How was your gig last night?

[alant]

Pub gig last night where we had played earlier this year. Only a small audience but were appreciative so not a bad night overall.

 

[Merton]

Last night was the debut of my new pub rock band. We do songs we like, rather than all the old cliches*, so it’s a bit of an experiment, but we went down well and had a blast.
 

*we had to throw a few cliches in of course but mostly we are doing new bands, or less well-known songs by well known bands.

 

Two weeks ago our drummist broke his leg, so our second guitarist, the sickeningly talented git that he is, moved across to drums. Meant one guitar only but I managed to fill the sound out because my rig is stupidly loud and fat. Sorry everyone in Reigate, if you’re deaf this morning that was my fault 😳

 

 

[Mickeyboro]

3 minutes ago, Merton said:

Last Sorry everyone in Reigate, if you’re deaf this morning that was my fault 😳

 

 

You what?😈

[dmccombe7]

I could hear you in Biggar, i thought it was a long train passing. 

Dave

[Merton]

15 minutes ago, Mickeyboro said:

You what?😈

4 or 5 I think 😆

Edited September 3, 2022 by Merton

[casapete]

Three gigs for me this week. 

 

Tuesday was the acoustic duo's monthly gig at a local pub. Very humid night but we got some great requests, most of which we managed, although had to admit to not doing 'Rosanna' by Toto!

 

Thursday was at Mansfield Palace Theatre, a great venue and sold out too. Our first band gig back after a summer break so we were all a bit worried but actually went okay. Some monitoring issues fortunately didn't manage to spoil it for us, and happy faces all around. I got a bit of an ache in my left hand, but think it's because I've not played 2 x1 hour sets for a while.

 

Then last night we were at one of my favourite venues, Buxton Opera House. Played here many times and always loved it.

Again, had some monitoring issues with the in ears ( not for me as still use a wedge - caveman etc.) but our great crew managed to get it sorted. Also some issues with the guitar and bass emitting a HF noise, which was eventually tracked down to the air con! Once turned off it was problem solved. Unfortunately for the capacity crowd it made for a rather sweaty evening, but went down a storm so all seemed fine.

The venue staff are a pleasure to work with here, and we'll hopefully be back again in 2023.

 

Tomorrow (Sunday) we are playing the Fields of Gold Festival at Ashton-Under-Lyne, Manchester. Hoping the weather is kind to us, as it's a long day - setting off at 8am. Plenty of bands on so should be a nice change for us.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by casapete
Spelling

[Mickeyboro]

This is, of course, the wonderful ELO Experience. Once seen, never forgotten. 
 

Folks, it’s always worth giving the name of the band so newcomers or people with little memory (like me) can investigate further. Don't be shy!
 

 

[casapete]

1 minute ago, Mickeyboro said:

This is, of course, the wonderful ELO Experience. Once seen, never forgotten. 
 

Folks, it’s always worth giving the name of the band so newcomers or people with little memory (like me) can investigate further. Don't be shy!
 

 

Bless you Mick, my bad! Thanks. 

[dmccombe7]

37 minutes ago, Mickeyboro said:

This is, of course, the wonderful ELO Experience. Once seen, never forgotten. 
 

Folks, it’s always worth giving the name of the band so newcomers or people with little memory (like me) can investigate further. Don't be shy!
 

 

100% agree.

ELO Experience one of the best bands i've ever seen.

If you get a chance go and see them. The girls on cello are brilliant, bopping away and singing along all night.

The full band is superb

Dave 

[Old Horse Murphy]

Not last night but the night before. We had a gig in a local pub and I decided to take my old P Bass that I've had for 30-odd years as I'd not gigged it in a while and I really miss gigging with a simple P Bass. 
 

No names and no pack drill, but when we arrived the bar staff and most of the clientele were already one past the eight. We were told where to set up and that all windows and doors needed to be kept closed while we were playing. It was a bit stuffy but okay, we'd cope (I had my Beyoncé fan with me so I didn't mind too much). 
 

Sadly I drew the short straw and had to set up by the door to the beer garden which was in heavy use with smokers etc. all night. As a result I decided that I'd probably play without my pedalboard to keep the gangway clear. No major issues as apart from a bit of compression and maybe a bit of Octave I'd cope. 
 

It was a good gig and I played the P Bass all night, alternating with my Five String and it was just great fun, although all the time the P Bass was on its stand when I was playing the Fiver, and also when we took a break I was internally panicking in case anyone stole it.
 

It was completely irrational but because it was close to the door I just couldn't relax and every time I've used it in similar circumstances I've been really worried about it (not that it's a vintage one or worth a great deal of money). It actually spoilt a good night for me and I don't think I'll use it again other than for recording or for functions when we have a stage and/or more space.  
 

Anyway, it was a good gig and I bought a kebab on the way home and ate it on a bench. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Old Horse Murphy

[FinnDave]

Wirebirds gig in Witney tonight, outside but with a hastily erected gazebo in case the few spots of rain as we were setting up came to anything, They didn't so we had a fair sized audience outside with us. No set list, we just let the guitarist start and bass and drums join in. Very enjoyable playing as a three piece - even when the PA broke down. It was the venue's kit, not ours, so we carried on with instrumental versions until a knowledgable member of the audience managed to coax it back into life.

 

Played a bunch of familiar material from the last nine years with the band, plus at least one that neither the drummer nor I recognised, but bluffed our way through it. As always with this band, we were flying by the seat of our pants and often close to falling off the edge, but always managed to keep going. We used our new lights for the first time (there were no old lights!) and they made a real difference. Real party atmosphere outside a small bar in Witney. I think it's our fourth time there this summer.

 

I played my 2010 US Standard Precision though an Orange Little Bass Thing and a Barefaced Super Compact. Plenty of volume and punch.

 

Next gig is out near Swindon in a week's time.

 

 

[dmccombe7]

Emergency Exit punk gig last night. (freebie) Was a weird one. It was to honour a friend of the band who passed away during covid and the family asked if we would play as she was a big fan of the band. This was before i joined. Large fancy hotel gig with all the women wearing party frocks / dresses. That was a sign that we were not an ideal band for this kind of gig.

1st set was quiet with hardly anyone dancing but we were getting plenty of clapping, whistles and cheering after every song. (maybe not enough drink involved yet).

2nd set saw a big change with some songs filling the floor and then all of a sudden we were back to 5 or 6 dancers.

By the end of the set we had quite a few back on the floor for most songs and we got an encore but it was hard work at the start.

Using my trusty Sandberg Marlowe and my Mesa Mpulse and Subway 210/115 cabs.

Hopefully we wont be asked to do that again.

Dave

Edited September 4, 2022 by dmccombe7

[lownote]

The Cruisers, at Loddon Social Club in Norfolk.  Audience:  one.  And two WAGs. and a couple that walked in and straight out again. 

[wateroftyne]

Lindisfarne Festival, Northumberland. Lively.
 

 

[Franticsmurf]

I had a last minute dep gig last night in a working men's club in the Welsh mining valleys. My mate, (ex-singer of the current band) has his own trio with him and a female singer fronting, and usually a second guitarist. No drums, 75% backing tracks and from previous experience I knew it would be largely busking with random songs and arrangements - it's why he was 'allowed' to leave the band (😀) as he could never stick to the set list and would change songs around on the fly, or even announce completely new ones to the consternation of the rest of us. It was a long drive in the rain but with the help of the lovely lady in the sat nav box, I arrived outside the club to recognise it as somewhere I'd played around 20 years ago with the same singer in a three piece band. Easy load in straight onto a large, well lit stage but the changing room had no lighting. The stage lighting for the acts was great - they even had some kind of laser projector (or a simulated one) which painted little red dots onto the stage. Several times during the gig I noticed that the other two had red dots on their foreheads as if they were being targeted by a sniper. It would have been amazing if they'd had a fog machine to highlight the light beams.

 

I decided to use the gig to try out a couple of new pedals and my small TCE BAM200 head - I've used the head in rehearsals but not at gig volumes and as it's my spare for gigs, I thought I ought to make sure it was up to the job. I used my TE 1x12 and Warwick 1x12 cabs. I knew I'd be having to cut through some pretty full backing tracks so I had a recently acquired EHX Bass Soul Food pedal set to give a bit of grit. I was playing my Stingray 34HH and the combination worked as I had hoped. I also had IEM so I could hear the tracks and my singing (the bass wasn't going through the PA, by choice). 

 

The gig itself was ok. Right from the off there was a horrible rumbling buzz from the PA just low enough that we could get away it with once we'd found we couldn't identify the source. A few songs in I realised it wasn't in my IEM so it wasn't us. (It was a loose connection from the laptop the DJ had been using going through the house PA which hadn't been turned off - we got it fixed). I knew most of the songs, managed to busk most of the rest and managed to cope with the strange versions of songs the guitarist played (he tends to simplify some songs and for some reason changed the key of Hotel California on a whim). The only one that really threw me was 'American Pie' so rather than make pathetic off key noises as I tried to find the roots, I turned the volume down and did my best TOTP mime act. 😀

 

The audience were enjoying and interacting with us but there were only a few dancers, although there was a lot of singing along to the Eagles songs we played.

 

As an aside, I used to love playing the working men's clubs in the Welsh valleys years ago as they were usually lovely old buildings with the original decor and fittings, nice changing rooms and polite audiences who appreciated (if not liked) what we were doing. Sadly a lot of these clubs have closed over the years, some not surviving Covid, and those that made it have been 'renovated' and had their charm removed or covered over with suspended ceilings. Last night's venue still had hints of its past but only if you looked hard. In the first photo below there's an ornate frame on the far wall. I suspect it once surrounded a large mirror which, along with others along both walls, would have made the place look larger.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dmccombe7]

8 minutes ago, Franticsmurf said:

I had a last minute dep gig last night in a working men's club in the Welsh mining valleys. My mate, (ex-singer of the current band) has his own trio with him and a female singer fronting, and usually a second guitarist. No drums, 75% backing tracks and from previous experience I knew it would be largely busking with random songs and arrangements - it's why he was 'allowed' to leave the band (😀) as he could never stick to the set list and would change songs around on the fly, or even announce completely new ones to the consternation of the rest of us. It was a long drive in the rain but with the help of the lovely lady in the sat nav box, I arrived outside the club to recognise it as somewhere I'd played around 20 years ago with the same singer in a three piece band. Easy load in straight onto a large, well lit stage but the changing room had no lighting. The stage lighting for the acts was great - they even had some kind of laser projector (or a simulated one) which painted little red dots onto the stage. Several times during the gig I noticed that the other two had red dots on their foreheads as if they were being targeted by a sniper. It would have been amazing if they'd had a fog machine to highlight the light beams.

 

I decided to use the gig to try out a couple of new pedals and my small TCE BAM200 head - I've used the head in rehearsals but not at gig volumes and as it's my spare for gigs, I thought I ought to make sure it was up to the job. I used my TE 1x12 and Warwick 1x12 cabs. I knew I'd be having to cut through some pretty full backing tracks so I had a recently acquired EHX Bass Soul Food pedal set to give a bit of grit. I was playing my Stingray 34HH and the combination worked as I had hoped. I also had IEM so I could hear the tracks and my singing (the bass wasn't going through the PA, by choice). 

 

The gig itself was ok. Right from the off there was a horrible rumbling buzz from the PA just low enough that we could get away it with once we'd found we couldn't identify the source. A few songs in I realised it wasn't in my IEM so it wasn't us. (It was a loose connection from the laptop the DJ had been using going through the house PA which hadn't been turned off - we got it fixed). I knew most of the songs, managed to busk most of the rest and managed to cope with the strange versions of songs the guitarist played (he tends to simplify some songs and for some reason changed the key of Hotel California on a whim). The only one that really threw me was 'American Pie' so rather than make pathetic off key noises as I tried to find the roots, I turned the volume down and did my best TOTP mime act. 😀

 

The audience were enjoying and interacting with us but there were only a few dancers, although there was a lot of singing along to the Eagles songs we played.

 

As an aside, I used to love playing the working men's clubs in the Welsh valleys years ago as they were usually lovely old buildings with the original decor and fittings, nice changing rooms and polite audiences who appreciated (if not liked) what we were doing. Sadly a lot of these clubs have closed over the years, some not surviving Covid, and those that made it have been 'renovated' and had their charm removed or covered over with suspended ceilings. Last night's venue still had hints of its past but only if you looked hard. In the first photo below there's an ornate frame on the far wall. I suspect it once surrounded a large mirror which, along with others along both walls, would have made the place look larger.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

It always amazes me how some of you guys can dep at the last minute. Huge respect, i couldn't do that without some practice at home beforehand.

Best i've managed was 2-3 weeks before a gig altho the songs were all new to me.

Dave

[Franticsmurf]

26 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

It always amazes me how some of you guys can dep at the last minute.

Thanks Dave. In a way I cheated - I'd been playing with the singer/guitarist for years, although not in this line-up. I knew pretty much what he would do (although as I said he can be unpredictable). I spoke to the girl singer (whom I also know) and she gave me a list of songs that could be done on the night along with keys. I'd say 50% of the set I'd played before in some form, perhaps 30% I was able to go through in the afternoon and make notes and 20% was 'wtf?'😀 I only failed on 'American Pie' and one of today's chores is to familiarise myself with in just in case. (I may be depping for the same line-up in two weeks).

 

The hardest part was on the songs where backing tracks weren't being used - the singer/guitarist tends to play his own arrangements which vary each time.  In the past it has sometimes felt as if he's doing it deliberately as challenge to those playing with him - albeit without any malice. (Certainly the last second key change for Hotel California was definitely to test me - when I asked after why he'd done it, his reply was mainly bull). The drummer in my band once commented that when the singer was with us in the band, we played Hotel California a lot but never the same way twice.

 

Pre-lockdown I would never have had the confidence to do the gig but I spent some of that time trying to learn the fretboard, playing along to songs other than those in the band set list and generally practising technique. Two other things helped on the night - I had decent monitoring (another thing I worked on during and just after lockdown), and I took the attitude that I was just there to make up numbers and had no responsibility other than to be professional. 

 

I have so much respect for those who can get up on stage and play a range of songs in a range of styles with no preparation at all and I see that as a worthy goal to aim for myself.  

[dmccombe7]

6 minutes ago, Franticsmurf said:

Thanks Dave. In a way I cheated - I'd been playing with the singer/guitarist for years, although not in this line-up. I knew pretty much what he would do (although as I said he can be unpredictable). I spoke to the girl singer (whom I also know) and she gave me a list of songs that could be done on the night along with keys. I'd say 50% of the set I'd played before in some form, perhaps 30% I was able to go through in the afternoon and make notes and 20% was 'wtf?'😀 I only failed on 'American Pie' and one of today's chores is to familiarise myself with in just in case. (I may be depping for the same line-up in two weeks).

 

The hardest part was on the songs where backing tracks weren't being used - the singer/guitarist tends to play his own arrangements which vary each time.  In the past it has sometimes felt as if he's doing it deliberately as challenge to those playing with him - albeit without any malice. (Certainly the last second key change for Hotel California was definitely to test me - when I asked after why he'd done it, his reply was mainly bull). The drummer in my band once commented that when the singer was with us in the band, we played Hotel California a lot but never the same way twice.

 

Pre-lockdown I would never have had the confidence to do the gig but I spent some of that time trying to learn the fretboard, playing along to songs other than those in the band set list and generally practising technique. Two other things helped on the night - I had decent monitoring (another thing I worked on during and just after lockdown), and I took the attitude that I was just there to make up numbers and had no responsibility other than to be professional. 

 

I have so much respect for those who can get up on stage and play a range of songs in a range of styles with no preparation at all and I see that as a worthy goal to aim for myself.  

Under the circumstances one mistook on the night is pretty impressive. I've been playing same songs in 2 different bands one Punk covers and the other 70's Glam Rock covers and i still make the occasional mistake. When i do it annoys the heck out of me and i polish up on that particular song for the next gig. I do tend to run thru parts or all of the sets every day even if its just one set. 

Dave

[Jack]

An increasingly rare outing for my hard rock band last night. We headlined a biker rally in Sunderland, it's the fourth time we've done it and it's normally one of my favourite gigs. Last night was no different with a great reaction from the crowd and us lot all having fun. When we've done this in the past I've always had trouble hearing myself (even once with my 2x Barefaced FR800s running very loud) but this year had a new sound crew and pa and the on stage sound was brilliant, as was FOH during my brief walk through the crowd. I took both of my QSCs, preparing for the worst, but didn't even plug them in. There wasn't much I could add to 6x 1x15" L'Acoustics tops, 4x 2x18" subs, 6x 2x12" wedges and a massive QSC 153 drum fill, biker rally indeed. I ended up using my Stingray, HX Stomp board and the obligatory wouldn't-be-a-sound-crew-gig-without-it Klark Teknik di.

 

Really bad lighting and a tight turnaround meant that I didn't get any photos of us but here's some of the setup, the devastation at the end of the disco after us, and also a video of the excellent Thee Odd Shoes who were on before us.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Jack

[dclaassen]

Played Fulborn Sport and Social club with our old guy rock band, Dirty Hands.

Played pretty well for my third gig…first one without any notes. Interesting crowd…most avoided the cover charge in the hall by sitting next door in the bar, but those in attendance had a good time!

 

First time with this rig…24 fret jazz bass, dual showman head with 4 x12’s. Got a great sound.

Edited September 4, 2022 by dclaassen

[Franticsmurf]

18 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

First time with this rig…24 fret jazz bass, dual showman head with 4 x12’s. Got a great sound.

Its good when it all comes together. 😃

[Cat Burrito]

Just back from a UK tour that took in Stoke, London, Swansea, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Bradford, Bilston and Blackpool. There was more but I am too tired to remember even my own name. Super fun but I have two weeks of Basschat to catch up on. 

 

 

 

 

[Mickeyboro]

I know I have asked before, but what is your band called?

 

Ah, read the backdrop - Slyder Smith and the Oblivion Kids!

Edited September 4, 2022 by Mickeyboro

[gafbass02]

Standard function job. Birthday party, slow burner, but we got there eventually, I was tired from a solo acoustic gig the previous night and didn’t play my best. We had three hour long sets and the manager was a bit fussy over volume, which was annoying in a room with the acoustics of a giant toilet. The necks on both my basses moved during the very hot evening. Afterwards we discovered that the radiators were on!!! My basses had been sat next to them and the inevitable happened. 

[Woodinblack]

Outdoor gig, normally enjoyable. It was a bit more overcast than last week so audience was down a bit but still more than I expected. We had dragged a lot of pre-pandemic forgotten songs back, and also brought another 3 new songs forward as we had played this venue a few months ago.

First half was good, good reaction, did one of the new songs and a few of the old songs, nothing really bad. Played my Maruschyck, that I had stopped playing as I had put coated strings on and it had messed the setup so much that it was lifeless and buzzy - I put it on a hanger for a few months, and took it off the hanger last week and it was fine - no idea how that happens.,

 

Second half did the other new songs, one seemed to go down well, one less so. BUt there were quite a few mistakes in common songs we do, left a verse out of one song, then about half an hour messed up one song so bad it couldn't be recovered, so the confidence was completely gone. Got through the rest of the songs, and it wasn't pleasant. Afterwards the drummer decided to quit at christmas so the guitarist decided to quit then and there.

So that looked like it for the group.

 

However, this morning, things are back on track, but we have to make sure that this doesn't happen. I mean it shouldn't happen, the new songs and the recovered songs were fine, this was a song we had been doing for 4 years or so and had done it loads of times.