peteb

The thing is that they are all great songs - there is a reason why they have become standards that every lowest common denominator band plays. The trouble is that we've all heard them too many times.

I've played eight gigs in the last six weeks, from South East London to a bit north of Edinburgh. Like you, that's why I saved up to buy my first Fender Precision as a teenager!

That goes without saying. To be frank, I think its worse with bands playing original material - I have never been in an originals band where I liked all the songs!

Pretty much. Or you can play genre specific covers that you like, appealing to an audience who also like that type of music. Or you can play in a tribute band (something that I seem to be doing a lot these days).

The point being that Metallica started out playing something completely obscure and inaccessible (at the time) that had no audience. Then they and a few like-minded bands inspired by them, went out and created an audience.

Metallica...!

Are you doing this on purpose?? There is nothing to say that no one enjoys listening to the music you want to play, providing you are reasonable and tailor your set to an existing audience and don't go out of your way to find something that no one apart from you likes. However, if you are not playing Mustang Sally, Sweet Child O'Mine, the Killers or the sexy fire song you may find that your audience is not going to be in the chain pub on the main street of a city centre and you may have to search out suitable venues further afield. You may also find that there are a number of very good bands playing the same sort of music, are competing for these gigs in those venues appealing to a relatively smaller audience.

Of course it is. I've been doing precisely that all of my gigging life and I'm not the one play lowest common denominator stuff I don't like, nor am I playing to disinterested audiences.

If you play music that you don't enjoy, then you will be incredibly unconvincing onstage and will be mediocre at best. There is an audience out there for most types of music (if you're good enough). It's your job to find your audience.

Well I have certainly had the occasional issue (mainly with outdoor gigs using a generator, but also the odd dodgy pub with dubious wiring), so I have a Samson power conditioner in my rack for my Mesa Boogie.

Get a 1u spacer bar and leave a space above the amp for more air circulation. You can always spore leads, etc in this space when the rack is not in use.

Personally, if it is at all viable financially, then I would just go for it. Life's too short not to take advantage of opportunities like this if you're lucky enough for them to come up!

Isn't that the same with any genre?

And actually funny as well

The thing is that this was a slightly clumsy joke about a real life incident that had become a running joke between the guy who posted it and a girl who is a member of the band he plays in. She doesn't seem to have been offended by it, so we just have somebody (presumably a bloke) getting offended on her behalf. There are more important things to worry about these days.

The thing is that I’ve been gigging for more than 40 years and played in a lot of bands, most of which have been pretty good and quite often gigged all over the country (I’m currently in a tribute band that is based all over Yorkshire & Lancashire and plays all over the place). In every band there has been an element of taking the p*ss out of each. It can be quite brutal occasionally, but is generally better natured and not as bad as the ‘banter’ that you get in football teams and on building sites, etc. If you can’t hack it then it doesn’t matter how good a player you might potentially be, you are not going to last in a working band.

She drives a MX5 - now that is a stereotype girl's car 🙂 Everyone in a band has to get used to a certain amount of banter. It seems that the girl in your band handles it perfectly well. IME the real toxic 'banter' happens because of rivalries, insecurities and jealousies between members of the same sex (usually male, but could just as well be girls).

Toxic femininity as well sometimes. I've never known things to get so bad to be genuinely toxic (at least not with sexist banter) and girls who play in bands will generally learn to take care of themselves in that area and give as good as they get pretty quickly.

Dunno, I've played in bands with females where the banter (including from them) was far worse than Bassfinger's rather lame attempt. Any girl who would get upset at that isn't going to last too long in a rock band!

Remember that just because you have used a motorway on the way to a gig, that doesn't mean that it will still be open at one o'clock in the morning when you are driving home! Always keep a couple of clean tee shirts and a can of deodorant in your bag for after the gig.

Also, bear in mind that most of the sound engineers you will encounter at club level will be cr*p and that you will have to deal with them as well as you can. Learn how to make things as easy / idiot proof as possible. It is always a big boost on a gig when you get a sound engineer who knows his stuff...!

That's a hell of a rig, especially in this day and age!

Interstate Love Song (and yes, I do count STP as a grunge band) is a great bassline. Of ones I've actually played, Jeremy by Pearl Jam is an instantly recognisable bassline and the bass part to Spoonman is pretty cool...!