How was your gig last night?

[martthebass]

20 minutes ago, Unknown_User said:

Had two this weekend, which is a rarity.  Played a pub ten minutes walk from my house on Friday, so took the new preamp pedal I made in order to go through the PA and not have to use my amp.  It worked a treat, meaning I was able to walk instead of drive and have a few jars during/afterwards.  So I enjoyed that one, although my fingers were killing me the next day from having carried my heavy bass case all the way home.  Swings and roundabouts I guess!

Last night's was good, but I spent five minutes in a mad panic when we were setting up.  I wasn't getting any signal when I put my guitar through my tuner.  I borrowed some leads from the guitarist to make sure it wasn't that.  Nothing.  Damn it!  Why was it not working?  It switched on ok...  Then I noticed I'd put the guitar jack in the output socket and wired the amp up to the input. 

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, don't know what was up but it's working now.  Must have been a dodgy connection or something..."

I had one of those moments a few weeks back at an outdoor jobbie running through a big PA.  DI'd into the desk from my MarkBass LM3 - no signal at the desk, lots of frantic changing of leads and checking connections, noticed I had the DI out level on zero.......Doh!

[cheddatom]

I had a similar one once, gigging with a backing track running through my mixer, the soundman is asking me why there's no output, I can hear it in my headphones and just assume he's got something patched wrong. He checked all the connections then looked at my mixer, pressed a button to patch my track through to the right bus, and all worked. "Don't worry about it mate, I've got lots of experience as an engineer" he said. I told him I run a recording studio to which he replied "oh dear, that's embarassing!". I was amused and embarrassed i equal measure

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

I had one of those moments a few weeks back at an outdoor jobbie running through a big PA.  DI'd into the desk from my MarkBass LM3 - no signal at the desk, lots of frantic changing of leads and checking connections, noticed I had the DI out level on zero.......Doh!

 

Done it a couple of times myself

[VTypeV4]

On 02/10/2018 at 16:54, cheddatom said:

Yeh he was great actually, got a lot of compliments on the sound afterwards, I told them all to thank Liam!

Ace, I expected little else from him. Hope to see you soon Tom..

On 02/10/2018 at 17:11, Raymondo said:

I used to love The Rigger when I lived in N-U-L .great bands late night opening, pool tables and rubbish beer...what's not to like😜

I also liked the small Bass ( as in the ale not the instrument 😉) pub on the road towards Stoke ...is it called The Victoria? 

Saw some fabulous bands there ..Elvis Fontenot and the sugar Bees were always a good laugh!

Totally love EFSB, love the guys from the band - I've depped bass with them on more than a few occasions too so they're always on my 'good' list, ha..

[cheddatom]

21 minutes ago, VTypeV4 said:

Ace, I expected little else from him. Hope to see you soon Tom..

I'm back at The Rigger with Headsticks this Saturday, hopefully you'll be on the desk!

[VTypeV4]

15 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

I'm back at The Rigger with Headsticks this Saturday, hopefully you'll be on the desk!

I'm back in as of Weds, so yup, see you on Saturday! 😀

[Monkey Steve]

20 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Fairly average gig last night, had some friends in the audience who think we are great, but I know we've played better nights. My tolerance for self-important guitarists is getting less and less all the time. Last night, we had a lead guitarist who a few minutes before start time found he hadn't got a strap (cue frantic search for a spare strap among our gear) then his amp & cab weren't plugged in, then his lead was too short... OK, we're all looking at you, you got the attention you're after - can we play now, please?

Funny thing was that the self same guitarist played really well after that.

I just don't think that that level of faffing about is worth suffering for a 40 quid gig.

had a couple of guitarists like that...not the reason they both got sacked, but it didn't help their cause when other problems surfaced.  We reckon that one hadn't bought a pick in three years - he just turned up to practice every week or at the gig,, play acted that he definitely had some picks somewhere but which pocket are they in, he's sure he put them somewhere...queue rhythm guitarist offering him a selection.

The other one had a midi pickup that went to a keyboard, so his set up was a bit more complicated than usual.  We twiddled our thumbs through half an hour not sound checking at the Rock Garden while he sat on the stage unwinding these cheap and tatty leads and then trying them all out to find some that worked.  We then sound checked, I went to the pub with the drummer who swore a lot and told me that if he had to sit through that again he was going to do the guitarist some permanent damage.  We sacked him that night

[Bluewine]

15 hours ago, Les said:

We put our fees up this year for new venues and are bringing our regular venues in line with it for  next year. So far only had one refusal. Interestingly we have one left to do at this place in about 2 weeks so I suppose it's up to us to change their mind. 

Corporate contract festivals are more than lucrative. Big stage, sound and lights and backline. Plus tents for dressing rooms and beverages/ sandwiches. A grand for an hour and a half.

Bars and clubs are generally cheap when it comes to paying bands.

We feel providing a 4 piece band with sound and lights for 4 hours is a bargain at $500.00.

Blue

[josie]

Unexpected. My first duo partner, the first other person I ever played with (we played together at our local om almost every week for a couple of years) had disappeared for months with a serious mental health problem. He appeared unexpectedly at last Tuesday's om, looking dreadful, but at least he was back. Last night we were going to do two songs together, for the first time in over a year, but I got there to be told he had been taken into care the night before.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain was one of our favourites to do together, and one that he had chosen for last night. Something in me had no choice but to do it solo, for him. Playing bass and singing at the same time, unprepared, is hard enough. Add to that, struggling not to cry, and no surprise it was a bit shaky. But the whole crowded noisy pub fell silent for two and a half minutes, and stayed silent for an audible moment before they started applauding, so I guess at least the emotion came through. It's not a song you'd naturally think of doing as a slow quiet lament, but it worked. 

[casapete]

First night at a new venue for my acoustic duo in Cottingham (near Hull). We had been resident every Tuesday at a nearby pub for nearly three years, which came to a rather abrupt end with a change in management. However, the landlord at a neighbouring pub 'The King Billy' has given us a months trial to see if we can make the evening happen. Playing in a back room, we had a great evening, with plenty of our regulars 'jumping ship' to the new venue to join us. Fingers crossed, we're hoping to make it every Tuesday from now on.

 

[martthebass]

48 minutes ago, casapete said:

First night at a new venue for my acoustic duo in Cottingham (near Hull). We had been resident every Tuesday at a nearby pub for nearly three years, which came to a rather abrupt end with a change in management. However, the landlord at a neighbouring pub 'The King Billy' has given us a months trial to see if we can make the evening happen. Playing in a back room, we had a great evening, with plenty of our regulars 'jumping ship' to the new venue to join us. Fingers crossed, we're hoping to make it every Tuesday from now on.

 

BTW Pete, I was at a local Jam in Rotherham last night with Mike Harris the drummer - asked me to pass on his best.

Edited October 10, 2018 by martthebass

[Phill]

Played with a Manic Street Preachers & Stereophonics tribute band on Saturday. Decent crowd, good band (old boys) but the singer was a bit off. Would start tracks on his own, chop & change the set as we went. I'm depping with them again next month, fingers crossed he doesn't do that again.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Phill
Spelling

[Stylon Pilson]

12 hours ago, Phill said:

I'm dipping with them again next month, fingers crossed he doesn't do that again.

I'd bet you a pound to a penny that he does do that again. Unless you have a word with him about it, of course.

S.P.

[Phill]

5 hours ago, Stylon Pilson said:

I'd bet you a pound to a penny that he does do that again. Unless you have a word with him about it, of course.

S.P.

I think so too, I'm only a dep so I think I'll have a word with the band first.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Phill

[lurksalot]

A pretty much empty pub tonight , but I guess the weather didn't help , it was truly awful . 

We played fine though , I have however given my notice , so it's either early December or a bit sooner if they get a replacement . Drums and singist are gutted , but understand my reasons , guitar didn't stay for the chat so I had to text him. 

[sonsman]

Last night was the first of two nights at Oktoberfest at Rougemont Castle, Exeter. Full stage rig, lights, PA and sound engineer provided so just back line to load in which was a change. Sound was good on stage and out front  but one of the guitarists was having issues from a crackling radio mic on his guitar which was fixed by going back to a good old cable. Over four hundred tickets had been sold so lots of lubricated punters but went down really well. We shared with an excellent oompah band who were great fun. Overnight security meant we could leave the back line and drums in situ so in theory we should just be able to plug in and play tonight. This evening is a sell out so no doubt it will be lively! 

[Pea Turgh]

A wedding, in a tent, at the seaside, in a storm!

Oxwich Bay Hotel is almost on the waterfront, and they have a marquee for weddings. The wind and rain were lashing down, with the sound of waves smashing against the rocks - it was exhilarating!

Thankfully the marquee was solid (and in a sheltered spot). The crowd were great, the sound guy was great, the buffet was great!  The venue has noise level restrictions, so electric drum kits only.  Our drummer is very loud and a rocky, so the look on his face when he saw his kit for the night (bottom of the range Roland) was priceless!

[Woodinblack]

One of our regular pubs, not too heaving because of the weather, but not empty either. Almost didn't happen because the guitarists baby was taken to A&E so we called it off, and then it was ok, so it was back on. Just long enough for the drummer to get drunk (it takes very little time). So timing was all over the place, although mainly way too fast. Still, I wanted to do it as I had the ashdown CTM100, and it was its first outing. I did have to turn it a long way up to get to the right volume, although when setting up one of the guys in the crowd said it was too loud, but I just told him he was a crazy man, as there was no such thing!

The gig went ok, I enjoyed the amp, it can sound rather nice cranked up!

[yorks5stringer]

Had my monthly 'LIve at the Wharf' gig last night.  House Band did  7 numbers, then a Ceilidh Band (Banned from the Moor) came on and did 6 , followed by a Jazz Singer Pianist (Kylie Borg) who did one song solo then the rest  with the  house band. 

House Band did Blue Chicken a 12 bar, Sweet Pea by Amos Lee, Billie Jean (Civil Wars version),Teach me Tonight  by Phoebe Snow, Yeh Yeh -Georgie Fame, Don't think Twice (it's alright Hailey Tuck version), Jolene by Ray Lamontagne, Nightingale-Norah Jones. and a big finale with both bands, This Train in bound for Glory-Old Crow Medicine Show et al.

I love the variety of the material, we have 2 quick rehearsals, a soundcheck and then live. Oh and a well-known 'Dragon' was in the audience too!

[yorks5stringer]

Theatre Gig tonight  in Street backing a local singer- keyboard player.

It was a Christian event and  had the use of an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 and Barefaced 2x12 cab which sounded nice on its own and great through the house PA.

Slightly incongruous set: Smooth Operator, Watermelon Man, I'm Coming Home Baby and Let's Twist Again!

This may be contentious but after hearing the worship band (who were very good) I think William Booth was right however.......!

[radiophonic]

We had a great night. The annual Oxjam Takeover in Nottingham. It was an evening where it easily could have crashed and burned but somehow everything just worked out, including:

1. According to the schedule, there was only 15 minutes to load all the drums and back-line in, set up and soundcheck after the acoustic acts had finished. Then the first proper band cancelled, so we sudden;y got an extra 40 minutes to load in.

2. Our drummer, who was providing the kit for two other bands, got held up in traffic. He also forgot his drum stool. See above. Extra 40 minute window. Everything started exactly on time and no-one over-ran. A bar chair sufficed.

3. There were no monitors. Fortunately, my old band were on straight after us and they had - randomly - brought monitors with them so we borrowed them.

4. As far as the actual set, we played averagely for us and only about 3 people present had ever heard us before or had any idea what to expect, it was very cramped on stage and we have a lot of pedals - but the place was rammed and our specific brand of epic atmospheric rock seemed to be exactly what they were in the mood for. Nobody noticed the mistakes except us. Lots of applause and cheering and general good vibes. There were even massed calls for an encore - we couldn't oblige due to the strict running time, but it was a good feeling. Somebody bought me a pint and we sold some CDs.

Overall a win for us.

 

[Graham]

Really good last night, it was a 50th birthday party in a marquee in the garden of a big, expensive house in Sussex.

The party guests loved us, to the point where they put a tip bucket round at the end of the night when we agreed to play on until half 12. After that I actually had a woman come up and offered me anotjer £200 to play for another hour, which I had to decline as our drummer was well past flagging by that point.

We only took about a ten minute break when the power dropped out and had to run another cable down from the house, so we played for over three hours, more or less non-stop.

The dancefloor was scaffolding boards suspended over the swimming pool, the floor was moving up and down like a bouncy castle a few times - no exageration, wish I'd filmed it - and I did wonder from some of the songs the singer called out if he was trying tip the punters into the pool; Chelsea Dagger particularly saw the floor moving.

[Telebass]

Goog gig at the Palladium Club in Bideford. Just a fun place to play!

[FinnDave]

3 hours ago, Telebass said:

Goog gig at the Palladium Club in Bideford. Just a fun place to play!

Good to know, I wrote to them a week or two ago asking if they were interested  in giving us a gig!

[Telebass]

2 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Good to know, I wrote to them a week or two ago asking if they were interested  in giving us a gig!

A bit like a time machine. Odd doorway in a back street. Cheap beer! Good stage with ample power points. If you use your own PA, you get 100% of the door.