dmccombe7

And they paid you in bikes. That's a good gig Daryl. Dave

Sorry to hear about your Dad. Never an easy time but your positive attitude, music therapy is good to hear. Hopefully things will fall your way and a new band will emerge from all this. As always family comes first. Take it easy Dave

The one venue i hated playing was with the punk band and they finally agreed with me that its not worth the money. At long last they listened to the bass player. Most other gigs i'm fine with and if not too busy its just a paid rehearsal. Luckily the Glam gigs are nearly always full or very well attended so that gives me a nice warm glow especially at Christmas. Dave

What breakers are you plugging in to the wall. ? Not heard of that before. Dave

You guys are slowly coming into the 21st century. Dave

I just think 2x1hr sets leaves an audience wanting more of the band whereas 3hr sets can become a bit boring for an audience. Depends on the venue to be fair. Dave

I know how you feel. There are gigs i've done and have made it clear i don't like playing there and even tho we get paid ok there's little or no audience at times and therefore no atmosphere. Response is usually "its a paid rehearsal" and i guess that's true. I wouldn't travel any distance for a gig like that tho. This one is appox 50 miles from me. Dave

Superb Daryl, looks like your reputation as a top band is getting out there. Long may it continue. Well deserved IMHO. Cracking pic of the band too. 👍 Dave

Our drummer even has IEM's so he's not affected by his own loud noise. Dave

Brilliant. Almost fell of the sofa when i saw this.

Yep he bought the PA and has various desks. He knows his stuff too. Helps that he comes from a pro background and has close friends in large PA hire business. He has both analogue and digital Allen & Heath desks of varying sizes. Cabs are all QSC from 2 way 12's to 3 way 15's to subs. Never under-estimate your drummer. They are a sneaky bunch and know more than they let on. Dave

Each of us in the Glam band knows their own input channel number on the desk and therefore runs their own cable to the desk. Desk is usually on the stage next to our drummer who owns and controls it himself. On the odd occasion the singer will take over control of it depending on stage space. My XLR cables are all custom made and labelled as Dave 5m or 10m for cable length. Dave

That's an unusual T bird colour. Very nice, like that. Dave

That looks like a good fun band. Not my kind of music but you just know a good band when you see them. My big criticism .......... cant see the bass player in this vid 🤩 Dave

You're quite young looking to be going to pubs. Dave

Tonight's gig was an early start for BLOCKBUSTARZ at Methil Ex-Services Club from 4-7pm. Pretty busy for an afternoon session so that was good. Afraid they only started advertising the gig 4 weeks prior. From what we heard their ticket sales have been quite low with only 40 sold for Hogmanay which for a club is quite poor. Reckon we had approx 80-100 in today. Everyone seemed to be having a great time but dancing in first set was a bit spurious. 2nd set things picked up a bit and decent crowd of dancers. We've been asked for 2 dates in 2025 which i believe have now been confirmed with one being in Dec 2025. Finished dead on 7pm paid, packed up and on the road for 8pm and home for 9:30pm road was pretty clear and no closures at that time. Usual Glam gear of Sandberg VM4, Shure wireless, Mesa TT800 and SW210/115 cabs. Next gigs for us are next Sat & Sun in The Dreadnought, Bathgate. One of my fav gigs as its always crammed at our Xmas party gigs. We were booked for this and 2025 Xmas weekend since last year. I think the owner is a Glam fan. Dave

Last night with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers at Longstone Hearts Club in Edinburgh was the first of two gigs this weekend. Fantastic club where everyone involved is just so nice and helpful. Only holds approx 70-80 and it was busy possibly sold out as i couldn't see any spare seats. Gig went really well. The 4 Xmas songs worked a treat in the set. We are now doing 2x1hr sets most gigs these days so that's good news instead of almost 3hrs worth. Audience loved it with few requests for pics with the band after the gig. Sandberg VM4 into Shure wireless, Mesa TT800 and Mesa SW210/115 cabs. Running the amp with a little distortion when i really dig in for some of those rockier songs. Here's a pic of stage just after sound check. Today we travel over to Methil in Fife for a slightly earlier time of 4-7pm. approx 2hr drive each way and with only 6hrs sleep last night i'm getting a little bit tired this morning but once on the road all will be well again. Dave

They don't get paid as much as the two on the end. Dave

Fully appreciate we have different circumstances Daryl but $150 really isn't a lot for the hrs you do for a gig including the travel time. Typically from when i leave the house till i get back home again its a 10-12hr day. Add to that strings, fuel and rehearsal costs etc it all bites into the gig money. Gig last night for me and back out for an evening gig today 4-7pm sh an early home time but only 6hrs sleep last night and its a 2hr drive each way for todays gig. Have a wonderful Xmas and all the very best for 2025 Daryl. Dave

Oddly enough i did think that after i posted it Dave

That's not a bad income with the tips included. All you need is more gigs and you're set for life there Daryl. Typically here with the punk band i'm lucky to get £70 a gig. Glam band is circa £150 upwards but that's more a show. We don't generally see tip buckets over here or in my experience but maybe we should try it to see what happens. Dave

In the Glam band we the singer who put the band together who arranges most gigs but always puts it up on a private FB page for discussion / approval etc. Other than that any questions go on our private page and we discuss on line as we all live quite far apart so meet ups can be tricky unless for gigs or rehearsals. Everyone has the band first attitude and we try to agree on what's best for the band. Our drummer has the most pro experience especially in Glam so we almost always go with his final say if any doubts. We did try an agent rather than a manager but it was a waste of money and more trouble than it was worth. We now do it all within the band. With the Punk covers band the drummer does most of the work getting gigs and putting posts on FB etc. Same drummer as Glam band so he also puts up all the gig posts on FB there too. Singer in punk band also gets us some of the gigs but this band is currently under review to see if its worth continuing in 2025. 3rd band is a start up and still at a very early stage with rehearsals restarting after the festive season. Singer does take the lead in this band too. He's also the singer in the Glam band. You may have noticed a lot of in-breeding in these bands. Dave

Sorry to see you leave Paolo but you can always come back at any time especially when you miss us all Take care and all the best with the back issue. Dave

I guess from a venue point of view its a risk they take that weather will hold up on the night of a gig. If the band made it then you can't hold them responsible for poor attendance. Dave

He blamed you for causing a blizzard ? Did you tell him you were actually Jack Frost in disguise. Did you still get paid ok as he was probably looking for reasons not to pay you. Dave