peteb

Bizarrely, that's actually pretty good advice! And Fleetwood Mac were so named by Peter Green; partly so that he didn’t have to shoulder all the responsibility of having the band just named after him, but also so that he could back out gracefully if the time ever came that he wanted to quit (as indeed happened).

Well, no rehearsals with the cover band for a couple of weeks - the drummer has just tested positive for covid. He is feeling a bit poorly but not too bad, unlike the singer's wife who caught it a bit ago and is getting better, but taking time to recover completely. The thing is that Paul has played a couple of festivals with his other band over the past two weekends. I wonder who else has caught it from that event.

Just what I was about to say!

I played a couple of deps for a Led Zeppelin tribute band (complete with wigs for the singer and guitarist) over the weekend, my first gigs for 17 months. I had two weeks to learn a two hour set (featuring a few songs with arrangements based on various obscure live versions) with a couple of jams with the guitarist and drummer. The first time I met the singer was on Friday night, an hour before we went on stage. The first gig on Friday featured a keys player (so I was offstage while they did Stairway, Kashmir, No Quarter, etc) and went down pretty well, but a bit hairy at times. The Saturday night gig (no keys) to a sold out crowd in a small club near Liverpool was great. A very appreciative audience, we played great and I got to channel my inner JPJ. Great fun for someone like me who cut my teeth on Led Zep / JPJ and as a bonus I got to gig my recently re-acquired old 70s P bass for the first time in nearly 35 years!

You didn't look closely enough! Wait until you come across American musos - every greeting / goodbye involves a handshake ritual that culminates in a bear hug!

Been a long time… So, I’ve just done my first gigs for 17 months over the weekend; a couple of deps for a Led Zeppelin tribute band, due to their normal bass player having an arm injury. I had two weeks to learn 19 songs and got the chance to channel my inner JPJ. The first gig I shared with a keys player (so I was offstage while they did Stairway, Kashmir, No Quarter, etc) and the second was just me apart from a short acoustic set. Some thoughts on gigging again post pandemic: · Crowds are going to be a bit hit and miss for a bit – the first gig drew a good audience but a far lower turnout from last time they played there (apparently the venue said it has been like that since they’ve started putting on bands again) while the second gig sold out · Audiences are really pleased to see live music again (perhaps a little too pleased at the second gig with people wanting to congratulate, shake hands, hug you after the gig – a couple of people started off giving you a fist bump that turned into a hug) · I’d forgotten about motorway roulette – i.e. driving home at 1:00am to find that the motorway suddenly has miles of cones / lane closures / closed exits that weren’t there on the drive to the gig earlier

IME that's not usually how originals bands work (at least the ones that are ever likely to go any further than a rehearsal room). Generally, you have some principal members (often the frontman and the songwriters) and the rest of the band are there to play their parts to support them, especially the rhythm section. Once you are established as part of the core band, you may (or may not, depending in the main guys’ approach) get to contribute to new material and develop your own parts. But until then, you are normally very disposable! As @Stub Mandrel mentions above, in certain genres there may be a slightly different approach and different expectations of the incoming bass player.

Really the OP needs to ask the band what they expect. A lot depends what level they are at and how good the OP is. i If it is just a "for fun" band and they're not gigging or planning to release anything, then they probably want someone to keep the band going and he could just learn the stuff they give him and then see how it goes...

Yep, its the govt spinning old news as if something good has happened - nothing has changed...

People are free not to get vaccinated, others are free not to employ them because of it! Folks not getting vaccinated are affecting the rest of us, by possibly allowing the virus to mutate into strains that are immune to the vaccine. There has never been a similar pandemic with so many people alive, so there is a lot we just don't know, but the vaccines do seem to be working if we can get enough of the population to get it done. My sympathy for the anti-vaxxers is very limited.

But from the point of the view of the band (or any other business), would you continue to employ someone who is potentially a liability? I have a little bit of sympathy for Parada, given that he has some medical concerns (that may or may not be justified) about getting vaccinated. But I certainly don't blame the band. I know of someone else in a very similar position who is going to lose his job in the next few weeks unless he has a change of heart. The company don't want to sack him (he's a good worker and pretty popular), but that is what they are going to have to do.

I'm not sure why people are getting upset or so defensive about their heroes. I'm sure that if Neil Peart had been asked to dep for Metallica then he would have acquitted himself very well. I'm sure that Steve Jordan has the basic chops to play the Metallica gig (not so sure about Charlie), but I doubt that he would be very convincing! They are all great drummers, but nobody is equally brilliant at everything.

I'm not disagreeing, but it is a start and might keep some people in work

I have just seen the Guardian article about this. Great news, especially for some of my friends who work / play tours in Europe for a living. Just shows what a bit of lobbying can do...!

That is why I was trying to find a HDN cab, which is supposed to be more like the HD series but without the weight. I should add that I've got a HS410, which is superb - possibly the best 410 I've ever heard. I also had an AE212 for a while, which I liked and is what the CN212 is supposed to be an updated version of.

I am thinking of swapping my two HD112 cabs for a lightweight Berg 212. I was holding out for a HDN212, but I missed out on a couple of CN212 cabs at Bass Direct recently and I am beginning to regret it. I did have an AE212 before, which I really liked, even if I prefer the HDs (but not that much in it really). I don't suppose anyone who has owned any of these can tell me how the CN212 compares to the HD or HDN (or even the AE) cabs?? I have to say that I am pretty happy with Berg cabs and I am pretty likely to go this route. I’m not going to get a Barefaced cab, as technically impressive as they are (although, never say never – I’m not getting any younger). I might be interested in how something like a Vanderkley (for example) compares though.

I am thinking of swapping my two HD112 cabs for a lightweight Berg 212. I was holding out for a HDN212, but I missed out on a couple of CN212 cans at Bass Direct recently and I am beginning to regret it. I did have an AE212 before, which I really liked, even if I prefer the HDs (but not that much in it really). I don't suppose you can say how the CN212 compares to the HD or HDN (or even the AE) cabs??

Can I ask what Berg cab are you using?

Different times mate! I am currently playing in a couple of original bands; a pub covers band and a tribute band (or possibly two). As far as I’m concerned, these days they are all playing to completely different markets. I would have no intention playing a standard pub gig with either the tribute or the originals bands. The strange thing is that the same punter might go and see all of these bands, but with different expectations for each – the covers band for free in a pub for a beer and a singalong on a Saturday night, expecting to pay to see the tribute band in a club for a night out where they know what to expect or pay (probably less) to hear original material in a rock club to discover something that they hadn’t heard before.

Rest well Dusty and thanks for all the music...

Funnily enough, they seem to be pretty popular with everyone who’s worked with them. We (at least the Escape original band incarnation) were in a studio near Wolves a couple of weeks ago and the girl running the place was talking about how Magnum record / rehearse there and that she would tell Tony Clarkin that we had been when he was due in the following week. Certainly, Tony has been positive when talking about us and they sent one of their crew to say hello / check us out at an early rehearsal and then worked with us to make sure that our artwork wouldn’t have any potential copyright issues. I can’t fault them for that. We were supposed to play a bike rally somewhere near you last year before the first lockdown hit us. If the band is still going next year, I will let you know if we make up there!

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what's happening with the tribute. There are a couple of related projects (same or similar personnel) that have taken precedent recently and a key member has left. We will see what happens when we reconvene next year. If you’re interested, check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/storytellersnight or the website https://www.storytellers-night.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR08AUqjH33KQ5QXWf2uYW5bStYhT41cAS67N8CC9-gBmjvoB-2IKaHrsQk

I play in a Magnum tribute that makes no attempt at all to look like the original band. We do get the sound pretty close, but there is no attempt to play things like solos, etc note for note. However, a lot of Magnum fans like us and we have got positive feedback from the main band. I think that the main thing is to capture the spirit of the band you are doing the tribute to.

Beaten me to it

I know Rob - he's a good lad and about a foot shorter than the real Lemmy...! Apart from that he's got the look spot on...