PaulWarning

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1483438905' post='3207063'] I see problems for bands and live music all around in the South East. The nature of entertainment generally has changed. There is a lot of competition for the pound in our pockets and the quality of live music is very variable. Attention spans are getting shorter. There is total access to music online so seeing a band isn't special any more. People are drinking at home, coming out later and spending a lot less in the pub. Audiences don't want to be blasted out of their seats by a loud unbalanced racket. Neighbours have total control and are using it to stop loud music. Most landlords and pub managers aren't very good at that job let alone being a good music promoter. A lot of the local gigs have either been knocked down as a result of huge town centre redevelopment or they're now Tesco and Sainsbury's Express shops. I don't see how it will get better. [/quote]agree with most of this, but, a few real ale pubs in my area are really popular, they put on limited live music but not full rock bands that would be too loud, but yeah there's a lot more competition for people's leisure time these days and pub companies are at fault where they make running a pub so uneconomically that only an idiot would try it and I'm afraid that's what they get. With limited full music venues I'm afraid unless you want to travel long distances fewer gigs are going to happen, mostly, these days, folk go to the pub to enjoy a decent pint and have a chat, Rock and roll is dying? maybe

I guess at the end of the day it's all down to an individuals attitude to risk, mines quite high, I don't take insurance out on anything unless I'm forced, i.e. car and home insurance (couldn't afford to rebuild my home if it burnt down), where as some people take insurance and extended warranties out on everything, if you lie awake worrying about it take out the full monty

what would be being claimed? an accident on the way for a drink to the pub, or perhaps a prang in the pub car park, unless you're actually going to claim for stolen gear whilst in the car I can't really see a problem

never even thought about it, I pay just over £200 for a 12 year old Mondeo, why do you need it? it's just a hobby, who's going to know? or am I being naive.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1483104717' post='3204751'] Our singer uses one. I'll admit its better than having sheets of paper in a songbook, but we are a covers band with 30 something songs in our crrent list. I dont understad why the rest of the band can be arsed to learn the songs and play from meory but the singer cant do this with the words. [/quote]singers eh? to be fair when we learn a song it's quite repetitive, verse, chorus, verse , chorus middle bit etc, you get idea, but usually every verse is different so it's harder to memorise, having said that singers can idle bastards as well

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1483045403' post='3204434'] Fair enough. It's a bit of a departure for them, and I have wondered if Joey was the only actual Ramone on that particular track, but personally I think it's close to the pinnacle of the Phil Spector collaboration,surpassed only by Rock 'n' Roll radio. (Honourable mentions for Danny Says and Rock 'n' Roll high school). Edit. Maybe this Ramones cover is more up your street? [media]http://youtu.be/fGWR3uI3Qa0[/media] [/quote]yeah end of the Century was essential a Joey Ramone Rock and Roll album, I think Johnny and Dee Dee were hardly on it at all, but still a great record apart from Baby I Love You (IMO) which I suspect was put on there to keep Phil Spector happy, but perversely was their biggest UK hit, they did do some great covers though, this is probably my favourite, who'd have thought it the Ramones doing the Doors? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMF8-hKrH8Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMF8-hKrH8Y

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1483031346' post='3204310'] How could I have forgotten this? [media]http://youtu.be/PqZmJ7RGAP4[/media] [/quote]sorry Cato,possibly the worst Ramones track ever

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1483030016' post='3204294'] I don't know about 'greatest ever' but I prefer these covers over the originals: [/quote]that's a whole new can of worms, there's a long thread about it somewhere, never have much luck with the search facility myself

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483023536' post='3204210'] This isn't how the kids understand social media Paul, they will find whatever from wherever by whoever whenever, if they like what they see then they will give it a like and follow it. For example Postmodern Jukebox have been on a world tour playing live after people liked their recorded songs on social media. [/quote]you are absolutely right, I don't 'get' social media, I'm just an old fart, never heard of Postmodern Jukebox but I would imagine they got where they are through Social Media recommendations, much like in the old days when you actually met people face to face and someone said "Have you heard so and so, it's brilliant" the same applies on Social Media, but bands liking other bands as a reciprocal agreement can't do any good, you need Social Media users recommending them to other Social Media users because they like them, Social Media has made checking out bands a lot easier but they still need to be properly liked for it to work, or maybe I'm missing something?

you'll like a cover if it's song you like done in a genre you like, for me Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower is the daddy of them all, and if you've just landed from the planet Zog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY&list=PLsgN5r88gaaVIx9qvybey6XI7ulNN5Mx1

[quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1483012332' post='3204070'] That's why I am not on Facebook [/quote]I fully understand that point of view, I wouldn't be if it wasn't for the band, but it is an invaluable tool for letting fans know what's going off

sorry,a facebook 'like' should be because you've actually seen the band and like them, not some sort of reciprocal agreement to get loads of 'likes' completely devalues the system IMO of course

if you're depping fair enough, if you're not you've not practised enough IMO of course

at the end of the day a bass is worth what people will pay, when you see what new Riks cost is it any surprise Fender find a way of getting a big price hike in (which is what the professional series is)

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1482882266' post='3203365'] No, a bit of Skiffle but mostly Rock and Roll was their starting point. They were trying to be Little Richard, Elvis and Carl Perkins. [/quote]and Motown type stuff

[quote name='Downdown' timestamp='1482797300' post='3202820'] Is the headline 'vinyl outsells digital downloads' really so surprising in these days of music streaming? Does a spotify subscription, for example, count towards the 'digital downloads' number? Might just be that few and fewer people are actually buying music in any 'collectable' format. Fighting over the dregs of a market doesn't seem like great business to me. [/quote] [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1482844989' post='3203022'] I think you hit it in the head. People like me still buy the odd CD, but mostly buy digital format music, because I like to own the file and not depend on connection to a service. But I am increasingly finding I am a little 'old-fashioned' among my peers (generally a bit younger than me, I guess because I'm immature so I fit there better ). Then, my girlfriend (who is one notch) never buys any music anymore, and relies on Spotify and some other service entirely. Her friends are the same. I think streaming is not only attractive because it allows you to access almost anything almost anywhere, but because it's interactive and can suggest new music based on what you are generally playing. That leads to discovering new music. It's something I like a lot and even I are started to feel I want to start streaming (as well as buying)... There's been quite a few bands that my gf is playing and I go "how did you find that?" and the reply is "oh, Spotify suggested it". I thought I was enough of a dinosaur when I kept buying CDs (I mostly stopped now, too much space and I rarely use a CD player), but with all the streaming stuff I feel like a grandpa. THEN, the new thing becomes vinyl? Give me a break! [/quote]I did allude to this in my original post

I've learnt, no matter how I try to fool myself, I really don't like Christmas

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1482487492' post='3200927'] I guess the people previously moving from heavy gear to lightweight gear weren't listening very closely to what they were buying if moving back the other way sounds so much better. [/quote]auditioning gear in a shop is totally different from playing a gig with a band, plus as wateroftyne said about the honeymoon period, when you've spent good money on gear it takes a while to convince yourself you've made a mistake

I suppose this is where headroom comes in, if you get a rig more powerful than you're ever going to need you're not going to turn it up so much that you damage something, back to the original question, never mind the theory I always try and have my speakers rated a little higher than my amp, just seems to make sense

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1482444104' post='3200732'] Our hearing has a built in warning system that tells us when speakers are in danger of being damaged: they sound bad. When that happens turn it down. [/quote]this is true, until alcohol and adrenalin get involved

[quote name='DanEly' timestamp='1482417483' post='3200390'] I've fairly recently gone from a Ampeg SVT VR to a Aguilar TH500 and then to a Fender Super Bassman. I found the Tone Hammer to be lacking in weight and girth where as the Bassman "feels" better. It has greater depth and more weight behind what I'm playing. Cab wise I just switched from a Ampeg 610 to a Fender 610. I could literally toss the fender 610 through the doors of a venue. [/quote]is the Fender 610 really 41Kg? bit to heavy for me to throw around

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1482326904' post='3199593'] But surely you don't get any real benefit from heavy amps and cabs in a live situation unless either the majority of your FoH sound comes directly from your rig or you are mic'ing up one or more of the the cabs and that provides most of the bass feed to the PA speakers. Same in the studio. Mic on the cab(s) only and no digital post-processing. Is anyone on here actually doing this? [/quote]majority of our gigs are pubs, just a vocal PA with perhaps a touch of kick drum, besides if you can't hear a good sound it's not very satisfying is it? it's very rare to hear a good bass sound through a PA, it's all bloody bass drum these days

I attended Strummercamp and the sound all weekend wasn't very good, no bass guitar loads of bass drum, then Ruts DC came on marvellous sound, I actually FB'd Segs Jennings the Ruts bass player about it, his reply was that they'd got their own sound man

I have actually done this, sort of, I got a Fender Rumble V3 500, after I decided I couldn't lug my TE combo around but felt strangely unimpressed, bit too clinical is the best way to describe it, plus after the Trace, the EQ section was woeful, so I got hold of first a TE series 6 head and them even better a SMX head (easy one hand lift at 12Kg), which I use with my Rumble as just a Cab, (16Kg) also if my ageing Trace does give up the ghost mid gig I've got back up, happy, so far.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1482244922' post='3198790'] Why would they have? They're just people and, by and large, people are dicks. [/quote] have to disagree with you there, some people are dicks most are reasonably reasonable, though we all have our faults, some peoples you can put up with, some you can't [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1482245672' post='3198806'] the most important thing I learnt was that being willing to compromise more has not resulted in my willy getting smaller, as I had always previously believed. As a result I am happier in the band. [/quote]yeah choose your battles.