Norris

No. The occasional charity gig, yes. The Dog and Duck? Never. Besides, the guitarist is pro Heck, if nothing else it's self-esteem to be worth paying after the decades of practice and experience

Coming back to the OP, I don't think a metal band is quite the genre for making heavy use of a backing track. However the Pink Floyd tribute I played with for a while couldn't possibly have done without one (we were aiming for sounding just like PF recordings)

I'm generally not a fan, but can understand that situations and budget can dictate their use in some circumstances. We've certainly never considered it in our trio. I'm also not really a fan of the incognito sidemen. To show the way to do that, I saw The Darkness the other night. The shadowy guitarist/mandolinist was dragged into the spotlight several times, hugged, embraced and name-checked. The drummer came out front to sing lead on a song and the drum & bass tech stood in on drums, again with huge acknowledgement. (It was a great gig, and what a great self-effacing frontman Justin is!)

Fabulous gig. Ash were pretty good in support

The prices were a bit "gougey". We had one pint. We didn't go back for a second

Tenor sax and guitarist were with them. You should have gone

Sungazer at the Islington Assembly Rooms If you've never heard of them before (and I was one of those people) then check them out. They are awesome, playing proggy jazz-fusion. The bass playing was sublime. So glad my son got those tickets

I have an ancient SM57 and a fairly old SM58, but an AKG D5 suits my manky bass player voice better (and is cheaper than a SM58)

Sure you want to leave? Your last few posts sound like you're having a whale of a time

Grade 5 or higher earn additional UKAS points (iirc ?) I also seem to recall grade 8 counted towards my music A level mark. Are 5 and above considered performance grades?

I didn't know that was a thing. How do you do the aural part of the exam?

You're paying for the lessons, it's up to you how fast you want to take it. He who pays the piper and all that... One exam per year might be a comfortable rate perhaps (it's been a while since I got grade 6 in my youth)

I'm seeing them down in that London on Thursday. I can't say I've really heard of them before but my eldest lad wanted a gig buddy. Friday night is The Darkness back in Leicester. Edit: got my days wrong! 😂 Sungazer were awesome last night. The Darkness is tonight (Thursday)

Blimey it's not looking like a good weekend from the reports so far. I'll add to the woes... We were supposed to have a cricket club presentation evening tonight, but it was called off because so many of the members called off ill. Oh well, tomorrow's gig... nope, the guitarist is now ill, plus he's the main singer so that's called off too. Our next gig is not until May because of his ongoing tour! At this rate I might need to do some practice at home to keep my hand in 😮

There are cheaper and simpler systems than the one I'm using. The main thing for me is that I'm playing bass, so need something that runs itself while I'm doing so. Also I'm a computer programmer by trade so am not phased by some technical details, and I wanted something that could control any light I throw at it. It's a solution that suits me but may not suit everyone Edit: Dad3353's suggestion of a more simple foot controller might be more suited to your needs. Have a read up of what they can do