How was your gig last night?

[Roland Rock]

We supported an excellent reggae band up from London Town, OnlyJoe. Unfortunately, I think that the ticket price was a bit optimistic at £10, and it was too quiet. Those who did turn up had a blast, all very appreciative and up dancing.

Oh, and the second support act cancelled the day before, and the DJ never turned up :-D

Edited March 30, 2014 by Roland Rock

[dalehernando]

My gig saturday was one of my best. I seem to be saying that after every show, but a near sold out theatre was incredible. Can't wait for the next.

[Hobbayne]

We played a support slot last Friday night to a Bloc Party type band. We do classic rock covers which is a bit of a difference.
We went down really well and got every clapping along. The main band turned up halfway through our set and sat and watched but never spoke to us after we finished which I thought was a bit off.
We got many compliments from the punters after we finished, with people saying that they dont get our sort of music at the pub very often.
Went the main band started playing, after a few numbers people started leaving. I felt a bit sorry for them.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Hobbayne

[KevB]

Played Sat night at one of our regular (every month) venues. New management, they definitely want to keep to the new set timing unfortunately. I thought it didn't work last time and I'm no better convinced now. Insist on us starting at 10pm and we finish set 2 at 12:30am. But it looks like they only keep the bar open until midnight. Result? punters hassling us to start at 9:15-9:30 like we used to do and half the pub has gone home by the time we get halfway through set 2. I don't see any evidence of them selling more drink under the new system at all and I'm half an hour later getting home. It suddenly feels like hard work getting through that second set whereas we used to breeze through it to a packed house under the old management.

[Graham]

Last night was great, played at The Red Cross Inn at Reigate, place was busy with a youngish crowd and what I think were a number of rugby boys in suits celebrating their end of season. Crowd were into it from the first song and very appreciative, had some wedding interest as well which is always good. Landlord was happy and wants us back for several more gigs, we played really well and the new songs went down great, so all in all we had a blast.

Also, changed my strings the other day ahead of this gig, gave those D'Addario balanced tension sets a go and was pretty impressed with them, I liked the feel and sound so at that price I can't fault them.

[Kirky]

Great gig last night at the Market Tavern in Knaresborough. Highlight of the night was a rather drunk young lady shouting in my ear while we were playing, asking if she could request a song. I said ask the singer. She said which ones the singer?!!! I found out later she then went up to the singer and shouted in his ear "Are you the singer?". They make em smart in Knaresborough!

[Damonjames]

Last night I played our bands second gig, we are smells like Seattle a grunge tribute band. We played whittles in Oldham, and it was a great night! Can't wait to get out and do it again, fortunately it's later this month.
As this is my first band, I am slowly getting used to the anonymity of being a bass player, it's wierd seeing people talk to everyone else then walk right by!!

[FinnDave]

We had a pretty good night, started slow with the pub less than half full, but by the second set the place was filling up nicely and we ended up have to play three encores. Exhausting but satisfying evening.

[KevB]

Played one of our usual regular venues where we get stuck in a pokey little corner, I'm in a particularly awkward spot jammed up against the side of one of the PA cabs. Having a jar during the interval stood in front of the gear one punter comes up to me and asks 'Does the venue pay you to stand watch over their gear or the band themselves?' Talk about being the invisible bassist...

[barneyg42]

Tythe Barn, Great Fosters in Egham for a Sunday evening wedding! Great room but a dull gig, first set a few dancers then halfway through the hog roast is announced so the room empties, second half starts at ten and a few in but to be honest I reckon most people were either too p**ssed or had to be up for work Monday that it died a death. DJ got a few up after us for the okey cokey and New York, New York!! Home by twelve and up at 5.45 for work so a bit knackered to say the least!!
I hate gigging on a Sunday but it paid well so all good there, back to the pubs next weekend, less dollar but much more fun!!

[BigRedX]

Another weekend on the road with Dick Venom & The Terrortones.

On Friday we were in Bradford at the Tavern In The Town. Nice looking venue with a good-sized proper stage. Big technical problems. Set up my bass rig plug it into the nearest available socket and power it up. "You don't want to use that socket - it's bit dodgy" says the PA engineer just as my whole rig goes off. Plugging into a socket (well hidden) that is deemed acceptable and everything comes on except my amp. Try a few different mains leads just in case the plug fuse has blown before accepting defeat and DI'ing straight into the PA. There's only one foldback speaker and trying to get the engineer to have the bass at an audible level through the PA and then the foldback is an exercise in pulling teeth. It's not as though the PA is small a weedy and it was going to be DI'd anyway...

The engineer struts about the stage with his big flashlight looking important and as though he's in control but when it comes to actually sorting out a sound through the PA, it's as though he really can't be bothered. By the time we're due to play there's plenty of aggressive energy and put on a decent performance if a little scrappy in places. Bass is reasonably audible on stage so I'm not playing entirely by touch. Audience response is good, as far as I can tell we get the best reception of all the bands playing that night including the headliners. In short: Great venue. Receptive audience. Useless PA engineer.

On checking out the amp on Saturday morning I find that everything is OK except that the light that tells me the amp is powered up has blown, which initially sent the digital part of the amp into safe mode. I'm sure that at some point in trying different mains leads it had probably started to work again, but in the heat of the moment no light = no power. I'll be fixing the light this week and won't make that mistake again.

On to Saturday and with a working bass amp (and a spare packed) we're off to Blackpool. The Talbot Social Club is an actual social club with snooker tables downstairs, members only signs and a cabaret style stage in the "function room" upstairs full of punks and psychobillies. We're on last. The bands before us are a mixed bunch. The Headstone Horrors are great, the others not so much. Play a blinding set to enthusiastic response, there's even people jive dancing to the more rockabilly type numbers like "My Crypt Tonight". Sell a load of single and T-Shirts, and then there's the long coffee and burger-fuelled drive back to Nottingham.

Part of the set was video'd and is available to watch:

[media]http://vimeo.com/91211452[/media]

Next week's gig in Newcastle has been cancelled, so it's off to Scotland on Good Friday...

Edited April 7, 2014 by BigRedX

[Roland Rock]

Sounds like a great gig BRX, glad the amp is ok :-)

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1396860934' post='2417942']
Sounds like a great gig BRX, glad the amp is ok :-)
[/quote]

Thanks!

Forgot to mention that my wireless system mysteriously stopped working half way through saturday's gig. Luckily I had a lead set up ready to use. Plenty of stuff to sort out this week.

[EliasMooseblaster]

Really quite marvellous, was the ol' Troubadour last night. Cherry White shared the bill with Dani Molino, whose band features none other than Happy Jack on upright bass. Very nice to meet Jack and Bluejay, and the music was excellent - opening acts Vera Black and Erin Mortimer are definitely worth checking out as well. And the venue fed and watered us before we went on - not something I've come to expect from most venues, so that was a pleasant turn-up! And ultimately, a great crowd and a great atmosphere made for a great evening.

[TorturedSaints]

Well, it wasn't quite last night, but on Monday night we (aka DarkSky) were in Box Glasgow in Sauchiehall Street. There's a nice raised stage with loads of PA aimed down the length of the bar. There was an acoustic duo, a female duo (electric guitar, and keys or flute) called Simply Sense, and us (DarkSky - www facebook.com/darkskyband) on last.

FOH sound was done by Shep, the FOH sound was pretty good. Unfortunately, the monitor sound wasn't great, our singer complained about not being able to hear herself, and I had to stand close to the PA speaker on my side of the stage to hear myself. Everything was miked up, and the bass was DI'd from an Ashdown 300 combo, which I should have turned up a bit to help hear myself. I was playing my Overwater by Tanglewood Aspiration Elite that I bought from a fellow BC'er.

There was a bit of a gap between the first and second song in the set as I tried to find out where the mellotron sound from my midi pedals had gone - swiftly traced to it having been unplugged from the DI box, as the DI box had been used for the previous band's keyboard! That sorted, onwards and upwards.

It was hot, sweaty and fun, not bad for a Monday night and our second gig together. The only annoying thing for me was that the stage backline layout was fixed, so I had to play on the right of the drummer - something I've not done very often. I soon discovered that when he hits his crashes on the right hand side of his kit is not the same time that he hits his hi-hat, so I had to work very hard at listening to lock in with him! Those that were there enjoyed it - a few excerpts from our set, recorded from a Tascam DR from the mixing desk.

[url="https://soundcloud.com/darkskyband/darksky-live-at-box-glasgow"]https://soundcloud.com/darkskyband/darksky-live-at-box-glasgow[/url]

Now we need some more gigs!

[barneyg42]

Nightingale, Sutton!! Tiny little bay window playing area, five piece with my large bod and a full keyboard rig next to me made for an interesting night akin to a game of twister. Bannisters in front too so guitard had to set up in front on floor!! Nevertheless an absolutely cracking night! Played a blinder and had them rocking all night! In the end I abandoned the "stage" for the last three songs and went behind the bar where there was much more room (and nice barmaids ;-) too). Aching like hell this morning but got to do it all again tonight at the Smugglers Return in Worthing! Can't wait!!

[Billy Apple]

Last night we played Sub 89 in Reading supporting The Doors Alive. It was dead good, the best we've played so far (out of 3!)

[leroydiamond]

Last night was brutal. Everything that could go wrong did and I will not go into detail, but the guitar player being tuned to concert pitch (we tune a half step down) set up the night from the off, as our opening number sounded like a bag of spanners falling down a stairs.
on Friday night we played a dingy rock bar in a small town here in the west of Ireland and it was a great gig. the band played really well, but last night.....enough said.

[leschirons]

Just a resaurant duo gig last night with a female singer and me on electro acoustic and fat jazzer. Everything from Kylie to Edith Piaf with some Sinatra and Carole King thrown in for good measure. Went down very well apparently despite us thinking no-one was interested due to loads of talking from the diners. However, no-one had bought a concert ticket had they? so fair enough if they want to chat to their friends. Comes with the turf. Got a re-booking, paid, and a very nice meal from an excellent chef.

All in all, a good night.

[0175westwood29]

played a mixed night we put on at a local pub venue, was a mixed night started with a bit of female lead rock, then on to some seriously heavy punk! ("Arizona law" they are wicked check them out ) then us!

we've been really enjoying playing mixed genre nights as even tho i love metal but its nice to have a different sound throughout the eve, the gig went well good crowd reaction and got a lot of good contacts and looks like a few gigs atleast! next gig is in swansea in a few weeks which i cant wait for.

only downside from last night was that my rack eq decided to die, but was only 35 quid of ebay so not really a biggy.

andy

[alexmoore10]

Pit band for The Producers. Was amazing!

[Chris Sharman]

Review of Saturday night at Ryan's Bar in Derby;

Well, that went...errr....all right I suppose.

The support band were Brilliant. They are called 'Faces for Radio' from Beeston in Notts and were really good. Their bass player is brilliant, a real Joy to watch him play. Very much the antithesis of my playing he seemed effortless and sooo smooth compared to my more 'attacking' style. He also offered to let me use his SWR rig instead of the house as he wanted to use his own anyway, and he and I have identical Fender Jazzes - 'the long lost twins' as they are now known. I have to admit turning round to our guitarist half way through their set and asking why THEY were supporting US and not the other way round? (apparently it has to do with them being new and not having a lot of material yet or something).

Then we went on.

Playing wise I think it was our best yet. When we did have a problem we just played through it and didn't just stop or do anything noticeably stupid so I was very happy with that. I was less happy with the house PA as the guy just set it up and then went and sat down at the other end of the pub with his mates making no attempt to manage the sound. This became a problem during only our second track when a problem with the PA (I would assume power amp related) suddenly fired up the speaker stack next to me at Double volume costing us balance and sound quality, and unfortunately about a third of the audience who took the opportunity to depart (and are probably now receiving treatment for noise induced deafness).

Those who did stick it out thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we, but the sound problems really did put a downer on things....and we got paid which we chose to split evenly with the support act as they really did us a favour in setting those who attended up for a good night.

On to the next one.

[Bassdriver]

Rather weird actually... Wedding gig in leafy part of NE Cheshire near Macclesfield - Main room is medium size marquee with bar. We are set up in what they called the 'Boogie Box' which is a small annex of the main building of the Hotel in whose grounds the Marquee is set up and is adjacent to the bar. The room resembles one of the Room Full of Mirrors attractions you used to see at old fairgrounds, (maybe you still do) only without the mirrors, just some old black sheets hung disguising the shabby plasterboard behind with a few tired looking rope lights doing a lamentable job of brightening the place up. You really had to be there to appreciate the effect. The wedding speeches and first dance are completed and we are introduced in the main room with guests being invited to to make their way through to enjoy some top class entertainment and we commence our first set in the empty Boogie Box while guests continue drinking and talking in the main room. We can't quite see into the main room properly but if I crane my neck a little I can see there are people in there. We are in effect playing to an entirely empty room. After a while some nice ladies who presumably felt sorry for us ambled through and danced in a rather half hearted way at the back of the room for a couple of tunes before wandering off to continued drinking and socialising with the rest of the guests in the main room leaving us alone once again with still half the first set to go. Every now and then someone would poke their head round the door as though looking for someone and then wander off again looking slightly bemused. One bloke came in dancing quite enthusiastically but upon realising he was the only non musician in the room immediately changed tack and scurried out in search of safety n numbers. Other than our near flawless performance these were the highlights of set one. Cue DJ with nasty sounding system incorporating something like a 20db hump at 7k.

We returned after half an hour or so to find the DJ playing to one woman dancing with two small children, the rest of the 150 or so guests presumably choosing to avoid morning after tinitus. The sound began to hurt my ears as I approached the stage area. Retreating for cover behind one side of our much smoother sounding PA I admonished myself for omitting to insert my earplugs before returning to the Boogie Box while stuffing them in as quickly as I could. Set two commences and continues in a similar manner to the first after the lady and children exit halfway through the first tune. About halfway through set two we launch into Car Wash which we had just decided to throw in on the night for a change. Within 10 seconds of the first verse starting there is an influx of guests from the main room. Before long there are about 50 people dancing and the room continues to fill steadily as the set moves closer to its conclusion at which point the crowd are shouting for more. We are forced to play an extra tune as the DJ is nowhere to be found. Our roadie is despatched to retrieve him and we wheel out Mustang Sally, never my first choice at any point in the night but I still find myself somehow enjoying playing it on some level. The DJ wanders back in, forgets the name of the band as he attempts to whip the crowd into a frenzy of appreciation before launching another 7k assault. One of his horrid speakers is placed right behind my rig so I'm treated to the full force during pack down. 2hr drive back to Carlisle at full pelt in our trusty Citroen despatch. Kebab. We usually get fed well at weddings. Tonight we got three packs of sandwiches which looked like someone had left over from their journey to split between 5 of us.

I don't mind playing to an empty room. I get paid either way but for the most part of tonight it just seemed like a waste of someones money to have a band there at all. Oh well,the Kebab wasn't bad.

[KevB]

Private party last night so the usual hit or miss as far as crowd enthusiasm is concerned, just like weddings really. I was first to turn up and they had also hired a DJ as well. Despite having a fairly modest setup he managed to place it bang centre of the stage so there was no space to put the bad on it as well, with a bit more consideration we could have both got on there and made more of a show of it, instead we just set up in front of stage on dance floor, not that many guests so still enough room for dancing and meant we could pack up and go while he was still doing his thing (rather amateurishly n my view). He also interrupted us and effectively finished our first set for us before we actually played our last song in the set by cutting in his PA over ours and telling everyone we'd be taking a break and would be back later. Oh well, we got payed twice our usual pub fee and were packed and off by midnight, hosts were happy enough so job done.

[Freddy Le Cragg]

I was the opening act for a charity all-dayer BBQ affair at a pub in the next town over. Not bad but I have played better. Didn't help that a spotlight was raring in my eyes from the get go.