TimR

[quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1469043813' post='3095375'] normally done by midnight maybe 12.15 with encores, I could be in the car by 12.30 but I'd never hear the last of it, also I'm the only band member with a full time job so I don't need to be slowly packing away while chatting till 2 am, then another chat in the car park for an hour. [/quote] Oh yes. That is sloooww. If we finish at 12:00 we'd be ready to leave by 01:00. We've done it hundreds of times and all know what we have to do.

[quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1469030748' post='3095234'] that is exactly me Rhys.. The others seem to hang around for hours after gigs, I'm packed up and gone then they're calling me unsociable and grumpy. [/quote] What time do you finish a gig? We usually pay off the singer before packing down which gets rid of him. Then the rest of us finish a pint together while leisurely packing down.

Yes. There's always a musical compromise in a three piece. When the frontman is concentrating on singing vocals he's not concentrating on playing his guitar and vice versa. Even Sting and Geddy Lee acknowledge that playing live has to have some compromise.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1468953846' post='3094657'] I know a few gtrs players with valve amps who wont play venues like this unless they can bypass the cut-off. As I understand this situation tho.... the P.A is a choke point but it wont cut out. If all this was on the table at the quote stage, I'd veto the gig. [/quote] Yes. It's not a cut out device, it's a hard knee compressor type arrangement limiting the volume from the main FOH speakers. If it's only vocals and bass guitar (and keys) going through the FOH I can't see it being majorly limited. Especially if they're using A weighted dB which shouldn't be a problem with nuisance peaks.

I have 2 2x10s. I only take the second one to gigs.

Interesting that it's only the PA that is limited to 95dBA, presumably the drums are separate to that. Is there anyway you can pop in and see a band playing a wedding there beforehand to put your mind at rest. If they're regularly doing weddings this can't be an issue, most people book venues on the strength that they've previously been to a wedding there. Interesting that they're not providing monitoring and you can take guitar amps. I don't think this will be an issue.

A solid chunkiness that you can almost smell.

Just didn't feel right. Everything was OK with the communications, I pulled up outside the meet up having learned all the tunes. But there was something wrong I couldn't put my finger on. When I actually met the guitarist nothing clicked. He didn't actually offer me the gig anyway so that was academic, but I'm just not sure I would have accepted.

The best man will have the cash, along with loads of other cash he is holding for paying various people at various points during the day. He'll want to get rid of it as soon as possible. I'd suspect he'll approach you as soon as he can.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1468673508' post='3092546'] Who's that by? [/quote] Either 10CC or The Osmonds?

You just need your songs to have a strong recognisable hook that cuts in within the first 2-4 bars. You also need plenty of songs people know the words to. Women listen to the lyrics and dance. Men tap their feet at the bar and only dance when the women do. Playing obscure album covers in an attempt to teach your audience will just get you men standing at the bar tapping their feet. Not a bad thing but IME it can be a bit soul destroying. There's a million tunes out there, Beatles, 50s Rock'n'roll and Elvis covers are easy, boring and predictable. We don't do them in my current band, however, in a previous function band I was in; we didn't really start getting wedding and function bookings until we added them to our set list. Horses for courses. .

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1468349731' post='3090374'] I guess we all have drum stories but one of the first things I ask is who is on drums. Time is not negotiable.. I can play on and behind but I don't want a push either. I like to think I can make the drums work but you don't want to start from a negative position where it is as much as you can do to make it 'ok'.. I'd pass........ [/quote] Yes, It's hard work when you're trying to drive the drums for a three hour gig. Or at rehearsals week after week. Unfortunately for a lot of us it only actually becomes apparent after we've played with someone a lot better, at which point there's no going back. My turning point was when I started depping for other bands and actually ended up joining two other side bands because the first main band I was playing in weren't getting gigs, or particularly interested in gigging. Usually by the end of the first song at each rehearsal I'd start feeling on edge. It was not worth persevering with.

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1467639654' post='3085036'] I've just quit my band for reasons 1 and 2 in my original post to start this thread. Some things never change. It also became more and more apparent that guitarist 1 and guitarist 2 didn't actually know how to interact and complement eachothers lines. We started doing Californication and they thought that it sounded good with them both playing the intro. It didn't, it killed the dynamics of the song as it progresses. I'm getting a bit demoralised by playing in bands. [/quote] I joined a band where the guitarists both wanted to play lead. Sounded awful. I managed to steer them around and get them to share it about and the songs all instantly sounded 100% better. It's worth pressing them sometimes. They might just not be aware of how awful it sounds to everyone else. .

I have one of those aluminium camer/tool/flight cases from Homebase/B&Q too. It's got my old fx pedals and electronics like zoom recorder and B2 in it. It doesn't usually go to a gig with me. I have a messenger bag for cables/towel/music stand/pad/pens/gaffa/batteries/strings/screwdrivers/fuses/tuner... I regularly have to go through it and chuck out bits I've accumulated in it, mainly old set lists.

[quote name='JoeEvans' timestamp='1467568410' post='3084607'] Bare essentials = 1 bass, 1 lead and 1 amp, surely? [/quote] Yes. Assuming it's a combo. I have that pretty much. But amp and cab. Plus a tuner. And some spare strings, and a spare battery, and a screwdriver...

I have three basses. One I play. One that is in a hard case and comes out if my main bass fails. It only failed once, when my backup bass was a home. One that is in the loft, I'll never sell it. Mainly because it should be thrown in the bin, but it was my first bass. When I bought my bass I spent a very long time looking for it, close on 7 years of searching. In the mean time I didn't buy something that was nearly right. I've had it for 15 years now.

I did start a top 40 classic rock thread http://basschat.co.uk/topic/250536-basschat-ultimate-top-40-2014

This one from 2007? http://basschat.co.uk/topic/466-the-lightweight-cabs-thread

My brother spoke to his household insurers and they just extended his household insurance to cover everything. If you're paying a large amount for house insurance it's no real risk to them, even if you're doing it for 'hire or reward'. I know someone who had his van stolen with all the gear in it. I know a keyboard player who used to leave his keyboard on the back seat on the grounds it was too heavy for a casual their to carry away. It was eventually stolen and he had to give up gigging for a long time until he could afford to replace it. I think the biggest risk is when someone who gets friendly at a gig "is in a band. Knows what Theyre doing, helps coil up cables and carry stuff out" suddenly disappears with a hard case or bag of pedals. It's very easy to drop your guard at the end of a gig when the hard work is done. That's the point where I'll grab a pint while I'm packing down. .

I would give you a link to the page I designed but I left the band and the drummer took over and I don't like what he's done.

You're missing some tags on your contact page. The lemonrock link is showing <a .

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1467469415' post='3083931'] Exactly what we want - its a quick brochure really. Dont want to be having to modify it all the time, its just something to ping over to someone who has expressed some interest in us for some reason and doesn't want to delve through the litter on the faceache site The face ache page is where all the daily stuff goes [/quote] Ok in that case I'd really favour a single page site. If you haven't got a single group photo, create a montage of individual action close ups. Set list is a bit redundant and will possibly need regular updates as you add and drop songs - we just list the most popular artists so ours reads something like "playing songs from artists like Rolling Stones/Hendrix/Led Zep" . Gives people an idea of what they're getting without being too specific. Then all fits in a one liner on the front page. Fair enough a USP is that you play songs that depart from the usual, but maybe just list those artists "as well as". Regardless to the endless belly aching that goes on here - people like familiarity. The problem with websites is they're often clunky and built round templates so you get drawn into using the standard base layouts and filling several pages. No one reads them. I had google analytics on our page and people look at few photos, maybe watch a video, go to the contact page and then run away. As the contacts page only contains 4 lines that can go on the front page. .

It's very easy to obsess over these things. IMO the website should be very simple introduction to the band to give you a web presence and an easy Google way to get followers to Facebook. A band Facebook page is the way to manage all your dynamic content.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1467462432' post='3083849'] Tim, although I love playing with the band, I now mostly keep out of the PR/management and suggestion side of things and just play the bass [/quote] It's usually the best way. It can be a thankless task. I'm trying to adapt our running club website and bring it into the 21st century - there's a lot of inertia.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1467450878' post='3083738'] Agree with Blue, I suggested the same for our home page, when the band website was being put together. So, the band went with my suggestion, which was great but then it very rarely got updated, definitely not so great. I've since argued, that if it's not regularly updated, then it should be removed. [/quote] Yes. There are widgets you can get that will pull the information directly from Facebook. You just have to update your events on Facebook and it'll automatically list your upcoming events.