How was your gig last night?

[dmccombe7]

Fantastic night in Beat Generator in Dundee with 70's Glam Rock covers band BLOCKBUSTARZ.

First time at this venue, well to be honest my first time in Dundee centre and have to say i was impressed. Looks like a good day out could be had there.

Bit of a pain loading in and out with 3 flights of stairs but no PA to carry. Good size stage a bonus.

Sound was first class from SE and PA was good quality. All in all a great venue and really nice owner too.

Good sized crowd too that spent first 6 songs just watching us before they eased off into a bit of dancing. Many had even dressed up in their 70's Glam gear so that was good to see. It was more like a concert audience, all standing from front of stage to the back entrance door so pretty full by looks of it.

It was a door money deal 70/30 to us so we ended up with a tidy sum at the end of the night. They want us back this year again and owner said the feedback was astounding. Not just a band but a full show. 

Had to cut the set short as they only wanted two 1 hr sets whereas we normally do 1hr:15mins first set and 1hr :30mins the second set.

On stage 9pm finished back of 10 and back on 10:15 to 11:30 altho we were asked for more and got permission from owner to do another encore.

Very warm night but everyone was happy.

Sandberg VM4 into Shure wireless and then into Roland mfx then into Handbox WB-100  head and Mesa 210/115 cabs.

I'll add some pics when they come in.

Dave 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by dmccombe7

[BillyBass]

3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Fantastic night in Beat Generator in Dundee with 70's Glam Rock covers band BLOCKBUSTARZ.

First time at this venue, well to be honest my first time in Dundee centre and have to say i was impressed. Looks like a good day out could be had there.

Bit of a pain loading in and out with 3 flights of stairs but no PA to carry. Good size stage a bonus.

Sound was first class from SE and PA was good quality. All in all a great venue and really nice owner too.

Good sized crowd too that spent first 6 songs just watching us before they eased off into a bit of dancing. Many had even dressed up in their 70's Glam gear so that was good to see. It was more like a concert audience, all standing from front of stage to the back entrance door so pretty full by looks of it.

It was a door money deal 70/30 to us so we ended up with a tidy sum at the end of the night. They want us back this year again and owner said the feedback was astounding. Not just a band but a full show. 

Had to cut the set short as they only wanted two 1 hr sets whereas we normally do 1hr:15mins first set and 1hr :30mins the second set.

On stage 9pm finished back of 10 and back on 10:15 to 11:30 altho we were asked for more and got permission from owner to do another encore.

Very warm night but everyone was happy.

Sandberg VM4 into Shure wireless and then into Roland mfx then into Handbox WB-100  head and Mesa 210/115 cabs.

I'll add some pics when they come in.

Dave 

 

I would love to be in a glam covers band; you lot must have a blast.

[Gasman]

Consecutive gigs this weekend, Horns Inn near Wimborne and the Gillingham Coronation club and no, Charlie wasn’t there! Both went well, Saturday better acoustics and the first time we’ve managed to nail ‘Geno’, albeit with me moonlighting on sax while Francis thrashed my Bongo (ooh, really!)

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, BillyBass said:

I would love to be in a glam covers band; you lot must have a blast.

We definitely do, probably the best fun band i've been in. We all get along so well in the band too and we have some great laughs when are in the changing rooms (ooohhh Matron !!!!!)

Dave

[markbunney]

Played with The 77s at The Queen Charlotte in Rochester last night.

 

it was our 2nd gig as a band and it went really well. We played through our whole set, and then had to play through 5 again that we’d already played as people kept shouting for “more”. We didn’t have any spares that were rehearsed to a good enough standard to play, so we let some of the crowd pick the ones they wanted again, which was fun.

 

I had to hire the Ampeg SVT 3 pro head again, put it didn’t seem anywhere near as loud as at our last gig. The pub was smaller, but I had to have it at max volume to keep up.

 

 

[stewblack]

Headlined a 'sausage n cider' festival last night. Judging by the condition of the audience the emphasis throughout the day had been decidedly less sausage and considerably more cider.

But they enjoyed themselves, danced and cheered, and generally had a good time.

The highlight of the evening was that rarest, most precious thing, a member of the audience who actually understood music in all its subtlety and all of its majesty. She stood open mouthed in appreciation of my supreme bass playing skills, and at the end of the song announced that I was 'carrying the whole band'. A fact I had previously considered blindingly self evident and yet one that had always gone curiously unrecognised. After one particularly superb bass fill she told the singer that the entire room now needed a pregnancy test, such was the filth with which it was imbued.

Probably the greatest compliment I've ever been paid. 

Where was this creature come evening's end, I hear you cry? How did she show her appreciation for my hypnotic musical skill? 

A gentleman never tells...

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by stewblack

[Mudpup]

An odd weekend for Yellowhouse. Friday night at a big sports bar/pub in Chelmsford and upon arrival the manager said that he wasn't expecting much of a turnout after 2 busy bank holidays, everyone is skint. First set started and as expected there were just a few hardy dancers upfront. At half time we were trying to muster up some enthusiasm amongst ourselves with one eye on the money. Second set - batshit crazy, loads of people suddenly appeared and it was a different world. Supposed to finish at midnight but played until 12.45 and fished a few crowd pleasers out of the first set as noone had seen them earlier.

 

Saturday was at another large pub in Staines. We thought it may be a bit quiet but it was totally the opposite. Bonkers all night.....The iffy video below is at the end of the first set and it's the sort of reaction we would normally expect at the end of the gig.

 

 

[martthebass]

11 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

We definitely do, probably the best fun band i've been in. We all get along so well in the band too and we have some great laughs when are in the changing rooms (ooohhh Matron !!!!!)

Dave

Yup, what else would you do on a Saturday night. As we say, 4 blokes of advancing years who like to dress up in questionable clothing.

[Downunderwonder]

21 hours ago, markbunney said:

Played with The 77s at The Queen Charlotte in Rochester last night.

 

it was our 2nd gig as a band and it went really well. We played through our whole set, and then had to play through 5 again that we’d already played as people kept shouting for “more”. We didn’t have any spares that were rehearsed to a good enough standard to play, so we let some of the crowd pick the ones they wanted again, which was fun.

 

I had to hire the Ampeg SVT 3 pro head again, put it didn’t seem anywhere near as loud as at our last gig. The pub was smaller, but I had to have it at max volume to keep up.

 

 

Get ye to BC classifieds. With paying gigs some here would even let you pay it off.

[Muzz]

21 hours ago, stewblack said:

Headlined a 'sausage n cider' festival last night. Judging by the condition of the audience the emphasis throughout the day had been decidedly less sausage and considerably more cider.

But they enjoyed themselves, danced and cheered, and generally had a good time.

The highlight of the evening was that rarest, most precious thing, a member of the audience who actually understood music in all its subtlety and all of its majesty. She stood open mouthed in appreciation of my supreme bass playing skills, and at the end of the song announced that I was 'carrying the whole band'. A fact I had previously considered blindingly self evident and yet one that had always gone curiously unrecognised. After one particularly superb bass fill she told the singer that the entire room now needed a pregnancy test, such was the filth with which it was imbued.

Probably the greatest compliment I've ever been paid. 

Where was this creature come evening's end, I hear you cry? How did she show her appreciation for my hypnotic musical skill? 

A gentleman never tells...

 

 

I used to love it when my Mum came to my gigs, too... 😀

[cetera]

Friday night we continued our tour at Bishops Stortford Mill Arts.... and Saturday at Rugby Benn Hall. Both cracking gigs and we had lots of wonderful comments from punters afterwards along the lines of 'best theatre rock show we've ever seen'! 🥰😎

 

Next stops.... Ilkley Kings Hall tomorrow (Tuesday) and Solihull Core Theatre (Thursday)!

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by cetera

[dmccombe7]

6 minutes ago, cetera said:

Friday night we continued our tour at Bishops Stortford Mill Arts.... and Saturday at Rugby Benn Hall. Both cracking gigs and we had lots of wonderful comments from punters afterwards along the lines of 'best theatre rock show we've ever seen'! 🥰😎

 

Next stops.... Ilkley Kings Hall tomorrow (Tuesday) and Solihull Core Theatre (Thursday)!

 

Nice bass i was looking at one of them in white at Bass Direct just last night.

Dave

[markbunney]

7 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Get ye to BC classifieds. With paying gigs some here would even let you pay it off.

Thanks, yes I’ll take a look.

The reason for the rental is that I bought two new heads, both of which developed faults within a few days of getting them, and I didn’t even get chance to gig with either of them.

 

Am currently trying to decide what to try next. The rental is ok for now but I do miss having my own amp!

[Stub Mandrel]

Saturday was an odd gig. A huge pub in Bargoed. The main street was closed while a street festival cleared up and had to get access sorted for the load in - which was great, no steps and helpful punters who held the door open! The pub had had a great day with the combo of festival and sun, but we would be up against Eurovision.

As I said, it was a huge single open plan bar, as in HUGE. It didn't feel like our audience but as we set up the tables in the middle section in front of the (HUGE, carpeted) band area filled up with people who were clearly interested. A few of folk asked questions and some leaving said they would be back later.

Early start. Very odd to play with a large audience but only around 25-30 or so who were really into us, cheering, some dancing. While lots of people at either end for whom we were really just 'backing music'. We can't have been bad, if the sudden disappearance of most of the punters when we finished at 10:30 was an indication.  A lot of appreciation for our young guitarist, Alex. The pub was open until one, but our guess was that the clientele changes from about 11:30 as other places chuck people out -  a bit like a 'spoons.

The load out was nice and simple, slowed down by half a dozen of the audience who had an extended chat with us.

Why odd? Well it felt like playing to a half empty pub, yet even at a quiet point we were playing to well over fifty people, and it was much busier at times. It would have been nice to have the people who were really into their blues rock as an audience in a smaller venue.

[casapete]

Played with local rock band Rebel on Friday night at The Sun Inn, Beverley. I was depping for their bass player who

was at a wedding, but managed to turn up in time for our 2nd set! Fortunately he didn't see the first - few technical

problems threw the band a bit off kilter but they pulled it back after a few songs. 

Some good mates in the band, including ex-Bowie drummer John Cambridge who played so well. John is probably

my favourite drummer to play with - solid as a rock, straight and unfussy style but very musical with a great feel. 

The sets were all dad rock stuff, which is what the near capacity crowd wanted. Plenty of dancing and singing,

as well as catching up with a few musos I'd not seen for a while as well as Jan who is the guitarist in

'The ELO Experience' with me. Shame I was driving as it was just one of those great gigs when a few beers would

have been very welcome.

 

The landlord was well pleased, and also asked if I wanted some gigs there with my acoustic duo, so a worthwhile

evening all round. The Sun Inn is a proper music pub, and well supported by many regulars who appreciate it.

 

 

[Thor]

Sarum's Lot had a cracking gig in Qudos Bar & Grill in Salisbury.  We haven't played there for around three years as the pub decided they were going to concentrate on food and B&B's etc, it's a great venue, very close to the City centre and the place was quite busy when we arrived, and continued to fill up nicely whilst we set up.  Lots of regular followers ensured the gig was one to remember - singing along and dancing from the off, it was a fantastic night and I'm really looking forward to returning there in November. No photos sadly 🙂

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, markbunney said:

Thanks, yes I’ll take a look.

The reason for the rental is that I bought two new heads, both of which developed faults within a few days of getting them, and I didn’t even get chance to gig with either of them.

 

Am currently trying to decide what to try next. The rental is ok for now but I do miss having my own amp!

what were the new heads you bought. ? I'd like to stay clear of them.

Dave

[markbunney]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

what were the new heads you bought. ? I'd like to stay clear of them.

Dave

The first was an Orange Little Bass Thing.  It kept cutting out all the time at rehearsal so it got sent back to Andertons who thought it might be a power supply issue.

 

Second was a Darkglass Alpha Omega 500. On this one, the light on one of the EQ sliders went out in its third use at home, this one didn’t even make it to rehearsal! I’d had reservations about this one before buying, as I had read reviews where it kept cutting out. I was disappointed in this, as the amp sounded amazing, but I thought that if a bit had broken already, it didn’t bode well for the rest of the amp.

 

I have booked the hire amp again for our gig next week, but hopefully will have my own for the gig after that in June.

[Stub Mandrel]

42 minutes ago, markbunney said:

The first was an Orange Little Bass Thing.  It kept cutting out all the time at rehearsal so it got sent back to Andertons who thought it might be a power supply issue.

 

Second was a Darkglass Alpha Omega 500. On this one, the light on one of the EQ sliders went out in its third use at home, this one didn’t even make it to rehearsal! I’d had reservations about this one before buying, as I had read reviews where it kept cutting out. I was disappointed in this, as the amp sounded amazing, but I thought that if a bit had broken already, it didn’t bode well for the rest of the amp.

 

I have booked the hire amp again for our gig next week, but hopefully will have my own for the gig after that in June.

 

Back in the 80s/90s there was this theory that some people generate a field that causes electronic devices to fail*.

Since the digital revolution these people have become rare, if not extinct. I don't suppose you'd be interested in donating yourself for scientific study...

 

 

 

 

 

 

*In all seriousness, I'm sure I remember something about people who generated high levels of static in days when 'microchips' were rather less tolerant of it.

[Stub Mandrel]

This article may be based on a less than reliable book...

 

http://www.gaiapress.com/en/article/472.html

Edited May 15, 2023 by Stub Mandrel

[Stub Mandrel]

http://www.gaiapress.com/en/article/472.html

[markbunney]

54 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Back in the 80s/90s there was this theory that some people generate a field that causes electronic devices to fail*.

Since the digital revolution these people have become rare, if not extinct. I don't suppose you'd be interested in donating yourself for scientific study...

 

 

 

 

 

 

*In all seriousness, I'm sure I remember something about people who generated high levels of static in days when 'microchips' were rather less tolerant of it.

Lol my previous amp lasted 12 years so I think it’s down to poor QC rather than my magnetic field, but you never know!! 🧲 🧲 

[Downunderwonder]

16 hours ago, markbunney said:

Thanks, yes I’ll take a look.

The reason for the rental is that I bought two new heads, both of which developed faults within a few days of getting them, and I didn’t even get chance to gig with either of them.

 

Am currently trying to decide what to try next. The rental is ok for now but I do miss having my own amp!

I wonder if your speakon cable is NFG.

[Leonard Smalls]

10 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

theory that some people generate a field that causes electronic devices to fail*.

 

Weirdly, back in the late 80s I bought a Rotel RB970 hifi power amp to go with my Gale 401 speakers... It made a squeaking noise and died after about 10 minutes. So I took it back, they replaced it and the next one did the same thing.

So, thinking that was a bit weird I prised off the cladding lining the recess the amp was sitting on and I found a live coil of about 25m of mains cable right next to where the amp's transformer was (old house, and housing co-op so no maintenance since probably 1936). I removed the coil, took the amp back for replacement (they did!) and all worked fine from then on. Until some bleedin' burglers had it away (we were in Harlesden).

[markbunney]

30 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

I wonder if your speakon cable is NFG.

Don’t think it’s the cable, as it worked fine with the old amp and with the hire.

 

I had to Google what NFG meant lol