peteb

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1414617875' post='2591528'] Difficult to say.... people are a bit sheep like so they tend to need to know the band. Friends of mine are trying to sell the Kirk Fletcher tour for AGES..and they seen to be doing ok with crowds but they have to promote the hell out of it and virtually drag people out. And that is quite a regarded Bluesman..it will be interesting to get the real story when the tour finishes..? We have a few touring acts from France do the same sort of thing...but they only really survive in one town for a couple of dates. Even ex name Rock guys struggle to sell tickets at £10 enough of the times. It is a very tricky one.. [/quote] Funnily enough some friends of mine promoted a gig for Kirk Fletcher a couple of nights ago. It was a really good night and they did ok – well over a hundred people on a Monday night in a small club off the beaten track in West Yorkshire. Of course they promoted heavily on social media and did have the Fabulous Thunderbirds connection / Joe Bonamassa endorsement to help sell it. I do know some Americans that do come over here occasionally. They will often use a UK rhythm section or backing band and will do a short run of clubs in the UK and maybe a festival then possibly a week in Holland / Belgium or wherever. They do seem to treat more as a working holiday and a way of catching up with friends & contacts on this side of the pond…

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1414617527' post='2591519'] I reckon you'd be lucky to cover your costs, to be honest. [/quote] I would add that you should not be expecting to make too much (if any) money from such a trip...

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1414616732' post='2591505'] Question, would a band like mine with a 29 year old female front and lead guitarists doing 70s style blues/rock get decent crowds in your pubs if we came over to do a short pub tour. Or would we fall into the same boat as your local bands. I was thinking cause were Yanks we might be different and interesting. Blue [/quote] You might do OK but you couldn't expect to turn up any old pub and pack it out. But there are loads of places where you could do well, especially as you could have the novelty of being billed as 'from the USA'. Of course you would have to hit social media heavily to promote and talk to small promoters / people who are involved in the scene and could point you at the right venues. Send me a PM if you are seriously considering it and I will talk you thru what you might need to do...

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1414511143' post='2590046'] That's the one. I lived in Acton at the time as well, on Horn Lane. [/quote] I was living on Churchfield Road at that time. I remember that we used to watch bands at a pub on Shepherds Bush Green and another down Fulham Palace Road...!

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1414103155' post='2586026'] I've been visualising it using a rotating wheel for many years. The wheel sits on a circular back plate and is marked in one place. A full rotation/revolution of the wheel is achieved in one bar. Where I need to play each note rhythmically is marked on the back plate. When the mark on the wheel meets the mark on the back plate, I play a note. If I want to imagine playing ahead of the beat, the wheel keeps spinning in my imagination but I play the note exactly the same distance before the mark on the wheel reaches the mark on the back board. If I want to play behind the beat, I'll wait until the mark on the wheel has passed the mark on the back board and then play at exactly the same distance in each bar. [/quote] Actually, that kinda makes sense! I might have a go with working with that concept...

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1414059491' post='2585239'] Here's an easy one for you all. Steve Lukather David Benoit Lee Ritnour Chaka Khan George Duke [/quote] Leland Sklar??

[quote name='woodenshirt' timestamp='1413982738' post='2584370'] They say he was only paid £27 for the Baker Street session. Mart [/quote] And that the cheque apparently bounced...!

Thanks for sharing this, will download when I get home. I have read two of his other books and he is a very funny writer...

I have always thought that assuming that you are not going for the costume type image (KISS, Lady Gaga, Blues Brothers, etc) then the idea is to look like your audience only a bit cooler…! Ideally people should be able to work out who is in the band as soon as they enter the room. Jeans and tee-shirts are fine if you look cool in jeans and tee-shirts! However, if you look like you are trying too hard then you’ve blown it! Part of the secret is look like you don’t give a f***! Of course, the whole of the secret is to genuinely not to give a f***…

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1413927685' post='2583830'] Sorry mate but that's a load of tosh. My girlfriends brother can't read music but is an absolutely amazing guitarist. He plays with really high standard musicians who all get annoyed at him because he just plays by ear. They have to study their parts and he just turns up and plugs in and away he goes. I, to a much lesser extent, do the same when I'm playing in my pub band. I think venues couldn't give a rats whether you can read music as long as you can make a nice noise! [/quote] The point is that there are plenty of incredible musicians who can’t read a note (Jeff Beck, Billy Sheehan, etc, etc). But unfortunately these guys never get to play the cruise ships! Of course if you do want those types of gigs you do need to be able to read. However, if I was to be a bit contentious, I would suggest that the best musicians who can read tend to be those who learnt to play first then learnt to read afterwards. IME some guys who learnt to play by reading tend not to develop their ear as well as those who did not start off by reading notation…

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1413534021' post='2579152'] I would be pissed off not getting the best slot if it was because of us that the whole thing worked as well as it did..i,e provide all the gear. I understand it is very hard to predict when that best slot will be on any given bill, but doubley galling that the other bands could not be bothered to support you the way you supported them. This is a common and ugly trait from a lot of muso's, I find. However, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, by the sound of it... but use this as a lesson not to get involved on those terms again. The first thing is to see what the rest of your band thought and then devise some sort of strategy about what YOU get out of it next time.. if you agree to a next time..!!! 1st rule..if you are a KEY part of the gig..then you get a KEY role/choice... [/quote] OR... you could take the view that the event is not about you but trying to raise a few quid for charity! It seems to me that this been organised by a girl with good intentions who has enlisted the help of a friend who plays in a band to make it happen. This friend has then recruited his band to help out. I don't see anything wrong with that and the rest of the band (with the exception of the OP) seem to have been happy to indulge a mate and help out. It makes sense to give the best slot to those acts that can pull the most people. If the OP's band were the biggest draw then more people would have stayed for their set. Of course it would have helped if the main bands had got into the spirit of the thing and hung around to show their support! Overall, it seems like the event was a success and the OP should be pleased that he contributed to this...

Just think of it in terms of having built up a store of psitive karma and you will get your rewards in heaven! More importantly, did the frontman get laid??

Unlike some people here, I am always happy to do charity gigs providing that: a) I think that it is a worthwhile cause; the event is not just going to be a cynical ploy by a landlord to sell lots of beer without having to pay the band; c) it is not going to be a complete shambles! Once you agree to do it you have to commit to doing the best for the charity. I would not be too bothered if we only ended playing ten minutes if the overall event was a success. In this case I would do it with good grace to humour the band leader, but take an absolute minimum of gear and make the point that if you do any similar gigs in the future then at least they must be properly organised…

[quote name='Kirky' timestamp='1413011720' post='2574045'] I play two venues where the management passes round a bucket for contributions which we get on top of the comparatively small fee. It's never occurred to me to do it ourselves at other venues. Perhaps we should try it tonight at our Bikers Clubroom gig - last time they passed a bucket round for collections for one of their members who had just been sent down for a stretch at Her Majesty's pleasure, so they're familiar with the concept... [/quote] Funnily enough, I remember a very similar thing happening at a gig I did at a biker clubhouse a couple of years ago…!

There are some gigs where a member of the bar staff will go around with a bucket a couple of times - generally smaller gigs that are not the best payers.

Good point - quite bizarre really

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1411908978' post='2563754'] I'll find a video in a minute that explains it really well. [/quote] I would love to see that video mate.

It is simply a major scale, running up from A to B to C...

I took an extra day to think about it and just missed out on a nice (if slightly roadworn) 2001 3EQ Stingray yesterday on eBay that went for £620...! That's a great price for a proper US built marque bass - stingrays have gotta be the best value on the (secondhand) market at the moment... NB. A lot of people are putting Rays up on eBay with high starting prices but they are just not selling. If you wait for the right one to come along you should get a really nice one for around £700, less if you're lucky and don't dither!

In that case I will do it for you…! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgAAee2rOb8 Brothers Groove at Newark Blues Festival in 2013 and we were the band following them. Really good band and Deano is an ace bass player. Me and the guitarist got our pedaltrain cases mixed up backstage and had to meet up at Bass Direct the week after to swap pedalboards back! Been in touch ever since, really nice blokes…!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1410384203' post='2548962'] What music are you playing ? Pub music over here is an attraction in itself and 'my' beef is that there are too many unsuitable venues and bands. But once a pub has its catchment, then that will tend to support most bands that play there through the year. So a band that brings in a few plus the pubs regulars makes the gig likely sustainable. We've also found that pubs that mess with the rosta/rota and change nights around tend to lose out ... It doesn't take many bad nights at a venue to undo a lot of good ones. People round here tend to know which bands do what and are worth seeing..so it is a tough-ish market to break into, but once in, you'll do ok. [/quote] I would certainly agree with that!

'The Throwback' by Tom Sharpe immediately springs to mind...

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1410376222' post='2548809'] True, most bar level bands are not playing to crowds that came their to see them or live music which can be a drag. Off Topic, Sad , but when I see the 21-25 year old crowd come into a club/bar were playing or any where there is a live band, they usually leave.and I mean leave immediately Blue. [/quote] That is not generally the case over here in the UK and certainly not in mainland Europe...

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1410364027' post='2548593'] We are a 4 piece, we won't turn the car ignition on for less than $100.00 US green backs per man. Again, it's a little different in the US most bar/club gigs are 4 hours. Blue [/quote] But that is just under £250 - about the same or a little bit more than the standard pub gig fee for most places in Blighty for 2x45 min sets...!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1410256946' post='2547496'] Of course it is.... but getting that quality in a pub is few and far between, IME. And I must say that the 3 piece gtr bands tend to have a handy gtr player, but still not good enough to maintain the interest over a long period of time in the set, IMO. And..it also depends how interesting the bass and drums can be, but you'll often find the gtr kingpin doesn't want anything too fancy from them... so it comes down to the gtr solo show... If the gtr can sing, then that is a bonus but not a given. From an economics POV, this can work for the gtr as they may easily get £70 per head, and if they work hard, and do a few lessons, sell CD's they may make some sort of living. The band leader/gtr may even take a bigger slice of the monies but it seems a pretty soul destroying gig IMO. And... I've done them but I want something more interesting and I do find them 'lacking' for sure. [/quote] The most soul destroying gig I can remember was a 5 piece playing Don't You Forget about Me to housewives dancing around their handbags, even if it was a good payer! In contrast, I played in just the type of three piece band that you are describing and it was great fun! We played lots of gigs to decent audiences all over the country and made a few quid. The gtr was a bit of a one trick pony, but it was a good trick and it helped that he was a natural entertainer (both on and off stage). We never played a song the same twice and songs would evolve the more we played them. We could turn on a musical sixpence in a way that bigger bands just can't do! It certainly sharpened up your playing as well...