How was your gig last night?

[Woodinblack]

7 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

It's weird for me because everyone in the band drinks except me.

 

 

The singer drinks a fair bit, and the drummer drinks pretty well continuously. The guitarist rarely does.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Both bands we are all pretty sensible, one beer then onto the Guinness or Thatchers zero. The alcohol free drinks today are way better than the days of Barbican.

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Both bands we are all pretty sensible, one beer then onto the Guinness or Thatchers zero. The alcohol free drinks today are way better than the days of Barbican.

I never really got the non-alcoholic beers thing. Probably down to the taste of barbican to be fair.

Dave

[Simon C]

Last night's Jam Night was the last in McCafferty's Epsom.  It will move to The Queen Adelaide in Ewell.  That will mean Public Transport or a 15 minute drive for me so less convenient than the "Get driven there, walk home after a couple of beers and a few rum and cokes" that has been my normal mode of transport.  It seems like a big change for me, though I guess not so much for those of you driving several hours to gigs.

 

The venue change is due to the pub trying to cut the fee of the host band (Prime Numbers).  I heard a £30 reduction mentioned.  If that really is the case then the pub are nuts.  I'm not sure I've seen many pubs full on a Thursday night, even when I used to frequent them on a regular basis.  Maybe it was someone in head office trying to cut costs across all the pubs rather than letting the local manager manage - that's just a guess though.  However much it was they were trying to reduce the fee by, I would have thought revenue would exceed band and extra staff costs in a full pub.

 

The night was pretty good after a slowish start.  There were a couple of new bands came.  One was made up of employees from GuitarGuitar, another (Canada Hill) had a singer who's voice was just different enough along with good enough material (which I think they said was original) that they may be worth looking out for.

 

My band "In Progress" weren't playing as the drummer (Jake) and Guitarist (James) have gone to Nice for a boys' holiday.  I managed to grab a slot with a couple of members of Prime Numbers.  A regular attending drummer also didn't have anyone to play with so joined us.  We'd sorted the 3 songs out the night before.  So I'd had a chance to remind myself of the bass line to Crazy Little Thing Called Love and to listen and jam along to "Keep your hands to yourself" by "The Georgia Satellites" - it's a good song to rock out to.  I managed to slip "Teenage Kicks" into the set list.  As "In Progress" weren't playing I was less concerned about whacking our singer (5'2" Vicky) on the back of the head, so my Ric got an outing - 2 in 5 days for it, the other being in church last Sunday.

 

Here's me doing 2 of the things bassists (or at least this bassist) shouldn't do in the same song 😀 

 

Edited May 17 by Simon C

[Jackroadkill]

Not had a drink since May 27th 1994, when I was fifteen.

[dmccombe7]

15 hours ago, Jackroadkill said:

Not had a drink since May 27th 1994, when I was fifteen.

Jings you must be thirsty. 

Dave

[Obrienp]

20 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I never really got the non-alcoholic beers thing. Probably down to the taste of barbican to be fair.

Dave

Guinness Zero is actually pretty potable IMO. Ditto Punk AF and Adnams Ghost Ship low alcohol. Nothing like the horrendous offerings of the past.

[asingardenof]

21 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

Guinness Zero is actually pretty potable IMO. Ditto Punk AF and Adnams Ghost Ship low alcohol. Nothing like the horrendous offerings of the past.

Agree on all of those. Steer clear of the Old Speckled Hen AF variety though, it's weird.

[StingRayBoy42]

49 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

Guinness Zero is actually pretty potable IMO. Ditto Punk AF and Adnams Ghost Ship low alcohol. Nothing like the horrendous offerings of the past.

+1 for Guiness Zero and Punk AF (boooo Brewdog etc)

If you like AF stout, the Big Drop stuff is gorgeous.

For AF cider, Sheppey's is the bestest IMHO.

[oldslapper]

Hope and Anchor last night with

The Psychodahlias. Good support from Fuzzy Head, reminded me of The Damned, brilliant!
Not the best venue for a 7 piece but nice to be back at a place I haven’t played since the early 80’s.

Finished our set at 11:00, got home 4:00. 🙄

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, oldslapper said:

Hope and Anchor last night with

The Psychodahlias. Good support from Fuzzy Head, reminded me of The Damned, brilliant!
Not the best venue for a 7 piece but nice to be back at a place I haven’t played since the early 80’s.

Finished our set at 11:00, got home 4:00. 🙄

Great pic of the band. Quite like that.

Dave

[oldslapper]

4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Great pic of the band. Quite like that.

Dave

Keyboard player is where they all should be, hidden behind the pillar playing with his organ. 

[StingRayBoy42]

TODAY!
Shirley Beer & Cider festival with the Cantina Band!
Firrst band on, a one hour set at 3PM, Backline provided, sound engineer and everything - unusual for us.
Backline was slightly less good than was mentioned in the contract, but it'd be a bit churlish to complain, right?
Halfway through the setlist, we realised we still had about 40 minutes left to play so we had to chuck a few old faithfuls in.
We played pretty well, Crowd seemed to enjoy it (from afar), it was all going great guns until the power went...  it came back on eventually, minus monitors, so we did what we could for the last few songs.
Played the Steling -> small board -> Hartke 410 (I was promised an Ampeg, dammit!)

Pay wasn't great so they made it up with beer tokens, enjoyed a pint of Mavis Bumblethorpes (?) Perry (5.4% ABV) on stage, then once we'd finshed, I had a pint of Giddy Goat cider (6.8%), followed by a pint of Merrithorpe's blackout stout (8.75% ABV), then it was back to the cider for a pint of the Spazwhistle (?) 'Guvnor' (10.7% ABV), then I think I had a couple of pints of the Arthur Baslingtons 'Deep, dark pit of depression' (15.8% ABV), followed by a pint of Fotheringay's Self-loathing IPA (21.8% ABV), then it was back to the Cider bar for a couple of pints of Fighty McBastards 'Punchdrunk' Perry (27.9% ABV) which was delicious, before trying the Scrambleton's 'Regret' chocolate stout (39.875% ABV), then I decided to play it safe with a nice, refreshing pint of Samuel Bobbington's 'What in the name of God?'' (19.8456% ABV) before I really went for it with four pints of Asquith's 'Kidney Killer' (57.7% ABV).

I was a teensy bit tipsy by this point, so decided to play it safe and stuck to  the easy drinking, super quafffable Hampton's  'This is a terrible idea' Porter (157.8% ABV) for the final six pints.

Apparently, I walked the 3.8 miles home.

[Stub Mandrel]

Just got back from first hig at my local. Was booked last weekend to replace a cancellation, finish at 11 in time for the fight. Third gig with Bendricks Rock and polar opposite of the second one. We now have our new permanent lead guitarist.

 

Numbers were good, the upstairs room was pretty much rammed. The vocalist and I had hammered Facebook and it seemed to pay off woth numbers. Lots of friends and also some fans of Bluesfire who played nearby last week. We all brought loads of gear just in case so we had  lights everywhere, even three lasers (count 'em) and the new pickup.

 

Although we knew we were rough,no-one noticed. First half was just cheers, bit second half lots of dancing. Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting was an inspired choice. Second encore was sympathy for the devil and went on forever... rest of the pub was full for the boxing, but most of our audience weren't interested.

 

We are definitely a Barry (or nearby) band and this was our first 'home' fig so hopefully we've started to establish a good reputation.

 

Some photos sent to me by a friend.

 

 

 

 

[WalMan]

Good night in Bognor despite the town being in virtual lockdown due to trouble there during the afternoon and early evening. Thankfully whatever it was seemed to be over by the time we got to load in but the atmosphere was a little tense and started and ended with the main door locked and entry only through the fire exit that could be monitored.

 

Thankfully despite all that we had a good night with lots of dancing and the most singing along in ages.

 

We were on a strict 11 curfew with punters warned that the bar would be shutting bang on 11 and that they would need to drink up and be gone quick sharp. Finished the second set and did “I love rock and roll” for the first time as a quick encore. Finished at 10:59 😁

 

Lots of compliments at the end of the night which is always nice 😊 

 

IEM’s worked well tonight with one glitch when one of the guitars suddenly drowned out everything and my iPad had gone to sleep so I couldn’t do anything about it. Turned out to be something to do with the XLR from his Kemper and thankfully not repeated.

Edited May 19 by WalMan

[Clarky]

Nice gig for The InSect at Aces & Eights in North London last night. Combination of low glossy ceiling, lights and long exposure produced this cool pic

[dmccombe7]

First time for us in the Bridgeness Club in Boness with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam band last night. Another sold out gig for us which is always nice. Early load in at 4pm doors opened at 6pm. Started at 8:15pm finished at 11:30pm with a 30min break in the middle.

Easy load in as emergency sxit was next to stage and cars were parked on roadside next to it so that was good.

Long narrow club house with a large dance floor that we had dancers most songs 1st set and full for most of the 2nd set.

Asked back for next year, feedback was great. 

Odd one as another Glam band that i used to be in was in the Boness Town Hall but that obviously didn't affect our ticket sales. 

Easy drive home with little or no traffic on the country roads.

Used my Sandberg VM4 into Handbox WB-100 and Mesa 210/115 cabs. Sound wise i could clearly hear the low end but not the top end. Had to boost the top end a bit more than normal. Guitarist at half time told me he had same issue and noticed the bass top end was getting lost in first half. Singer had issues with his IEM and ended up taking them out. All in all tho the sound out front was excellent according to my wife who attends all my gigs.

Lots of vids being taken but no pics as yet.

Dave 

 

[martthebass]

Another nice local one for Glam Fever at the Milestone in Sheffield last night. It was definitely on the warm side and the fans were run to overdrive….wig wearing is definitely a challenge.

An enthusiastic crowd and we had a good sound on and off stage for a change so I could go for the harmonies better than normal.  Pleased with how we played - zero defects which was nice and sets us up nicely for a steady run of gigs over the next couple of months.

Quick getaway was a bonus as I had two people picking up the mustangs I had for sale first thing. Down to the Lionel and Fallout basses for most gigs now - fortunately I love both of em.

[WalMan]

Sounds like the afternoon trouble in Bognor yesterday that led to the semi lockdown of all pubs into the evening and a tense atmosphere at our gig had actually moved out of the main town. Three pubs and a Tesco Express all trashed and assorted other mayhem and criminality. 🤬

 

Thankfully nothing at our gig and a great night was had by all 

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, martthebass said:

Another nice local one for Glam Fever at the Milestone in Sheffield last night. It was definitely on the warm side and the fans were run to overdrive….wig wearing is definitely a challenge.

An enthusiastic crowd and we had a good sound on and off stage for a change so I could go for the harmonies better than normal.  Pleased with how we played - zero defects which was nice and sets us up nicely for a steady run of gigs over the next couple of months.

Quick getaway was a bonus as I had two people picking up the mustangs I had for sale first thing. Down to the Lionel and Fallout basses for most gigs now - fortunately I love both of em.

Get yourself an 18" gym fan. They work a treat. We have 3 of them, drummer, myself and our female singer using them. Guitarist and male singer don't like them, it blows their hair about 

You can either position at each end of the stage and just creates an overall air flow across the full stage or position for individual needs. 

I personally need one because of that wig i have, its long and very thick.............no pun there, honest !!!

Dave

[Staggering on]

Last week once again I was one of a few adults who fill out the cello and bass sections of my teacher's youth orchestra and it was a wonderful concert in the cathedral in North Bay Ontario. An entertaining mix from Bach to fiddle tunes and a couple of solo pieces as well and the crowd of about 350 loved it. The last number was a version of "Boil the cabbage down", an old fiddle tune, and for this piece about 9 of the youngest members were added and played like pros...from memory! In the second photo you will see a couple of the youngest musicians, they are 72 years younger than I am. 🙄  Loads of fun and I'm looking forward the next concert, probably in about 6 months, this one was a definite high point of the year for me and had some challenging music, I always learn a lot from these concerts.😊  

Next up are a couple of jazz gigs, a theatre show next week and three bluegrass festivals in the summer.

 

 

[mcnach]

I have a little bag where I carry backups: some tools, strings, a strap, cables, batteries, adaptors, a little BAM200 amplifier... a wide range of stuff.

 

I've just replaced it with a slightly larger one.

 

Last night at soundcheck I realise I don't have my usual strap in the case. I had removed it to clean the bass a bit, and forgot to put it back. No biggie, I have a backup! Don't I feel smug?

 

No strap. I didn't put a backup one in the new bag...

 

Guy from the venue finds one. It's flimsy and has seen better days but I'm not complaining.

20 seconds into the first song of our 1st set... strap breaks. Managed to catch the bass, but I had to do the gig sitting down.

 

You know what? It was a little weird but so comfy!  I may forget my strap more often

 

[Woodinblack]

37 minutes ago, Staggering on said:

 

Which one are you then?

 

[Woodinblack]

Last night a very local pub, local enough to not be able to get through a whole track on the way to it. 

Nice load in, I had bought a 20kg wheeled dolly from toolstation, you plonk the PA on it and wheel it in, fantastic, wonder why i never got one before.

Easy setup, but then things went down. I wan't happy with the bass sound, it sounded lifeless through the PA. Everyone else was complaining at other things on sound, although luckily I can field some of those questions. but all the way through people were complaining. And it was very hot, unpleasantly so. After half time I just turned up the volume of people who I could turn the volume up of, reiterated my point to one woman complaining that the vocalist sounded unclear that yes, he was unclear and there was nothing I could do about that as that is what he sounds like, and got one with it. By then I had got peace with my bass sound, my new IEMs were rather nice, I had the backbeat which also helped a bit and although there wasn't much audience, they seemed generally happy to be there. Managed to stop a few songs earlier as there was pretty well noone there and obviously home early. 

But the last few songs I enjoyed, the new songs we introduced for this week worked well, and unlike last week, my voice seems to have got over the whooping cough or whatever it was.

And we get paid, onward and upward!

[lonestar]

Nice one playing at Kings Lynn Cocktail festival. A surprisingly sedate crowd*, I can’t imagine they’d hit the cocktails very hard. However we played well and they seemed to like us.
 

 

* unlike these lovely ladies photographed outside the venue about 7:30pm, who seemed to having a fine Saturday night out.