Bass Day Nov 9th

[urb]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='325915' date='Nov 10 2008, 01:49 PM']Great day!

Good to be able to put some more faces to avatars and screen names. Urb's Sei was outstanding as were Alan (ACG) and Robbie's (RIM) basses. I have severe gas for an ACG and the RIM upright now.

TM Stevens was totally awesome and I'll be buying some of his CDs ASAP!

Had to miss the last two acts due to amount of time it takes to get back to Nottingham on the train. Maybe next year I'll get a hotel room so I can stay until the end.[/quote]

Great to meet you too man - I really had fun - it was great hearing so much great playing (less slapping next time would be a bonus) I caught up with some bass pals - big hello to Jon Thorne and co, MISTA BEN (!) Dave Marks, and Mike Isaac (great to chat with Janek and hadrien as well) - and also met some new faces all of whom were, as they say in Manchester, "Sound!" Thanks to Ped for letting me abuse his Bergantino cabs, very impressive ad I promise I didn't slap at all...honest. I thought our old man style commentary during the TM spot was one of the highlights of the day lucky we were in the backrow. Made me chuckle anyway.

So many nice basses around as well, I was really impressed by a gorgeous Marleaux Single Cut - I almost regrestted taking my bass but then so many people seemed pleased to be able to try and see it first hand I felt like I;d done a public service...

Rich B was utterly wonderful and having seen him a good 5 times live, I have to say just hearing him play some solo stuff was sensational;

bit like this



See you all next year

M

[Thunderthumbs]

[quote name='4000' post='325962' date='Nov 10 2008, 03:02 PM']That was probably me! Richard was the single most inspiring musician I've seen in years. Never mind the supernatural bass playing/singing, I could have listened to him talk all night. Absolutely [i]beyond[/i] unbelievable.[/quote]
Definitely with you on that one. I met an old friend afterwards who asked me to say in one word what I thought of him, and it was "inspirational". I almost wanted his set to last at least twice as long, so he could fit some more playing [b]and[/b] talking in. It was fantastic that when he started playing, I'm sure everyone thought the same as me......isn't it quiet! And in a way, because it wasn't blasting, it made your ears [b]really[/b] listen. What an absolute joy to listen to, both the music and the person.

Yolanda Charles was fantastic. As well as being a great bassist, I really enjoyed her theory sessions while she was playing.

TM Stevens absolutely blew me away. I even had a chat with the guys in the band afterwards and told them I felt like my breath had been taken away. It was music at its purest....sod the odd mistake and a wee bit out of time here and there, it was just pure guts, energy, and more importantly....[b]Grooooooooove[/b].

Janek's trio.....really nice to hear a bit of that style of jazz with some vocals too. In fact, I'm off to see him in Altrincham in a couple of hours.

Dave Marks was interesting to listen to as well as great little band he had there. And what a great set of mutton chops

Agreed that the atmosphere was good in that "cafe" environment, but the endless slapfest going on all over ruined that a tad.

Biggest disappointment for me was Hadrien Feraud after championing that I'd have paid the entry fee for him alone. I still think he's an incredibly talented musician as were the keyboard player and drummer, but it was all a bit [b]too[/b] much "freeform" if you know what I mean. It's probably not freeform at all, but it just felt like it. I preferred last year when it was more about just him as a bassist with a drummer and pianist supporting him, whereas this year was more about the band as a whole, and like others, it was just a little lost on me.

Met up with Matt (Machines) whose Stingray I took in a 3 way swap without actually meeting him. Also met mistahbenn purely by walking up the stairs together and just discussing the merits of G&L and Stingray basses. Nice bloke.

Keith's (yorks5stringer) Shuker was absolutely gorgeous too. Looks black, but when the light catches it, it's got a lovely blue hue to it. Nice work there Keith.

What a good job I'm skint though, I could've come home with a very empty bank account.

Already looking forward to next year if the improvement on last year is anything to go by. A huge congratulations to Stevie, Pris and everyone else involved in organising it. Well done all.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Thunderthumbs

[Alun]

What a fun day. Great to see Ped, Urb, Pris, 6stringbassist, Janek and anyone I've forgotten As 4000 says, I too probably wandered past loads of people not knowing who they were ( seeing Machines' pics I realise I saw him and BigRedX at various points in the day!)

I had a great time. Richard Bona far exceeded any expectations - one of the most stunningly beautiful solo performances I've ever seen and a fascinating question and answer session. I really enjoyed Hadrien personally, especially the barely recognisable arrangement of Message In a Bottle I actually preferred seeing him with his own band rather than the house band like last year - his pianist was phenomenal.

TM Stevens was superb too, although I wasn't too keen on the guitarist and second bassist if I'm honest. The guitarist in particular, while a great player, seemed to think it was his gig at times.

I've seen Yolanda and Janek a few times before and both were great as always. Dave Marks also proved he's still one of the most melodic bass soloists in the UK today, as well as being a great teacher.

Zoltan Dekaney's upright masterclass was very interesting too, if a little tricky to hear over the slapathon coming from the trade stands. His solo pieces also awe inspiring.

Any negatives? A couple - the bass trio who started the event on the Boom stage suffered from possibly the muddiest acoustics of all time and some very dodgy intonation ( more than likely due to the poor bloke not being able to hear himself) and I felt that the blues singer who opened the theatre gigs was good but out of place. The song with Stevie seemed a little awkward, they seemed much more comfortable as a guitar and vocal duo ( the guitarist was superb incidentally). I would rather have had Stevie's trio or one of the bands who were on the Boom stage at the end of the night personally as it would have been more "bass".

Some lovely gear about, including a stunning second hand 6 string Shuker, but nigh on impossible to hear what it sounded like over the constant rumbling as each stand seemed to try and outdo the next in terms of volume. I did get to have a quick go on the new Delano equipped Marleaux at the end of the night when it was quieter and that really is a lovely sounding and easy to play bass.

I left just as Matt Owens' trio was starting on the Boom stage as I'd been up since 5.30 and was flagging a bit but had a great day

Roll on next year!!!

Cheers
Alun

[EBS_freak]

More Bona pics...!

[Peter Train]

What a great day!!!

TM Stevens was definitly my highlight, I loved the energy and enthusiasm. I agree that the electric guitarist got a bit too much into himself.

I want to see more of TM.

[birdy]

Was a superb day yesterday, much better than I anticipated so well done to the organisers. Richard Bona, TM Stevens and Janek were outstanding in my opinion.

Only problem now is I am gassing for a TD650

Steve

[4000]

[quote name='Machines' post='325964' date='Nov 10 2008, 03:04 PM']I watched about 5 mins of Hadrian Feraud as well, really didn't get on with it so I left and went back to the stand..

EDIT: Didn't realise it was you on the W&T 4000, glad you enjoyed it .[/quote]

Yep, fab bass! Loved the light weight and the neck which was superb. Difficult to judge the tones due to my struggling with the amp (and believe it or not the action was a bit too high for me) but I got the impression it would sound really great. When I sort my finances a W&T of some description is definitely on the cards (got a hankering for a Zoid, although that was bass was so impressive I wouldn't turn it down; nicest bass I played all day).

BTW, is it just me or is Dave Marks actually the [i]real[/i] Wolverine? "Let's party bub!"

Edited November 10, 2008 by 4000

[4000]

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='326016' date='Nov 10 2008, 03:51 PM']If anyone's coming up to Kendal on Fri I'm up for a pre gig beer.

Peter[/quote]

Well I can't get a lift so unless I can stretch to a B&B looks like I'm out. That's assuming I can even get a ticket...

[ezbass]

Was it any good? You really didn't miss anything at Music Live, worst ever.

[Bernmeister]

Damn !!
All the reports of how enjoyable TM Stevens was is making me extremely jealous.
I wish i could have made it, but prior engagements made this not possible.

Being a big Tm Stevens fan that i am, have have most of his albums & his instructional dvd
so i can imagine how entertaining he was & groovy he sounded. Boing !!!!

[Gary]

Hi Everyone

Glad to see everyone had a good time. Thanks to everyone who attended this year, the event is getting bigger and better each year. I'll also take on board some of the suggestions people have made reagrding the event.

If you have any photos, videos etc and you are on Face Book don't forget to add tem to the Bass Day UK group. It would be great to see them all.

Thanks

Gary

[waynepunkdude]

Hehe Bona

[Gary]

Also wanted to add a thanks to our european Bass Day friends.
Not sure if some of them are on Bass Chat but it's great to see people making the long trip to see this event.

This year we had people who flew over from Slovakia, Italy, Barcelona Cyprus, and Poland to attend Bass Day UK. Hope you had a great day

Also a big big thanks to Ped and the Bass Chat team in helping promote the event here. Much appreciated

Edited November 12, 2008 by Gary

[jacko]

+ yet another one on how great a day it was. It was great to meet up with all the folks we've seen and developed friendships with over the last 4 years and it was nice to have a chance to chat with new aquantances -Pris for one example -Richard Bona for another.

The highlight for me was definitely TM Stevens. I've been waiting t see him since around 1995 and I wasn't disappointed. Richard and Yolanda also get a huge thumbs up. I was disappointed with Hadrien's set, not just because of the music but because his sound was so muffled. Same with Janek's tone - are they getting that tone deliberately? If so, the amp manufacturers need to have a word -I had spent ages talking to the markbass guys about changing my cabinets but listening to hadrien has put me right off. On the other hand, both Stevie and Richard made the EBS kit sound superb so for now I'll be staying put.

I did think that all the drummers that played during the day were excellent, in articular, robin Guy with TM. Amazing that they'd only met the day before.

For the future, I really think Stevie's band should do a set - I've been listening to his album since I got back and it's excellent. I'd have also liked to try out some other manufacturers this year - we had the same bunch as last year whereas previously, we've seen both warwick and Eden stands. My mate Mike made the comment that there wasn't alot to attract youngsters and newcomers to the instrument - none of the amps / basses could really be called entry level

To all those saying they had to miss the last couple of acts because it was getting late, we stayed to the bitter end and still got safely back to edinburgh before 3.30am

Edited November 12, 2008 by jacko

[Alun]

[quote name='jacko' post='327478' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:11 PM']I was disappointed with Hadrien's set, not just because of the music but because his sound was so muffled. Same with Janek's tone - are they getting that tone deliberately?[/quote]

I must admit I didn't think either was particularly muffled, not much treble but still defined and easy to make out every note. Their tones are quite similar to a lot of players from the ( I may get flamed for this) "Matt Garrison school".

Cheers
Alun

[OldGit]

[quote name='jacko' post='327478' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:11 PM']I'd have also liked to try out some other manufacturers this year - we had the same bunch as last year whereas previously, we've seen both warwick and Eden stands. My mate Mike made the comment that there wasn't alot to attract youngsters and newcomers to the instrument - none of the amps / basses could really be called entry level[/quote]


Was this possibly because of the clash with Music live?
That must be avoided in the future.

[Alun]

In fairness, Bassday was the same weekend as it was last year and was booked a long time ago.

Cheers
alun

[OldGit]

[quote name='Alun' post='327486' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:22 PM']In fairness, Bassday was the same weekend as it was last year and was booked a long time ago.

Cheers
alun[/quote]

First in the dary rule in action?

OK, I realise that getting the stars booked is hard and probably involves very long term planning - it must be the same for Music Live
But surely someone in Bassday looks at the Music Live projected dates and thinks "Ok in 2012 we'll move it to a different weekend."
It just makes sense not to clash.

[mistahbenn]

Anyone going to the Bona gig tomorrow night? I got my ticket!

[BigRedX]

Unless either PMT or Reverb take up the organisation I don't think we'll see a Music Live next year - or at least not on the scale it's been recently. Having said that, a return to a show of the scale and diversity of the "Mad About Guitars" shows that grew into Music Live might not be a bad thing.

However from the people I know in the industry the feeling is that they would prefer just to do the London show as a means of showing off their products without having to deal with sales (to the public) and haggling that events like Music Live brought.

[Gary]

Hi All

We were aware that we would clash with the last day of Music Live. We were also aware of this very early in the year. Problem was the RNCM wanted us to have the whole event and this was the only date possible otherwise we would not have been able to hold the event until next year sometime or would not have had as much space. Maybe it was or wasn't the right decision but from the attendance and most of the feedback we have had I personally think it was still very successful.

We will of course try to avoid this in future. To be fair though most of the traders we deal with (apart from the big boys which we endeavour to get more involved and more entry level equipment available) prefer to show at Bass Day rather than Music Live as they feel Bass Day is more tailored to them. A lot of the traders have also commented on the professionalism, appreciation, consideration and genuine enthusiasm for the product that the public come to the event show.

We continue though to address everyone’s concerns and feedback to make future events even better. What we want to avoid is Bass Day UK just becoming another trade event, from the beginning this event has been about bringing great artists to the public. While the trade is an important part of it our priority is bringing artists to the public for one day a year that they generally would not see.

Thanks

Gary

Edited November 12, 2008 by Gary

[OldGit]

[quote name='Gary' post='327566' date='Nov 12 2008, 01:29 PM']Hi All

We were aware that we would clash with the last day of Music Live. We were also aware of this very early in the year. Problem was the RNCM wanted us to have the whole event and this was the only date possible otherwise we would not have been able to hold the event until next year sometime or would not have had as much space. Maybe it was or wasn't the right decision but from the attendance and most of the feedback we have had I personally think it was still very successful.

We will of course try to avoid this in future. To be fair though most of the traders we deal with (apart from the big boys which we endeavour to get more involved and more entry level equipment available) prefer to show at Bass Day rather than Music Live as they feel Bass Day is more tailored to them. A lot of the traders have also commented on the professionalism, appreciation, consideration and genuine enthusiasm for the product that the public come to the event show.

We continue though to address everyone’s concerns and feedback to make future events even better. What we want to avoid is Bass Day UK just becoming another trade event, from the beginning this event has been about bringing great artists to the public. While the trade is an important part of it our priority is bringing artists to the public for one day a year that they generally would not see.

Thanks

Gary[/quote]


Gary
Thanks for answering and explaining things.
OG

[Thunderthumbs]

[quote name='mistahbenn' post='327520' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:51 PM']Anyone going to the Bona gig tomorrow night? I got my ticket![/quote]
Yep. Got two today for me & a mate that was at the Janek Gwizdala gig.

See you again........again

[4000]

[quote name='Alun' post='327480' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:15 PM']I must admit I didn't think either was particularly muffled, not much treble but still defined and easy to make out every note. Their tones are quite similar to a lot of players from the ( I may get flamed for this) "Matt Garrison school".

Cheers
Alun[/quote]

I love Matt's tone, and to be honest thought Janek and Hadrien sounded fine in the context of their music. The thing is tone is such a subjective issue, and also has to be applied in context. I loved TM's playing (and he's such a great guy) but I liked his tone least of all the players at the event, even in the context of the music. I'm sure others (probably Graeme) would disagree, and that's fine because they may have different sonic tastes than me.

That's not because I'm not into more aggressive tones though, my favourite tones ever come from Chris Squire, Entwistle, Jon Camp, Lemmy and JJ Burnel to name but a few.

[Thunderthumbs]

[quote name='4000' post='327857' date='Nov 12 2008, 07:04 PM']I love Matt's tone, and to be honest thought Janek and Hadrien sounded fine in the context of their music.[/quote]
Went to see Janek in Altrincham on Monday night, and my mate wasn't too impressed initially with his tone either, but it just sat beautifully with the piano and drums in a little upstairs jazz club. A ton of treble would've just been pointless. (And that's coming from someone who likes really bright strings and quite a trebly tone from my bass).