Stylon Pilson Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Great gig last night. A slight fly in the ointment a few minutes before we were due to go on, as I couldn't find my car keys. The rational part of my brain is saying "you do know that there's a 95% chance you've just done something stupid and they'll show up when you're packing away" but there's always a little part of you that starts to panic and worry about the worst case scenario. Managed to find them before we went on, which was nice because it would have distracted me otherwise. Fantastic gig, energetic audience. It was fairly warm so a lot of them were listening to us from outdoors, which is always a bit suboptimal, but I could see through the door from where I was and could definitely see them there, dancing and singing along. I think their demand for an encore was possibly the loudest and most prolonged that I've ever experienced - there's no way we could refuse to indulge them. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Minimal soundcheck. In fact, just a line check. For about 5 songs, I struggled to get enough clear bass from my amplifier onstage, which was my monitor really. It was not my own amplifier, but an Ampeg PF-something and a 410... which should have been ok. Then, something tripped the mains where I was plugged in. My pedalboard went dark and so did my amplifier. It was the end of a song, so it finished without bass. Soundguy came to see what was wrong. Sorted it. Then I realised... I had been playing with my amplifier muted. No wonder any tweaks I made to the controls made no difference! I was just hearing whatever bass bounced back from the FOH! :D Good job I knew the songs well and could play them without hearing myself much... :D 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontregartha Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 I've played big stages before, but not to crowds like this - two or three thousand folks, and they kept on coming - the Craft Beer Stage at the Silverstone F1 Grand Prix Campsite - Silverstone Woodlands with my 70s Disco Funk Band - FUN.K. Top sound guys - we couldn't get there early enough to do a sound check and had to make do with a line check during the 20 minute switchover between the bands - got the 10.00-11.30 Friday night slot and the crowd were on it big style singing and roaring for more. Still coming down. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 We opened for The Charlie Daniels Band last night. Great crowd, fun gig and we had a blast. When summer is over it's going to be hard going back to bar gigs. Blue 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Careful Blue, you're starting to smile in that photo! 👿 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 28 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: Careful Blue, you're starting to smile in that photo! 👿 That's a sarcastic smirk.😁 Blue 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staggering on Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 3 hours ago, dontregartha said: I've played big stages before, but not to crowds like this - two or three thousand folks, and they kept on coming - the Craft Beer Stage at the Silverstone F1 Grand Prix Campsite - Silverstone Woodlands with my 70s Disco Funk Band - FUN.K. Top sound guys - we couldn't get there early enough to do a sound check and had to make do with a line check during the 20 minute switchover between the bands - got the 10.00-11.30 Friday night slot and the crowd were on it big style singing and roaring for more. Still coming down. Now that sounds like a great gig. Lucky you!👏😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 We did Conkers Amphitheatre Arena near Ashby-de-la-Zouch on Saturday night. It’s an open air gig in a lakeside setting situated in The National Forest. Around 700 people attended, full capacity - we do the gig every year and this seemed the busiest yet. Fortunately the weather held out for us, as even though there are canopies it can be a bit miserable if wet for the audience. A great band opened up the gig, The Surfin’ Llamas. A good mix of ska and Northern soul tunes got the crowd really livened up early. Bassist Pete had a MM Bongo 5 string and Barefaced cabs, sounded really good and their sax player was fabulous. We came on around 8.45 and did one long 90 min set, which made a nice change for us. Crowd were up pretty much from the start, so it made for a memorable gig. Nice crew and PA too, and we got rebooked for next year so happy days. As we usually do theatre gigs, these sort of venues make a really nice change for us. We’ve got another one this coming Friday at Hampton Pool so already looking forward to that, just hope the weather is okay. We are on with a Blondie tribute too so should be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Bit of an odd one Saturday. One of the guitards arranged with a local venue that we could turn up early and use it to fine tune a few new songs we havent really had time to rehearse up properly yet. It was also an opportunity to try doing some digital recordings from the desk by either micing up or DI-ing most of the instruments. So I turned up at 1pm as instructed to find the stage area full of tools (no, not band members, actual power tools) and a bloke putting up framing to take rock wool that would be sound absorbing as they have had complaints about the noise from the people on the other side of the road. My heart sank for various reasons. Firstly that wrote off us setting up for a rehearsal, secondly they didnt tell us in enough time so that i could have stayed at home another 3 hours and looking at the task in hand and th espeed he was working I didnt see how he would get the job done in the 4 hours he said it would take him. So we unloaded as much gear as we could into the venue and went to guitards place for a BBQ which had also been planned into the day. Got back to venue at 7pm, sure enough no finished sound suppression in place so we were being nagged over and over not to get too loud (we are a classic rock covers band). Venue is an ex conservative club now refitted in a shabby chic kind of way but is basically a big open space with lots of hard surfaces, bare brock walles, big windows, girder joists in view. We had to sound check with the girl from behind the bar going out into the road in front of venue and giving us a thumbs up when we had turned down enough so as not to incur the wrath of the local NIMBY. Then the singer, who I'd asked days in advance to prepare a new setlist to his vocal preference, said he 'couldnt get to a printer' so there were no setlists. Then he hand wrote (without using capitals) in green marker pen and using abbreviations for songs that needed code breaking skills to decipher. These appeared just as we were about to go onstage. Then he still managed to change th erunning order halfway through first set. I'm the new boy with this lot so I'm trying to guage how long I need to be part of the furniture before I can kicking some derrières into gear without signing my own P45. I'm just not ready to go through the motions of auditioning again so they will have to do for the present but the shambolic organisation is bewildering at times and pretty much all avoidable with some advance thinking by a few band members. However the gig went OK, (level wise apparently we peaked at 106db but it didnt sound loud to us particularly) venue not packed but enough to keep it ticking over, especially since 2 band memebers had invited friends or had other halves in tow to get a bit of atmosphere going. Considering how little rehearsal we've got in recently we werent that bad, tighter than the previous gig a few weeks back and got some very positive feedback from a few punters as i was clearing away at the end. There is potential there but it requires more effort and a more professional attitude from some of them to get it to a higher level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 our gig Saturday went alright,so we are told. We missed it, I developed trigger thumb, our lead guitarer got an infected prostate and was peeing blood, then the day before our other guitarer got an infected root canal. Our drummer was OK and filled in for us with one his other bands,he is in 5 or 6 lol booker wasn't happy, oh well, scrub another venue off our list hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 58 minutes ago, KevB said: I'm the new boy with this lot so I'm trying to guage how long I need to be part of the furniture before I can kicking some derrières into gear without signing my own P45. Hate to be the bear of bad news (roar), but your situation is not a promising one. If the existing protocol within the band is to be very laid back and disorganised, then they won't take kindly to you trying to whip them into shape. The best that you can do is to offer to take on the responsibility of managing set lists yourself. This will go one of two ways - either the singer will refuse, because they want to stay in control, or they'll gladly accept, because they're willing to be told what to do if it means someone else is doing the hard thinking for them. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironkerton Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Played a bit of a weird one Saturday. On a stage I usually enjoy, in Sackville Gardens in Manchester, with a really big crowd on a sunny day. Sound guy insisted we only needed to line check which always puts me ill at ease. Get on stage and the bass amp isn't working - a small Ampeg combo - but before I can press a button he whips it away saying he doesn't want me to touch his equipment and I can go straight in the DI, gesturing at my set up saying to "do away with all that nonsense". Now usually I do have a board full of nonsense but for once it was just my tuner. Don't know what he'd have said if the full pedalboard had come out. I tried to say I needed my tuner in the line and he shouted at me. He can't get anything through the PA either so announces to the crowd that my bass is broken and shouts at me to "buy a proper one" whilst also shouting at me in general about my bass. It's a Rickenbacker 4003 but sure, random sound guy. I play the gig unable to hear the bass at all, but have a lovely time regardless. Get back to our rehearsal place to find out - shock horror - the bass is absolutely fine. A lesson to festivals to book actual sound techs and not just blokes who can just about manage to press play on a playback track. I also had a horrible bug and had completely lost my voice so couldn't do backing tracks either. Have to say though in decades of gigging I haven't met anyone who shouted at me before so most people are good eggs. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 46 minutes ago, ironkerton said: Played a bit of a weird one Saturday. On a stage I usually enjoy, in Sackville Gardens in Manchester, with a really big crowd on a sunny day. Sound guy insisted we only needed to line check which always puts me ill at ease. Get on stage and the bass amp isn't working - a small Ampeg combo - but before I can press a button he whips it away saying he doesn't want me to touch his equipment and I can go straight in the DI, gesturing at my set up saying to "do away with all that nonsense". Now usually I do have a board full of nonsense but for once it was just my tuner. Don't know what he'd have said if the full pedalboard had come out. I tried to say I needed my tuner in the line and he shouted at me. He can't get anything through the PA either so announces to the crowd that my bass is broken and shouts at me to "buy a proper one" whilst also shouting at me in general about my bass. It's a Rickenbacker 4003 but sure, random sound guy. I play the gig unable to hear the bass at all, but have a lovely time regardless. Get back to our rehearsal place to find out - shock horror - the bass is absolutely fine. A lesson to festivals to book actual sound techs and not just blokes who can just about manage to press play on a playback track. I also had a horrible bug and had completely lost my voice so couldn't do backing tracks either. Have to say though in decades of gigging I haven't met anyone who shouted at me before so most people are good eggs. I admire your restraint... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 (edited) Last night. Played a lovely venue on the river. Nice owners, great welcome. good crowd. We were told they'd all be gone by 9.30 as it was a Sunday night. Still dancing on the road at 11.00 PM. We were all shattered from the night before and it felt quite subdued on stage but we actually played better than the previous night. Three "this is definitely the last song" encores with the last being an extended Pride, in the name of love. Smashed it. Think it's our new final number. They went crazy. Edited July 15, 2019 by leschirons Spelling 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopsdabassist Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Played my favourite pub In Stony Stratford for the 1st time with current band, but they had us setting up in the bay window opposite the bar rather than out the back where there is more room. Although it was cramped, the atmosphere was great, and turn out was great as Silverstone is only up the road. A hot and sweaty night and it made a change to see the whites of the bars staffs eyes!! I also have a FB vid to show off, but someone has stuck some titles on it too...which was nice! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said: I admire your restraint... Me too, he'd have an @rsehole shaped like a 4003 if he'd spoken to me like that. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delamitri79 Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Did a wedding in a castle on sat night here in Ireland. Savage venue and great crowd. Half Irish, half Scottish. Brilliant dance moves on show 😂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Had a punter trying to give the band a tray full of shots while we were playing. We were actually mid song and he was trying to hand them out. During the break a barmaid told us a punter had got a round in for us. Great, we thought, so we started to tell her what drinks we wanted. 'No' she said 'he's already ordered them'. Oh. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 5 hours ago, ironkerton said: Sound guy insisted we only needed to line check which always puts me ill at ease. Get on stage and the bass amp isn't working - a small Ampeg combo - but before I can press a button he whips it away saying he doesn't want me to touch his equipment and I can go straight in the DI. For me, this usually occurs at poorly organized events with low end management and staff. I've been through the same thing many times. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironkerton Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 2 hours ago, BreadBin said: Me too, he'd have an @rsehole shaped like a 4003 if he'd spoken to me like that. I'd entirely lost my voice otherwise restraint would have been absent! I was more annoyed he was telling the audience that my gear was anything but in good nick than not being heard haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 17 hours ago, ironkerton said: Played a bit of a weird one Saturday. On a stage I usually enjoy, in Sackville Gardens in Manchester, with a really big crowd on a sunny day. Sound guy insisted we only needed to line check which always puts me ill at ease. Get on stage and the bass amp isn't working - a small Ampeg combo - but before I can press a button he whips it away saying he doesn't want me to touch his equipment and I can go straight in the DI, gesturing at my set up saying to "do away with all that nonsense". Now usually I do have a board full of nonsense but for once it was just my tuner. Don't know what he'd have said if the full pedalboard had come out. I tried to say I needed my tuner in the line and he shouted at me. He can't get anything through the PA either so announces to the crowd that my bass is broken and shouts at me to "buy a proper one" whilst also shouting at me in general about my bass. It's a Rickenbacker 4003 but sure, random sound guy. I play the gig unable to hear the bass at all, but have a lovely time regardless. Get back to our rehearsal place to find out - shock horror - the bass is absolutely fine. A lesson to festivals to book actual sound techs and not just blokes who can just about manage to press play on a playback track. I also had a horrible bug and had completely lost my voice so couldn't do backing tracks either. Have to say though in decades of gigging I haven't met anyone who shouted at me before so most people are good eggs. Serves you right for not having a 'proper' bass. You know that it's got to be a Precision....tsk. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 20 hours ago, ironkerton said: Played a bit of a weird one Saturday. On a stage I usually enjoy, in Sackville Gardens in Manchester, with a really big crowd on a sunny day. Sound guy insisted we only needed to line check which always puts me ill at ease. Get on stage and the bass amp isn't working - a small Ampeg combo - but before I can press a button he whips it away saying he doesn't want me to touch his equipment and I can go straight in the DI, gesturing at my set up saying to "do away with all that nonsense". Now usually I do have a board full of nonsense but for once it was just my tuner. Don't know what he'd have said if the full pedalboard had come out. I tried to say I needed my tuner in the line and he shouted at me. He can't get anything through the PA either so announces to the crowd that my bass is broken and shouts at me to "buy a proper one" whilst also shouting at me in general about my bass. It's a Rickenbacker 4003 but sure, random sound guy. I play the gig unable to hear the bass at all, but have a lovely time regardless. Get back to our rehearsal place to find out - shock horror - the bass is absolutely fine. A lesson to festivals to book actual sound techs and not just blokes who can just about manage to press play on a playback track. I also had a horrible bug and had completely lost my voice so couldn't do backing tracks either. Have to say though in decades of gigging I haven't met anyone who shouted at me before so most people are good eggs. I've walked out for less. :( Technical difficulties, I deal with. Attitudes... you'd better be paying me handsomely or keep it at home. I admire your restraint. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 1 hour ago, mcnach said: I've walked out for less. Technical difficulties, I deal with. Attitudes... you'd better be paying me handsomely or keep it at home. I admire your restraint. I like it mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 (edited) I refer you all to......sorry couldn’t resist it. Edited July 16, 2019 by martthebass 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Pah, Henry Rollings. If he started that sh!t with me I'd kick his @ss. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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