TrevorR

Leesten varey carefully. I weel say zees ernly wernce! Glad to see you seem to be sorted. Sadly since dad moved we don’t get up that way any more...

Oooooooh, and the sheer tone in every note from Tiran’s P-bass on that track... drool!

....whilst in space or so high you might as well have been...!

Good to see that there was no expense spared by the Beeb on the stage set. Not so much Rockin’ Down The Highway but rockin ‘ in the loading bay!

You scrub up pretty well!

Had to cop Guy Pratt’s bass part on Ain’t No Doubt... that alone would be enough to give me a nervous breakdown!

Oooooh I love that song! And to get to back TH while playing it... WOW!

Won some tickets to HRH Prog IX at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Not so interested in the bands further down the list or the second night (Dave Brock and Focus) but really looking forward to John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest and a full band set by Rick Wakeman - presumably performing tunes from his new album, The Red Planet!

Yup, sounds interesting, and after all, waste not, want not!

“A neat cable is a happy cable!”

I love, love love that Maruszchawotsit! If I ever plumped for one that's pretty much the spec I'd go for - well, maybe dots not blocks... gorgeous!

Any relation to the wonderful Kathryn?

Last Friday, Fairport Convention at Bath Forum. Supported by the excellent Smith & Brewer. Cracking gig!

Like others have said, Wal Pro series. These were made between 78 and 81 - precursor to the “Custom Series”. Mine’s an active Pro IIE.

Three of my own basses provide the perfect answer for me personally...

That’s some serious mojo... I’m sure it’ll buff right out! Just discovered the thread. What a great gig to be part of. Can’t wait for more updates!

11 years gone today! Sad loss. Loved his playing.

Amazing how many of these bands we have in common. For me it’s... 1) The Beatles. As a wee nipper my (much) older brother, Alfie, had The Beatles Complete and we’d sit on my bed with him bashing away on his guitar singing our hearts out to those tunes... 2) Thin Lizzy. An influence nicked from my brother Brian - specifically Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox. Lizzy were my first proper gig back in 81, with Snowy in the band. 3) ELO. One of my first “my own bands” when Out Of The Blue came out and still an all time fave. Honourable mentions: The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Gordon Giltrap, Horslips - all introduced to me by Brian too. Rush I discovered on a school geology field trip. Yes I took a punt on with a £3.29 pocket money splurge... after some initial scepticism I never looked back.

Yes, it was a small, dead ghost... or it could have been a cloth! And a little European flag.

Saw the fabulous Fairport Convention last night and had the whale of a time! What a great band. Over 50 years of plying the boards and they still make great music, put on a fabulous show and come across as guys who are really enjoying what they’re doing. Perusing the stage set up put me in mind of the eternal threads you read on Facebook bass groups and on Basschat’s American cousin asking what rig I need to have to be able to play live. The answer is always along the likes of, “Well, you might get away with 500w but safer to go 800w or a 1000w because of headroom...” and “Well, ideally an SVT and Fridge cabinet. But you’d get away with a couple of 4x10s or 2x12s but make sure they’re 4Ω and the amp’s 2Ω to make the most of the wattage...”. Peggy’s bass sounded fantastic throughout last night. What a great and underrated bass player. And what was his backline? A 280 quid Fender Rumble combo up on a flight case behind his head. It certainly ain’t what you got, it certainly is what you do with it! Here’s some crappy phone photos...

We’ve already had Mr Blue Sky so I’ll go... Sweet Talkin’ Woman - ELO The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy, and Tom Sawyer - Rush

Oh, and an additional BEST.... The Funk Brothers And an additional Wish I’d Seen... Horslips and Rory Gallagher in the late 70s

First concert - Thin Lizzy - St Austell Coliseum 1981 Last concert - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Quo and Massive Wagons) - Wembley Arena 2019 Best concert - Rush Wembley Arena 1987, Gary Moore first blues gig, Hammersmith Odeon early 90s. Worst concert - Heavy Pettin supporting Magnum (they were great) - Hammersmith Odeon, Primus supporting Rush (they were great) Wembley Arena, Dave Hole supporting Gary Moore (he was great) - several times Loudest concert - Rush Snakes and Arrows at Wembley maybe Seen the most - Gordon Giltrap Most surprising - Big Country - St Austell, first tour, won tickets and had no expectations, Rodrigo y Gabriela - Shepherds Bush Empire so much energy and crowd enrapturing power from the nylon strung acoustics! Next concert - Fairport Convention - Forum, Bath Wish I would have seen - Genesis Seconds Out tour, Doobie Brothers in the late 70s or Thin Lizzy with Robbo.

Found a few videos...

We used to do house gigs regularly in our back room - a couple of times a year. It was great fun. Mostly up and coming singers we’d got to know on the singer-songwriter/art centre circuit and from writing for an online mag. But we also had Steve Lawson doing a solo bass gig with his wife, Lobelia, who’s a singer in her own right. We’d have 24 people sitting on sofas and garden chairs and used a small PA I’ve got (tho to be fair, that’s not really needed but since I had it already... why not). It was always a lovely informal setting for music and all our friends who came along loved it (mostly non muso types) and would rave about it to all their friends. We had some great singers from both the UK and US (who were over on small UK tours - solo artists, duos and even a fiddle/cello trio). Highly recommended if you ever fancy it. We’d charge (a voluntary donation of) £10, all of which went straight to the artist plus they invariably picked up a load of CD sales too - which meant it was probably one of their most profitable gigs given the way artists are treated in/near London! Lol! One of our house gig artists went on to win a Grammy or two for songs written with Ed Sheeran and some US country artists, another one is now one of the judges on South Africa’s version of “The Voice”... which gives you an idea of the level of quality of the singers making a living plying the folk club circuit!