closer to being 77 than I am seeing Peter Gabriel live for the first time

Tony Levin with Peter Gabriel at The O2 last night. Also featured: DarkRay bass (switched red for Red Rain of course), NS upright, Chapman Stick, backing vocals, dance moves, on-stage ad hoc photography Tony Levin is 77 years old *doffs chapeau*

Turns out Jah Wobble runs a jam night in a south-west London library. who knew! It's called Tuned In, and aims to bring people together to make music regardless of ability and to help combat the effects of loneliness in some parts of the community. Some of the sessions have already happened, some are still to come in July. More details: https://www.wimbledonsw19.com/#!pages/wimbledonsw19:info:jahwobbleatwimbledonlibrary001 https://libraries.merton.gov.uk/client/en_GB/merton/?rm=MERTON+ARTS+SP5|||1|||1|||true

pdbass https://www.youtube.com/c/pdbass

I can do better than that, I've been in a zero-hit band. Actually loads of them!

A bit more gold from some digging I've been doing with the aid of the excellent fan site http://simpleminds.org/ If you look on Spotify for Simple Minds' collections of B-sides and rarities called "Themes", on volumes 3 and 4 you'll find the following from the mid/late 80s all featuring John Giblin on bass: the set mentioned above from Mandela 70 at Wembley, plus live versions of Big Sleep, Love Song, Street Hassle, Don't You Forget About Me, Glittering Prize and Celebrate. album links: https://open.spotify.com/album/6cKFO2yBr7H30iYq5U9paP?si=f3BxA09DSja7eyTWp8I5ig https://open.spotify.com/album/16O1Tyl1qsmf26bEj3N6y3?si=pXbo0jnDQ6Om_z7uNyUvzw

Open A string but use your plucking hand make it sound like you're playing the fretted note You should have it sussed by the time the song ends.

Mike Joyce was on BBC Breakfast this morning talking about Andy Rourke. Segment starts around 8.42am. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001m6qy/breakfast-20052023

From the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/19/andy-rourke-bassist-for-the-smiths-dies-aged-59) "(Johnny) Marr’s tribute continued: “Watching him play those dazzling basslines was an absolute privilege and genuinely something to behold. But one time which always comes to mind was when I sat next to him at the mixing desk watching him play his bass on the song The Queen is Dead. It was so impressive that I said to myself ‘I’ll never forget this moment.’" Bit dusty in here.

Another sad loss this week. It seems like only yesterday this came bursting out of my AM radio.

the people and the music (said tone, currently in zero actual bands)

Kate Bush has posted about John Giblin on her website (https://www.katebush.com/news/john) Likewise from Jim Kerr on the Simple Minds facebook (remembering seeing JG at the Before The Dawn shows - also a hint at why he left Simple Minds) https://www.facebook.com/simpleminds/posts/pfbid02Ts2yZYGSY1h7rzKBsFrTQbSsme5EDqDdtPhw6u9a3iA2Q5w8vHc6k3MsnSdSxfL8l

No problem, I'll be doing similar with others as I revisit my favourites. (including Live In The City of Light, which I've not heard in ages)

Also here's the Simple Minds set from the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday show in 1988. Some clunkers but it includes Biko with Peter Gabriel. I remember the NME review of the day, who uncharacteristically for them shed a positive light on it, and I recall them saying something like "Peter Gabriel joined the band for Biko and the hairs stood up on the backs of 70,000 necks".

I've been rummaging through the archives and existing recordings to hear some of the amazing playing we remember from JG. Thanks for the suggestion of the John Martyn album Grace & Danger - I'd not heard this before, not my usual cup of tea but of course much to enjoy from the Giblin/Collins rhythm section. One of my first big outdoor gigs was Simple Minds at Milton Keynes Bowl on the Once Upon A Time tour, an amazing show (support from The Cult, the Waterboys and the Bangles - wow) so revisiting that era of Simple Minds has been a treat. I remember Alive In Rotterdam from The Tube, I probably still have it on VHS somewhere but here's the up to date equivalent.

Just seen this sad news on the Osibisa facebook page, with whom JG was recording recently. Haven't had chance to count the ways this guy's playing has touched my listening habits over the years, think it'll take a while to sink in. "R.I.P. John Giblin - 26th February 1952 to 14th May 2023 John passed away yesterday in Cheltenham after battling illness. Bass guitarist, double bass player, arranger and all round session musician extraordinaire. Born to a musical family in Bellshill, Scotland he started his interest in music from a young age, playing with various rock and pop bands in his teens and progressing from there. In 1970 he answered an advertisement for a bass player and after passing the audition moved to Manchester to work. Within a few months he had moved to London and became a member of the Latin American band Gonzalez. His immense performing ability was noticed early on and he was soon touring and recording with Peter Gabriel as well as Kate Bush, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and Annie Lennox to name a few. He became the bassist, often using fretless bass, for the band Simple Minds where he replaced Derek Forbes and performed with the band on three albums before returning to his former passion as a studio studio musician. During his career he worked with countless artists and groups, covering a wide range of musical genres. Including Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Donovan, Judie Tzuke, Fish, Manfred Mann’s Earthband, Jon Anderson, Roberta Flack, Mark Knopfler, George Martin, David Sylvian, Sting, Wendell Richardson, Joan Armatrading, David Arnold, Richard Ashcroft, Asia, Big Dish, Colin Blunstone, Brand X, Elkie Brooks, Duncan Browne, Sarah Brightman, Chris De Burgh, Brian Eno, Exile, Roberta Flack, Al Green, Steve Harley, Natalie Imbruglia, David Knopfler, KD Lang, The Psychedelic Furs, Ralph McTell, Gerry Rafferty, Tanita Tikaram and Scott Walker among many others. His recording output was expansive a selection of his albums consists of Song of Seven by Jon Anderson, Red Cab To Manhattan by Stephen Bishop, Never For Ever by Kate Bush, Face Value by Phil Collins, EB 84 by The Everly Brothers, Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors by Fish, Peter Gabriel (3) by Peter Gabriel, Criminal Tango by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Classics by John Martyn, Crocodile Shoes by Jimmy Nail, On Air by Alan Parsons, Back Against the Wall by Pink Floyd, Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds, Again by Alan Stivell, Ritmo by Judie Tzuke, as well as the film soundtracks of rhe James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and Ratz. He also worked on the single ‘Grow Old With Me’ by John Lennon. His most recent studio adventures involved ongoing recordings for a two album project with Osibisa guitarist Wendell Richardson as well as a John Martyn tribute. Fellow musicians, family, friends, fans and the studio world in general have lost a truly amazing human being and musician who has certainly left a deep musical legacy and a beautiful imprint for everyone he was involved with. R.I.P. John, it was a pleasure and a privilege to work with you and we are all going to miss you. There really is a hole in the world with John’s passing. Author: Robert M Corich"

And they're all made to look like actual pedals. TC PolyTune, POG 2, Digitech Whammy, Moog something or other - what are the others?

When a band in 2016 used a pedalboard made of play-doh. Ffwd to around 2m05s for the best view

I'm rather fond of this one

Yep sorry to say you are. They went online only a few months ago.

And here's Tony Levin miming on Top Of The Pops to what I think is another Spenner line. Is that Andy Newmark on drums?

Stranded and Manifesto are my favourites. Session ace Alan Spenner played on the latter, and he and Gary Tibbs (latter of & The Ants) leapfrogged around the line-ups for a while in the late 70s and early 80s. If you're a fan of Alan Spenner from this era then you should really hear what he's doing on the original Jesus Christ Superstar, eg

mostly D.