How was your gig last night?

[Woodinblack]

A familiar venue for us last night at a working mens club. For some reason the stars aligned with the PA, being way louder than it was in a smaller venue a couple of weeks ago. Also after complaining for a while that he wasn't loud enough for a few weeks, and me pointing out nothing changed, the drummers singing was loud again (ie, peaking on the input meters) confirming my belief that he just wasn't singing as loudly as he had previously.

Anyway, sound good, they had redone the stage to be deeper but narrower so it was a tighter fit, but still nice to have an actual stage, and almost everything went well, a few random mistakes and I felt we did too long, it gets sloppy at the end, the idea of adding new songs is to change our set, not extend it!

And who knew, getting moondance on track  is actually really tricky when the singer removes one bar from it! TBF though, we have only played it about 150 times.

 

[dmccombe7]

Just now, Woodinblack said:

the idea of adding new songs is to change our set, not extend it!

 

 

100% with you on that. Its a sore point with me in both bands.

Dave

[Rayman]

@dmccombe7
 

McLeans ?? Never been before, decent little venue actually.

Edited June 9 by Rayman

[neepheid]

It was actually Friday night, but close enough.  Played with Nine Lives at the Butchers Arms in Inverurie.  An odd night - crowd waxed and waned, busy moments, quiet moments.  Thankfully it was busy towards the business end of the show (why do people turn up with 5 songs to go at 12.30 and then get all "awww" when you announce it's the last song at like five to one?  Why is it a surprise to you that we'd be finishing at 1am when we started at 10pm?)

 

Anyhoo, this gig was significant for my first pub wireless gig and yes, after using it for sensible, constructive reasons (getting out front for the sound check) I got up to no good.  When I wasn't wandering across to the guitarist for a bit of a duel during solos, I was off into the crowd.  Learned the hazards of this - this guy insisted on putting his arm around my shoulder and in doing so, he knocked my A tuner (how's that for aim?  Not the G, not the E, the friggin' A) and the song started sounding fruity.  Well luckily he'd somehow managed to knock it about a semitone out so once I figured it out, I had to move everything up a fret on the A string.  Thankfully it was "Highway to Hell", so not a taxing song to recalculate on the fly.

 

Anyhoo, it was a lot of fun and things are coming together nicely with the new singer.

 

Gear - G&L Tribute LB-100 then Yamaha BB1200 into Markbass Mini CMD121P IV and New York 121

 

[Leonard Smalls]

We played a seven band gig in Gloucester last night at the New Inn... As it's pedestrianised I brought fx and amp on a trolley from car park.

We were on early, 2nd band, and I decided to use the supplied rig of Ashdown combo and extension speaker. My slightly overdriven Helix patch sounded most excellent into it - crunchy and satisfying with with enough twang to allow slaps'n'pops to cut through.

It was the 2nd gig with our new guitarist, and this time there were no mistakes at all - we all played beautifully, including a once rehearsed Dead Kennedy's cover ("Moon Over Marin") to finish.

There were no rotten tomatoes, no hostile crowd, nobody looking to give us a serious kicking for a change which was nice. A couple of people remarked on my bass (Parker) and said I didn't play completely craply! There was, however, a weird tree in the middle of the stage-front which meant only my trousers could be seen from most angles (look carefully!)

[MichaelDean]

Played on Friday night. It was ok... We were the opening act for 4 bands at the Red Lion in Bristol. We were told to arrive at 5, but said we couldn't get there till 6 for work reasons. Just as well really. Nothing was set up, and the two bands between us and the headliners didn't arrive till 6:30, with our stage time of 7:15, so they got line checked and we had a bit of a sound check. 

 

The available backline for me was a Fender Rumble 100, old style one with what I think was a 12" speaker. Not enough to do anything against the 4x12 one of our guitarists was going through really, so my stage volume was nonexistent. I also rely on my amp's valve drive, so I took the line out from my ABM-600 and put it into the return of the Rumble.

 

I was also a bit squashed at the side. Not quite enough room to manoeuvre, so I was side on for almost all of our set. 

 

And we played to all of about 7 people, who did seem to enjoy it, so not terrible. Plus the sound man insisted on an encore. 

 

Didn't manage to watch the other bands, they didn't come watch us and the beer garden was nice, so we had a chat. 

 

The promoter really likes us and wants to get us on a more fitting bill. Got £50 too, which is better than we were expecting!

[Leonard Smalls]

4 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

only my trousers could be seen

Me and trousers and bass and Ashdown!!!

 

[scalpy]

Belated post, been waiting for some media from Mrs Scalpy who is also the female singer in the band and essentially band manager, promoter and video editor. Really good fun gig with the Hey Yahs at Lyde Court in Hereford, a room often seen in function band promo material with various agencies. We were able to set up the night before, after we'd mopped up the little owl poop all over the stage, apparently they nest in the eaves! The gig was for a local theatre company raising money for their next show- Footloose, so that was an obvious choice for the set list. Being thespionic they were all out with costumes and dancing, so great fun. The venue has a tremendous FBT in house rig and we had our first choice sound guy on hand- especially useful with a 5 piece horn section. Just one of those red letter gigs, happy days. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02M3NCEgwPchDirAkEQ98dXB3mRZHDmajYQghtPQcuP7cmgKagzdhdW2N63KGtTcAql&id=100009137232962&notif_id=1717962253558692&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif

[dmccombe7]

37 minutes ago, scalpy said:

Belated post, been waiting for some media from Mrs Scalpy who is also the female singer in the band and essentially band manager, promoter and video editor. Really good fun gig with the Hey Yahs at Lyde Court in Hereford, a room often seen in function band promo material with various agencies. We were able to set up the night before, after we'd mopped up the little owl poop all over the stage, apparently they nest in the eaves! The gig was for a local theatre company raising money for their next show- Footloose, so that was an obvious choice for the set list. Being thespionic they were all out with costumes and dancing, so great fun. The venue has a tremendous FBT in house rig and we had our first choice sound guy on hand- especially useful with a 5 piece horn section. Just one of those red letter gigs, happy days. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02M3NCEgwPchDirAkEQ98dXB3mRZHDmajYQghtPQcuP7cmgKagzdhdW2N63KGtTcAql&id=100009137232962&notif_id=1717962253558692&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif

Enjoyed that. Well done.

Dave

[Gasman]

Four and a half gigs in three days for me - famine and feast style!

 

The half-gig was a solo effort at 08:00 last Friday morning. Ever since my wife stopped driving last year I've ferried her to her Rotary club breakfast meeting at 07:30 every Friday in Dorchester. I initially sat in a  corner at the meetings and did a crossword, but later realised that looked a bit churlish, so I joined the club - not really my thing at all, but... New members are encouraged to do an introductory presentation about themselves, so mine was entitled 'How I failed to become a Rock Star!', recounting my year on the road in a van with my band ('Sweeney') in 1972 with all the horrors of sequential gigs as far apart as Bath, Lincoln and Deal, breakdowns, band rows, the business side of trying to get gigs and at least break even, how the music business works, etc etc. I finished my story  by playing 'One Step Beyond' on my sax to a backing track. The reactions were priceless, ranging from 'thank god for something different' to sheer horror at the sight of me capering around the aging members blasting out the Madness classic.

 

That same Friday evening Mustang Sally had a birthday gig in the posh room at the Mere social club. Our BL had found a 20-something lad to dep on rhythm in place of our suddenly-departed (flounced out) previous lead guitarist - he did OK, bless him. Our KB guy lugged his best instrument along (split 88 note job) which sounded really good when thumping out the bass lines in the three sax numbers that I do, so that was a bonus and a lifesaver setlist-wise, as we couldn't do any lead-guitar-centric numbers, an instant loss of 6-7 songs.

 

On Saturday we had two back-to-back gigs - a beer fest in Gillingham - 2-4pm, followed by a ladies' rugby post-tournament party also in Gillingham, 6.30 - 9.00. Both went very well indeed with the same lad depping on guitar. Nice to see some very fit female rugby players giving it large on the dance-floor!

 

On Sunday we were booked in an afternoon slot (1.15 - 2.30) in the beer tent at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury agricultural show, again appreciative audience, but with a different dep; this guy was a 35 YO music teacher and a proper lead guitarist, who'd been in this band before and knew almost all the numbers. He'd certainly get my vote as a replacement in the unlikely event of a democratic vote...

 

So in summary, 4.5 gigs in three days, 450 miles and 10 hours driving, 8.5 hours playing, three cans of Red Bull, 4 Snickers bars, 1 Asda cheese sandwich and a dozen cheesy numbers sandwiched between some slices of good stuff. Got to keep telling myself that this is an emergency band survival/rebuild situation so I must be grateful that we're still functioning at all! 

[steantval]

15 minutes ago, Gasman said:

Four and a half gigs in three days for me - famine and feast style!

 

The half-gig was a solo effort at 08:00 last Friday morning. Ever since my wife stopped driving last year I've ferried her to her Rotary club breakfast meeting at 07:30 every Friday in Dorchester. I initially sat in a  corner at the meetings and did a crossword, but later realised that looked a bit churlish, so I joined the club - not really my thing at all, but... New members are encouraged to do an introductory presentation about themselves, so mine was entitled 'How I failed to become a Rock Star!', recounting my year on the road in a van with my band ('Sweeney') in 1972 with all the horrors of sequential gigs as far apart as Bath, Lincoln and Deal, breakdowns, band rows, the business side of trying to get gigs and at least break even, how the music business works, etc etc. I finished my story  by playing 'One Step Beyond' on my sax to a backing track. The reactions were priceless, ranging from 'thank god for something different' to sheer horror at the sight of me capering around the aging members blasting out the Madness classic.

 

That same Friday evening Mustang Sally had a birthday gig in the posh room at the Mere social club. Our BL had found a 20-something lad to dep on rhythm in place of our suddenly-departed (flounced out) previous lead guitarist - he did OK, bless him. Our KB guy lugged his best instrument along (split 88 note job) which sounded really good when thumping out the bass lines in the three sax numbers that I do, so that was a bonus and a lifesaver setlist-wise, as we couldn't do any lead-guitar-centric numbers, an instant loss of 6-7 songs.

 

On Saturday we had two back-to-back gigs - a beer fest in Gillingham - 2-4pm, followed by a ladies' rugby post-tournament party also in Gillingham, 6.30 - 9.00. Both went very well indeed with the same lad depping on guitar. Nice to see some very fit female rugby players giving it large on the dance-floor!

 

On Sunday we were booked in an afternoon slot (1.15 - 2.30) in the beer tent at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury agricultural show, again appreciative audience, but with a different dep; this guy was a 35 YO music teacher and a proper lead guitarist, who'd been in this band before and knew almost all the numbers. He'd certainly get my vote as a replacement in the unlikely event of a democratic vote...

 

So in summary, 4.5 gigs in three days, 450 miles and 10 hours driving, 8.5 hours playing, three cans of Red Bull, 4 Snickers bars, 1 Asda cheese sandwich and a dozen cheesy numbers sandwiched between some slices of good stuff. Got to keep telling myself that this is an emergency band survival/rebuild situation so I must be grateful that we're still functioning at all! 

Jesus, that is a lot to cram in, I assume you were suitably rewarded.

[Stub Mandrel]

10 hours ago, neepheid said:

Well luckily he'd somehow managed to knock it about a semitone out so once I figured it out, I had to move everything up a fret on the A string.  Thankfully it was "Highway to Hell", so not a taxing song to recalculate on the fly.

 

I forgot to tune up from drop d last night. Trying to play something sensible AND play all along the watchtower.

 

I retrospect I coild have simplified a bit instead, but got away with it although I could tell I wasn't spot on.

[ezbass]

4 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I forgot to tune up from drop d last night.

Been there, done that  

[neepheid]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I forgot to tune up from drop d last night. Trying to play something sensible AND play all along the watchtower.

 

I retrospect I coild have simplified a bit instead, but got away with it although I could tell I wasn't spot on.

 

I leave myself passive/aggressive notes on the setlist - MATT TUNE TO D, MATT TUNE TO E FFS! etc

[mcnach]

26 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

I leave myself passive/aggressive notes on the setlist - MATT TUNE TO D, MATT TUNE TO E FFS! etc

 

I thought I was the only one!

 

[Stub Mandrel]

16 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

I thought I was the only one!

 

 

I forget the setlist!

[WalMan]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I forgot to tune up from drop d last night.

Whole bass or just the E string? Hipshot D-tuner is your friend for the latter 🙂

[neepheid]

3 minutes ago, WalMan said:

Whole bass or just the E string? Hipshot D-tuner is your friend for the latter 🙂

 

I own up to a dozen basses at a time - it's not the friend of my wallet!

[acidbass]

It was pretty cool! 2nd largest crowd I've performed for (22k) Music festival in Belfast, 45 minute headline slot. Used G&L L2000 into HX Stomp and JH Audio phones. Sounded great! Had a near miss with the pyro tho like an idiot!

[Bluewine]

On 03/06/2024 at 17:22, ricksterphil said:

Played The Navigation in Newark on Saturday night. Interesting place, it's a former wharf warehouse on the River Trent and was nicely full. We're a Country Rock band and it was great that a couple from Virginia USA were in and told us we'd be awesome before we started (gotta love the +ve attitude).

We launched into Folsom Prison (the song, not the jail ) and kicked off the evening. Lots of nodding and foot tapping during set 1 which ramped up in Set 2 with much singing along and shape throwing. We finished with the obligatory Sweet Home Alabama (ok, it's not really a Country song but nobody cared) and got loads of compliments post gig. Emma, our singer, had someone tell her she's exceptional.....she is to be fair 

Top night and we'll be back later in the year.

My usual Mike Lull P4 and Handbox rig did the heavy lifting 

 

 

 

 

That's a cool looking venue.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

4 hours ago, acidbass said:

It was pretty cool! 2nd largest crowd I've performed for (22k) Music festival in Belfast, 45 minute headline slot. Used G&L L2000 into HX Stomp and JH Audio phones. Sounded great! Had a near miss with the pyro tho like an idiot!

 

 

That's fantastic!

 

Daryl

[BigRedX]

Hurtsfall opened the second day of the BlaqkhOlesun Festival at the Alhabra in Morecambe on Saturday.

 

Nice big venue with a massive backstage area complete with a maze of Spinal Tap-esque passageways leading between the dressing rooms and the stage.

 

Luckily we managed to avoid the Hairy Bikers procession on the way there and arrived with plenty of time to soundcheck. Method Cell who are also from Nottingham set off slightly later than us, got caught up in it all and arrived just minutes before the doors opened.

 

Great PA and foldback system so there was no problem going straight from my Helix into the PA and we had an excellent on-stage sound (and according to everyone we spoke to sounded great FoH too). In fact not a single band used any backline, and it was definitely noticeable in terms of getting good balanced FoH mixes for all the bands. Also used my Nux Wireless system for the first time at a gig and it seemed to perform flawlessly. 

 

Only downside with playing first is that we were on-stage at 4.20 when the venue wasn't as full then as it was later in the day. However most of those who had managed to get there early were down the front dancing and several people mentioned to us afterwards that they were glad they had made the effort to be there from the beginning and had caught our set because they really liked us. The new intro music worked well although we were on stage too soon IMO. More practice needed there. There were people singing along with the songs. The current set has both our slow numbers in it which is something that always worries me as it has the potential to ruin the flow, but both were especially well received. Sold a decent amount of merch and made a lot of new fans.

 

I have to say that I enjoyed the whole afternoon/evening, with all the bands being excellent, something that rarely happens at these sorts of gigs. Discovered two new to me bands that I'll want to see again, and Novus who I'd seen before and wasn't that impressed with, have undergone a line up change and presented a new and (IMO) improved more electronic sound. Auger, who headlined were as usual absolutely brilliant. 

 

Completely shattered at the end of the day so it was a good thing that we;'d booked a Hotel to stay over and took a leisurely drive back on the Sunday.

 

And we're doing it all again tonight, only this time it's a local gig at The Bodega in Nottingham supporting US band Spotlights.

 

Obligatory band photos:

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, WalMan said:

Whole bass or just the E string? Hipshot D-tuner is your friend for the latter 🙂

 

I hate the aesthetics of a d-tuner, plus retuning only takes a moment... when you aren't in mid-song.

[Stub Mandrel]

6 hours ago, acidbass said:

It was pretty cool! 2nd largest crowd I've performed for (22k) Music festival in Belfast, 45 minute headline slot. Used G&L L2000 into HX Stomp and JH Audio phones. Sounded great! Had a near miss with the pyro tho like an idiot!

I was hoping the video would show your immolation...

 

[Rodders]

Played in Ipswich Saturday night 10am-1am, started off quiet but soon filled up, apparently punters were very complimentary on the whole.

Highlight of the night for me though was we play "Hate to Say I Told You So" cuts to the bass break, singer says on bass introduces me, guy in the crowd opposite shouts "S**t name!" 🤣

Add to that the A14 being closed on the way home fell into bed at 2:30.