StingRayBoy42

Last Night: Bloxwich hockey club's end of season awards/prizegiving/dinner/pissup at Old Wyrley Hall in Walsall (I think?) with Down to the Floor - 5 piece girl-fronted modern popular music beat combo. Britney, Beyonce, Dua Lipa, Arianna Grande, Rhianna, Girls Aloud, Spice Girls, Whitney type stuff. Load in at 5 so we're set up, soundchecked and out of the way before the awards and speeches. The stage is about the size of a postage stamp (a normal one, not one of the big commemorative ones) so there was barely room for my size 12s and the New Improved Enormous Pedalboard (NIEPB). The Bass amp was on the other side of the stage and I had to fold my stand up between sets, it was that small. I had a bit of a mare setting up as the Bass amp (not mine) decided to commit suicide (luckily I had mine with me) AND my midi controller decided it didn't want to play nicely, so I took ages to set up and had to soundcheck without IEMs and hope it would all be fine. Soundcheck done (sort of) and with some time to kill, a couple of us went to the drummer's gaff and watched most of Pretty Woman with his Mrs (Spoiler Alert: Julia Roberts is pretty and also a woman. Richard Gere is also in it (He's not a woman, as far as I am aware. I wouldn't call him 'pretty' either, but I believe he is generally considered to be quite handsome (if you like that sort of thing))). Back to the venue for 9ish, sat around and kicked our heels (and had the singer paint my nails a fetching shade of purple) while the prizegiving and roistering continued, went on about 10:30 to a room full of incredibly excited and heavily refreshed hockey players - imagine rugby players but without the restraint, decorum or dignity. They absolutely loved it, the dancefloor was packed from the first note, we played really well despite being wedged onto a tiny stage - I was so close to the drummer, I could smell his earwax. We had our first choice singer, she's fantastic - she's always nervous about Love on Top (the song), but she smashed it - including the four key changes and the whistle register stuff. Highlights were Toxic, which we nailed (a relief after we totally flubbed it last time) and Crazy in Love/Crazy mashup which is our collective favourite now we've nailed the arrangment (It's easy enough: 6, 4, 2, 8, 8, (4), 8, 10, Crazy, 6, 4, loads, (*4), ending). Two 45 minute sets, finished about half midnight... they would have had us playing til 3 AM, they were loving it that much. The organisers loved us, they want us back next year (again) and have promised a bigger venue (again). Played the 'Ray 5 -> New Improved Enormous Pedalboard (NIEPB) -> MB 802 (with PA support - I'd love to hear the OC-2 and C4 synth bassline on 'How will I know?' through those subs) Foot fans: White DMs with purple laces (to match the white shirt with purple tie and purple fingernails - you think I just throw these outfits together?!) Packed up (the drummer can now officially carry his entire kit including cymbals and hardware in one trip), home about 2 for last nights curry and a Westons reserve (8.2% ABV). Great night.

That's my new drag name.

As many have said, it totally depends on the circumstances. If they left for a good reason, were upfront about it, gave you plenty of notice, did the gigs you had booked and it was all amicable... I'd certainly have them back. If they left halfway through a gig because they had a hissy fit for no good reason, probably not so much.

NICE StingRay!

The drummer in my Jazz band stood in on a gig with Noel Redding. So I've played with someone who played with someone who played with Hendrix. How's that for tenuous?!

Sounds lush! Welcome to the family.

Roy bought my pedaltrain JR - great comms, patience of a saint while I sourced packaging, quick payment and an all round thoroughly good egg.

I had a laptop that wouldn't stop playing Someone like you. I think it was A Dell.

Too many to list here, but not that many in the grand scheme of things. It should say on the pedal next to the power input; if not, check the manual. 9V tip (or centre) negative is the usual configuration.

+1 for the Harley Benton Powerplant range. I use an ISO-5 on my little board and it's great. 40 odd quid new, highly reccomend it.

Bought Dave's Smooth hound wireless. Top comms, quick postage, item exactly as described. Top Marks!

It was. You have been warned.

One of his ebay auctions has a link to him playing.

The new Katherine Priddy album while I make Spag Bol for my tea. Lovely.

Bill Withers if there ain't no sunshine...

I like Elixirs - used them a while ago and they do seem to stay 'new' for ages. I've got a set to put on my 5 as I want a brighter sound for that band. Elixir reccomend *not* using any cleaning products on their strings, just wipe with a dry cloth. https://www.elixirstrings.com/support/elixir-strings-faq?v=Products I use the Dunlop string cleaner on my EB Cobalts and DTFs at the mo - can't hurt, can it?

Oh... stop it, you! ☺️

How could I forget?! I played the Sousaphone on an episode of Lucy Worsley's history thing on the telly, the one about the Peterloo massacre. She's lovely - really friendly and down to earth. That's me in the background. (I'm the one with the Sousaphone.)