SteveXFR

I've seen some surprising support acts at punk gigs. Anti Nowhere League supporting NOFX. Sham 69 supporting Anti Flag and a folk band whose name I forget supporting Dead Kennedys.

I'm not young, I'm in my 40s. Metal and punk gigs have never been places for polite behaviour and if you go expecting it you're just going to be angry all night. I don't agree that any bands owe you, or anyone anything. You bought their records but you paid money in exchange for a product. Bands should always perform as well as they can but if the entire audience is just stood there looking bored, they'll soon lose motivation because they'll think their efforts aren't going down well. If they've got a crowd responding well, they'll feel good and play better.

I love going to metal, grunge and punk gigs. To be blunt, if you don't like pushing and shoving, you have no business being in the crowd. A gig where everyone stands still would be dull. I hate big venues, they lose the energy of a small venue and I hate seats. There's nothing better than the combination of a band who can put on a great live show and a lively audience. The two give each other energy. My favourite gigs are ones which are just non stop, high energy playing and very minimal talking. The best gig I've been to in recent years was High On Fire, it was an hour and a half of extremely good, extremely loud doom metal.

Summer Breeze by Type O Negative. How did I miss that one was a cover for so many years? I still think it's the best version

I saw this new bass from Ernie Ball this morning and I thought it's good to see someone offering something genuinely different in a world of Fender clones. I'm not sure this particular one is for me but I'd like to see more technology and innovation in bass guitars rather than just slightly different versions of the same product that's been on sale for 60 years for a couple grand https://mixdownmag.com.au/news/ernie-ball-music-man-unveil-darkray-4-string-bass-guitar/

That's not a bad idea. My amp weighs as much as a cow

Yes. I think it was called don't do that and was with Lemmys other band Young and Moody. I don't remember how it sounded but I remember Colleen Nolan claimed in an interview that Lemmy told her she had great tits. Doesn't seem like something Lemmy would say....

The Epiphone has a 7 piece neck instead of Gibsons 9 piece. I have no idea what difference that makes. The body is the same and the pickups and hardware are different but Epiphone use decent quality hardware.

When I hear Robert Plant had a new band and they were playing in town I got really excited. Then I listened to a couple songs and didn't bother going.

Chilli and chocolate is a pretty standard combination. I'd love to try it in ice cream

The Thunderbird is an Epiphone Vintage Pro. I really like this bass, it's got a huge tone and it's beautifully finished for a £600 far eastern bass. I actually went to PMT to buy a Gibson but they let me try the Epi and I preferred it. The other one is an Ibanez SR300 EB. I don't really play it much these days. I love the neck on it and it plays really nice but lacks punch. I did put it up for sale but couldn't even get £150 for it so it just hangs there now. I might give it to my daughter, she's getting better than me now.

Only heavy metal.

@MHMSWC#03 Maiden songs can be played with 2 fingers the best tip I was given was to barely touch the strings, pick really lightly and crank the gain. That's how Steve Harris does it. Hallowed Be Thy Name was the one I learned. Its a real endurance test but I suffered with fatigue more with the pick.

Its very popular in modern progressive metal. Some Dingwall basses come with a Darkglass preamp built in. Check out a bassist called Adam "Nolly" Getgood for a fairly typical example of the sound you'll get from that setup.

I've recently joined a metal band. I guess it's stoner metal but none of us are stoners! We've got a slightly unusual sound with baritone rhythm guitar and a 5 string bass both tuned to drop A#. I'm playing a SUB Ray 5 through a Trace Elliot GP12SMX with a 4x10 and 1x15 and usually a nice bit of overdrive from a Earthquaker Plumes or some fuzz from an Orange Fur Coat

The negatives far outweigh the positives. As well as Limp Bizkit there were other atrocities like Crazy Town and Trapt and Puddle of Mud.

I think that was the first in a trend for metal/hip hop crossovers which ultimately lead to nu metal. It may have seemed like a bit of innocent fun but ultimately, this collaboration resulted in Limp Bizkit.

Elton gets about a bit. He also played piano on Fairweather Friends by Queens Of The Stone Age. Apparently he told Josh Homme it was about time the was a queen in Queens Of The Stone Age.

As a fan of neither, I'd say it was pretty bad.

I recently discovered this live collaboration with David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails and holy crap it's good. Two very different artists but their sounds work together so well. Both artists really show their own sound in this

Unless Dave's surname is Grohl or Lombardo then I'll agree with that 100%

There's a few who made me want to play bass and who I'd love to be able to play like Matt Freeman of Rancid Lemmy Justin Chancellor of Tool Jeff Matz of High On Fire Al Cisneros of Sleep & Om & Shrinebuilder Krist Novoselic of Nirvana (the reason I have a Thunderbird) Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave I have been fortunate enough to meet Lemmy, Tim Commerford and Matt Freeman, all genuinely nice people who are obviously extremely enthusiastic about playing bass live.

I just had a listen to Lovely Eggs. Not at all original, just copying late 70s punk bands. Their songs are short though so that's good.

I saw Machine Head on their last UK tour. Instead of having a support act they played a three hour set. Going off for five minutes before an encore would have been a welcome break.

I saw Garbage back in 1996ish, when they were at their peak, Stupid Girl was still in the charts and on Radio1 several times an hour. They were pretty unenthusiastic even then. Very disappointing after seeing Wildhearts the night before absolutely give it everything in the same venue with quite a few of the same audience.