TimR

I noticed that Francis Dunnery has formed It Bites FD. There's a band that's had more break ups than any other I know about. The last time It Bites called it a day, the only member who knew about it was the one who posted it on Facebook. So it seems even bands who want to call it a day, and have done several times, can't.

Never heard of the first one, had a listen, still don't recognise it. Don't think it is catchy enough for an audience who've never heard it before. Word Up - Gun. It's another one like Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way. It's a great song, everyone listens to it, every band wants to play it - but it goes down like a lead balloon unless you play it right at the end of the evening when everyone is up and leaping around. The others are OK, but don't think they're groundbreaking storming songs. There are hundreds of songs people like to listen to, sound great and we'd all love to play. There's a reason why a load of those type of songs don't stay in setlists for very long.

Random 2 or 3 beat bars at the end of verses so the singer can make each verse slightly different. Doesn't throw me, but you can tell which members of the band have just learned the first verse and chorus, as they're the ones looking confused when the singer doesn't stop singing when they're expecting them to. 😆

Nothing. That's my kind of gig.

Man in a Box would be a great track to play with the right singers.

The bass player, who originally played that tune, left and then died - I suppose that's one way of getting out of playing it!

Learning that song will be a complete waste of time. No one will have heard it and you could put 2 much better songs in the set. You'll be standing there for 6 very uncomfortable minutes while the crowd stare at you thinking wtf?

You have to find something interesting in it. Look at the technical aspects of the bass line. Note placement. Are they ahead of the beat, slightly behind? What about internal dynamics, which notes are louder, which notes are accented, legato, stoccatto? Is there anything you can add to the bassline, leave out, or subtly change to give the song some interest or a lift.

Ideally they should be able to play drums as well. Maybe even own their own kit and transport.

I have a pair of black jeans and a top that hang at the end of the wardrobe that I only wear for gigs. I have enough to worry about without having to be searching for something to wear when I should be loading the car. I've done that for so long in my established band that I'd forgotten what it was like to discuss what are we wearing to the gig. I found it an odd conversation when I started gigging with one of the new bands.

We all suggest songs and the singer decides if she can sing them. Usually based on whether she has heard it before. The songs have to be well known. Occasionally the singer will learn a song if she's never heard it before but can be convinced it's really well known. But if its not immediately recognisable to all of us it's generally a pointless exercise as the audience will have a similar reaction. As @neepheid writes:No point in learning songs we all like, we are playing to an audience, they've got to go down well. I don't know what that kind of drummer is thinking, or listens to. It's fairly common in my experience. I try to play with drummers who can play other instruments. There's thousands of songs, if you're not too careful your setlist can be too diverse, or not diverse enough.

It's viral. One person falls victim and then the hackers send the link to everyone in their contacts. I suspect the link takes you to a fake fb login, you try and login with password and it 'fails'. The hackers then have your password. The link then tells you to wait for a code that will be texted. The hackers change your password and Facebook texts you a code that you enter into their link. They now have the code. You don't have to 'give' or 'send' anything to an actual person. My friend was alerted to the problem when he received multiple texts that he'd not requested after clicking on a game link. He went to his actual Facebook and changed his password several times but something else was going on. You don't have to be 'stupid' to fall for the scam. Just if you enter your password and it 'fails' - stop. Then go to your actaul account and change it quickly before the text message comes. Or more likely don't ever enter your password except via the app or your PC on the real FB address.

Cheap reading glasses are useful in those circumstances.

Similarly. Stayed in a band for 13 years, trying to make it work when it was pretty much dead after 9. Then joined another one that worked for a year and the next two years were a waste of time. At least rehearsals were free if you disregard fuel costs. Latest 3 bands are going reasonably well at the moment. One regularly gigging, one learning originals, the other working on new drummer. Should have allowed myself to play in several bands years ago, but thought they'd clash, they very rarely do.

Verifocal contact lenses. They're the way forward. I tend to wear disposabale contact lenses for gigs and for sport. The rest of the time I wear verifocal glasses. I don't need glasses to read so by the time you get to the bottom of the glasses they have no prescription.

I assume everyone has two factor authentication set up. Anyone wanting to add or remove admins from a page will need your current Facebook password. I don't know how they're hacking into accounts that have 2FA and then setting up another password.

Practice.

This happened to a friend of mine. Account hacked. Used for fraud or to write antisocial posts. FB took it down, gave him 30 days to appeal. But FB so understaffed the 30 days went by with no reply. Luckily he had been doing so sales to the UK facebook team and emailled a real person in another department. Who raised an internal ticket and got it back. If you run a page, have multiple admins! If one admin gets hacked or blocked you won't lose your page.

Don't think it was. 😆

I came to the realisation many years ago that the room provides so much of the sound that as long as the rig isn't a bag of bolts and is big enough, then it'll do the job. I used to spend ages fiddling with EQ trying to get it to sound "how I want", and never really getting there. Now I turn up, plug in, and play. Hardly ever make any adjustments. Even to a house provided rig. Or maybe it is all in the fingers after all...

Yes. The chorus pedal is great once it's dialled in with the rest of the band and played on the right section of a tune. Problem is FXs can become 'the sound' and I find the nuances of the notes being played get lost. And then it stops being a bass guitar and is something else. Which is great if that's what's needed. But that's a thread derail. I think the point is £300 can get you some quick cheap get out of a hole. But wouldn't stretch to 3 high quality new pedals.

I can, and usually do gig without FX. Recently I've added a Boss CE-B3 Chorus and a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, but they're nice to have and wouldn't stop the gig. I also have an always on Keeley Bassist compressor and a Korg Tuner. If the pedals were left at home - I'd carry on and save the money. If they were actually lost or stolen then I would at least replace the compressor and the Korg tuner. I have a £10 tuner in my gig bag.

Told you so...

What about the poor bass player who fell on hard times and had to pawn his bass? And now finds out it's worth $80k.

List price for a new Fender in 1970 was $295. Not sure many would have paid $70 for a 10 year old bass.