casapete

Easy tiger……

If anything changes give me a shout and can probably get you a couple of tickets if there’s some left. 🙂

In Tewkesbury last night at The Roses theatre. Capacity audience of just under 400 in this arts centre probably dating back to the 70’s. Easy load in and set up, then a great Thai meal just round the corner at the historic Black Bear Inn. Superb Pad Thai for a tenner, and some marvellous ales too. Oh yeh, the gig - it went well, no problems, well received and that’s it really! Just about to set off to Swansea now for our gig there tonight at The Grand Theatre.

Just got some more details of our Butlins gig at Minehead 70’s weekender next Friday, and I have a choice of two Ampeg rigs! 😊

I’ve fallen victim to ‘want’ over ‘need’ for many years now, and yes it’s a curse! I’ll soon be leaving my main band and think it will be the right time to start selling stuff that is no longer relevant to my needs. After years playing my Precision Lyte I think that one is a keeper, although it’s identical twin ( originally bought as a back up but never used) will be going. As will the lightweight Jazz bitsa and some others as well as my main GK amp/cab. I’ve recently sold my Washburn AB20 ( after owning it for 30 years) because it just wasn’t getting used so that’s a start. I’m looking at settling on two acoustic basses for my duo, one short scale and one medium so will need to decide on those in the near future. ( Then there’s only the guitars to consider, which will be much more difficult as I rarely play any of ‘em). 🥴

I did that a year or two ago playing at a 70’s weekend bash at Butlins. We hauled my GK rig up a long flight of stairs, set it up and then I pulled a curtain to one side and behind it was a proper Ampeg SVT amp / 8x10 set up! My favourite rig, and nobody thought to tell me there was a house amp. We have another gig there soon so will make sure I check to see if it’s available this time.

In my old function band we used to do a fair few military bases, and ( apart from the hassle of getting through the guards on the main gates understandably searching the van) we used to get help unloading and then loading again at the end of the night. Always well looked after as well, with excellent food, drinks and dressing rooms etc. Played some of the US bases in Suffolk / Eastern England and they were amazingly helpful, plenty of guys to haul the equipment. Very enthusiastic audiences too, did some great gigs with a country band in the early 80’s - you only had to ask if there was anyone from any particular US state and a tray of drinks would appear on the front of the stage. Happy days.

Which leads me back to Curry’s. I found a NAD CD player online that I was after, only problem was it was at a Curry’s branch 50 miles away. Eventually found a number for the branch and they said they’d keep it for me so I drove over to pick it up. It became obvious that they’d not put it aside for me, and as it was the last one I was lucky it was still in stock, according to the assistant who checked it on their system. Anyway told her I’d take it, and she went to get it from the shop floor, returning 5 minutes later empty handed. She then asked me what a CD player looked like! Bearing in mind this was some years ago when CD players were not exactly rare. Anyway, I went and got it myself, and she found the box and I paid and drove home with it. On unpacking it I noticed it was the wrong remote control ( for a large NAD amp I think), so rang them to arrange posting me the correct remote for my CD player, presumably in the wrong box. Said they’d send it to me once I’d returned theirs, which I told them was not going to happen. About a week later I received the correct unit, but looking like a 5 year old had wrapped it up! One layer of brown paper and my address scrawled on. Amazingly it survived the journey intact. I returned their remote a week later wrapped up in the same manner. Never been in their shops since.

Thanks. I’ve often considered myself fortunate to be able to play in some amazing buildings over the last few years, and their history always fascinates me. Theatres have been my main places of work, and although new ones are often impressive it’s the older ones that are the most interesting. Since handing in my notice with the band last year, I’ve played at many of my ‘old favourites’ whilst thinking I won’t be returning to them. 😕 Still, all good things etc…..

Dead right Paul, it’s certainly going to take a while to adjust. I’m hoping to continue with more gigs with the acoustic duo though so not fully retiring, more just down sizing!

Only one gig for me this week, last night at Burnley Mechanics. A great theatre built in the mid 19th century as a mechanics institute, and then converted into a theatre in the late 1970’s. Access not easy, gear in via a lift and then onto the stage using a converted truck tail lift! ( see below ). Friendly crew and good backstage facilities too. We had a full house of around 450, and they were brilliant. Always a lively crowd at this venue, and the band played spot on. Well worth the 3 hour journey over the Pennines, which had some snow and icy conditions which slowed us down a bit. Home by 1a.m., knackered today though so glad I have a quiet weekend.

That's John Conte, been with The Jukes since 2008. A great player and long time Dano fan.

He probably used lots of stuff then. So many of those 60’s bands dabbled with Danos, as they seemed to be readily available and probably not too expensive! I tend to associate them more with 70’s bands such as Sweet and Golden Earring, remember seeing them on TOTP when I was a teenager.

Good tune! I don’t remember their bassist Graham Knight using a Dano though - thought it was more often either a Jazz or a Rick? I was in a group that supported Marmalade in the late 70’s, a great band and really nice guys. Often overlooked / underrated IMO.

Three gigs for me this week. First of two with ‘The ELO Experience’ was at Newark on Friday. A fine medium sized theatre that we’ve done annually for a long time. Had a slight technical hitch at the beginning of the first set, but managed to overcome it and all went well. Saturday night saw us at The Corn Exchange in Kings Lynn. Another of my favourite venues that seats around 750 and it was virtually full with a lovely crowd, all up for a good night. Had some of my family come along who I’d not seen for a while, including my nephew who brought with him some superb sausage rolls and brownies from his cafe in Cambridge which the band and crew devoured. The square outside the venue was taken over by a visiting fairground, so the town was very busy all evening. Bit tricky getting our vehicles in and out but well worth the hassle. I”m counting down the gigs before I leave the band now, so just 9 more to go. 🙁 Final gig for me was tonight with my acoustic duo Milestone at our regular venue ‘The Lookout’ in Scarborough harbour. A really high tide when we arrived looked a bit of a worry at one point but didn’t block our way to the venue. An absolutely cracking evening, my guitarist mate Gary was on top form and dazzled the audience with his playing. Some great requests as ever, including ’Galveston’ , ‘ A certain smile’ and Bat out of Hell’ ! We’re back there in two weeks time, can’t wait.

The identical twin of mine! Great bass.

Forgot to mention, there’s a tidy Korean turquoise Longhorn for sale on FB marketplace The guy wants £365 for it which seems fair, seller is in Wiltshire. Whack Danelectro into the MP search box and you should find it.

Mine is 014836. I think all the ‘Pro’ models didn’t have the tape edging, and haven’t seen any standard Longhorns without it so yours may be unique?! At the time some people said the Pro series spoiled the Dano sound, but having had both I’m not so sure. The wooden bridges and concentric controls probably do alter stuff, but it wasn’t that apparent with mine - both models sounded ace. The upgraded tuners on the Pro, again whilst not vintage accurate, do make life easier, same as the bridge. 😊

Started the first 2 gigs ( of 4 in Eastern England*) at Norwich Theatre Royal on Thursday. Due to a number of reasons we hadn’t played this wonderful venue for a number of years, so was great to return here. Lovely crew and facilities, and a great sell out crowd of 1,300. Gig went really well although I was feeling a tad under the weather - dropped a couple of silly mistakes but styled them out ( I think!). Friday saw us drive up to The Cresset Theatre in Peterborough. One of our regular gigs, about 3/4 full and a nice crowd again. Decent 2 hour drive home too, so in around 1am. * The other two gigs are this coming Friday 23rd in Newark, and Saturday 24th in Kings Lynn.

I'm hating this topic - soon everyone will know how great Danos are, and I want to keep it to a select few! I've loved these things for years. Never had an original one (although nearly did once), but had a clutch of them and they've all been great. Although not as historically accurate, I ended up keeping the late 90's Korean Pro model in blueburst. Plays and sounds immense, and light as a feather. Just one vol / tone and a selector switch so a bit easier to use than the pointer contols, but I generally just leave the switch in the centre position and vol/tone full on. Am starting to trim down my stash of stuff due to impending semi-retirement but won't be letting the Longhorn go.

That’s what I strive for too - clean but not sparkly TE clean if you know what I mean. In a perfect world I’d have stuck with my old 80’s SVT rig, but have used GK stuff for years and it’s been a fine compromise. Have always fancied an Aguilar amp but it’s never happened.

Yup, that’s been more or less me for over 30 years! We’ve had many holidays in the south of France and the UK, and okay a drink is sometimes taken. My main hobby is walking so minimal expenditure there too. 😊

Agreed, although I’m not that enamoured with his guitar playing either TBH. Loses all the simple beauty of Mike Campbell’s original by playing silly OTT flourishes. The female singer is rather good though.