casapete

Definitely a good call, hope you enjoy still playing bass at home / recording etc. All the best.

Sorry to hear this, and hope your health issues improve very soon.

We used to have a spare ‘dep’ suit, which was for anyone who didn’t usually play with the band. As some of the deps we regularly used were quite often big lads, we had it made in a generous size. The occasional slimmer deps wearing this suit meant use of gaffer tape to keep the trousers from descending whilst playing. Great stuff gaffer isn’t it? 😆

When one of our sax players forgot to bring black shoes to a gig, I remember black gaffer tape being used to cover his white trainers, quite well IIRC. Same fella also had a hole in his black dinner suit trouser knee, so we used a Sharpie on his skin to disguise it. Had to do two marks though, one for playing sitting down and one for standing. 😆

Sorry to hear this Dave, although I understand your thinking. Like others have said, a break from things may result in you doing something that doesn’t involve driving across Scotland , and wearing four inch heels! I must admit the glam dressing up thing wouldn’t be for me, but understand it’s been a great band for you for some time. Don’t sell your gear if you don’t need to, and see how you feel after having some time to see how much you miss gigging. All the best to you with whatever you decide mate.

One of my early gigs with my old function band was at a hotel in Grimsby. As it was an 8 piece band and the stage was only a small recess in a wall near the dance floor, it was me, the drummer and keyboard player who squeezed onto it, leaving the brass section, guitarist and the singer to ‘work the floor’. Our recently acquired smoke machine was usually operated by the one of the sax players, but as the lead with the ‘on’ switch wasn’t long enough to reach him, I was given the task of using it. Very few punters dancing at this point, with most of them still in the dining room nearby, so I thought I’d see how hazy I could make it, egged on by the brass players and of course copious amounts of alcohol from the free bar. A short while afterwards I saw a couple of old people wander in, dressed in their pyjamas and nightwear. A few more then appeared in similar attire, and I wondered if it was a themed fancy dress do or something. Then next to appear were a couple of guys dressed as firemen, which I thought was even more bizarre, until I realised that the smoke had triggered off an alarm in reception which was linked to the fire brigade. The people in nightwear were guests asleep upstairs and were woken to be told to evacuate the hotel by the firemen, who came over to us to advise us to do the same until they could determine the whereabouts of the fire/ smoke. It was then that the penny dropped and they realised what had triggered the fire alarms, and gave us a lot of grief ( quite rightly too) about their unnecessary call out. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful after that, and needless to say the band never played there again.

I agree. A few years ago one of mine snapped and my tech guy fitted a replacement which was of far better quality - chunky and easy to change the battery. Didn’t ask him where he’d sourced it unfortunately but am sure there must be some out there. An electro acoustic bass of mine has one of those nifty little compartments where you just insert the battery with no connector needed. Bit like the MM ones IIRC, a definite improvement.

I used GK cabs for a long time. Had two Neo 410 cabs and they were great paired with my GK 1001RB amp head. Never missed a beat or came anywhere near farting out. Also had an older 410 and a 210 ( ceramic drivers) which were also okay.

Bowie’s ’Rebel Rebel’. Apparently written with the intention of him wanting it to have a Stones vibe. Also ‘ Watch that man’. The Georgia Satellites ‘Keep your hands to yourself’. Sheryl Crow - ‘If it makes you happy’ & ‘My favourite mistake’ Them / Van Morrison - ‘Gloria’. The Faces - ‘Stay with me’ ( featuring a current Rolling Stone 😁).

Played our monthly residency yesterday afternoon at Beverley’s The Sun Inn (with the duo). Fairly quiet when we arrived, but just before we started our first set loads of people appeared so it was pretty full by the time we got going. Usual request format produced some good stuff - ‘Rehab’, ‘Listen to the music’ & ‘Fire and rain’ , some ok stuff - ‘Summer of 69’, ‘Dakota’ & ‘Hotel California’, and some downright silly stuff - ‘Bring me Sunshine’ & ‘Happiness’. The last two sparked more requests for vintage TV related tunes which we drew the line with after playing ‘Avenues and Alleyways’ ( from the cult early 70’s series ‘The Protectors’ ). Hardest one of the night for me was the Dave Edmund’s tune ‘Girl’s Talk’. A great song written by Elvis Costello that has some strangely timed bits before each chorus, but we managed to get through it okay. Finished late due to the amount of requests but didn’t really notice as it’s one of those gigs where you easily lose track. Used a Sire U5 short scale into my Rumble 100 combo > the PA and was very pleased with the result. May have to start calling the duo ‘partly acoustic’ now though. 😄

Should be a good gig, right in the heart of student land too! Upstairs room so be prepared, but will be a cracking night I’m sure. Have a good one!

That’s Albert Lee with Peter Asher Daryl. Great gig and nice pictures!

Sorry to hear some people are struggling with gigs. I’ve had 4 this January, with 5 coming up in February and then 7 in March. Mainly duo stuff plus a few pub gigs for the blues trio. The duo has 3 regular monthly residencies which helps a lot though. People I know in other bands have been saying that pub gigs are getting harder to source, and fees are the same as they’ve been for a long time too.

Me too! I’ve used various basses over the years with the duo - ones that got the most interest were my Countryman uke bass, Taylor mini bass and Washburn AB20.

Thanks, it is a lot of fun. It’s great when we nail stuff, and often great when we don’t! The audiences appreciate us attempting their requests, and are usually very gracious if we miss the mark slightly. Also if we get a request for a song that we can’t do, we’ll try and do another by that artist - handy when some wag asks for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ etc. Sometimes when people continue to ask for stuff we’ll give in - some songs we’ve done include ‘Bat out of hell’ , ‘Stairway to heaven’ and ‘Africa’ which was pretty tricky. Last night the daughter of a couple who are regulars asked for a song by Ariana Grande, so we’ll have to consider something by her. A good song is a good song so if it can be done we’ll give it a go!

We throw it open for anything - I put request forms on the tables and then we just wait to see what gets asked for. A good percentage of the requests are usually fairly straightforward, but there are always a fair few that challenge us ( and of course one or two that are just people taking the p*ss!). We have lyric / chord parts for thousands of songs using forScore on iPads - lyrics are the main things that we need prompts for. My guitarist partner is also just a phenomenal player which helps tremendously - we can go from Sinatra to AC/DC with no problems! He’s also a massive Steely Dan fan, so ‘Do it Again’ wasn’t actually too bad. My job is to hold down the bottom end ( sometimes a struggle if I’m not familiar with a tune or when he’s soloing in some old jazz standard!) and sing harmony vocals & the odd lead vocal. We’ve been playing together for over 30 years now, so have an almost telepathic thing and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Not a gig goes by when I don’t realise how lucky I am to be in the duo, it really is a joy. When I retired from my gig with a touring tribute band last year, I knew that I’d be still wanting to keep playing so just hope the duo carries on for many years to come. 😊

We play in the lounge at the front of the pub, so load in through the front door. You’re right about the parking though, can be awkward.

Have just had two really good gigs with the acoustic duo. Sunday we were back in Scarborough at ‘The Lookout on the Pier’. Usual request based early evening gig, and we had some great tunes asked for. Also a few friends in so some particularly good heckling / interruptions ensued making it very funny. A capacity audience in this small venue makes for a very intimate atmosphere, with no hiding place when we stray too far from our (fairly broad) comfort zone, so have to be quite ‘on it’. Just so rewarding when it works well though - got an enquiry for a private gig too. Then tonight we’ve been at a monthly residency at the Anlaby Park pub, on the outskirts of Hull. Really busy with all tables reserved, and plenty of folk standing too. Varied requests included ‘Do it again’, ‘Strangers in the night’, ‘Fire and rain’, ‘Why does it always rain on me’ ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Highway to Hell’. I used a borrowed Sire U5 short scale for a change, and enjoyed it immensely - has made me wonder whether it matters if I play electro acoustic or not TBH. Going to use it again for our next gig this Sunday to see if it works for us there.

Sounds like the amp is the Yamaha BBT500h? IIRC these amps had matching cabs , which were 4ohm models and therefore good to use either singly ( giving 250 watts ) or in pairs, unleashing all 500 watts. If you use the advice given by @chris_b above you won’t have any problems.

Such sad news, and a beautiful message from his sister. RIP Nick.

I went to see Beaux Gris Gris and The Apocalypse last night at the legendary Adelphi Club in Hull. A friend of mine from Stockport came over to the gig, and as he’s been recommending the band to me for ages I thought I’d go with him to check them out. The band are based in California, and feature Greta Valenti on lead vocals and her husband Robin Davey on guitar. Robin used to be in UK blues band The Hoax, who I saw years ago. The couple use UK players on bass, keys and drums when they tour over here, but I didn’t catch their names. Drummer was ace, very animated and groovy, and the lady on bass was solid as a rock on her 5 string Yamaha. Material was mainly originals with a couple of covers thrown in. Bluesy rootsy rock would probably best describe their stuff. The small club was almost full, so they seem to have a good UK following. Got a bit loud for me though, so glad I’d brought my ear plugs. Worth catching on this current tour if it’s your kind of thing, recommended.

Me too Dave. Had a few no-shows but no out and out nutters. I’ve always been careful to protect my details, preferring meet ups or delivery in person etc. Cash on collection is always good - why don’t I trust bank transfer with people I’ve never met? Oh yeah, I’m an old gimmer. 🤣

Slightly OT so forgive me but sort of relevant - a couple of years ago my daughter was swapping her car and needed to trade her Honda Civic in. After not getting much joy she contacted a couple of the car buying firms regularly advertised everywhere. One was a better quote, so we made an appointment, which the rep from the firm was late for. Looked around it for ages, took it for a few miles drive and then offered her some £500 less than his original offer ( despite the car being mint ). When asked why he just said that’s what his boss had decided / change in market prices ( in 2 days!) and thus wasted a lot of time for all of us. We then went to ‘ We buy any car’ who were then exact opposite - their price was adhered to, quick decision and payment within a few days. Moral being - shop around, don’t accept a reduced offer and if you can be arsed first try a private sale!