dmccombe7 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 (edited) First time in Arbroath with BLOCKBUSTARZ last night in Royal British Legion. Sold out again which is always a great morale booster. Audience were up for it from the first song. Lots of people turned up in Glam gear too which is always great to see from the stage. It was so enjoyable we had a contest for best dancer and best glam dresser who both won one of our T shirts. A few others we gave out our new pin badges. Was very warm even with our fans on but air-con units above the stage were firing out warm air all night. We had a smaller upstairs function room to get changed in which was good too. Lot better than a small cupboard sized room that some venues have given us in the past. 4 blokes and a female singer doesn't work in cramped spaces My usual gear, Sandberg VM4 into Ampeg SVT7 and Mesa SW210/115 cabs. Shure wireless unit. Stage a bit boomy even with gramma board it was a bit noticeable. Had to turn the bass EQ down a bit on the amp to clean it up but no big deal. They want to book us for 3 nights in 2025 incl a Xmas gig. Bit of a drive tho 2.5hrs on way there and 3hrs on way home. On way home the roads were quiet but they closed the main M90 right after the Queensferry bridge crossing meaning i had to take a detour. Wasn't home till 4am so by the time i unloaded the car with my bass gear and the 3 way 15" PA cabs it was 4:30am and then a coffee to wind down getting to bed at 5am and back up with a cat banging cupboard doors at 8am. Bit tired this morning to say the least. Probably one of the most enjoyable gigs we've played. Just great fun all night. One or two wee hiccups but nothing we couldn't cover. Dave Edited March 24 by dmccombe7 19 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zbd1960 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 (edited) The cello had an outing last night - so the gig was a bit different to most here... orchestra in a church in Carlisle with two operatic soloist. And yes, orchestras have similar issues with sound as bands, even though we're unamplified. Our issues is that church acoustics are almost always awful, overly resonant and leads to mushy sound, particularly in the bass department.... where have I heard that before? Decent audience. Only one on the very tricky opera arias had significant 'moments' Edited March 24 by zbd1960 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 The gig itself was OK, loads of mmistakes, but seemed to go down well, however, we found out that the singer is in another band, which takes his count up to three bands and a solo, singer/songwriter/cover act around the local pub circuit. Our guitarist is less than happy, and we ended up having a band discussion prior to the gig, but he's a singer, therefore he's an egotistical, self-centred narcissist. 5 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Last Night: Bloxwich hockey club's end of season awards/prizegiving/dinner/pissup at Old Wyrley Hall in Walsall (I think?) with Down to the Floor - 5 piece girl-fronted modern popular music beat combo. Britney, Beyonce, Dua Lipa, Arianna Grande, Rhianna, Girls Aloud, Spice Girls, Whitney type stuff. Load in at 5 so we're set up, soundchecked and out of the way before the awards and speeches. The stage is about the size of a postage stamp (a normal one, not one of the big commemorative ones) so there was barely room for my size 12s and the New Improved Enormous Pedalboard (NIEPB). The Bass amp was on the other side of the stage and I had to fold my stand up between sets, it was that small. I had a bit of a mare setting up as the Bass amp (not mine) decided to commit suicide (luckily I had mine with me) AND my midi controller decided it didn't want to play nicely, so I took ages to set up and had to soundcheck without IEMs and hope it would all be fine. Soundcheck done (sort of) and with some time to kill, a couple of us went to the drummer's gaff and watched most of Pretty Woman with his Mrs (Spoiler Alert: Julia Roberts is pretty and also a woman. Richard Gere is also in it (He's not a woman, as far as I am aware. I wouldn't call him 'pretty' either, but I believe he is generally considered to be quite handsome (if you like that sort of thing))). Back to the venue for 9ish, sat around and kicked our heels (and had the singer paint my nails a fetching shade of purple) while the prizegiving and roistering continued, went on about 10:30 to a room full of incredibly excited and heavily refreshed hockey players - imagine rugby players but without the restraint, decorum or dignity. They absolutely loved it, the dancefloor was packed from the first note, we played really well despite being wedged onto a tiny stage - I was so close to the drummer, I could smell his earwax. We had our first choice singer, she's fantastic - she's always nervous about Love on Top (the song), but she smashed it - including the four key changes and the whistle register stuff. Highlights were Toxic, which we nailed (a relief after we totally flubbed it last time) and Crazy in Love/Crazy mashup which is our collective favourite now we've nailed the arrangment (It's easy enough: 6, 4, 2, 8, 8, (4), 8, 10, Crazy, 6, 4, loads, (*4), ending). Two 45 minute sets, finished about half midnight... they would have had us playing til 3 AM, they were loving it that much. The organisers loved us, they want us back next year (again) and have promised a bigger venue (again). Played the 'Ray 5 -> New Improved Enormous Pedalboard (NIEPB) -> MB 802 (with PA support - I'd love to hear the OC-2 and C4 synth bassline on 'How will I know?' through those subs) Foot fans: White DMs with purple laces (to match the white shirt with purple tie and purple fingernails - you think I just throw these outfits together?!) Packed up (the drummer can now officially carry his entire kit including cymbals and hardware in one trip), home about 2 for last nights curry and a Westons reserve (8.2% ABV). Great night. 17 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 48 minutes ago, Skybone said: The gig itself was OK, loads of mmistakes, but seemed to go down well, however, we found out that the singer is in another band, which takes his count up to three bands and a solo, singer/songwriter/cover act around the local pub circuit. Our guitarist is less than happy, and we ended up having a band discussion prior to the gig, but he's a singer, therefore he's an egotistical, self-centred narcissist. In the past a band I played in got around the problem of having a guitarist who thought he could be multiple bands by booking gigs for every Friday and Saturday as far into the future as possible. When his other bands realised that he wouldn't be available to play for them for the next 3-4 months they quickly dispensed with his services. 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 A return to the Apple and Parrott in Torquay last night. Our drummer couldn't make it as he had tickets for Mr Big, so we drafted in our previous drummer, my son, who still deps for us. It was party central and plenty of people up for dancing and a good time. In house PA and engineer always gives a great FOH sounds, although the stage sound can be a bit odd, but was sorted for set 2. It's a great vibe there which we can feed off. Lots of great compliments from people afterwards, including one guy who admired my playing and my Stingray. It was a late finish, but at least no PA to breakdown. Looking forward to the next one. My usual set up, Stingray 2eq, Ashdown RM 500-Evo II, BF 210 on gramma pad due to raised stage. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 8 hours ago, BigRedX said: In the past a band I played in got around the problem of having a guitarist who thought he could be multiple bands by booking gigs for every Friday and Saturday as far into the future as possible. When his other bands realised that he wouldn't be available to play for them for the next 3-4 months they quickly dispensed with his services. Spoke to the guitarist today, he is not a happy bunny... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Another of our semi-regular acoustic duo gigs at The Lookout in Scarborough this evening. Took two basses with me ( Taylor and Ibanez) to compare, but somehow managed to leave my holdall behind which has all my leads, stand and mic in it! Disaster averted though by my guitarist pal having spares, and the venue having a euro lead for my Rumble combo. Anyway, a full house of diners and shed loads of requests. Along with the usual kind of stuff you’d expect a duo like us to play, we also did some we hadn’t done before / for a long time - such as ‘Sir Duke’, ‘Mr Bojangles’ ( which I really don’t like) and ‘Little red rooster’ with my mate using a half pint glass as a slide for his guitar. Ended with ‘Come up and see me’ in tribute to Steve Harley. We return there in three weeks time, when I’ll make sure I have a full compliment of kit with me. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 On 23/03/2024 at 22:03, Chienmortbb said: We played in a Village Hall last Saturday and I had the same experience. The standard village hall width is 2 x boom freq wavelength. 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Some pics arrived from Sat nights gig iin Arbroath at the Royal British Legion Club with BLOCKBUSTARZ. (see earlier post) 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers_Williamson Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 22 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said: Some pics arrived from Sat nights gig iin Arbroath at the Royal British Legion Club with BLOCKBUSTARZ. (see earlier post) I do like the pictures of King Charles. they add a certain 'authority' to you all....esp the drummer 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 18 minutes ago, Piers_Williamson said: I do like the pictures of King Charles. they add a certain 'authority' to you all....esp the drummer We decided it wasn't a good idea to put the back drop up in this venue. The club has some fantastic pics around the walls incl a cracking Lancaster parked in a fog while service guys do their thing. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 One of my very occasional solo acoustic / vocal gigs at the Organ Grinder in Loughborough last night. Sunday early evenings are quite mellow, with an audience including a spectacularly large golden retriever who seemed to enjoy himself. I’d been having some gremlins with my PA (dodgy leads, broken 9v adaptor for pedals etc) so I was relieved it all sounded ok. Played my £40 FB marketplace Yamaha acoustic with a Seymour Duncan Woody pickup and it sounded glorious. Job done. 👍 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 (edited) On 23/03/2024 at 13:11, Dan Dare said: How was my gig last night? A struggle. Won't disclose location, but it was in a south western city where they like to chuck statues in the harbour. The venue was smallish, with a hollow wooden stage. The backline (provided, which was nice) was a couple of modestly sized and decent quality combos, so we thought it would be simple to play at reasonable onstage levels and let the PA take care of out front. Afraid not. The PA cabs stood directly on the stage. No stands or isolation. The top boxes were 15s+horns and the subs were 15s. The subs made the stage resonate like a giant double bass and the result was one note bass flub. The walls were bare, the ceiling was low and it was an echo chamber. The sound was horrible. The soundman's solution was to push the levels - out front and monitors - even harder when we explained we were having difficulty hearing what was going on during the soundcheck. Eventually, I asked politely if he could lose a lot of the low end and dial the subs right back. Everything cleaned up noticeably and we were reasonably happy. Problem solved? If only. The minute we began our set, the sub levels went back up and all the low end we had asked to be removed re-appeared. I had to play entirely by sight. Couldn't distinguish individual notes at all. Our singer did a great job. The way she managed without being able to hear anything she was doing was impressive. What is it about subs that causes people to crank them so hard that every bass note and kick drum beat results in a giant BOOOOOF? We wondered whether it was just a quirk of the stage sound, but when we stayed to hear a couple of numbers from the second band, it was the same out in the room. I'm getting too old for this caper. I wonder if the dance music and hip-hop generation are pre-conditioned to want excessive low end? Our gig was on Friday so went to our local club. I don't usually like "professional karaoke" singers but this bloke could really sing. In the interval he put on some "backgroud music" that was so bass heavy it would have drowned out the sounds of a full scale Red Army onslaught. When I was being trained as an apprentice on both audio and video, the general rule was to turn the controls until you could see/hear a difference, then back them off a tiny amount. Nowadays the control knobs/faders for the bottom end are rammed against the end stops. It is a good job that most digital mixers use rotary encoders or even touch screens for control. Edited March 25 by Chienmortbb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 (edited) Wee vid has just appeared on FB. Hope i'm not boring you all with this. Don't often get a vid of this song. Dave http://www.facebook.com/100015632287615/videos/1205398343756502?idorvanity=559305587911326 Edited March 25 by dmccombe7 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 This merely chucks me to my local Facebook group ............... 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 It takes me to the FB post. I've used the same links in previous vids. Not sure what's happening now. ? Can anyone else open the vid for this ? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Nope - that link is just to the top level of Facebook, in chronological order. Will take the person who clicks it to their own Facebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 3 minutes ago, taunton-hobbit said: This merely chucks me to my local Facebook group ............... 😎 Try it now. Let me know ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 No, that is just a link to my default facebook feed - there is no other info on it - if you look at the link there is no information on it other than turning off a filter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Just now, dmccombe7 said: Try it now. Let me know ? That's better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Just now, neepheid said: That's better Sorry about that guys i hadn't opened the vid when i copied the address over. I can safely say i'm mentally challenged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 There is a very high pitched overtone parallel with the singer - Is it an effect / distortion or a member of the public? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: There is a very high pitched overtone parallel with the singer - Is it an effect / distortion or a member of the public? Ignore me I am an idiot - I didn't see you had another singer due to the location of the camera! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: There is a very high pitched overtone parallel with the singer - Is it an effect / distortion or a member of the public? Female singer just behind the male singer. You can see her in the pics i posted on an earlier post. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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