My upcoming Newcastle Arena gigs... a kind-of diary thread

[Richard R]

7 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I’m not sure what these You Tuber posters have against landscape mode 🙄

I'm informed that only old people turn their phones sideways 🙂
Great playing  - you should be very proud of yourself. Though as you play bass not lead guitar, and you're from the North not London,  I expect you to just be well-chuffed 😉

[MacDaddy]

34 minutes ago, Richard R said:

Great playing  - you should be very proud of yourself. Though as you play bass not lead guitar, and you're from the North not London,  I expect you to just be well-chuffed 😉

or possibly a mild sense of satisfaction for a job well done.  

[wateroftyne]

On 23/02/2020 at 09:29, BigRedX said:

Is it cold? You all appear to be wearing wool hats.

It was bloody freezing. So we all wrapped up for the production rehearsals, and it was bloody boiling 😄

[TrevorR]

Had to cop Guy Pratt’s bass part on Ain’t No Doubt... that alone would be enough to give me a nervous breakdown!

[wateroftyne]

1 hour ago, TrevorR said:

Had to cop Guy Pratt’s bass part on Ain’t No Doubt... that alone would be enough to give me a nervous breakdown!

Yeah.. you're talking to the king of root-fifth (at least the king of it in my street... maybe) so when it was mentioned I did raise an eyebrow.

In fact, I tweeted this earlier today and got a reply:

https://twitter.com/jollybeggars/status/1231880713080889344

[stewblack]

2 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

Yeah.. you're talking to the king of root-fifth (at least the king of it in my street... maybe) so when it was mentioned I did raise an eyebrow.

In fact, I tweeted this earlier today and got a reply:

https://twitter.com/jollybeggars/status/1231880713080889344

You got a response from the man himself. You can never wash that phone now! 

[wateroftyne]

Right, so.. songs. Apologies for the length / unnecessary detail, but I need to get it out of my system.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / With a Little Help from My Friends

An absolute blast to play, and  hell of an opener, with Billy (show anchor) and the Auf Wiedersehen Pet cast. I played these on the Limelight P. Flats, pick, palm mute, and the bright switch on my otherwise completely flat HB R-400 - the tone was spot-on. We spent a bit of time on this earlier in the week to refine the brass parts 'cos they weren't quite right initially. 'With a Little Help...' is in a different key, so the transition between the two isn't quite as per the record. We also rehearsed a dead stop in the middle of the song ('..turn out the light.') at which point the entire Arena went dark for a few seconds, before coming back in on a build-up.. while still dark. If you didn't know where your next note was, you'd never find it in the dark, so we had to pre-empt it. Missed it at the first show so had to guess I was at the right place on the neck. Thank bejesus I was right, otherwise it could have been.. 'jazzy'.

Jimmy N. is very focussed on what he wants to hear, so we spent a lot of time tweaking the arrangements on his tunes. All for the better, though.

Constant Craving

Jill Halfpenny sang this wonderfully. It's a song I was aware of, but hadn't listened to very closely. I assumed it was a three-chord R5 fest. I was wrong. It's quite an odd arrangement, with a specific lilt.

We worked hard on the dynamic between verse and chorus otherwise it could have felt a bit linear in a big hall. It worked well, and we had a fantastic guest accordionist to help us out.

Got My Mojo Woking

Still on the P with flats - we didn't sweat too much over the arrangement for this. We just let it do what it wants to do. Such a good groove, and the years of playing tunes like this with Lonnie D's son paid off. It sounded immense with the brass, harp, Alan Clark's rollicking piano and big BV's. So much fun.

Ain't No Doubt

Jesus H. Christ. At least they didn't change the key.

It's a great song, but I'm sure Guy Pratt wrote this deliberately to give lesser bass players anxiety attacks.

I spent hours on this, thinking.. 'that's it. I've nailed(sic) it' only to go back for another listen a few days later and realised I've misheard it somewhere. I guess it's good to be challenged. And it was a challenge.

First thing.. effects or no? It sounds like an octave thingy on there, at least on old live clips. In the end, I was paranoid about tracking etc. (I don't know enough about effects to rely on them with any confidence) so I did without, and relied on the big fat burp of the bridge humbucker on my Maruszczyk. Incredible for a passive bass. Sounded fine.

Second thing... the section that starts 'There won't be somebody else, I love you...'. What the heck is going on there? How do even begin to play it? I don't have a Jazz with a neck like a pencil! I just had to work at it, more than I've worked on any bass park ever before. Provided the song is at the proper tempo or thereabouts, I'll be fine. The minute it starts to creep, I'm screwed. 

Third thing... Jimmy thought it would be good to start the song off with.. the bass. At the octave. He'd say 'it all started with a bass riff!' at which point Alan would count Ray & I in, and I'd play the into riff an octave up. I never go up there if I can help it, but since he asked...

Fourth thing... the Director wanted to capture me playing the intro. Which meant that I had to turn away from the MD and the drummer to face a camera to my left, whilst listening for Jimmy's cue, looking over my right shoulder to watch for the MD's count, and making sure I play a bass part in time.. whilst not looking at what I'm playing. Ohhh... kay.

..it was fine. ha ha.

Going Back

The Carole King classic, arranged very ethereally, with a beautiful vocal, dry ice and a dance routine in the middle. Gorgeous, and didn't need much work other than.. what notes should we not play..?

Flashdance... What a Feeling

Another song I know, but hadn't paid much attention to. It's fab.

We did it as the record - I copped the bass synth part, and didn't worry about the lack of a low B. Loads of octave pops on the Jake, all the knobs wide-open.

At one point before rehearsals it was suggested I could play four on the floor roots to drive it along, but I took the synth part at the rehearsal, and it was fine.

There was quite an industrial 'northern' dance troupe sequence before it, at which point the dancers throw off their overalls to reveal proper 80s fitness gear.  Lorraine emerges down the walk way, and sings to roof off. It's going to look amazing on the DVD.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

As the record. Back to the Limelight, leaving loads of space in the bass part. I really worked hard not to overplay. This really swang with the brass.

Owner of a Lonely Heart

Like Ain't No Doubt, I knew this was going to be a bit of a challenge 'cos Trevor Horn was singing it, and a ) he produced the original, b ) he plays the bass on it at his own gigs and c ) the arrangement is absolutely crackers.

We had to get it right 'cos our time without Trevor pre-show was going to be minimal. It was agreed that the samples would be triggered by Pete (keys #2). Unfortunately the samples provided were in the wrong key, he & I had to spend time (whenever we got any!) re-pitching them, and putting them back into the sample trigger (see my post elsewhere on BC 'Can anyone help me with this Akai thingy??'). A bit of trial-and-error, but we got there.

The middle breakdown - with the offbeat accents - was a challenge, but it came together towards the end of rehearsals. It's a great song to play (Maruszczyk wide open, w/pick), and one of the only songs I know where the chorus is softer than the verse. 

Let's Work Together

Like 'Mojo', this basically sorted itself out. Great fun.

Midnight Train to Georgia

Bit of a key change on this one, so I couldn't play the original line exactly. Got close, though, and it sounded great with the brass and BVs. We had to time the ending of it to coincide with the punchline of a sketch, so it was all eyes on the stage & MD.

Somebody to Love

Joe McElderry, man. What a voice. We did this as per his own abridged arrangement, which misses out the middle eight. Again, we had to rehearse this without him so it had to be spot-on for the production rehearsal... which it was. The intro of him, piano and BVs was gorgeous, and it sounded massive when it kicked in.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

As the original recording, and an absolute blast of drums and sprangy guitars. Playing root notes has never been so much fun, and that key change part-way through. Wonderful. Again, Limelight, flats, pick, palm-muting and bright switch.

Run For Home

The traditional show-closer, and contender for Geordie national anthem... we can play this with our eyes closed. Everyone joins us on stage for a singalong.

...and that's it.

Two shows, each pushing four hours each(!), 14,000 punters, 200+ cast and crew, a maze of tech, logistics and choreography, hard-as-nails stage management.. and no notable problems. Apart from Johnny Vegas going SERIOUSLY off-piste in the matinee. ha ha.

Back to real life now.

[Deedee]

Great insight and congratulations on the shows.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Well done mate. I love that kind of detail. You sound as OCD about getting the show right as me 😁.

Can't wait to see the full show on disc.

[MacDaddy]

Awesome 😎

And thanks for the thread 😃

[Bassman Sam]

Brilliant  Michael. Glad you had a blast. 

[Raymondo]

One of the most enjoyable things I have followed on basschat....

See you in two years 😉

 

[Paul S]

Aside from the quality of the photos one of things I have really enjoyed about this diary is the humility and self-deprocating humour with which you have written it.  No swagger or boast for a gig that, I'd wager, most of us would give our right hands to play ( ?).  Which is probably why you got it.  Absolutely well done (but well deserved).  

[Bassman Sam]

2 minutes ago, Paul S said:

Aside from the quality of the photos one of things I have really enjoyed about this diary is the humility and self-deprocating humour with which you have written it.  No swagger or boast for a gig that, I'd wager, most of us would give our right hands to play ( ?).  Which is probably why you got it.  Absolutely well done (but well deserved).  

Seconded.

[PTB]

Great work Michael, great photos too. Thanks for letting us all come along with you! 

[wateroftyne]

Ah, thanks everyone. You're all very kind.

I have to say, the hardest bit of all this is going back to the 9-5 grind, which I'll be doing tomorrow. Apart from being 'the bass player' I've also become quite involved int he show visuals (the creative stuff for the screens), so I basically get lost in it for a few months, so when it's all over it's a bit odd.

I've got a couple of good gigs with my usual band next weekend. That'll take my mind off it.

 

[wateroftyne]

Oh, sorry - another post to sing the praises of the crew, many of which I know well. Some of these guys started last Sunday, and have pulled colossal shifts since. They're so committed, but face it all with humour and focus. I feel like a bit of a fraud prancing about with a bass complaining 'cos it's a bit cold.

By the time I'd packed my bits up at the end of the night (30 minutes), half the rig and staging had already been struck. It's an incredible thing to watch.

[Oopsdabassist]

5 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

Yeah.. you're talking to the king of root-fifth (at least the king of it in my street... maybe) so when it was mentioned I did raise an eyebrow.

In fact, I tweeted this earlier today and got a reply:

https://twitter.com/jollybeggars/status/1231880713080889344

I saw that, I follow Guy.

[Beedster]

Well done Michael, great thread and great passion

[Richard R]

Really good to read this, and congratulations to all. Please post a link here to the DVD when it's available. 

[mep]

Great stuff. As usual a fantastic thread for fantastic show. Hopefully there will be some sneaky YouTube videos like last time to wet our appetite. I'm going to listen to some of those songs out of interest.

[DaveFry]

Just curious about the samples being in the wrong key . Was it just a case of samples recorded at a sample rate of 44.1 Hz being played back on a device set to 48Hz ( or vice versa ) which would make them sound about a semitone out , maybe ?
Do they have to be destroyed after the gig ? 

Edited February 24, 2020 by DaveFry
spewing misstake

[wateroftyne]

7 hours ago, DaveFry said:

Just curious about the samples being in the wrong key . Was it just a case of samples recorded at a sample rate of 44.1 Hz being played back on a device set to 48Hz ( or vice versa ) which would make them sound about a semitone out , maybe ?
Do they have to be destroyed after the gig ? 

Sometimes the song is performed by guest singers in different keys. I think that’s what we got.

[Kirky]

Thanks for going to the effort of sharing this with us Michael, it's a fascinating insight.  And congrats.

[wateroftyne]

Hey hey... the official pics have arrived. Here's some...