casapete

My thoughts exactly. Didn’t realise how much Nick played up the dusty end. Great band though, and (young kid aside) thought they came over really well. Caught a bit of St Vincent and will watch more on iPlayer over the weekend. Agree with above comments about the bassist too, sounded excellent. Watched Billie Eilish, not my thing particularly but the crowd loved her.

He does this using an iPad when possible, but as the mixing area is sometimes a few flights of stairs away from the areas to check, it’s a nightmare if anything untoward happens when he’s left the desk unattended. (Also in some smaller venues it leaves the desk open to audience interference, which we had on one gig a few years ago! )

Exactly this from my experience. My band does mainly theatres, and the mixing console location is often not fully optimized for getting the best overall sound. Many times it will be under the first tier of seating right at the back of the room which often gives a false impression of the bass sound. Then in other places it can be not even central or at the top of a tiered seating arrangement. Of course there are usually reasons for this, mainly to do with audience sight lines not being affected etc, but it does make it hard to get a decent sound throughout the room. Our sound tech listens to the band in all areas of seating during soundcheck, but inevitably there will be anomalies which don't show up until the customers are seated. Wherever possible we patch in to the theatre's system for the upper tiers which can help, especially if it's a 'flown' arrangement.

We've had a really busy month so far, belting round the UK in ever decreasing circles. Had a mammoth trek from Yorkshire down to Truro on Thursday to play a gig at the recently refurbished Hall for Cornwall. One of the best venues we've done, with great staff and top notch backstage facilities as well as a good sounding room. We had nearly a full house of 1200 punters, and played one of our best gigs for ages. Well worth the trip (even in a bus with no air con on one of the hottest days for ages!) Also managed to grab a quick chat with our own OBBM cables maestro Dave, great to catch up with him. Friday we schlepped across to Bromley, again in blistering heat and loads of road closures, and then back homewards to York Barbican on Saturday night. Another brill venue, and one of the few that has easy get in from the internal loading bay ( see pic below). Another good turn out, and back home by midnight. Finishing June off with gigs in St Albans, Ipswich and two nights in Bury St Edmunds, so hoping the weather stays a bit cooler!

As I have little credibility anyway.....We played for Jane McDonald in the 90's (as a resident club band) and she was ace! Great singer, lovely person and very pro / easy to work with. Not particularly my cup of tea musically but still really enjoyed the gigs.

From my experience Blue, it’s usually a problem if the financial circumstances of the band vary a great deal. Years ago I was in a pro function band, with some members also holding down teaching jobs. This made attitudes to our gigs radically different, with some who relied on the money (like me) getting fed up of having to allow for lateness and even not being able to take work if school got in the way. This ended up with quite a few dep players being used which didn’t always work well. My current band have been going now for around 15 years. All the members are in the same boat i.e the band is their first call and primary source of income. We don’t use any deps either, and it works really well. Reminds me of ( I think ) Count Basie and a journalist asking him how keeps an 18 piece band on the road, to which Basie replied ‘ I pay them money....’ 😆

Was hoping to get to one of them, although nothing anywhere near me. 🙁

I was just about to suggest some kind BC person may be able to help you out, nice work!

I’ve always used a pair of curved nail scissors and then an emery board to smooth. Have you noticed how much quicker nails appear to grow when the weather is hotter? Need to do mine at least once a week, as I can’t stand the feeling of nails against fretboard.

I met Julian Richer and his wife when they came to one of our regular acoustic gigs in a Scarborough cafe. Both lovely people and massive fans of live music too. He’s a drummer in a band called ‘Ten Millennia’ who gig regularly, with his wife Rosie being the singer. They’ve supported Jools Holland amongst many others. Julian’s charity work is endless, and he’s just one of those great guys who runs his business in a responsible manner. (A member of my family worked for Richer Sounds for a number of years and loved it too.)

I admire your wanting to cover the cab, but must admit I’d go for an easier / cheaper option - paint it with Tuff Cab using a roller for the best finish. Hardwearing and easy to keep it looking tidy.

I’ve used an Barefaced Compact for years now. 1x15 / 450 watts 8 ohm cab, sounds great with all the heads I’ve used it with. Prior to getting it I’d used 4x10’s for a long time ( still do for some gigs ) but haven’t found the Compact lacking in any of the gigs it’s been on. Personally I wouldn’t worry about the 4 ohm thing, as cab design / speaker efficiency etc are probably more important variables. Plenty of people on here who can explain the science!

Gig #2 for me this Jubilee weekend with my acoustic duo. This one on Sunday afternoon was a lovely do in a village on the Yorkshire Wolds. Originally planned to be an outside event, it had to be moved inside due to the lousy weather. Felt really sorry for the organizers as they'd applied to have a street closed off specially. We set up in the hall, and were second on the bill to a lady doing face painting! As much tea/coffee and cake as we could manage as it was a BYO booze event, and they hadn't let us know! We just asked for requests from the off, and (as has been mentioned on BC many times before) were surprised by the range of requests, and how few of the older folk wanted 'old' old stuff, preferring 60's and 70's choices. We managed to play every one, including 'I don't want to miss a thing' by Aerosmith, ( which was suitably adjusted to a lower key, as it was a sitting down gig!). Again, used my Ibanez electro acoustic straight into our Yamaha / Bose PA. Very echo heavy venue, so had to keep things under control to avoid it getting too boomy. A lovely audience, dancing and singing along from the outset, and quite a few business cards requested so a job well done.

The tune probably went off to join ‘What a wonderful world’ following Celeste’s annihilation of it......🤣

For me, it’s playing in a band that is totally into supporting the song. When all the band are locked in, with nobody bothered about standing out and trying to impress anyone by overplaying. In my case this occurs most often when backing a great singer.

Played an afternoon gig yesterday with my acoustic duo at a private party with a Jubilee theme in a village next to mine. Arrived at the impressive house to find we’d been allocated a covered area, but due to the doubtful weather forecast it was decided we’d be better playing indoors. This was a massive swimming pool / leisure area, with the predictable echo laden sound. As the weather was on and off, we set up by some bi-fold doors so we could face either inside or outside! First set was sunny so we played to the guests outside, and the sound was great using just a Yamaha mixer amp and two pairs of Bose 802’s. I used my little Ibanez acoustic bass and it sounded just how I wanted. Of course, wind and rain meant that by the second set we turned the PA round and played in the pool area, and the sound suffered. Still, had them up dancing, played all of their requests and gave out loads of business cards so a result. Also got very well fed and watered too, and home by 6pm! Got another one today at a village hall on the Yorkshire wolds and it’s raining already.....🙁

Agreed, he was pretty dire. And ‘Sweet Caroline’ FFS? He couldn’t reach the lower notes, and missed most of the rest.

I’ve had 6 or 7 Stingrays over the years, starting with a late 70’s pre EB job. Always loved them, the eq being the main attraction for me as well as the perfectly postioned pickup. Also the consistent high build quality, never seen a bad one. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find one light enough for me to play now, and sold my last one recently. ☹️

Would have been so much better as an instrumental . Barely one note sung in tune, and not in a key where she could convey the melody properly either.

Think I spotted the ace Ian Thomas on drums.

My band played a gig on the Isle of Man this week. The original booking was for 2020 but as Covid put paid to that it finally got rearranged for May 22. It also happened to be TT fortnight so was extremely busy on the ferries, despite it being qualifying week. We got to see some of the racing, an amazing spectacle with bikes hitting over 140mph onthe streets of Douglas that normally have a 30 limit! ( Unfortunately just before we left a Welsh rider Mark Purslow lost his life in a crash, something that apparently happens all too regularly. ) We were playing in the Villa marina, a grand old theatre on the seafront in Douglas. Big flown JBL PA sounded fine at soundcheck but with nearly 1000 punters in later it did seem to change. Anyway, we did one 90 minute set (unusual for us) and went down well with the crowd singing along with most of the songs. The gig was in aid of a local cancer charity so we were pleased they raised some funds from it. Good fun going to a new place for us, a very scenic island with friendly locals, good food, and the weather was superb too.

This sounds like a brilliant concept, would be right up my street.

Agreed Lozz, also appearing was Jessie J and then Becky Hill next week. It’s an interesting place to visit, especially with the TT events. Went to watch some of the qualifying stuff last night and it’s absolutely insane! Bikes flying down streets (that normally have a 30mph limit) doing 130mph plus.

We’re in the Isle of Man doing a gig tonight in Douglas, but have been here since Monday. Just along from the theatre we are playing there’s an open air stage running gigs, Big Stage @ 1886. Primal Scream were playing on Monday, and then last night we caught Ed Force One, a local tribute to Iron Maiden. Not my kind of thing but they played great and were quite authentic (according to our guitarist who like IM). Very few people attending though, despite being free and also week 1 of the TT racing event so a lot of people around. Tonight we’re up against Rag n Bone Man who I’d like to have seen, and later in the week there is James Bay, Madness, Nike Rodgers and Chic and The Darkness.