Mickeyboro

I think @Normski is the man to consult about this!

Exactly. My wife hosts a twice monthly Irish session in our local for no monetary reward and gets treated with zero respect by the venue.

You’re persistent, @SpondonBassed, I will give you that!

Beedster has done classic album-themed shows i reckon would sell tickets. We do blues. Sometimes we earn more money than a pub, sometimes less.

Not saying I am elite but the only gigs we have this year are ticketed. I prefer this to an indifferent audience- they are more invested in every way if they pay, even just a fiver.

I Can’t Tell You Why, Best Of My Love and The Last Resort… all in your set and not theirs. They preferred an interminable Rocky Mountain Way and Dirty Laundry. I’ll come see you next time, Michael.

Be interested to see your set list. I was a wee bit disappointed with the Illegal Eagles yesterday, though to their credit they did a Desperado section. Looks a good crowd!

The Illegal Eagles in Ringwood. Stunningly professional, but it was hard to get engaged. I can see why the tickets were £40 each, but I think I’d have been as happy down at the local with a band with a personality.

Perfect except for the clip on tuner 🤔

Following through after one has Trumped?

Good thinking. I’d considered Ropy Music…👍

And a suggestion of my own. Earl Slick’s Guitar is 99p on Amazon Kindle today (Tues 25th) if Bowie is your thing.

Great isn’t it Jack? Chris Charlesworth later commissioned me to write a number of books, so I knew him well. Never lost the common touch, or the ability to laugh at the business and himself. Probably the bloke I aspired to be!

The Animals, at the Tivoli in Wimborne, featuring our very own (on far right) @Normski Good to meet you my friend and safe travels to Portugal tomorrow - phew rock’n’roll!

You know where I live Pete. Milk and sugar? ☕️

Good luck in finding a record store!😈

Just do a tour of our front rooms, Pete, playing along - bet you’d make more money that way😂

And the Wyman??

Just had a look on eBay - seems out of print which is criminal! Saw SP in Canada in 1981 supported by Leroy Sibbles. Great gig.

He looks nothing like Billy Connolly!😉

Wot! No kilt?😈

Nice rig! I use it for everything from an active Sandberg to a bass uke.

As my previous posts on frontmen, etc, have suggested, our problems are mostly ego-driven. You have to have one to front a band, and compromise probably comes harder for such superstars than for us meek bass players. Bottom line: someone good enough to fill the bill is probably with a band right now. So we have to share them (as our current stand-in) or persuade them to switch. As we have scaled back gigs to get our act together, we don’t have as full a calendar as usual. What we have to offer is our reputation and repertoire - the latest guy said we play songs he’d do in a blues jam but didn’t want to do in a band setting. But we do them well and our audience like them. Do we change that for him? I am not inclined to. All your suggestions up to now are helpful, please keep them coming. And yes, I realise I am a glass half empty person…. 🍺

My band has had a troubled history with frontmen (first singer 3 painful years, next one just 4 gigs). I seem to have just scared away a good prospect by being too honest. But painting everything in the garden rosy seems wrong. And if the third ‘marriage’ goes west… Maybe that’s too much pressure. But seriously, any recruitment tips welcome!