Graham56

Our guitarist often wears a battery-powered T-shirt with LCD units that light up. A crowd favourite shows illuminated EQ meter displays with the columns jumping up and down in time to the music. He also has a wireless unit and goes walkabout in the audience. We finished a recent pub gig with AC/DC "Highway to Hell". He and the singer really go for it, climbing on tables and throwing hero poses as the song comes to an end. After the big rawk wigout at the end of the song they both go for a synchronised leap off the furniture, landing as the very last drumbeat/chord sounds. Except this time, as Dave guitar jumped he realised that he was going to catapult forward into a large group of folks carrying drinks. So as he landed the threw himself backwards. Landed on his back with a crash, smacking his head on a chair on his way down and on the floor as he hit. As he lay there, stunned, the final chord still ringing from his guitar, one of the punters came over and bent down anxiously to see how he was... "'ere mate, where do you get them T-shirts?" It's nice to know they care. Cheers, Graham

Some years ago I used to live near Canterbury but worked in London. I'd get a train out of Canterbury at about 7am. As the train pulled out of the station you could see into the empty car park of a DIY store. If the weather was OK I'd often see a guy standing in this car park, next to his car, blowing away on a sax. That's dedication I guess. Cheers Graham

Watch your tempo! Adrenaline, nerves and excitement means that almost everyone plays too fast on their first gig. If you've got 45 mins of material you can end up getting through it in 30. Stay calm, play it like you rehearsed it and you'll be fine. Best of luck! Graham

I'm a freelance trainer and end up travelling quite a lot around the UK and to Europe. I can usually make weekend gigs (not always Fridays though). Committing to a regular midweek rehearsal schedule is impossible . Which is fine for my existing band as we've been going for over 5 years and only rehearse occasionally. That band is coming to a natural end soon and I'm not sure what to do next. I can see how it's going to go if I start answering ads for new bands: "Sorry, I can't rehearse next week. I could to the Tuesday the week after but that's it. And nothing for the week after either..." I'm not that good a player that people will build a band schedule around me! Cheers Graham

[quote name='dmccombe7' post='1261109' date='Jun 8 2011, 12:59 PM']WAS IT GOOD THOUGH ? Bet you still enjoyed it !!![/quote] Sure did! Our singer was one of the organisers so it was a 'home' crowd. They liked us. They liked the music. They were sober and friendly. Compared to some of the pub gigs we do it was great fun. Cheers Graham

I saw them a couple of times in the late 70s, early 80s, twice with Chas Jankel and once with Wilko. They were a combination of a brilliant band and a compelling, edgy front man. You couldn't take your eyes off Dury. He always gave off a slightly scary, unpredictable "What's he going to do next?" vibe. Saw them again on his final tour, a few months before he died. He had to be helped on and off stage and spent the show leaning back against a large flight case. On one level it was desperately sad, as it was clear he didn't have long. One another it was life-affirming. There he was, this frail figure, ravaged by cancer, aware he was dying but still on stage, singing his heart out, refusing to give in and go quietly. There were a few tears in the audience I can tell you, along with roars of appreciation and affection. Cheers Graham

Thanks for all the pointers folks. In particular I hadn't thought about using trips - that's a good idea. That's a nice setup flyfisher. I don't think we'll get anything quite as elaborate as that. The venue is a large house in a wealthy area. Which is good because they have lots of space, a huge garden and lots of parking outside. But bad because if the neighbours get really pee'd off they have the clout to get things done! Our guitarist uses a radio unit and goes walkabout in the audience on some songs. I fear he's going to try and find out just what kind of range it has. Thanks for the council links Bloodaxe. We're actually in Bromley so I should have found that page myself! It sounds reasonable enough - they'll negotiate first before they get heavy. Papers and crib sheets blowing away? That'd be a laugh - it would completely silence our singers... And Bilbo - I'm a Scot so I don't really 'do' sunlight. Or happy songs. It's not natural. Cheers Graham

My covers band is playing outdoors at a private party in July. We've been asked to play in their (very large) garden on a Saturday evening. There will be a marquee but that's about it. We need to supply everything else. Anyone got any tips about this, in terms of staying safe, staying out of jail or any other gotchas we might not have thought about? The thoughts that occur to me: [b]Water protection[/b] - we're inside the marquee so we'll be protected from above. [b]Flooring[/b] - we'll need a stable floor for gear and drums. We also need to be insulated from any damp ground or the possibility of ground water coming in. [b]Power[/b] - I think they'll be running leads from the normal house supply. We need keep cables and especially connnections covered and insulated from the ground. We run a small vox-only PA, one bass, one guitar (and pedal box), one harmonica amp. That should be OK from a load point of view. As long as we're all off the same ring we should avoid any 'clashes'. [b]Lighting[/b] - I think we'll need to supply this too. We have access to some but I'll need to check the power consumption. [b]Volume[/b] - we need to keep it sensible. The householder wants us to finish by midnight. They've also invited all the neighbours, side and back, to the party. [b]Law[/b] - It is a private party. Should they have told the local council (a London Borough), or is that just inviting them to stick their oars in? [b]Set[/b] - We've done parties before and we are flexible enough to respond to the crowd on the night. It'll depend on the weather too. If it has been a baking hot day (dream on...) we can start fairly summery and mellow before building up to a full-on drunken dance-athon at the end. It's a 50th so we've have a pretty good idea what will work. [b]Sound balance[/b] - we do it ourselves, we don't have a sound guy/gal. We know what works indoors but have less experience of outdoors. We'll have a reliable friend in the audience who will shout advice but is there anything worth knowing about? OK, what have I missed? And what are anyone's experiences of similar events? Thanks Graham

[quote name='dmccombe7' post='1258861' date='Jun 6 2011, 08:10 PM']Aaaahh Summer i remember that day in early May just before the 2nd snow. At least we have nice scenery in Scotland.[/quote] Summer? We played an outdoor street party on Saturday afternoon in south London. And it poured down. We were crammed on the pavement under two gazebo things, trying to keep power leads and gear out of the rain. I ended up doing a Bill Wyman impression, with bass vertical, trying not to spear guitarist or singer with the headstock. The crowd were really enthusiastic, although they ended up huddled under other canopies and umbrellas Yeah, I know, we needed the rain - but not right then OK? Cheers Graham

[quote name='Hutton' post='1251398' date='May 31 2011, 01:05 PM']It's perhaps not very fair to damn Scottish presbyterianism as a whole. One persons experience can be vastly different from another's.[/quote] Sorry, I don't mean to touch off a religious debate - all I'm referring to is my personal experience. And I'm quite prepared to accept that my comments say more about me than any church...! Cheers Graham

...and not a slap in sight! If my local church had been like this when I was growing up I might have stayed with it. But dour Scottish Presbyterianism had a slightly different effect. Cheers Graham

I'm one of the main drivers (carrying me, my gear, the guitarist, his gear, the PA) in the band so I find it easier not to drink any alcohol. Not before or during, because I KNOW it makes me lose time and groove. Not after, because I don't fancy adding alcohol to the mix of driving around, knackered, at 2.30 in the morning in the surprisingly crowded streets of Saff Lunnon in a heavily laden vehicle. Like others here, lime and soda is my gigging tipple of choice. The rawk'n'roll lifestyle eh? Cheers Graham

It's never gonna happen. I'm a lefty player so the chances of being able to borrow or play anyone else's bass are slim. I have to be completely self-sufficient, which is why I always take a back-up bass to a gig. That's the main downside about playing lefty. If I went to something like a bass bash all I could do is ogle the wonderful (righty) basses...

Then there was the time we got paid not to play. The pub was nearly empty when we arrived, with about 6 or so heavy 'saff landon' geezers settling down to a night of drunken oblivion. We set up then the owner asked us to wait awhile until more people arrived. They didn't, then the owner went off in his car. The youg barman then came to us said he'd been told to give us 100 squids but we were to pack up and f*** off without playing. We started to argue but the large heavy drinking blokes began to rumble menacingly. So, f*** off we duly did. We wondered if we could turn this into a business model. We could probably do maybe 4 venues a night like this... Cheers Graham

There's been a few. The time we were booked to play a bar which made a big thing of live sports on widescreen TV. On the evening of a major football match. When we arrived the place was full of blokes enjoying the football. Unfortunately the stage area was just in front of the big screen so all we could do was dump the gear in the corner and wait until the end of the match. Which went into 30 mins extra time. Then a penalty shootout. The game ended then we set up as fast as we could: PA, drums, bass, guitar, two singers. Then turned around to find that the pub had emptied - the football chappies weren't in the slightest bit interested in a band and had all gone elsewhere. We ended up playing to two drunk women and a guy who was only hanging around in the hope of getting off with one or both of the women. No dog though. We still got paid, although the night was a washout. I don't think the guy scored either. Cheers Graham

Can you get the guitarist to raise his amp off the floor? Perhaps by putting it on a chair, stool, box or bottlecrate. If it's right in his ear it's easier to persuade him to turn it down. Failing that, can he tilt it back a little so his ears get the sound rather than his ankles? Our guitarist took quite some time to learn to control his volume. It was really only when he bought a radio unit and went walkabout in the audience that he could hear how the whole band sounded out front. Cheers Graham

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1221618' date='May 5 2011, 09:33 PM']The original or the one off Stop Making Sense? [/quote] The original... although after that I spent months learning the bass lines for White Stripes' tunes...

[quote name='JTUK' post='1221479' date='May 5 2011, 07:57 PM']Do it and see how it goes. They may be desperate and they may let you down again but they will have served a purpose getting you playing again because until you do that, you can't be in a band anyway. Some people are too precious about bands...IMV, they only have to work on a certain level..like you enjoy the time doing it...being best mates or whatever doesn't come into it. Treat it as stepping stone and if you stick around, it must be ok. Turn up and take the money and enjoy it for what it is..[/quote] This. It will be good experience, you'll get your face out there, you'll sharpen your gigging skills and you might even enjoy it. And if it doesn't work out it's something else on the CV and will put you in a better place to find the next band. Cheers Graham

Probably Talking Heads' Psycho Killer. After that it was a very crude improvised four-to-the-bar walk over a jazzy 12-bar in C. This was as part of a bass evening class which had you working on improvised patterns against chords from almost the first lesson. Cheers Graham

Best value for money? My custom-fitted earplugs. They work brilliantly and make the gigs much more enjoyable. I don't go home with ringing ears any more - and it means I'll be able to carry on doing this for years to come. Cheers Graham

[quote name='Doddy' post='1189968' date='Apr 6 2011, 12:34 AM']Why is that?[/quote] I guess it's because practice time is limited, such that I have to focus on priorities. It take me quite a lot of work just to 'maintain' and stay able to play anything from our 60-plus setlist. And we always have three or four new songs that we are working on as well. So, while I do spend time working on my groove and tone it's all within the context of the band. Yes, I know we play simple stuff. I should be able to master the songs with ease and have time left to explore other avenues. But it doesn't seem to work like that. We are currently in the middle of a six-week gap between gigs so I have been using that to work on other things, such as revisiting the jazz stuff I did at a workshop a few years ago. And I'm also struggling with "I want you back". I hadn't realised what a brilliant, driving melodic line that is, and how you can hear the fire and energy crackling under the restrained playing. I'm learning a lot from this. Cheers Graham (Sorry about the thread hijack David...)

Hi David, good to hear from you after all this time. I'm in a pub covers band, in a similar vein to your last one. I find that my practice time is given to stuff relevant to the band - learning new tunes, maintaining existing ones etc etc. What I am not doing is stretching myself into areas where the band doesn't go. But when we have some down time (band members out of the country etc) I find I have time to open up and play around with different genres. So maybe this is your chance. Work on a completely new genre or style. Try and find out what makes it tick, even if it's not a style you particularly listen too. Maybe work on that dub reggae. Perhaps some show tunes. Focus on your jazz chops. Whatever takes your interest. Then also find a few minutes to blast out the stuff you already know, if nothing else just to remind yourself that "Yeah, I really CAN do this..." Best of luck and I hope you find a playing band soon. Cheers Graham (A faker, combined with a strong element of bluff and seasoned with more than a hint of bullshit...)

I bought an LMII head from Dave. Nice amp, good price and an easy, pleasant and efficient bloke to deal with. Thanks Dave. Cheers Graham

Hi, I'm from Bromley, although I'm a Scot, originally from Edinburgh. I'm an old fat guy in my 50s who took up bass late in life and have been playing for about 8 years. My bass is a late 60s left-handed P-Bass to which a previous owner has added an extra pickup, replaced the bridge and repainted it. That's OK, because I it meant I didn't have to pay a 'vintage premium' for what is still a fine old bass. I'm in a pub covers band that gigs regularly in pubs in Bromley, Forest Hill, Blackheath and surrounding localities. We play the kind of thing you'd expect, interspersed with the odd song that might be less common. You can see/hear us on - [url="http://www.talkingstrawberries.com"]www.talkingstrawberries.com[/url] Why such a stupid band name? It came from our previous drummer. What else is there to say.... I'm new to this forum, although I have spent a few years hanging around on the Lowdown. Cheers to all, Graham