How was your gig last night?

[BottomE]

Buzzin - played a cocktail bar in centre of town we have been doing for 4 years now. Got a pay increase! Yes, they said we were one of the best and most reliable bands that they have. Two encores, queues to get in all night and though i am happily married i enjoyed watching all the young girls strutt their stuff. Nights like this make all the practice worth it. Peace.

[bartelby]

First gig in a couple of months last night, we were the opening band of 4.
First time I got to try my replacement Ampeg PF-500 at any kind of volume was at soundcheck. Going through a GK 4x10 and a Hartke 1x15 from the other bands.
During the set I couldn't quite get it out of my head that the amp might pack in, and I fluffed one or two notes as I was thinking about the amp. But it was a good gig, the drummer managed to maintain a reasonable speed, we all managed to remember the alterations to some of the songs we made on Tuesday and best of all I got compliments on both the Stingray and the sound.

Edited August 7, 2011 by bartelby

[Paul S]

Weird one. Played a charity gig at the Haystack PH in Canvey just after the carnival had finished. Started off with a decent crowd that slowly evapourated until by the end of the first set we had maybe just 3 people watching. We almost didn't bother with the second set but decided to treat it as a free rehearsal. Anyway, by the end of the second set we had a small but loud crowd back and weren't let go until we had done 3 encores. A different, more appreciative audience to the first lot, I suppose. My gear sounded great but I played like an idiot and made more mistakes than ever. By contrast our guitarist has just got a new Gibson Flying V and I reckon he got a little bit of Michael Schenker with it as his playing was awesome - our last encore was 'Rock Bottom' and he was absolutely the nuts.

[gary mac]

My first gig with the band that I've only very recently joined.

A pub with the quaint sounding name of The Poplar Kitten, I should have known though that Harlow doest do quaint.

Quite a nerve wracking one for me as I had to learn most of the set in short time. A few fluffed notes but mostly got through it ok, although very embaressingly I mucked up in the solo on Led Zepps Rock n Roll. Like Walman said, it's amazing how you can play along at home to the recordings note perfect and then cock up with the band.


All things considered it went pretty well, a fair few compliments from the audience members sober enough to speak and we got invited back.

Roll on next week, The Punch House in Ware.

[JTUK]

Twas ok... function type thing.....but I REALLY don't want to do these again.
Sure, the money is good, but so soul destroying and all about..'what am I doing here'..again..!!!!

Bass sound was great though... drummer loved it with his kick, so the room was good in that respect, but the gig vibe was flat for me and we never got out of 3rd gear.. which is a shame for this band.

Edited August 7, 2011 by JTUK

[paul h]

Forgot to report on Saturday's gig.

We played The Gate in Brickett Wood. Tiny pub but nice enough. Our keyboard player couldn't make it which turned out to be rather lucky because he wouldn't have fit! To save space we put the gtr combo on top of my Compact. Worked really nicely and actually gave a nice focused sound.

Punters enjoyed it. I had a few beers. Got paid. Full of win.

[dave_bass5]

We had a long weekend but most of it was enjoyable. We did about 1000 miles since Friday morning.

Friday night was a gig in Edinburgh. I was looking forward to seeing some of the Fringe but due to the M6 being a bit or a nightmare we got there a bit later than expected (although not actually late). Most wedding over run so we weren't panicking untill we called the venue and was told the couple had moved everything forward by an hour. Still, it wasn't a problem.
The hotel was nice (gear in up a fire escape but it wasn't too bad) and the guests and staff were fantastic. There was a very embarrassing, classic moment when my drummer came over to where i was talking to the bride and groom asked the groom if he was the brides father . Luckily we all laughed it off (and before the laughter had gone down i'd already posted it on Face book)
Gig was fantastic though, and the small crowd were up for it all night (some more up for "it" than others ;-). Ive now gone 100% to my F1 + 1212L and this is working very well. Nice controlled tone and not boomy like i sometimes found my LMII to be. As much a si love my BDDi ive yet to need it with the F1.

Sat we drove back down to Bury St Edmunds (another 400 miles) for a gig at Hengrave hall. We got there early so set up and went and go ta Pizza. Now, the hall we were playing is had a very high ceiling, tiled floor and wooden wall panels. To be honest i was dreading it but again, from my point of view i had a great tone.
Now here's the killer. On the way back from the pizza hut we bumped in to the owner. We got chatting and he was explaining about the hall and why the sound meter was put in. Eh? what sound meter we asked. It turns out there is one, thats high up on the wall BEHIND the band. FFS, a meter is one thing but one you cant even keep an eye on is something else.
We sound checked at a very low volume and to be honest it sounded fine in the empty hall, half way across the room. As i was walking around it while we played a few numbers i could see the meter hitting the red but it wasnt staying there so all seemed ok. It was mainly the vocal monitor and drums that were triggering it. I doubt we could really be heard in the opposite corner once the room was full though.
Of course we set it off a few times, all down to the drummer having no idea about dynamics, other than there's loud and louder.

I must say its nice to be back at work today.

[E sharp]

Dep gig on a wedding .
My mate's got major problems with his heart again , so I covered for him .
Been months since my last dep , and years since I last did a wedding with a function band .
Loads to learn (though most I remembered) , but all in odd keys . Dusted out the music stand and had about a day or two to learn the sets (good ol Youtube) .
Massive high ceilinged room and a hollow stage , so the sound was as best as it could get .
The groom wanted to get up and do Mustang Sally , which meant I didn't have to play that pile of crap . When he took my bass , and the band started , he did some sort of move across the stage that can be best described as a cross between the James Brown shuffle and Wilco Johnson's move . He was mashed , and he couldn't even handle a 3 chord bash Though I did get to ogle the women brought up to sing (if it can be called that) backing vocals . Still they had a good time , it was a laugh , and it broke the evening up nicely .
I thought we had a lot of gear with the pub band , and I've sort of forgotten the amount of PA needed for these events (I don't know why as I used to lug it all around before) .

Still , good gig , not too late (though had to set up early and come back) , and earnt exactly 5 times what I normally do in a pub - jobs a good'n .

Paul .

[WalMan]

OK. Another "dep" doing the poppy country rock stuff. Went much better than last weeks & I only had to catch up a couple of times, neither of which I think anyone in the audience would have noticed.

Felt I played mush better this week

Worst part(s)
[list]
[*]we were supposed to get fed. I was handed a voucher to the hog roast (yumsk) but unfortunatelty once we were set up ready to go there wasn't time to eat. Decided to wait 'til the break then noticed it was all being packed away as we started the first set
[*]Getting to the gig (Eastbourne Yacht Club) was a complete 'mare. First the sat nav took me down a service road behind ASDA, but there was no way through. Then I went for the 24 hour free carpark (and should have just pared up and carried the gear a short distance across to the club as that was where I ended up parked anyway) then I finally found the proper way in, but had to wait for someone to answer the gate phone and open the gate to let me throught. So was a tad later than expected/intended
[/list]

[northstreet]

Did a charity gig with the newish covers band last night. It was something we arranged and promoted ourselves, and although it was bit of a pain to organise, it went very well on the night. Hired a really nice hall in Sawbridgeworth, Herts, and had about 120 people in (mainly friends and family).

Also gave us a chance to try out lots of new songs in preparation for putting them in our main set. Generally went very well, lots of positive comments. There were a few mistakes here and there, but the band's geting experienced enough to cover for them rather than letting them throw us. Very happy with the sound from my Geddy Lee Jazz through a pair of Hartke 15"cabs - a nice warm growl.

And we've made nearly £300 for the local air ambulance trust. So a good evening all round.

[BottomE]

Very nice wedding for a mate in a beautiful converted mill in deepest Dorset. Stunning setting and really game "up for it" crowd. Lots of musos present so some guest slots and a fun time had by all.

[Spike Vincent]

Wasn't bad.We were roped in at fairly short notice for a mate's 50th birthday do,the in house PA was diabolical so the vocals were poo,and most of our crowd preferred watching New Model Army in a field,but the audience were enthusiastic and the Publican invited us back in november for £200. And somebody finally noticed my black strings.

[E sharp]

[quote name='BottomE' post='1339649' date='Aug 14 2011, 02:42 PM']Very nice wedding for a mate in a beautiful converted mill in deepest Dorset. Stunning setting and really game "up for it" crowd. Lots of musos present so some guest slots and a fun time had by all.[/quote]
That sounds fantastic .
I've done maybe a handful of this type of gig , and they're gigs to savour . You'd do them for nothing if you had to , and not even worry about it .

[Raslee]

Great heavyweight dub gig with some good reggae mates in Jah Maker, Maker, Kernow (Cornwall), mini festival vibes with camp overs and a 24hr hangover....tore the roof of the sucker... literally the building was shaking with bass - funkin' irie

[dc2009]

Played in the Spice of Life in Soho, a never before practiced acoustic set due to a midweek drummer crisis. This place is widely known as the best music pub in London, and we had a decent crowd, mainly due to the guys who were on before us being genuinely amazing. Got a few compliments on my bass playing (and didn't see the guitard get any *sniggger*) so was fairly happy.

[Bilbo]

Did a doubler on Friday; jazz set in the afternoon (double) followed by two funk sets (double and electric) in the evening. The thrill of the day was playing funk tunes on double bass with a 5-piece band and having a great sound. THe electric parts of the sets were slammin'. Good charts, great drummer, good sound - what more can a guy ask for?

[Len_derby]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1340359' date='Aug 15 2011, 09:55 AM']- what more can a guy ask for?[/quote]

More please???

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='karlfer' post='1321953' date='Jul 31 2011, 08:50 AM']Main reason for posting is that the last 4 gigs I have used my 95 Yamaha Attitude Special.
It looks naff, but it's the bass I have been looking for all my life [/quote]

if that is it in your avatar it looks great.

[JTUK]

Did a local seaside bar on a lovely evening so as many people outside than in.

Funny stage config and it was a bit boomy which caught us out a bit.
People were liking it and came in around 10:00..all local so we had to keep them.

I never thought we got through to them as a low-ish ceiling seemed to make a natural barrier so we never went beyond 2nd gear playing-wise.
End of evening, we couldn't get off the stage, so am still a bit bemused by it.

Odd place..!!!

[TheRev]

I've just got home from the strangest gig I have ever done. 2 hours on the back of a carnival float in Weymouth, with the entire band dressed as Robin Hood.
Quite a good gig as it turned out.

[tauzero]

[quote name='TheRev' post='1343888' date='Aug 18 2011, 12:42 AM']I've just got home from the strangest gig I have ever done. 2 hours on the back of a carnival float in Weymouth, with the entire band dressed as Robin Hood.[/quote]
That must have been very cosy. How many arms and legs did the costume have?

[karlfer]

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='1340799' date='Aug 15 2011, 03:53 PM']if that is it in your avatar it looks great.[/quote]

Cheers MacDaddy.
It took a bit of work to get it road worthy again, but it plays wonderful.
Can almost sound like a double bass using the "woofer", or, more growl than a pissed off Rottweiler.
Still got two weeks "holidays" with the band, bored on a weekend now .
Karl.

[BigRedX]

OK. It was at the Old Angel so as usual the sound was fairly ropey (the band who played before us suffered from some horrible low frequency feedback). Looking forward to Saturday at a venue with more friendly acoustics.

[TheRev]

[quote name='tauzero' post='1344988' date='Aug 18 2011, 11:29 PM']That must have been very cosy. How many arms and legs did the costume have? [/quote]

Not enough. I had to play standing on one leg, like that bloke out of Jethro Tull. Could have been worse mind, the drummer choose to wear a badger costume so we didn't have to fit him in there as well.

[dc2009]

I'm at the gig now, we are on next. I don't want to be here, the support band's bassist appears to have found the brown note with the most horrible fuzz I've heard in my life. I'm stuck in south London, and it looks like for the second gig in a row I have to play through a f***ing ashdown...

/rage