sharkboy

Knowing a couple of the guys from The Bankrobbers, I'd suggest that although they may be from Belfast, they would associate much closer with the parameters of "Irish" that the OP set out! Something Happens were a great wee band. Other favourite tracks from that time that I listened to- An Emotional Fish (nice bass intro to Celebrate!- https://youtu.be/-f8JI9R5Suo ) Thee Amazing Collossal Men: Superloveexperience (https://youtu.be/5BsqszSYvxI) The Frames - probably better known now for singer Glen Hansard's movie career in Once (and his Oscar-winning song from the movie, Falling Slowly: https://youtu.be/FkFB8f8bzbY), they were a great indie pop band in their own right. Hansard's latest incarnation, The Swell Season, is also worth a listen. (The movie was directed by the band's old bassist John Carney, and if you want a real feel-good treat with great tunes, check out his latest movie, Sing Street!) The Golden Horde - Friends In Time Sultans of Ping FC - has to be the immense Where's Me Jumper, doesn't it? https://youtu.be/C-dl9KTYAVk The Frank & Walters - Fashion Crisis Hits New York (https://youtu.be/Ex5H5YgV7LU) A House - Endless Art (https://youtu.be/cDo6Lgylsjg)

Indeed it is Paul, and when it comes to my gear I'm very risk averse as I couldn't afford to replace my 2 main gigging basses or backline from my own pocket. So I'm happy for Allianz to take the cost of less than a pint a week to give me that peace of mind. With regard to the issue of gear stolen from cars, if just pays to ask your insurer. My cover requires the equipment to be in a locked vehicle and out of sight to be covered for theft. The vehicle doesn't have to be a saloon-type car (let's face it, how practical a requirement is that for a bassist?), it doesn't even have to be attended to be covered for theft.

Thus topic has come up a number of times of late; once, about 13 months ago, raised by me after out guitarist's PRS custom came off second best to gravity. My research revealed a number of horror stories of people that had relied on home contents insurance to cover damage at a gig or in transit only to be rejected on the grounds that their gear was not covered as it was used to generate income and therefore professional equipment that doesn't fit on a domestic policy. The research sent me straight to Allianz's specialist music equipment insurance. £13 a month for £10k worth of peace of mind is a bit of a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. Insurance is only a waste of money until you need it. If your gear isn't that expensive to replace then, sure, you might want to forego premiums and just pay out from your own pocket to replace/repair damaged or lost items. If, however, you might be glad that someone else will give you the couple of grand to get a new custom bass to replace the one that was stolen, then I'd suggest that specialist insurance is the way forward.

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1468523381' post='3091584'] There's been a few of these threads so I'll just pick one from my usual list and say John Curley from the Afghan Whigs. Greg Dulli's rhythm guitar playing was hugely basic most of the time and Rick McCollum (an under-rated guitar player if we ever do a list of those) was usually off doing his own thing but Curley managed to wring a lot of melodic lines that sat nicely between the 2 and kept the beat while not being overtly flashy. The 3 players often seem to be doing completely different things but everything really melded together. Underrated band generally imo. [/quote] Definite +1 from a fellow Whigs fan! I'd also add Derek Forbes from Simple Minds - just check out the playing on New Gold Dream, especially the title track!He's highly respected among bassists and musos, but rarely gets a mention in lists such as this.EDIT - except he just has, about 3 posts above mine!

If they've gone to the expense of power amps and FOH speakers, why haven't they just added a desk and monitors? Sounds like a half-assed attempt to set up a PA if you ask me, and I would have no issue bringing my own back line if they can't guarantee that I'd be properly monitored on the night. End of the day, your contract is with the bride and groom to provide live entertainment at their reception. They should be made aware of the restrictions and also any concerns you might have.

[quote name='Bassman Sam' timestamp='1467918916' post='3087356'] I read on the t'interweb that Brian Johnson may be able to gig again due to new developments in in-ear monitors. I wonder if he will be welcomed back to AC/DC or if Arsehole Rose will get the gig full time. If it's Rose then I can see why Cliff wants out. [/quote] I'd heard from a pretty sound source that Brian's departure was as much about money/gig receipt arguments with Angus as it was about his hearing loss. Cliff's decision makes me think that Brian's return to the fold is probably pretty unlikely.

Angus is the only one left from the 1970s line-ups now. Chris Slade, who replaced Phil Rudd on skins following his, ahem, legal issues, was with them for a few years in the late 80s/early 90s. Stevie Young, who replaced his Uncle Malcolm, had stood in for him in 1988 as well. At 60 years old, he's just a year younger than his Uncle Angus!

[quote name='zbd1960' timestamp='1467757134' post='3086054'] It helps to learn to understand intervals and what they sound like. Start with the basics - octave, fifth and fourth (ascending and descending). [/quote] One of the best music lessons I had at school all those years ago was on intervals and how to recognise them by remembering which songs use them at the start (eg minor 2nd=Jaws theme, major 6th=My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean - amazing what you remember after 35 years!) There's a good site here with more examples: http://www.madelinesalocks.com/MusicalIntervalsTutor/listenpg.html

We used to play one venue that had a dB cut-off that was, to say the least, on a hair trigger. It was supposed to be set to 90dB, but it would be triggered just testing the mics! We got round it by playing the bar owner (a renowned cheapskate who'd bought the cheapest system possible) at his own game - the keyboard player basically said to him "what I've got onstage is essentially a couple of computers worth of electronics that don't take well to losing power. If your uncalibrated and untested system causes me to lose data or wrecks my equipment I'll hold you liable for the cost to repair, recover or replace them". That seemed to do the trick in the shorter term, then the next time we played we found out that another band had gaffa taped a wad of thick foam over the sensor - problem solved!

AC/DC's normally a guaranteed floor-filler for us, especially Thunderstruck and Highway To Hell, along with our Zeppelin medley and Fat Bottomed Girls. The usual cliches usually do the job too - Sweet Child o Mine, Dakota, All These Things I've Done, Sweet Home Alabama and Don't Stop Believing. Yes, we can be that cringeworthy at times...

Not me, but a friend relayed this one. Soledad Brothers were playing Belfast, and this guy was working behind the bar at the venue. An American girl comes up for a drink and said bartender decides to try out his charm - "Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Meg White? Only much better looking", he tried, before smiling and adding "and probably a better drummer too!" Guess who? Unknown to him, The Soledads were fellow Detroiters, and a bit of a pet project for Meg, having added percussion to their most recent album which Jack produced.

Ah, another chance to share my Norman anecdote... Many, many moons ago Norman was playing a small bar in Belfast in Wilko's R&B power trio. A friend and I had gone down early to make sure we got seated close to the stage. We were queueing on the stairs, waiting for the doors to open and I was waxing rhapsodic about Mr Watt-Roy's 4-string prowess. I'd just got to the part where I was explaining why Rhythm Stick had one of the best bass lines ever to grace a no.1 single, when a voice behind me said "thanks very much, mate, very kind". There was the man himself, flight cased bass in hand. We chatted for 5-10 mins before he went onstage to deliver more pure power than one man should be capable of! Still ranks as one of my favourite gigs ever

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1461486914' post='3034931'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnqJgLYrnPA[/media] [/quote] Mmmm...Ida Nielsen...***swoon***

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1461486869' post='3034929'] "Condition of The Heart" from Around The World In A Day [/quote] I bloody love this song - remember hearing it for the first time and just being blown away by it. I always thought there was just a little something autobiographical in it - the "left him for a real prince from Arabia" line just sounds so heartfelt! It would definitely be on my Best Of... list, along with Sometimes It Snows in April, Sexy MF, My Name is Prince, Diamonds and Pearls - in fact most of his 80s/early 90s output! For me, Sign O The TImes is up there with The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense as one of the definitive live music movies.

Personally, I like a bit of dirt on my sound when playing some classic rock, but certainly not all the time. Something that springs to mind though - you're playing through an amp that has a built-in filter specifically created to emulate some of the warmth that comes from vintage set-ups (albeit without the distortion), so why not just play around with this instead? This and the Nate Mendell should give you loads of tonal variety for any classic rock song

I've got the MiniMark 802 which I bought mainly for practice (both alone and with a full band when practicing in the drummer's home) and it excels every time. I've also used it with a 1x12 extension cab for smaller gigs so it's running at 250W @4ohms and with the added bottom end from the bigger speaker it has no bother cutting through the mix. It's got a balanced line out too so you can send a signal straight to the desk when necessary. If you are put off by the smaller speakers, there's always the Jeff Berlin Players Model that comes with a 1x15 instead of 2x8

I really enjoy playing, and I'm sure that it shows on my face. I'm buggered, therefore, to explain why in every single photo my face looks like this: The next time someone says "it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile" will get the Bill Hicks answer - "It takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me the f*** alone! Now why don't you walk away and see me start to really smile"

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1458230135' post='3005816'] The other one is Elgar's "Nimrod" from the Enigma Variations -- I have no idea why this chokes me up, but it just does. The crescendo at the end, gets me every time without fail. [/quote] As beautiful as Nimrod is, it's actually another piece by Elgar that does it for me - Sospiri (op70). It is, simply put, 5 minutes of sublime beauty in aural form. Deeply moving and ultimately uplifting, you need to hear this if you haven't already: https://youtu.be/YI1I1EHSVhA

Me, I like the headstock - the 2+2 will reduce the neckdiving, the shape is still enough of a homage to the original and the turquoise detailing behind the D logo is sweet!

Gaslight Anthem wear their Springsteen obsession right on their sleeves in High Lonesome: "At nights I wake up with the sheets soaking wet/It's a pretty good song, baby, you know the rest". Bruce gets into the act himself on Thunder Road - "Roy Orbison's singing for the lonely". The Twilight Singers song Forty Dollars borrows a few lines from All You Need Is Love and She Loves You. And Arthur Conley's Sweet Soul Music was basically a role call of soul classics

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1457115087' post='2995565'] most double albums would've been a lot better as a single one, to quote the Clash, cut the crap and they should've [/quote] And lets not mention triple albums **cough** Sandanista? **cough***... I've always had a soft spot for The Wall, Quadrophenia and Husker Du's Zen Arcade (maybe doubles work better as concept albums? A whole other discussion, perhaps?). My favourite has to be Eels - Blinking Lights and other Revelations, though even I can accept that there are a couple of fillers on there. Other faves include Prince - Sign 'O' The Times, Led Zepp's Physical Graffiti, and NIN's The Fragile. On the other side of the fence, I'd put Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol II, Springsteen's The River. Neither of them are bad albums, but they could have been exemplary had they had the nuts to drop a few of the weaker tracks and stick to one platter

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1455740068' post='2982046'] My job in my band is to play the best bass lines that compliment the songs we play, sing background vocals and maintain a certain level of stage presence. I was not hired to critique or correct other members playing ability. As long as our calender is filled with good gigs I keep quiet. Blue [/quote] A fair point, but how much longer will your calendar be filled with good gigs should you stop doing that job? A band has to be more than a collection of individuals who happen to be playing the same song at the same time. Well, the good ones, at least.

I've been through a few, but currently I'm down to two - a Pitchblack Pro in the rack and the built-in one in my TC Blacksmith. I have to say, I love the versatility of the Korg, and it makes for a damn good lightshow into the bargain