How was your gig last night?

[Slappindabass]

Like this😁🤣

[Slappindabass]

Just an open mic really!

[Staggering on]

Fun gig with the seven piece "little big band" yesterday at an elementary school. We played a few songs including some Christmas music and then got to sit in with the school band and play along with about twenty-five kids aged 13 and 14. The best part was watching the kindergarten kids(age 5) up on the stage as they sang through Rudolph, Jingle Bells and We Wish You A Merry Christmas complete with actions.Brought a tear to my eye as I recalled seeing my son and his classmates doing the same thing some thirty-five years ago, quite a magic moment and the little concert put me in a better mood for the Christmas season.

 

[12stringbassist]

Not MY gig, but it was fabulous....

[Staggering on]

Jazz quartet gig playing for cocktail time at the local lawyers association Christmas party.We did this gig last year and it was a repeat booking at the same venue which was the bar area (small) at a golf club.At the 6:00 start time a couple of people arrived and by 6:15 the place was jam packed with about eighty lawyers and guests trying to get as drunk as possible as fast as possible.

We just played on although I have no idea what it sounded like.We did our usual fare and a few Christmas songs and treated it as a paid rehearsal.The crowd was so loud in the small space that it was hard to hear the leader when he called the tunes, same as last year so we were prepared.We played straight through for just under 90 minutes when they were called to the dining room and our work was done.

Full pay for a three hour gig and we played half of that and were on our way home and even managed to sample a few of the finger foods the guests were served.My ears are still ringing and it's not from the band.A few people did come over and said how much they enjoyed the music but I wonder what they could hear, sometimes you just have to take it as it is and keep going and smile.I used my Yamaha SLB 200 instead of my DB due to the very small area for the band and it sounded great as usual.

[Rich]

Our xmas gig at a comedy/music venue in Briz. I only played the second set, due to my ongoing wrist ligament problems; our multi-instrumentalist git MD played bass on the 1st. He also took the encores, where I sang lead vocal on Try A Little Tenderness. It was the last gig with our current superb drummer Maff and also one of the ladysingers Sian. She's my bestest mate in the band and has a truly awesome voice, I'm going to really miss her Lots of fun and a great night tinged with sadness.

[Bluewine]

On 13/12/2018 at 14:49, 12stringbassist said:

Not MY gig, but it was fabulous....

CT, my guys!

Blue

[Stylon Pilson]

Last night's gig was at a pub in Ascot. It was a great night - after two gigs in a row with not much of a crowd, I was starting to worry that we were doing something wrong, but last night was excellent and has restored my self-confidence. We had a couple of Christmas songs in the set, which didn't get quite as enthusiastic a response as I would have expected, but I was happy that they sounded good. We had some spectacularly drunk people in our audience - on the one hand it's good because they inject a certain energy into the room, but then on the flip side they do have a tendency to try and talk to you between songs. I don't think I've ever played a gig where there have been quite as many song requests!

For next weekend I think I'm going to drape some fairy lights over my bass cab for the full seasonal experience.

S.P.

[vmaxblues]

Fab!

 

[stewblack]

Depped in a function band in Warminster. Curiously quiet for a place usually heaving. Bunch of Christmas songs added to the set which was an interesting challenge as I'd not played them before and the rest of the band were fairly new to then too but all went well.

Only one gig left now this year. Unless something last minute comes in. Here's hoping.

[colleya]

Another fun gig at the Bowling Green in Horwich. Got to fire up the new stingray for the first time too. Took me a while to adjust to the neck profile, weight etc but the second set was one of the best we've done.

Turns out that it doesn't matter how much you rehearse, spend time hunting for just the right gear/tone, get your parts down exactly as per the 'live from the Dog & Doris '77' album. If you want to get noticed then whack a set of pink strings on your bass. Job done.

Pub was so full of Xmas punters that I couldn't get past to get out for fresh air at half time!

Also excellent to catch up with fellow basschatter @Pirellithecat. Nice to see you again buddy, thanks for coming down.

 

[paul_c2]

I play in a couple of different groups etc and this Christmas had 5 xmas gigs of various detail, some on French horn too. But the main one which I'd been planning for, any worrying over, was Chester Big Band's first appearance at Storyhouse. Organising ~25 people is a not insignificant task. A time-change late on and various other factors made the run up to the gig fairly stressful for me! The guy who was due to do the sound had to pull out at short notice and we actually ended up pretty much buying a PA a few days before the gig - and I had to do the PA setup as well as the bass stuff. But, we had the gig today and it went brilliantly, it was fairly busy and all positive feedback so far; and hopefully some more work to come off this one too.

My personal highlight was doing the (famous) solo line in the James Bond theme. Without a thorough soundcheck I had to guess at the setting on my boost pedal, I overdid it and because of the way I hammer (literally) the strings to achieve the kind of twang tone, I ended up filling the Storyhouse with slightly overdriven bass/solo riff!

[dontregartha]

After a week on the lash with several work dos and starting to come down with a cold, I was a bit jaded this weekend.

Friday started with an MK pub gig at the Eager Poet in Neath Hill - despite our facebook campaign, the pub didn't really advertise so we ended up with about 80 in the room - completely knackered afterwards, but it's just up the road from me so I was home by 1.15am.

Saturday - the weather was cold, I was cold and we were squeezing past the punters in the Walnut Tree, Blissworth, a pub- restaurant/hotel/function venue. The place was busy and when we got going I went onto auto pilot - our dep drummer was there in the audience and said my bass was 'spot on' - just proves you don't always have to be 'in the room'  

Half way through the second half, a middle aged lady in a long spangly trouser suit did a spectacular vomit all over the floor by the bar where the folks from the Christmas party where walking through. It took ages before one of the staff turned up with the mop - and the band played on! 

At the end I was seriously knackered and only just managed to finish the load out.

Listening to the recording just now - the band sounds great and very tight.

Just two more gigs before Christmas.

[Pirellithecat]

1 hour ago, colleya said:

Another fun gig at the Bowling Green in Horwich. Got to fire up the new stingray for the first time too. Took me a while to adjust to the neck profile, weight etc but the second set was one of the best we've done.

Turns out that it doesn't matter how much you rehearse, spend time hunting for just the right gear/tone, get your parts down exactly as per the 'live from the Dog & Doris '77' album. If you want to get noticed then whack a set of pink strings on your bass. Job done.

Pub was so full of Xmas punters that I couldn't get past to get out for fresh air at half time!

Also excellent to catch up with fellow basschatter @Pirellithecat. Nice to see you again buddy, thanks for coming down.

 

Yep, the pink strings coupled with the facial expressions were brilliant!!

Really good to see the band in action and the Stingray sounded really, really good - great cut-through, and nice sustain - bloody good (I guess it might have had something to do with the guy playing it though).  Sadly we had to go half-way through the second set but glad we popped along.  And yes, the bass was sounding damn fine when we left!    

[colleya]

1 hour ago, Pirellithecat said:

Yep, the pink strings coupled with the facial expressions were brilliant!

Cheers buddy, I've been working hard on my bass face! Glad the ray sounded good out in the room too, never easy to tell when you're up close with earplugs in.

[Bluewine]

On 15/12/2018 at 10:54, Stylon Pilson said:

Last night's gig was at a pub in Ascot. It was a great night - after two gigs in a row with not much of a crowd, I was starting to worry that we were doing something wrong, but last night was excellent and has restored my self-confidence. We had a couple of Christmas songs in the set, which didn't get quite as enthusiastic a response as I would have expected, but I was happy that they sounded good. We had some spectacularly drunk people in our audience - on the one hand it's good because they inject a certain energy into the room, but then on the flip side they do have a tendency to try and talk to you between songs. I don't think I've ever played a gig where there have been quite as many song requests!

For next weekend I think I'm going to drape some fairy lights over my bass cab for the full seasonal experience.

S.P.

All it takes is one good gig to get the band confidence up again.

Blue

[rushscored4]

1 hour ago, colleya said:

Cheers buddy, I've been working hard on my bass face! Glad the ray sounded good out in the room too, never easy to tell when you're up close with earplugs in.

I know the Bowling Green but never played there. What's your band called? I'll look out for you and pop down if I'm not gigging myself. I'm in a Manchester / Stockport covers band called the (mighty) Reform.

[stewblack]

7 hours ago, paul_c2 said:

I play in a couple of different groups etc and this Christmas had 5 xmas gigs of various detail, some on French horn too. But the main one which I'd been planning for, any worrying over, was Chester Big Band's first appearance at Storyhouse. Organising ~25 people is a not insignificant task. A time-change late on and various other factors made the run up to the gig fairly stressful for me! The guy who was due to do the sound had to pull out at short notice and we actually ended up pretty much buying a PA a few days before the gig - and I had to do the PA setup as well as the bass stuff. But, we had the gig today and it went brilliantly, it was fairly busy and all positive feedback so far; and hopefully some more work to come off this one too.

My personal highlight was doing the (famous) solo line in the James Bond theme. Without a thorough soundcheck I had to guess at the setting on my boost pedal, I overdid it and because of the way I hammer (literally) the strings to achieve the kind of twang tone, I ended up filling the Storyhouse with slightly overdriven bass/solo riff!

That looks like all kinds of joy. I'd kill for just one or two brass players look how many you have!

 

[colleya]

13 hours ago, rushscored4 said:

I know the Bowling Green but never played there. What's your band called? I'll look out for you and pop down if I'm not gigging myself. I'm in a Manchester / Stockport covers band called the (mighty) Reform.

We're called Jump The Shark (a TV reference for a show that is past its prime and has to rely on desperate gimmicks to get attention - thought it suited us well!). Based in South Manchester too.

Facebook.com/jumpthesharkband

I've heard of you guys as well, is Tony your singer?

Edited December 17, 2018 by colleya

[seashell]

10 o'clock yesterday morning and I was just up and pottering around the flat when I received a phone call..  could I dep with a Rolling Stones trib band, performing that very afternoon?  Load in time, 1pm!!  I madly said yes.

I depped with this band for a few gigs over the summer and really enjoyed it and I got to know the songs really well. However, I hadn't played any of them since the end of August and I didn't really feel 'match fit'.  Still, it seems they were desperate. There had been some sort of falling out the night before, leading to the departure of both bass player and drummer.  

The gig was a 'Rock n Roll Circus' event, featuring a John Lennon trib, a Who trib and the Stones trib 'headlining'.  I had in fact intended to go along to watch with a few friends, so I  had to let them know I'd be going on ahead and actually playing!!  The Who drummer agreed to be both Keith Moon and Charlie Watts for the night 🙂

It was a smashing afternoon. There was an MC all dressed up like a ring master and a very good magician doing conjouring tricks with balls (steady, discreet!) which all added to the rock on roll circus atmosphere. However, I felt very nervous as I was completely unrehearsed and was just hoping that it would all come flooding back.  As we were last on, my nerves just grew throughout the afternoon.  When I got up to play I decided not to do anything flashy, just concentrate on trying to remember it all, and to stay at the back and not to try to move around much. A pretty good Bill Wyman impression then, haha! 🙂

Afterwards everyone was very complimentary, especially the 'John Lennon' who I know slightly but who hadn't see me play rock n roll before. So I took that as the biggest compliment, as he made a point of coming up to speak to me. However I felt I had only just got through by the skin of my teeth and delivered quite an array of bum notes!  Saw some vids of it on line today though, and I didn't sound as bad as I thought, so that was a relief.

Looks like I'll be doing another one on Friday!! I'll be better prepared this time though 🙂

I love my life 🙂 🙂

 

 

[KevB]

Excellent stuff, looking forward to the full story tomorrow. Shame they couldnt have sorted a Tull trib with a faking it Tony Iommi as part of the package😊

[seashell]

26 minutes ago, KevB said:

Excellent stuff, looking forward to the full story tomorrow. Shame they couldnt have sorted a Tull trib with a faking it Tony Iommi as part of the package😊

Haha, yes indeed! They were playing the Rock n Roll circus film silently on a screen and it was the first time that I'd realised that Tony Iommi had played with Tull for that!

Will supply you with all the gory details tomorrow, Kev!

[Dad3353]

5 hours ago, seashell said:

...The Who drummer agreed to be both Keith Moon and Charlie Watts for the night ...

The very epitome of schizophrenia..! Couldn't be more divers..! 

Well done on, firstly, getting the gig in the first place, and, secondly, doing yourself proud in nailing it. Sock it to 'em again (and again, and again...). Good Stuff. 

[seashell]

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

The very epitome of schizophrenia..! Couldn't be more divers..! 

Well done on, firstly, getting the gig in the first place, and, secondly, doing yourself proud in nailing it. Sock it to 'em again (and again, and again...). Good Stuff. 

Haha, yes. He's more of a Keith than a Charlie tbh, but kudos to him for stepping in! 

And thanks for your kind words, Doug ☺️

[rushscored4]

13 hours ago, colleya said:

We're called Jump The Shark (a TV reference for a show that is past its prime and has to rely on desperate gimmicks to get attention - thought it suited us well!). Based in South Manchester too.

Facebook.com/jumpthesharkband

I've heard of you guys as well, is Tony your singer?

Yes Tony Grimes who also runs Interfuture Entertainment, I think we may have had this conversation before!