seashell

Yes, sometimes I do! But I like to get to the point where I can play them without thinking.. almost literally in the dark. Which did come in handy one time when all the lights went off during a gig. Probably only for a few secs, but it seemed like an eternity, and we still kept on playing! 🙂

Agree with the OP, a toss up between Come Together and I Want You. I have played 'Come Together' in public - when I was a real beginner and barely knew what I was doing. Had to concentrate really hard! I'd love to get the chance to play it again now that I vaguely know what I'm doing! 🙂 And I've never played I Want You. I'd really love to give it a go, though I suspect it might be a step too far! 🙂

The main song I never tire of listening to would be 'Misty Mountain Hop' by Led Zep. Probably because it hasn't been so over exposed as some of the other songs of that album. If I hear 'Stairway to Heaven' come on the radio I actually turn it off!! Thinking of songs that are a bit more likely to get some airtime, I'd say 'Stay With Me' by the Faces because it is so bloody good, and 'That's the Way I like It' by KC and the Sunshine Band because it is so uplifting. And of songs that I never tire of playing, I would say 'It's Only Rock and Roll' by the Stones. As a Stones lover and regular dep in a Stones trib band, even I get tired of 'Satisfaction' and 'Honly Tonk Women', but I always love playing 'It's Only Rock n Roll'. I think it's because the bass line is interesting but not technically difficult, so it inspires me to really rock out a bit. And audiences love it! 🙂

Well done! I went on a 3 day intensive jazz course in the summer, but I'd still be too scared to get up and jam it!

My main band only gigs about once every six weeks. We'll rehearse once a week (3 hours) in the 3 or 4 weeks leading up to a gig. We enjoy the rehearsals as we're all mates, and the rehearsal studio is very convenient, clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. Can't be bad! However, at the moment I'm getting more gigs with the band I dep with, but I don't get the luxury of a rehearsal at all! It's OK though as they're a Rolling Stones trib band and do most of the songs in original key etc, so I can just slot in fairly easily (she says, crossing fingers and toes for the next in just over a week!)

I play mostly rock and blues, but earlier this year I had to learn 'Disco Inferno'. Loved it! 😊

Well, I'm back depping with the Stones trib band because their main bass player has developed carpal tunnel syndrome. So I'll be keeping his seat warm until he gets that sorted out. Hope it doesn't take too long, poor guy. Anyway, last night's gig wasn't too bad considering I hadn't played with them for 6 months and they did a couple that I've never played live before. I did the usual array of bum notes, but I think I think I got away with it. My good friend from my other band was depping on drums, so that made it more enjoyable because he really gets the Charlie Watts feel. We'd been warned in advance that the pub could be really rough, but it actual fact it was fine. It's recently had a name change and is under new management which might account for it. So that was good! Not packed out, but enough in to create an atmosphere and a few up and dancing. Including a couple of blokes who were doing a sort of 'knees up Mother Brown' to 'It's Only Rock n Roll'. That really made me smile 🙂 So not too bad all in all, and cash in hand at the end of the night. I'm looking forward to the next one - I think I'll play better having done last night's gig to get back in the groove so to speak.

When I'm playing bass I always get Suzie Quattro. Largely because she's the only female bass player most punters have heard of. But to be fair I think I do resemble her more than any other bass player. Especially if I've got me leather trousers on. I've also been likened to Diane Keaton on more than one occasion. Though as far as I know she doesn't play bass! 😁

Our first wedding gig (apart from the L/G's own wedding, which doesn't really count 🙂 ) Venue was a lovely pub up in the Clent Hills, surrounded by beautiful countryside. Weather perfect. Really easy load in. Very nice Landlord and Landlady. There was no-one at all in the bar when we started playing as they were all outside enjoying the evening sunshine. But to our surprise and delight, loads of them came in and started dancing as soon as we struck up. We had been a bit concerned that a lot of our set is not the usual wedding gig material (we do late 50's/early 60's covers), but we had to play everything we know as we've only got just enough to cover 2 x 45 mins, haha. It went down really well. Some of the old songs we do are a bit obscure, but they are such cracking songs that they get everyone moving anyway. For example 'Should We Tell Him?' and 'Just in Case' by the Everley Brothers. If you don't know 'Just in Case', check it out. It's about being drafted to the Vietnam war, so not exactly wedding appropriate, but nobody listens to the lyrics anyway, haha. So it all went down brilliantly. Many people afterwards coming up and thanking us. One lovely woman gave me a big hug and told me she's a music teacher and she loved what we all did. We all felt really chuffed. Groom was chatting to us as we were packing up, saying what a lovely day it had been, so relaxed, all the guests enjoying themselves, lovely atmosphere etc etc. Just then an almighty row starts up in the other bar. Sounds like two women and one bloke all having a massive go at each other. Screaming, shouting, cursing and dreadful verbal abuse. People start looking worried and ushering children away. Then these three people spill out into the road still screaming and shouting. Turns out... it was the bar staff!!! Apparently someone had accused someone else of not pulling their weight and it had all kicked off. I think everyone was a bit relieved that it wasn't actually any of the guests, but sadly it did take the shine off the evening for the happy couple. I hope they get a bit of a discount to compensate for it!

Sandown Red Lion

Sadly, I think I'll be giving it a miss too. The fact there are still no artists announced on the website doesn't fill me with confidence, and sharing the event with a guitar show doesn't seem all that appealing. If I lived nearer to London I'd be willing to take a punt, just to see what it was like. But as others have said above, if you add on travel and accommodation costs from other parts of the country it makes for an expensive weekend. I had no problems with that when I knew I was going to be in for a treat, but this year I'm not so sure. Real shame, as I have attended since 2011 and really enjoyed every LBGS I went to. 😥

I recently re-discovered an embroidered waistcoat of my Mum's, and I teamed it with a black sequinned 'gameshow host' style jacket for our last gig. It's OK though, because I wore them in a spirit of irony. 😝

Kurt Cobain. I actually had tickets to see Nirvana in a few weeks. I knew he was struggling, but I didn't see that coming. It's funny that it hit me more than all the deaths of musicians I absolutely loved in the 70's. Maybe because I was in my thirties by the time Curt died and I realised there's nothing glamorous about it. Just a terrible tragedy for all his friends and family.

'Runaway' by Del Shannon. It's a nice bassline - sounds to me like a double bass on the recording. I could only find one YouTube video of it - it's all focussed on Del and you only catch the merest glimpse of the other musicians. They don't even show the keyboard player on the mellotron solo. There's no sign of an upright bass and no sign of any black musicians. However, according to Wikipedia the session player used on the recording was Milt Hinton who was an African American double bass player. (As I'm sure a lot of you already know, but it was news to me!) Interesting. Another fun fact is that it was recorded in A minor and then the recording was slightly speeded up to Bb minor. I'm learning it in Bb minor at the moment but it the rest of the band want to play in A minor it will be easy enough to shift it. I've also been looking on line about the life and sad death of Del Shannon. So learning this relatively simple song has turned into a real education! 🙂

Looks like I will be able to attend this year! I don't usually bring gear, but I was thinking I might bring my new rig this time. It consists of an Ashdown OriginAL head and two Trace Elliot ELF cabs, a 1x10 and a 2x8. It's all very small and lightweight but really packs a punch. If there's still room for more gear I'll add it to the list (along with my trusty MIM Fender P)

Well my avatar went, and I can't find the original 'cat on toilet' photo. I'm sure I have it somewhere but I just can't locate it atm. In the meantime, my avatar remains a picture of my cat Billie, but she's looking a bit more demure in this one. 🙂

Are there any open mics, jams or even gigs you can go to in your area? Even if you don't get up and play, I have found that just chatting to local musicians opens up a few avenues. I hesitate to call it 'networking' as that sounds a bit corporate, but just establishing contacts can work.

'Crying in the Rain'. It's just root notes, and very slow at that. But I always end up playing at least one bum note, and it really rings out horribly because it's so slow. I hate it now, because it's my 'jinx' song. 😁

I don't subscribe to Scott's bass lessons or any other on line lessons, because I prefer one to one lessons with a real tutor. That's just my learning style. But I'm a bit uncomfortable with this thread. We're talking about another BC member and calling into doubt his sanity and the state of his marriage??? I thought bass players were supposed to be the nice guys?

Eye candy 😂

Had two gigs at the weekend with the Stones trib band that I regularly dep with. They've recently had a line up change, including adding a second guitarist. Saturday was his first outing with the band and the drummer (a good friend of mine) was also a dep, playing with them for the first time. We hadn't managed a rehearsal all together. So Saturday was a bit ropey tbh, and although the punters seemed to enjoy it, I shall draw a veil over the details of the evening. Suffice to say it wasn't my finest hour. Sunday was completely different! Same line-up, what a fantastic gig!! Everything just seemed to come together to make it a really stonking performance. The venue was a bar, very local to me, who often put on music including occasional Sunday afternoons. The place was completely rammed, everyone there had come for the sole purpose of seeing the band (and having a few drinks of course). The place was laid out so all seats were facing us, no screens playing football or any of that nonsense. Sound guy was a bloke well known to us, a performer himself and really excellent. Lovely support act, who stayed to listen to us right to the end. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a gig more. I felt like we were all playing out of our skins. I had several friends and acquaintances in, all of whom thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking out at the audience, every one of them seemed to be tapping their feet or singing along (no room for dancing, it was that packed!). The atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was friendly and having a good time (mostly over 40's of course, just like the band!) When we finished we couldn't move for people wanting to come up and shake us by the hand and buy us drinks. What was particularly pleasing was the number of women who came up to me and said how great it was to see a woman playing in a rock band and kicking a*se, especially in the same week as International Women's Day. I always reply 'You can do it too, it's never too late to learn - just go for it!' I would love to play with that line up again, we all really gelled. But with me and the drummer both being deps it's unlikely to happen all that often. Nevertheless a fantastic gig and I still feel high about it 24 hours later.

Silvia, that anecdote reminds me of one time when I was chatting to Colin at a SE bash. I was looking at his headless bass and I asked him how you tune it. He said 'A lot of people ask me that. It's easy, all you have to do is rotate these little twiddly things down here'. Then he suddenly looked a bit concerned and said 'Don't think I'm patronising you and calling them 'twiddly things' because you wouldn't understand the correct term. I don't actually know what they're called myself!!' 😁 It made me smile. Such a lovely guy.

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this. I was lucky enough to meet Colin at some SE bass bashes and also went to see his band a couple of times. He was a tremendous player with a big personality on stage. He was such a friendly and funny guy. The kind of bloke who leaves you with a big smile on your face. I'm heartbroken for his family and his fiancée, they must be devastated. Enjoy the great gig in the sky, Colin. xx

I'd like to make it clear that I don't work for GTech vacuum cleaners (cf the Dyson thread in Off Topic) 😁

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica. I felt so proud of myself, I couldn't stop playing it! I've yet to play it live though.