Jackroadkill

Yes, she was basically stuffed by Stiff records, but Lilywhite got her on more or less anything he worked on that needed a female backing.

As truly awful as that song is, anything with Kirsty on it is good to see. So sad that she was killed in such a horrible way and that justice has been perverted. Love you, Kirsty.

Yeah, I suppose I asked for that!

This one is ancient; it doesn't have padding on the legs for the bass to sit against, it has a wee fold-out rest that supports the back of the body and holds it away from the rest of the stand. I can't remember exactly how old we're talking about but it must be at least 20 years - it's long ago enough that the rubber on the trigger part is going gummy. That's it at maximum extension; it does keep the bass off the floor but it's not hugely stable.

It's nice to see the Hercules stands getting some love here. The reason mine doesn't work very well is that it's for guitar rather than bass, so only just has the necessary length when hanging the bass by the headstock and isn't as stable as I'd like. I'll investigate their bass stands; the one in your pic looks good, @Cat Burrito.

Hi all, just wondering what you all use stand-wise when onstage or at rehearsals. I've been using an old Hercules guitar stand but it's really not big (tall) enough for my Precisions. Cheap, expensive, improvised - I'm not bothered, I just need an idea of some decent stands that are available. Any advice*, comments or pictures gratefully received, Cheers, JRK * - apart, that is, from "Give up bass and take up golf instead"....

I'd be fighting in seconds, crying in minutes and puking for days!

Just use nature's own hammer, a Telecaster.

You can go off people, Waddo, you can go off people...!

Last night saw the first gig of my new band, the (Dave) Jackson Five. It was at a party in a shed, so we're not on the same level as some of you guys above just yet, but it was fun and we went down well. Only our drummer has been a regular gigging stiff recently; the singer - Mr D. Jackson himself - has done the odd one here and there, but one guitarist and myself hadn't been onstage in fifteen years. The other guitarist had never played live at all.... All in all it had the potential to go bad, but nothing like that happened, we had fun, went down well and got another booking out of it. Oh yes, it was hot. Mustn't forget that. Before we went on there was the obligatory Ramones-esque line-up photoshoot: And here's me looking like I'm not enjoying myself at all, although I really was!:

Well, thanks for all your support, folks. It went pretty well; I made a couple of errors but no howlers, the punters seemed to enjoy it and we had a lot of fun. We got another booking out of it, so it can't have been that bad! Apparently there are some decent picture floating around, so I'll post one when they land. As it is, here's us before we went on, looking proper special:

Cheers Wadd; you're a lovely lad, even if you're overly optimistic!

Well the gear has all been checked, and I've spares and tools at the ready.... ...and it's packed into the crappiest little gold car ever, ready to hit the road. Wish me luck! JRK

Yes, that'll be another first for me, I suppose.

Not a problem for me - haven't had an alcoholic drink since 1994, when I was fifteen. Any (well, all!) mistakes will be solely my own doing!

Thanks so much, chaps. I really appreciate you all taking the time to lend me your wisdom (or mention boobies). This gig is a bit of a rush job but there's no pressure other than that which we put ourselves under. Mainly '90's rock stuff, but the odd earlier / later song thrown in for good measure. We're trying to avoid too many standards if we can. The set list is done, but writing the first chord is a superb idea - consider that one nicked! I'm hoping that my experience will be the same, and I'm hoping very much that I enjoy it as much as I used to. Bugger! Thanks all, JRK

I've set aside some time during the day on Saturday to go through all of my gear (thankfully I'm not using much) and ensure that it's all shipshape. Luckily I spent years working as a roadie so I'm confident in this respect. Thanks - I'd forgotten that one! Thanks very much, chaps, much appreciated.

I categorically, unequivocally and completely gave up playing about twelve years ago, following the folding of my band and a few aborted attempts to start new ones. Somehow last year I accidentally bought a bass and formed a covers band. Now our singer has booked us a gig for Saturday night. It's nothing overly dramatic, just at a party held by some friends of his. We'll be the first band on and have a 45 minute set. After not feeling nervous about this at all, it's getting very close and I'm starting to twitch a bit. Back in my younger days I thrived on the butterflies and played with wild abandon, causing chaos and heartbreak (okay, maybe just chaos) at every gig. These days I'm thinking that being on the ball, taking a back seat and just trying to get through without weeing myself might be the best bet. Have you lovely people any pearls of wisdom to share or is it more of a case of jump back in and see if I can still swim? Cheers, JRK

I'm less self-taught than happily ignorant, really. Bloody love playing the bass though.

As much as it's a shitty thing for him to have done, I bet lots of us have done things after coming offstage at a bad gig we're not proud of. Mine was when my band had played a Boxing Day gig (probably in 2007 or so) and we had sucked. It hadn't helped that the venue was tiny, overcrowded with bands and their gear, bereft of a decent PA etc etc, but the bottom line was that our band stank that night. Usually we were pretty... memorable(?), but on that occasion we were out of time with each other, missing cues etc, generally dropping the ball. I couldn't wait to get offstage, and as I threw my guitars into their cases a guy came up to me and said "Oh, you're the guitarist from that crazy band. I really enjoyed your show". To my eternal shame, I blanked him. It didn't take long to realise what a Richard move that was, and I learned from my mistake; from that gig on I've always taken time to thank audience members for their comments, whether positive or otherwise.

Mate, if I didn't think you were cool already...!

Absofrigginglutely.

Who the actual jeff are Sleaford Mods?

I was hit by nobody who wasn't in a band that hadn't had any minutes (or something).

That's some classic BC'age right there!