How was your gig last night?

[Stub Mandrel]

7 hours ago, BillyBass said:

I hope the dog didn't get in free

 

I don't think he was listening...

 

[dmccombe7]

On 05/07/2023 at 02:09, 12stringbassist said:

How it should be. Lucky man.

Our female singer even helps the drummer set up and take down his kit. She'll take the lighter gear in and out to cars for anyone. Yes i'm very lucky that way but i'd be annoyed if it wasn't a helpful team and that could be a trigger point for me. I hate lazy B's in a band.

Dave

[tony_m]

19 hours ago, casapete said:

We only do this one Blue, as a favour for the owner who I’ve known for a few years.

It’s actually quite enjoyable, and the residents seem to like it. When my Dad was alive,

I used to take him to regular ‘singing with dementia’ afternoons, and it was really moving

to see people who struggled with their everyday life managing to remember lyrics and

tunes from their younger days.

 

It’s also easy to think the residents all like really old stuff, when in reality most of them probably 

remember seeing the Beatles and the Stones in their youth! We do requests, and the ones

we get back that up - usually Elvis / rock n roll / 60’s stuff is popular, with the occasional

standard thrown in too. It’s lovely to see how they react when we play their favourite songs.

 

We've been asked if we'd be prepared to do an hour or so at the care home where Mr Lead Guitar's mother is a resident. We've all said we'd be happy to do it, but aren't entirely sure how our particular selection of country-rock / blues covers might go down. Guess we'll just have to wait and see if and when it takes place.

[BillyBass]

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I don't think he was listening...

 

Probably looking for the bar

[Bassfinger]

Did a free gig last night to support a friend of the band who's just opened a pub that does quite nice food.  Hes a good chum to all of us, and the timing of his business opening coincided with his house buring down so we all agreed to play for free to help out a mate. We did one longish set rather than our usual two sets with a break in the middle as his entertainment licence was only until 2200hrs.

 

Was good, really enjoyed it. We got paid in free drinks (full fat Coke in my case) and gourmet pub burgers (he's employed a proper chef) which was very nice.

 

Atmosphere was good, a lot of folk from the village turned out so a fair few faces I knew.   One chap was a music promoter, a friend of our rhythm guitarist, and he was telling us a few interesting stories about some big name bands. Nothing salacious, just how much they make for playing gigs, festivals, that sort of thing.  He thought we were great, our typical middle aged USP of turning 70s and 80s pop pap into hard rock songs went down well with him, although we all agreed the chances of a record deal were zero! 😛

 

Only Ballache was the usual - couldn't pack the gear away until the pub was sufficiently empty, which meant waiting for closing. Didn't flop into bed until 2am and feel nacked this morning.  Don't care how much anyone is paying, couldn't do it for a living.

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Bassfinger
Sspelimg

[FinnDave]

Just back from my first gig in 8 months. The break was due to osteoarthritis in my left hand fingers. A few weeks ago I bought a couple of short scale basses (Mustangs) in the hope that I would be able to continue playing, and tonight was the time to put the theory into practice.

Well, it certainly worked - we played as a three piece, so lots of room for interesting bass, and we held a good crowd outside a small pub in Witney, even though it was pouring with rain. We had a gazebo style canopy over us (that the bar owner put up) but the weight of water on it caused a small waterfall to cascade between me and my amp & cab. Luckily, the mains plug and socket was just out of range, but we stopped and moved the sensitive bits somewhere safer. 

Home again, no problems with my fingers after nearly two hours of energetic playing. Good to be back!

[Lozz196]

Really pleased for you Dave, glad you can keep playing 

[FinnDave]

1 minute ago, Lozz196 said:

Really pleased for you Dave, glad you can keep playing 

Thanks, Lozz, it was a great gig despite the heavy rain. Our new drummer (he's been with since spring 22, but we have only managed a handful of gigs with us) suddenly got how we play and fitted in perfectly. A wonderful moment. There were a lot of local musicians in the audience who knew about my arthritis and were all congratulating me on my return to playing live.

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Just back from my first gig in 8 months. The break was due to osteoarthritis in my left hand fingers. A few weeks ago I bought a couple of short scale basses (Mustangs) in the hope that I would be able to continue playing, and tonight was the time to put the theory into practice.

Well, it certainly worked - we played as a three piece, so lots of room for interesting bass, and we held a good crowd outside a small pub in Witney, even though it was pouring with rain. We had a gazebo style canopy over us (that the bar owner put up) but the weight of water on it caused a small waterfall to cascade between me and my amp & cab. Luckily, the mains plug and socket was just out of range, but we stopped and moved the sensitive bits somewhere safer. 

Home again, no problems with my fingers after nearly two hours of energetic playing. Good to be back!

Yep nice one Dave. Noticed you had been quiet recently.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

BLOCKBUSTARZ 70's Glam band at Cairnsmill Caravan Park, St Andrews. Friend of the band has a caravan there and asked us to play once before. During that visit a woman took a heart attack. Luckily our singer Lynn is a nurse and jumped right in until ambulance arrived. She was ok the following day.

Tonight we managed to complete both sets without any serious issues or events.

Odd how we advertise as a 70's Glam Rock covers band and we still get requests for other styles of songs. Tonight a young woman asked if we could play something for the very young kids like Shania Twain. We had to explain that wasn't a 70's Glam cover. Mmmm

Another weird gig with lots of cameras going all night and lots of applause and cheers etc but no dancers until last 8-10 songs and then requests to do more.

Great feedback at the end too.

The young kids were up dancing all night until there bedtime took over around 10 ish.

Not keen on these kind of gigs where the interaction from the audience is almost nil during the songs.

Hopefully last time we do a caravan park with no curfew on kids.

Dave

 

Forgot to add it was a 2 hr drive home in torrential rain. Home at 3am, coffee and biccies and bed at 4 back up at 8 with a cat walking round my head and not the usual wee pain in the bot, 

Edited July 9, 2023 by dmccombe7

[Gasman]

Mustang Sally played the Gillingham dorset music festival on Saturday afternoon, good setup with two outdoor stages and PA provided. Our 75 minute set went well, but the rain that threatened arrived big time for the last three numbers. The stage was well protected but the punters weren’t, didn’t stop them dancing resulting in a lot of wet but happy people!

[BassAdder60]

Played a hot and sweaty pub gig last night in Stanton Suffolk ( many punters outside due to heat ) 

Jazz bass used with a pick through my Ashdown ABM600 and SVT212AV cab. 
 

Very pleased as I had a great sound and using the pick really improved the clarity. 
 

Happy venue who claimed we were the best covers band they had ever booked !! Drink 🍺 talk I assume !!!

 

It was a revelation for me who in the past played finger style but always found something lacking. The new set up with a pick, EQ pedal, Jazz bass and both pups on full sounded good. 
 

This is my new favourite pick 

Edited July 9, 2023 by BassAdder60

[Len_derby]

The covers band, Night Shift, played ‘top of the bill’ at Folk in The Woods for the Waingroves Community Woodland. As far as I could tell, no acts were folk music! 
Anyway, fun times with lots of well-oiled punters dancing away. Those familiar with the Derby/Notts borders will know that up to 40 years ago there were coal mines all over the place. Now, unless you have personal knowledge you’d be hard -pressed to tell. The venue was a case in point. Apart from the odd bit of brick and girder work here and there nature has reclaimed the site. It’s being brought on as a nature reserve and community asset by local volunteers. 
Back line supplied, so I took the opportunity to travel by bus with my bass and walk the mile-or-so through the woods to the marquee. Fortunately we had a window of fine weather to travel in, play our hour and move off after the 8pm curfew. I just made it back to the bus shelter when the heavens opened. It was an interesting ride back to town through flash floods and lightning. A £2 thrill 😆.

 

 

[vmaxblues]

Summers night, outdoor gig, riverside, pub, what’s not to like!

[casapete]

We did our annual gig last night at Conkers Discovery Centre, which is in The National Forest in Derbyshire.

It’s an outdoor gig, in a small natural amphitheatre next to a lake. Great PA from Roger at Sonar PA and

Lighting, and a capacity crowd despite the dreadful weather - torrential rain and lightning. Most of the

audience were under cover but those who weren’t didn’t seem to mind!  They were very appreciative of 

local band ‘Landslide’, who played a brilliant set of Fleetwood Mac tunes to start the night. We then went

on to do one 90 minute set, which flew by. Quite disconcerting to hear torrents of water lashing down a 

few feet away from your bass rig, but no real issues thank goodness. The usual speed limits and diversions

all the way back meant I wasn’t home until 2am, feeling rather knackered. 
 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by casapete

[Leonard Smalls]

We were playing at the Dark Horse in Moseley, Birmingham last night with 3 other bands...

And we were very grateful for the cloudbursts and lightning because it meant that the organisers of the Mostly Funk and Soul Festival just up the road closed down early due to being scared of imminent deaths. So as the Dark Horse was the nearest pub, and the venue upstairs was free entry (donations gratefully received!) it was packed.

First band on were doing Joy Division-ey post punk and were OK until they had a melt down (with tears!) over the lack of vocal monitoring (welcome to rock'n'roll in pub (and other!) venues...). Next band were pretty decent, with groovy bass and excellent drummer and slightly crazed ranting and guitar FX from dishevelled singer. I liked 'em! (Pulsar).

We came on to a pretty full house, with folks actually moving about (I hear it's called "dancing"), lots of cheering and even folks seeking us out to give compliments, rather than the usual pitchforks and flaming torches. We even got paid (a bit!) and sold some tshirts and cds which was nice.

And even better, my Super Mario Cart managed to smash the Google maps expected return travel time of 1 hour 45 by 25 minutes!

Snippet (not sure why uploaded mp4 video comes out audio only?): 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Leonard Smalls

[FinnDave]

10 minutes ago, casapete said:

Quite disconcerting to hear torrents of water lashing down a 

few feet away from your bass rig, but no real issues thank goodness.

Feet? Luxury! The overflow from the hasty erected gazebo formed a small waterfall about 3 inches in front of my cab and at one point my mains power block was sitting in a puddle while I was playing. Obviously wasn't my time to go, as nothing went wrong. I suppose if it had, I might not be here to type this today!

[asingardenof]

A smaller cricket club gig last night so I thought I'd give the Elf a run out, and oh boy did it not disappoint. Plenty loud enough and great tone, and I think will my smaller gig amp of choice for the future so I don't have to lug the ABM around (although it will remain in the boot of the car as a backup). Not a huge crowd who mostly stayed seated all night, but they seemed to enjoy it so happy days. I even met the band's first bassist which was fun, and I suspect was the cause of some ego stroking by the rest of the band as I gather he left under not the best of circumstances. It was a clammy night so my strings and neck were stickier than usual, and led to some on-the-fly simplifications as my fingers got stuck, but otherwise I was really happy with my playing. Some u fortunate humming from my pedalboard meant I had to stick to just the tuner and compressor, and so I think my cheap-as-chips daisy chain power supply might need an upgrade!

[dmccombe7]

13 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

A smaller cricket club gig last night so I thought I'd give the Elf a run out, and oh boy did it not disappoint. Plenty loud enough and great tone, and I think will my smaller gig amp of choice for the future so I don't have to lug the ABM around (although it will remain in the boot of the car as a backup). Not a huge crowd who mostly stayed seated all night, but they seemed to enjoy it so happy days. I even met the band's first bassist which was fun, and I suspect was the cause of some ego stroking by the rest of the band as I gather he left under not the best of circumstances. It was a clammy night so my strings and neck were stickier than usual, and led to some on-the-fly simplifications as my fingers got stuck, but otherwise I was really happy with my playing. Some u fortunate humming from my pedalboard meant I had to stick to just the tuner and compressor, and so I think my cheap-as-chips daisy chain power supply might need an upgrade!

Nice looking bass there too. Guessing that's the Sire. How you finding it. ?

Dave

[Mickeyboro]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

We did our annual gig last night at Conkers Discovery Centre, which is in The National Forest in Derbyshire.

It’s an outdoor gig, in a small natural amphitheatre next to a lake. Great PA from Roger at Sonar PA and

Lighting, and a capacity crowd despite the dreadful weather - torrential rain and lightning. Most of the

audience were under cover but those who weren’t didn’t seem to mind!  They were very appreciative of 

local band ‘Landslide’, who played a brilliant set of Fleetwood Mac tunes to start the night. We then went

on to do one 90 minute set, which flew by. Quite disconcerting to hear torrents of water lashing down a 

few feet away from your bass rig, but no real issues thank goodness. The usual speed limits and diversions

all the way back meant I wasn’t home until 2am, feeling rather knackered. 
 

 

Come on Pete - you know it’s raining all over the world… tonight!😂

[asingardenof]

12 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Nice looking bass there too. Guessing that's the Sire. How you finding it. ?

Dave

It is, a 2nd gen V7. I like it a lot, and while I really want to sell it and get one of the new Sadowsky MXs, every time I play it I have fun so I have a crisis of faith. I just find the preamp too complicated so am running it passive these days, which kind of defeats the point of having an active bass.

[mep]

Back at one of our regular pub gigs in Brixham. A bit quieter than usual as it wasn't advertised, but with  some of our regulars and the rest it was ok crowd wise. Got complimented on my playing by some old boy who chatted to myself and our drummer when packing up. A big surprise was getting asked out by a lovely lady, a friend of one of our regulars, who I was chatting to in the break. She was a bit embarrassed she hadn't seen my wedding ring! Still, it's good to know I've still got it, although it wasn't my bass playing that got her attention.

[neepheid]

11 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

It is, a 2nd gen V7. I like it a lot, and while I really want to sell it and get one of the new Sadowsky MXs, every time I play it I have fun so I have a crisis of faith. I just find the preamp too complicated so am running it passive these days, which kind of defeats the point of having an active bass.

 

Eh, don't over analyse it - I used to have a G&L Tribute L-2000 which I modified to give 27 different switch combinations (pickup select, series/single/parallel, passive/active/active with treble boost) plus 2 band passive EQ.  Found one combo of settings I liked (both pickups, single (inner coils), passive) and left all the knobs at 10 for practically the whole time I owned it!

[Thor]

Sarum’s Lot played at The White Hart, Bishopstone near Salisbury - they had planned a Sausage and Cider fest (what’s not to like?).  We ended up playing inside since the weather was against us (seems like pretty much everywhere has rain yesterday), a god turn out, got rebooked and had the offer of a couple of private parties which are always welcome, thoroughly enjoyable despite us not being quite at our best.

 

[Angelus]

First gig for us last night at the Howlin’ Wolf in Glasgow ( there a separate thread about playing in the ULEZ zone 🙄 ) and it went down a storm with the crowd. Before we started we got requests for AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, so carried on with our planned set list. Afterwards the bar manager said, despite the crowd and reactions, they might not book us again, as we weren’t “Bluesy enough”. After such a good set and fantastic audience, it was a wee bit of a sour taste, but it’s their pub and they’re trying to carve out a niche in the city centre, so we’ll wait and see what’s said on Monday. But it’s typical of my luck right now, spending £15k on a crew cab lwb van for one gig. 🤣

Edited July 9, 2023 by Angelus