ubit

1 hour ago, Bassfinger said:

It was hardly a new type of music

I never said it was new. It was relatively new and Nirvana were the first to be mainstream. No genre of music just appears. It's the same with heavy metal. Everyone tries to say this band or that band and fair enough Black Sabbath were among the first but it is always an evolving thing usually many bands contribute to this.

8 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I never understood why they were considered to be such a great band. 

I think it was partly because it was groundbreaking music. Grunge was quite new at the time. Certainly with me it brought something out in me. I was a metal head but I thought this music sounds better, newer, dirtier.

Then there was the fact that they wrote such good songs.

6 hours ago, geoham said:

He proceeds to try and sing the part to me - "You do know it - it goes dooo do doo dodoo...".

We used to get people asking for songs. "Don't know it mate". " Aye ye do, it goes dee doo dah dee doo". As if we are going to suddenly go "oh you're right we do know it after all mate, thanks for reminding me!"

On 25/08/2021 at 13:24, dmccombe7 said:

Some talented punk musicians back then.

Definitely! Just look at the Clash or the Skids. Top musicians!

I also think, up this way, If you try to talk to audiences in bars they can't hear you anyway. When you sing it comes over nice and clear but the spoken word is quite indistinct over the bustle of the pub. You quite often hear bands talking and you are thinking what did he say? If you see professional bands playing in big concert halls, usually they shout into the mic plus the audience will all keep quiet when the band talk. We used to get a decent enough reception but to most punters you are background noise. Fair enough people won't stay if you are bad background noise but background noise it is. Punters like to have the noise of a band to accompany their shouting and laughing but certainly in one of the pubs we played in very few people were actually actively watching the band.

I will add, on nights when no band was playing, this same bar used to be quiet.

Many years ago when we were in our very first version of our band we used to regularly play with another band who were technically more proficient than us, more experienced and had better gear but we always blew them off the stage at dances. Why? Because we played songs which, although may have been easier to play, we better floor fillers and we used to enjoy ourselves on stage. We were like the Scorpions and Motley Crue combined with our antics. We didn't give a toss. Nine times out of ten the audience liked this and gave us a good reception. 

25 minutes ago, Lord Sausage said:

I think timing is under appreciated by a lot of musicians. I don't think it gets practiced enough once you get decent. Kind of gets taken for granted. Obviously I can't speak for everyone. I've fell into the trap before. Heard back a recording of a show and my timing wasn't perfect on some bits. So this led to months of playing along with a metronome. Stripped my playing back to basics. Scales, arpeggios etc. Did the trick, now it's a regular warm up.

 

 

Thats such a coincidence. I was only just watching a video on Youtube. It was Nikki Sixx interviewing Slash and they were talking about how John 5 ALWAYS rehearses with a metronome and if you listen to that guy he is so technically gifted. A while back I was trying to learn banjo ( I took a notion) and any videos I saw stressed that metronomes are such an important part of learning to play not just literally in time but smoothly as well.

24 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Lol. Look like a pair of dodgy geezers down the pub then...

Everyone gets old and as we know looks aint everything!

This is excellent! Steve Stevens playing rhythm and lead at the same time. The guy is a machine and old Billy still has it in him to belt out the old songs!

9 hours ago, Maude said:

 

I remember Flea saying something along the lines of always giving the best possible show you can, even if only one person is at a show, that one person has come to see you and deserves the best you can give. 

 

Whilst energy at a gig between audience and band is definitely a reciprocated thing, and it's sometimes difficult to give your all when there's a poor turnout, I always try to remember Fleas words. 

Incredibly hard to do if you have no one getting up and silence after every number. You start to question is there something wrong? I remember playing at a party once and it was far too bright. No one wants to get up and make a tit of themselves when everyone can see. Towards the end of the night a guy spoke to me and I moaned about the lack of effort on the party goers.  "Oh, you were fine, once you started playing more dancey stuff people got up"

We started the night off playing our best numbers. Numbers that we knew would normally get people up.

I was cheesed off with the venue for having the dance in full light.

Many years before we played at a wedding out of town. We arrived and there was a boy and a girl on fiddle and accordion. The poor souls were trying but no one was up on the floor. I went straight up and set up our lights and turned the house lights off. Immediately people got off their seats. The couple were quite grateful.

11 minutes ago, ped said:

Try now - I had the 'force sidebar to show' ticked

Cheers mate, it's back to normal now. Was doing my head in.

Happened loads of times with my massively passively aggressive guitarist mate. Band rehearsal and we would decide on a song to do.

Ok, is everyone in agreement that we will do this one? Right, learn it for next week.

Next week, right, has everyone learned the song? Guitarist mate...No but I have learned this one, have a go its just E, A, C etc, etc.

It used to drive me up the wall. We would end up not doing certain songs that had been voted in because he didn't fancy it and would rather learn one that he likes.

I've noticed in the last couple of days that the view on my bass chat has changed and has a third of the page blacked out instead of filling my screen like it used to. I have tried rebooting and that hasn't worked. As soon as I view a post its the same. Has Basschat changed its default view or is it at my end?

I'm attaching a screen shot to illustrate

Where I live people would like you more if you sounded more like the original. People used to rave about a band when I was too young to go into pubs. They said they are so much like the originals and they are great. We aspired to be like that and it worked.

2 hours ago, Bilbo said:

19881, I believe. 

Wow! So much in the future. How did you build a time machine?

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

I saw Tower Of Power today at Summerfest.

 I went to Summerfest many years ago when I briefly dated a girl from Texas who lived in Chicago. Her friends drove up to Milwaukee and we went to the festival. It was huge and I remember seeing Def Leppard. I was disappointed when Wolfmother came on right enough because the benches that were great for sitting on during the day made perches for people to stand on and if you didn't have a space you couldn't see the band. So I heard Wolfmother but didn't see them!

3 hours ago, Bluewine said:

After 50 years, I still struggle with eye contact and smiling.

Man back in the 90's when we were really busy, I found that the easiest part. I was always making eye contact with girls and loved if they were doing the same. I did some amount of sh***ing back then because of the band. I used to slag my mate, the guitarist because he always got guys coming up to him and asking about his pedals and I used to get girls because I was the singer. We used to say that he got all the boffins and I got the babes 😂

I still love this band and listen to them regularly. How they never made it bigger is a travesty!

Can I add? Me being the frontman (singer as well as bass player) I tried my best but our acoustic guitar player always looked like someone had killed his cat. People commented on it but he would never crack a smile whilst playing. Our lead guitarist tried his best too but he was the main reason for long gaps in between songs as he tuned up constantly.

Back when smoking was allowed he used to spark up, take a few puffs, take a sip of his drink, take another few puffs, tune up, take another few puffs, take another drink from his pint, then turn to me  and say right, are you ready? All this time I am staring at him and waiting. Ready to kick into the next number. It used to drive me up the wall!

Good advice but I find planning what you are going to say can be a problem if like us, you were playing the same places in a small town. The old "Hello Cleveland, this is one from our first album" doesn't wear here. When half the audience sees you around town you can't come away with rock star stuff or you would get crucified. We used to face up to the fact that most people were there to get pished and pick up girls, not listen to an old rock band.If we could get a cheer or a clap after a song we were delighted.

Our drummist was in two bands and we didn't mind that much up until he started turning down our gigs because he had gigs with his other band. He was out then.

2 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

You're a hitman?

 

Shoot me, now. 

Careful what you wish for. It may come when you least expect it. Avoid open spaces and change clothes often.

Damn, I just wasn't quick enough to stop the fish puns. Unfortunateley they get wheeled out every time there is  fish theme. Everyone tends to go overboard.

10 hours ago, StickyDBRmf said:

What is with these people that think there is life without music?

Well they could be in a position like me. Band going great. We could gig for a whole month every second month as I was working 28/28. Then someone reports me for sending a humorous email and I get sacked.

Back to the ad hoc squads where I work whenever I get called. I get told oh, you should be back in two weeks. Two weeks turns into three. After three weeks I am only entitled to a week off but they count the day I get back as a day off and the day I travel back to work as a day off so it's only five full days I can get off. Then in the Winter I can be off for weeks. Then there's other times I am told I am away for three weeks and I am back home after five days.

It means that I cannot even get the band together for rehearsals never mind gigs.

I know I could get another job that allows me to stay at home and get weekends off but I would have to take a massive pay cut and we just can't do that just now.