stewblack Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Every time I try to sell my T'bird i make the mistake of playing it. Damn. What a sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Mine is up for sale at the moment. And in my gig bag ready to go out. And I am thinking, well, it isn't really worth selling, might as well hang on to it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalMan Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Good gig with the third stand in drummer whilst our regular drummer is in New Zealand for 6 months. Considering he’d had one full rehearsal and one minus vocals he’s done a great job and a lot of work to learn two sets + i think I probably made more mistakes than he did 🤭 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 First time out with a new band last night. They've played two gigs now including my debut. Never previously been in the situation of meeting my band mates for the first time at a gig and it went surprisingly well. Only real issue was when the singer shouted for a solo in random places and I was left guessing over which part of the song the solo was being played. No other instruments to follow so I was left trying to work out suitable backing based on what I was hearing from the guitar. The real drama came on the way home. Belt snapped as I negotiated absolutely filthy weather on the M4 meaning no power steering or heating, battery not being charged. I needed windscreen wipers and headlights and demister pretty much flat out. It was touch and go whether I'd make it home. In fact I really shouldn't have. Last two miles were achieved by turning off the lights each time I was forced to wipe the windscreen and I crawled up through the estate to my place with no lights at all. Thank god this happened this weekend not next, I've 3 gigs and many miles to travel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/338595-when-dancers-attack/ Last night's gig... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 (edited) Last night we were playing at a social club we hadn't played before. It was quite a lot of space but the band was round the corner from the bar which wasn't ideal. Not a huge audience but a couple of people came from the end to sit in sight, so that was nice, and some people danced at the end of the first half. At the half time, the drummers parents came in and his dad said 'oh busy weekend for you guys then, you are playing the foresters tomorrow I see'. Me and the guitarist looked at each other confused, no we aren't - well, you are on the board there. Checked calendar, nothing, looked for singer (who controls the calendar bookings), couldn't find him. The guitarist rings up the pub 'Hello, do you have a pub on tomorrow, oh good, what time is that? Yes, we will come and see them!', sure enough, we are there tomorrow (today) at 3:30. The singer came back, couldn't remember but later on admitted remembering organising a gig, but on searching the calendar couldn't find it! Rest of the gig was good, crowd were friendly, a few people asked for cards on the way out. So not much point unloading the car today! -- Next day - glad we found out about that, it was a good gig, seemed like it was a bit small and we would have to be quiet, but turned out we didn't, they liked us and booked us again for april at the end of the gig! Edited March 11, 2019 by Woodinblack 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 Last nights gig was at a Punk Weekender in Butlins, Minehead. We were on the Introducing Stage, where 4 bands who’ve not played the event before play, and the audience choose their fave, that band then go on to play the main stage next year with the big boys. Our set went really well, the place was pretty packed and the crowd were great, given the nature of our music it’s noisy but we could hear them singing along which was great. Plenty of them wearing our t-shirts too. Riotous applause at the end of the set, and we sold a great deal of merch. On the way back home we got the call telling us we’d won. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopsdabassist Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 Nice One Lozz, Knock Off really are a class act, well deserved!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Good work Lozz! We played the Star & Garter again last night. It wasn't the best turnout but by the time we went on there were probably 50 people, which isn't bad in a venue that size. We played well and went down really well... knackered now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 8 minutes ago, cheddatom said: Star & Garter again last night. Was that with Terminal Rage? Their bass player's girlfriend is our singer... And we played with them last week in Leominster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said: Was that with Terminal Rage? Their bass player's girlfriend is our singer... And we played with them last week in Leominster. Yes, they're great guys, we've played with them quite a few times. Raph was borrowing her TE head I believe, sounded awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Sunday gig at Rough Trade in Nottingham with Hurtsfall supporting Rodney Bakerr/ Strange Circuits. No the best organised event. Four bands (with completely different equipment requirements) playing in the space of 3 hours. We were told to be there for a 4.30 soundcheck, only to find no-one else there and the PA engineer didn't turn up until just after 5.00. In the end everything went surprising smoothly. Playing second, just before Strange Circuits, meant that we had the biggest audience of the evening and went down really well. Strange Circuits were as usual fantastic, even though it was a set full of brand new songs that I had't heard before. I felt a bit sorry for Video Tape Machine who "headlined" and would have played to almost no-one if we hadn't stayed to see them. We weren't allowed to use our smoke machine as it might have set off the fire alarm so the ambience isn't as "gothy" as usual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 No gigs until Saturday night. First gig since New Year's. We're losing a founding member and along with schedule conflicts because the BL has an acoustic duo act. The band leader stopped booking because of the difficulty in replacing a founding member who's leaving us in September, but he doesn't want to add anymore gigs to our schedule. This is an awful time for me. I'm the only retired person in the band. Well, It was a great 8 year run, can't ask for more than that. I won't be looking for another band. There are no bands in my area that gig consistently. All there are is " for fun " bands and bands that might gig once every 2 months. I have no interest in those kinds of bands. Blue 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Could you not start your own band Blue? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 5 minutes ago, Bluewine said: No gigs until Saturday night. First gig since New Year's. We're losing a founding member and along with schedule conflicts because the BL has an acoustic duo act. The band leader stopped booking because of the difficulty in replacing a founding member who's leaving us in September, but he doesn't want to add anymore gigs to our schedule. This is an awful time for me. I'm the only retired person in the band. Well, It was a great 8 year run, can't ask for more than that. I won't be looking for another band. There are no bands in my area that gig consistently. All there are is " for fun " bands and bands that might gig once every 2 months. I have no interest in those kinds of bands. Blue Sorry to hear this Blue. You've got the best attitude though, looking back on the good time you've had. I decided when I took on the bassist job with my current band that, when this band comes to an end that'll be the end of semi-pro gigging for me. Hopefully it'll be a while but I'm building up a nice portfolio of memories. All the best buddy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 22 hours ago, Oopsdabassist said: Nice One Lozz, Knock Off really are a class act, well deserved!! Cheers Russ 11 hours ago, cheddatom said: Good work Lozz! We played the Star & Garter again last night. It wasn't the best turnout but by the time we went on there were probably 50 people, which isn't bad in a venue that size. We played well and went down really well... knackered now! Nice one, I love that place, the gigs there are great, crowd always up for it. 11 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said: Was that with Terminal Rage? Their bass player's girlfriend is our singer... And we played with them last week in Leominster. 11 hours ago, cheddatom said: Yes, they're great guys, we've played with them quite a few times. Raph was borrowing her TE head I believe, sounded awesome! We also play a good few gigs with Terminal Rage and yes, Raphs girlfriends TE amp sounds amazing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Lozz196 said: a good few gigs with Terminal Rage What's your band? We're Choked.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seashell Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Had two gigs at the weekend with the Stones trib band that I regularly dep with. They've recently had a line up change, including adding a second guitarist. Saturday was his first outing with the band and the drummer (a good friend of mine) was also a dep, playing with them for the first time. We hadn't managed a rehearsal all together. So Saturday was a bit ropey tbh, and although the punters seemed to enjoy it, I shall draw a veil over the details of the evening. Suffice to say it wasn't my finest hour. Sunday was completely different! Same line-up, what a fantastic gig!! Everything just seemed to come together to make it a really stonking performance. The venue was a bar, very local to me, who often put on music including occasional Sunday afternoons. The place was completely rammed, everyone there had come for the sole purpose of seeing the band (and having a few drinks of course). The place was laid out so all seats were facing us, no screens playing football or any of that nonsense. Sound guy was a bloke well known to us, a performer himself and really excellent. Lovely support act, who stayed to listen to us right to the end. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a gig more. I felt like we were all playing out of our skins. I had several friends and acquaintances in, all of whom thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking out at the audience, every one of them seemed to be tapping their feet or singing along (no room for dancing, it was that packed!). The atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was friendly and having a good time (mostly over 40's of course, just like the band!) When we finished we couldn't move for people wanting to come up and shake us by the hand and buy us drinks. What was particularly pleasing was the number of women who came up to me and said how great it was to see a woman playing in a rock band and kicking a*se, especially in the same week as International Women's Day. I always reply 'You can do it too, it's never too late to learn - just go for it!' I would love to play with that line up again, we all really gelled. But with me and the drummer both being deps it's unlikely to happen all that often. Nevertheless a fantastic gig and I still feel high about it 24 hours later. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 20 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said: What's your band? We're Choked.... We’re Knock Off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HengistPod Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 The "feel-good" factor in here is getting a bit high, so here's what happened at our gig last week. We've played at this pub in Buckie before and had a very good night, so we thought we'd be on for a bit of fun this time. There was a small voice in the back of my head that reminded me that one good gig in a venue doesn't necessarily mean the next one will be too, but I forcibly ignored it and remained optimistic. We got there in plenty time, set up efficiently, I put up my newly wireless DMX-ed lights, made sure everything was working, berated the singer for never buying his own bloody gaffer tape, and we sat down for a minute. Turns out the bar manager was offshore, and the barmaid in charge came over with a query of "What sort of music do you guys play?". "Well, rocky kind of stuff mostly." Her reaction of "Oh, FFS, and I made sure I was working tonight - I should've taken the night off!" didn't bode well. Sensing forthcoming nit-picking, we started bang on time and proceeded through the usual set list of Stereophonics, Ultravox, Gary Moore and so on. This pub is set up so that the band is in a separate section from the bar, a couple of steps lower with a bannister separating, and with the band facing a wall rather than into the body of the kirk. So our singer was standing at 90 degrees to the rest of us in attempt to engage. From the corner of my eye I noticed said barmaid with her fingers in her ears and, sure enough, after half a dozen songs we were asked to turn down. Which we did, a little bit. Finished the first set. Deathly silence. A few seconds later, loud thumping dance music through the house system. Started the second set. A couple of geezers came over to watch and listen, and we thought we detected the odd clap on finishing a tune. An aged couple, at least in their 80s, came in. She proceeded to laugh, smile and dance enthusiastically while her husband glowered and made a show of poking his fingers down his auditory canals. The bar is licenced until 1am, which is when we stopped playing the last time . About 12.15am, a party of girls came in and approached the bar. I watched the barmaid shake her head and point to the clock, and they left again. At about 12.25, when we finished a song, she came up to us and told us "Just stop now, that's enough". To be fair, she was back within a few minutes with the full fee. As soon as that was done, the dance music went back on the jukebox. We took the money, packed up and went home without saying goodbye. Singer was a bit dis-heartened because he's a youngster who's never experienced that sort of gig before. Other than that, it's started off our "well, we won't be going back there" list. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 20 hours ago, Bluewine said: No gigs until Saturday night. First gig since New Year's. We're losing a founding member and along with schedule conflicts because the BL has an acoustic duo act. The band leader stopped booking because of the difficulty in replacing a founding member who's leaving us in September, but he doesn't want to add anymore gigs to our schedule. This is an awful time for me. I'm the only retired person in the band. Well, It was a great 8 year run, can't ask for more than that. I won't be looking for another band. There are no bands in my area that gig consistently. All there are is " for fun " bands and bands that might gig once every 2 months. I have no interest in those kinds of bands. Blue I think you've done well to last 8 years as a band Blue - in my experience, 4 years is generally good going for a covers band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Sorry to hear about your band problems Blue. Will you be ok? You have mentioned many times that you rely on the income. I hope things get easier for you. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 1 hour ago, HengistPod said: Finished the first set. Deathly silence. A few seconds later, loud thumping dance music through the house system. I've never undersdtood those venues that have a bit of a moan at your stage volume but then insist on filling the gap between sets with music which is far more intrusive and at a higher volume than you've just performed at. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 On 11/03/2019 at 15:36, Bluewine said: The band leader stopped booking because of the difficulty in replacing a founding member who's leaving us in September, but he doesn't want to add anymore gigs to our schedule. Still got a few months until September. Why is it so difficult to get someone if there are so few consistent gigging bands? I would think you would have people queuing up to join. On 11/03/2019 at 15:36, Bluewine said: I won't be looking for another band. There are no bands in my area that gig consistently. All there are is " for fun " bands and bands that might gig once every 2 months. I have no interest in those kinds of bands. Hope it works out better than you expect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 (edited) On 12/03/2019 at 13:16, Woodinblack said: Still got a few months until September. Why is it so difficult to get someone if there are so few consistent gigging bands? I would think you would have people queuing up to join. Lack of talent, our guitarist sang a lot of lead vocals,plays great blues harp, did all the bookings and his wife did all the administration ( paying the band, managing our website, Instagram and email campaigns) Plus a lot of guys don't like gigging a lot anymore. I have not been impressed with any of the guys that we've auditioned. Unprepared and no enthusiasm. Blue Edited March 16, 2019 by Bluewine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.