How was your gig last night?

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

I'll definitely give it serious consideration if the gig is offered. Whilst I'm not bothered about being "noticed" and I've done my fair share of higher-end, non-pub gigs, it's certainly something to put on the CV.

I thought I'd attached that picture - I think it's quite an amusing pairing to behold, like David and Goliath.  The Jackson normally lived in a gigbag, but thought I'd make the stage look nicer with all the gear on display.

Perhaps I'm being too hard on myself - I'm finding imposter syndrome is getting stronger as I get older. As @Woodinblack (who knows me quite well) mentioned above, I'm no stranger to learning and pulling off fairly complex songs with a fairly short preparation time - I've done that many times for our UKMG meetups, and depped with the odd band. But admittedly, I'm better at learning stuff I'm familiar with several weeks' notice. I've heard of guys who'll dep at a couple of days notice or less, with unfamiliar material... that scares the crap out of me.  I have no idea how 'flygigs' work either. I guess the artist management would assist with all that.

I've found this setlist that gives me an idea of what could be required, however. There are a couple of covers that I'm already familiar with.

 

Oh well. We'll wait and see what happens. I guess it could be fun learning some of these songs as a self-improvement exercise anyway, even if it doesn't come to pass

Not exactly a big set list to learn. Sure you'll make the right decision for you but keep us posted on what happens.

Dave

[casapete]

Started my final run of gigs last night with The ELO Experience at Milton Keynes Theatre.

As you’d expect, a large modern theatre with great staff, load in and backstage facilities.

It has a capacity of 1400, think we had just over 1000 people in so felt quite full. 
We haven’t played for 3 weeks, so were all a bit on edge hoping we would be okay.

Didn’t start well at soundcheck with a few tech issues, but with the help of our guys

we got it sorted eventually. We were just leaving the theatre to find somewhere to eat

and bumped into Warwick Davis passing by -nice bloke and a favourite of our lighting

maestro Rob who got a selfie. 
The gig went well, lively audience in good voice. We all got through it without any major

problems, although I was quite tired. 170 mile drive back home as the gig was a stand

alone, have been having a quiet day today. 
 

 

[MacDaddy]

4 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Probably going to be ok with "Touch Me" then, which is the only thing anyone knows

 

 

4 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

I told the chap that's the only one I've ever heard off. Let's hope it 3 chords and steady eighths root notes.

 

A quick look at Sam Fox's discography on Wikipedia, shows she had 3 Gold albums in the USA, and featured in the Top 10 of their Hit Parade 3 times.

[Angelus]

9 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Do you mean Horse & Jockey  ?

Dave

No, told Gordon he’d play Bar 6 after a six year hiatus. Horse & Jockey is 5th and 10th of May. I’d be as well leaving my gear setup there. 🙄

Edited April 8 by Angelus
Poor spelling due to fat fingers.

[Rosie C]

Not quite a gig, but last night I performed two songs at our local folk club - the first time I've sung publicly since 'ambulance day' in December after I had trouble breathing, needed an ambulance, and lost my voice for a month. I think I sang well and it felt so good to be 'back' ! 

 

[dmccombe7]

26 minutes ago, Rosie C said:

Not quite a gig, but last night I performed two songs at our local folk club - the first time I've sung publicly since 'ambulance day' in December after I had trouble breathing, needed an ambulance, and lost my voice for a month. I think I sang well and it felt so good to be 'back' ! 

 

Well done. 👍

Dave

[Stub Mandrel]

15 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

 

A quick look at Sam Fox's discography on Wikipedia, shows she had 3 Gold albums in the USA, and featured in the Top 10 of their Hit Parade 3 times.

 

And this!

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Not a gig, but we had a rehearsal last night... our second gig is coming up on Saturday and our lead guitarist can't make it, in fact he apologetically resigned as he can't commit to gigs far enough ahead.

 

I asked Alex from my other band to dep which was met with a bit of scepticism as he's only 22.

 

The rehearsal went really well, the clincher was John Mayer's Who Did You Think I Was. Alex hadn't heard it before, listened to it once and nailed it 😲 Tony our drummer literally had his jaw dropped when we finished it.

 

Fingers crossed we can repeat the feat on the weekend as it's three 45 minute sets so we'll have to include all the hard songs...

 

[dmccombe7]

21 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Not a gig, but we had a rehearsal last night... our second gig is coming up on Saturday and our lead guitarist can't make it, in fact he apologetically resigned as he can't commit to gigs far enough ahead.

 

I asked Alex from my other band to dep which was met with a bit of scepticism as he's only 22.

 

The rehearsal went really well, the clincher was John Mayer's Who Did You Think I Was. Alex hadn't heard it before, listened to it once and nailed it 😲 Tony our drummer literally had his jaw dropped when we finished it.

 

Fingers crossed we can repeat the feat on the weekend as it's three 45 minute sets so we'll have to include all the hard songs...

 

WOW that's a bit of a blow but well done the 22 yr old and wishing you all the best with the gig.

Dave

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

WOW that's a bit of a blow but well done the 22 yr old and wishing you all the best with the gig.

Dave

 

The guys are buzzing this morning. I've got complacent about just how lucky I am to play with Alex.

[BigRedX]

Mid week gig at The Chapel in Nottingham supporting Empathy Test and Black Nail Cabaret. Flag Promotions always know how to put together a great gig line-up and look after the bands, even when pre-gig ticket sales looked like being a bit slow.

 

In the end it wasn't a bad turnout for a school night and most of the audience were in early to see us. Not the best gig that we've played, there were a couple of technical issues the most perplexing of which was the complete change in sound on stage from the sound check to the gig, despite being first on and last to sound check. We had no fold back at all for half of the first song and it took another two before the stage mix was close to what we have had during the sound check. This has happened more than once at this venue and beginning to wonder if there is some kind of user error the part of the PA engineer there. Anyway the audience didn't seem to notice that anything was amiss, and we got plenty of positive comments afterwards.

 

We're in London at the New Cross Inn supporting Ghost Dance on Saturday, and then WGW...

[Lozz196]

Just got in from a Spacewasters gig at The 100 Club in London, supporting King Kurt & The Polecats.

 

Used my JMJ Mustang into my Ashdown RM500v2 into whatever the cab that was there was.

 

Doors opened 7:30, we were on at 8:00 and for that time not a bad sized crowd at all. Played well and got some very good applause. Was nice to be on a big stage again, especially now we’re a 5-piece.

 

One of the guitarists sadly broke 2 strings (at separate times) so we had to change things about a bit (they both work in London so only had one guitar each as had come from work) a bit disconcerting for me as I then ended up doing half lead vocals on a song which ain’t my bag, but the show must go on.

 

Nice & easy trip home too which made for an all round good gig.

Edited April 11 by Lozz196

[Gasman]

Here's a brief catch-up on Mustang Sally's gigs since our Jan-Feb rest period. First off we were asked to play a Sunday afternoon gig (3pm) mid-March at a pub in Shaftesbury that had recently changed hands. Rain stopped us setting up outside as originally requested (thank gawd - it was ruddy cold too!) so we played in the bar to a maximum 'crowd' of about 25 people. I can't imagine why the new landlord thought it would work, but we got a paid rehearsal and a few compliments from the punters out of it.

 

Next up we played the Mere social club, a tiny venue with the acoustics of a concrete prison-block shower room. More punters this time but I didn't enjoy it, had great difficulty trying to hear what I was playing; the miked bass drum was interacting and clashing with my bass in the PA mix, in the end I disconnected the line-out from my amp and played old-skool direct to the room - better but still not happy with it.

 

Most recently played at the Marnhull British Legion - fabulous acoustics (real wood floor) perfect mix, good crowd, and as compiler of the set list I 'accidently' forgot to include Sweet Home Albania - result!

 

Not exactly Glasto-level gigging, but they all count on my admission scorecard to Bass-Heaven in the afterlife, where I hope to be hitting the frets alongside Bruce, McVie, Nilorius and all the other bass legends...

Edited April 12 by Gasman
spelling!

[Mickeyboro]

A three-band bill of folk (State of Undress), blues (my own Otis Jay Blues Band) and Americana (World Gone Wrong) at New Milton’s Forest Arts Centre. Capacity audience of 125, which is gratifying.

 

Sound technician Alice did a brilliant job considering the variety of instruments involved. A super fun evening, and though we had a few duff intros - new drummer’s first gig - no one seemed to mind.

 

Photos show me having foolishly raced to the top of the theatre with Sandberg in hand, and descending rather more gingerly…

 

Love to take this package to other venues - suggestions gratefully received.

 

Edited April 12 by Mickeyboro

[stewblack]

Bandeoke in Bristol again last night.

The guitarist is getting married today and Wednesday was his stag. 

It was easily detectable that the band doesn't usually go out on the night before Bandeoke. We crawled over the finish line 

[SuperSeagull]

5 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

A three-band bill of folk (State of Undress), blues (my own Otis Jay Blues Band) and Americana (World Gone Wrong) at New Milton’s Forest Arts Centre. Capacity audience of 125, which is gratifying.

 

Sound technician Alice did a brilliant job considering the variety of instruments involved. A super fun evening, and though we had a few duff intros - new drummer’s first gig - no one seemed to mind.

 

Photos show me having foolishly raced to the top of the theatre with Sandberg in hand, and descending rather more gingerly…

 

Love to take this package to other venues - suggestions gratefully received.

 

Nice venue. I do like that part of the world, we keep looking at whether to move New Milton / Barton way. 

[dmccombe7]

Not so much a gig tonight but more a set the gear up and sound check for tomorrow nights gig for the drummers 65th party in his mates house.

Its a large 8 bedroom sleeps 22 house with function room, swimming pool, sauna and games room. He lets the drummer use it for "special parties" and the owner has a large outdoor BBQ and Pizza oven. Tonight after setting up we had home made pizza's which were amazing.

Both the Glam and Punk bands playing tomorrow night so the stage area was a bit busy. Got the punk sound check done and dusted and as soon as the singer arrived from Glam band we did the sound check and ran thru 3-4 songs. Its funny how quickly a band that gigs regularly together can adjust their own sounds and volumes to suit an unusual gig very quickly. After the first verse the balance and tones were sorted but we did 4 songs anyways.

Only doing an hour set each band tomorrow night so that will be good fun.

Tonight had a small audience as people are staying from Fri to Sun so maybe around 20 folks in including the house owner and his wife.

Used the Godin Crafter classic bass tonight for both bands into my Handbox WB-100 and Mesa 210/115 cabs. I had forgotten how good that HB amp sounded. Warm, deep and clear sounding too. The Godin boosting the depth with its amazing solid deep pick ups.

Was considering selling the HB and tonight was going to be its last gig before i advertised it but now i'm not so sure. The tone was spectacular. The Godin having very hot passive pick ups too meant i could push the HB amp easily into valve distortion giving it a really nice edge when hitting the strings hard during the punk songs.

Think i might just keep the HB as it sounds wonderful matched with the Godin bass.

Will update you all Sun on the actual gig tomorrow night.

Dave

[BigRedX]

A couple of photos from Wednesday's gig:

 

 

Getting ready for tonight's gig supporting Ghost Dance in London now.

[MacDaddy]

On 07/04/2024 at 22:18, Greg Edwards69 said:

He told me one of his regular session gigs is playing with Samantha Fox, and what am I doing in a couple of months time as there’s a gig their regular bassist can’t do. I told me I’m not a session guy and I have a full-time day job so I’m not sure about that thing. He said, “Oh the songs are easy, and it'll be a case of fly into Lithuania on the Friday, gig Saturday and home again Sunday"!

 

 

 

Saw this and thought of you... 😉

 

[Chienmortbb]

On 12/04/2024 at 11:15, Gasman said:

Next up we played the Mere social club, a tiny venue with the acoustics of a concrete prison-block shower room.

Were you in the Bar or the Skittles Alley, we have played both.

 

On 12/04/2024 at 11:15, Gasman said:

Most recently played at the Marnhull British Legion - fabulous acoustics (real wood floor) perfect mix, good crowd, and as compiler of the set list I 'accidently' forgot to include Sweet Home Albania - result!

The Rebbels played Marnhull a few weeks ago. I agree about the acoustics, we were constantly asked to turn down, although we are not the worlds loudest band.

 

Which pub did you play ion Shaftesbury? Shaftesbury is usually a live music wasteland.

[Cat Burrito]

Deadlight Dance played The Beehive in Swindon on Thursday. A personal one for me as it is where I met my wife, whom I was previously as school with and hadn't seen for 22yrs. We were supporting a Texan songwriter called Tommy Hale and had a half hour set, mainly two mandocellos. Being hyer critical, I thought the volume was just slightly too loud, and not the greatest sound. We used it as an opportunity to test acoustic versions of 3 new songs we had written and played an originals heavy set of dark acoustic music. Incredibly we sold a couple of CDs. The downside was we're both having car trouble so I had to pick the other guy up (he's 45 minutes away and in the wrong direction. We have a similar problem tomorrow at the moment but what goes around comes around... and to double the cliches, the show must go on!

 

We didn't get any pictures of the show but I took this quick snap before we went in.

 

[Gasman]

5 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Were you in the Bar or the Skittles Alley, we have played both.

 

The Rebbels played Marnhull a few weeks ago. I agree about the acoustics, we were constantly asked to turn down, although we are not the worlds loudest band.

 

Which pub did you play ion Shaftesbury? Shaftesbury is usually a live music wasteland.

We were in the bar at Mere, we used the alley to dump the bags and cases. The pub in Shaftesbury was the Two Brewers - last year we played the farewell night for the two previous proprietors who are now running another pub in Ilfracombe, the new landlords are still feeling their way, I think. 

 

The location of the Marnhull RBL is weird, middle of nowhere, Deliverance vibe...

[dclaassen]

Getting ready to go on. Sitting in with Stevie, Daniel, and the wranglers at the lattice house in Kings Lynn.
 

24 fret jazz bass with my trace rig.

Edited April 13 by dclaassen

[dmccombe7]

Drummers 65th party last night playing with both the Glam band and the Punk band.

Great night and just good fun night. 

Glam band went on first mainly because the singer Mikey and guitarist Colin wanted to get it done so they could have a few beers etc after playing.

Have to say the Handbox WB-100 with the Godin Shifter bass is a perfect match. The depth of tone was simply incredible and worked so well in both bands. 

Guitarist and singer from the Glam band told me after the punk band played that the bass tone was the best they had ever heard and reminded the guitarist of Roger Glover's Deep Purple tone. He had never heard me playing like that with so much energy and aggression. I don't particularly play that way with the Glam band because its not needed when you are copying the Glam era from studio recordings rather than a live sound. Its more controlled and a bit more mellow. So many compliments from our guitarist about my punk band style and tone and the fact he had no idea i even played like that. He reckoned it was the best punk band he had ever seen. I have to add that by the time we finished at 1am they were a wee bit oiled and i think the comments were fuelled with alcohol a bit but a compliment is still a compliment is still a compliment. 

The punk band is all about energy and that amp and bass gave it in buckets full. It had so much depth and from what they told me carried right thru the guitarists Marshall stack with so much power and clarity. Singer said the high notes at the dusty end were so clear and sharp where he was standing at the back of the hall. 

For the more Ric style tones i engaged the "bright" button just to give it that little kick edge. Loved it. Particular punk favs for me last night from a tone point of view were Do Anything you Wanna do and In To the Valley with its de-D tuning for one song but the depth remained but that bright button just meant it carried so much further.

Another thing i found using the Godin bass was that the pick ups being so hot meant the amp was nowhere near the same master volume as with my Sandberg basses meaning that amp has a lot more headroom than i thought.

I am now keeping that bass and amp. Guitarist said it ws THE best bass tone he had ever heard from any band

The Handbox is staying and hoping the Mesa TT800 when it arrives will also give me that Mesa "heft" as so many have commented on the TB site i follow.

If anyone gets a chance to play one of those Godin Shifter classic basses then try them they are so well made, not heavy and some of the nicest sounding pick ups i've tried over many many years. Not a hugely expensive bass either on 2nd hand market. If you like a P bass with some extras its a wonderful buy. It has a V & T control and 4 way switch for P, J, Series or Parallel. I had it on Parallel last night and cant fault it. Many thanks to our very own Stevie @theplumber for finally selling me the Godin. If you're reading this Stevie i'll take the other Godin if you decide to move it on. 

No pics as yet but if any appear i'll post later.

Short drive home too at 25mins altho the road to Wanlockhead is very pot-holed at the moment and a bit of care was required in the dark.

Just got to head back there today at mid-day to pack up the gear and return home again. 

Bit long winded post but it just shows how excited i am with that HB and Godin combination. Sometimes things just fall into place by accident and this was that night.

Dave 

[Stub Mandrel]

Last night we played a 'night club', basically a big room with a bar at the back of a pub. We were to do 3 sets and somehow stretch thus from 8:30 to 'as near to one  as you can get'. Thus was first time for me using my brother's old PA.

 

Plenty of room to set up. I got quite stressed by issues like a non-functional speakon on a PA cab and a monitor that had its power lead unplugged.  Managed to set up four vocal mics with kick, snare and two overheads on the kit. Sound was rough we thought but was ok at front.

 

We negotiated a start at 9:10 and final set to start at 12:00. Place was weird with only 3 stools and a few tables. Had a modest number of people in by the time we started, say 35-40, and unashamedly went straight into Dakota which filled the dancefloor. Followed by White Room which still kept people going! That said as we went on some people left and others came in. What is and what should never be killed the atmosphere a bit... but we recovered. We ended up doing 50 minutes and audience seemed happy.

 

By the time we took a 35 minute break, we left with a fair number of people danving to a playlist through the pa, but came back in and the room was empty. Totally! Apparently the pub half had emptied too. We played a half a dozen songs to six people who came back in from outside, but no-one was coming in at all. Barman said this was only second time they had opened the back bar and the same thing had happened before. Also, their other pub, expected to empty about 11 and people move across - was virtually empty too. Basically it seems like there was hardly anyone about, although I think that not having any seating is a challenge if you want people to hang round for 4 ½ hours... I  think they really need a dj if they are going to spread band sets out so much. And let the band go on much later.

 

We cut the second set, got paid and packed up just over two hours early.

 

Only three punters wandered in while we were packing up and the streets were virtually empty.

 

On the plus side we got a paid rehearsaland learned an awful lot about our kit, some songs to lose and some things to work on, and I got home by just after 1 instead of nearly 3. But still not a great experience.