tauzero Posted December 15 Share Posted December 15 1 hour ago, StingRayBoy42 said: Cantina Band at some place called Pitchers in Tamworth. Em (you remember her... from the awful shopping centre carol thing we did? She bought me the fingerless gloves? That's the one.) is from thereabouts and reckoned it used to be one of the best places in Tamworth but had recently reopened, so her and a couple of wind band/Jazz orchestra mates came down to see what it was like (and to see us. A bit). When I arrived at the postcode I'd been given, my blood ran cold, my heart sank, my bowels turned to liquid and it was all I could do to stop myself from running screaming back to civilisation, begging forgiveness from the Almighty (other deities are still available). Emblazoned above the door, spewed in neon hatred was most loathsome two-word phrase in the English language (except maybe 'Inoperable tumour' perhaps, or 'Piers Morgan'?)... 'Sports Bar'. Once upon a time that was the Palace Cinema. When the Odeon multiscreen opened it became a music venue with the sloping auditorium still in place - played there once, rather liked it and it was massive. Then it went titsup and the next owner filled the sloping auditorium so it was level - played there once too. It has been through various incarnations since then and has recently reopened - I've tried getting a gig there but so far without success. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted December 15 Share Posted December 15 1 minute ago, tauzero said: I've tried getting a gig there but so far without success. You have not missed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted December 15 Share Posted December 15 (edited) 24 minutes ago, tauzero said: Once upon a time that was the Palace Cinema. Just worked out that's why it's called Pitchers! 😳 EDIT: Just realised Pitchers is also a sport thing *and* a drinking thing, so for a sports bar that used to be a cinema... 👌 I blame the lack of sleep. Edited December 15 by StingRayBoy42 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted December 15 Share Posted December 15 1 hour ago, StingRayBoy42 said: I had an identical pair of New Rocks back in the day. A friend of our drummer made disparaging remarks about them and I went off him a bit. Fun fact; the next time I saw him he'd just lost control of his car and driven into the forecourt of a car sales place at 60-odd, totalling his 205 GTi and about fifteen other vehicles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted December 15 Share Posted December 15 8 minutes ago, Jackroadkill said: Fun fact; the next time I saw him he'd just lost control of his car and driven into the forecourt of a car sales place at 60-odd, totalling his 205 GTi and about fifteen other vehicles. Remind me NEVER to diss your shoes! Not that I would of course... far too much of a gentleman. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 A varied weekend. Gigged at the Flying Circus in Newark with the Andy Wales Band on Saturday night. Our dep drummer did a sterling job despite not having had a chance to rehearse together. Then on Sunday I did the sound and lighting for the local kids guitar club Christmas concert at the village hall. Encouraging to see schoolchildren taking such an interest in playing instruments, and having been involved with a few of these events over the years you can see their abilities developing. Nicely done. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 Saturday night we ( The Alligators ) were playing at a pub in Bridlington’s old town. Audience varied in size from the start, at one point we played to 4 people and then later around 40! Had a hen night party in for a while which was quite interesting - they all danced to one or two songs and then gradually moved on to other pubs down the high street. Overall an okay night, until two of the ladies started being a pain by harassing an audience member so we stopped playing and finished early which was a shame. Such a pain when this happens, but as there was nobody able to deal with them I felt it was our only course of action. We got paid and the staff apologised, hopefully we’ll return there in 2025 but must admit I’m personally not that bothered which is a shame. 10 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 Saturday was the last ever gig for In Isolation. Singer Ryan is calling it a day after 20 years, and with my other band being much more active I have been struggling to find the time to be in more than one. We were able to persuade the organisers of the Spellbound Goth Night at The Salutation in Nottingham to let us perform before the main event, so we had an early start of 7.15 in order to play an extra long set and be packed up before the normal club night opening time of 9.00pm. Probably the longest single set I have ever played in 45 years of gigging with 17 songs. I was more than a little relieved to find that all the songs were ones we've been playing for the last 18 months and that they had decided against dusting off some from before my time, I've been with the band almost 8 years but I am to a certain extent still the FNG. Based on the ticket sales and door takings there must have been close to 100 people in to see us, which was very nice, but it would have been nicer if they had all been regulars at all our previous local gigs (we played this time last year to just over a third of that number). There were several down the front who I had never seen at one of our gigs before but who seemed to know most of the songs! Played all three songs from the new EP which seemed to go down well and all 5 of the covers that we occasional add to the set including our version if "I Believe In Father Christmas". I'll miss playing our version of the Bauhaus classic "She's In Parties" because we really made that our own. I heard the original the other day and was pleasantly surprised by how different our version is! Here's a couple of gig photos and a short video of the closing moments of the set... I Isolation.mp4 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 We have recently got a few gigs in Retirement Villages around the Southeast. We had the first on Sat. We didnt know what to expect but it was pretty obvious what not to play for these places. Only 2 x 45 mins sets and finished by 10pm. Decent money and a few free drinks at their onsite bar afterwards. Made a change from sweaty pubs and having to contend with drunks wanting to talk as we are packing up. We went down really well, and although it was a struggle to play a bit quieter than we normally do, it was quite fun and we all commented how much we enjoyed it. Of course i was at the back with full IEM's so to me the gig wasn't any different to any other, sound wise, but the others said playing quieter made them play with a bit more precision. I still have to wipe a few asses as far as setting up etc, but after having a bit of an outburst on WhatsApp recently I think some of it has sunk in. We are using a Dep singer at the moment, as my wife is taking a break, meaning I have to take the PA, lights, and my gear, and set it all up and break it al down without help. Got a bit fed up with this and made a few comments about it. Looking forward to to the very well paid NYE one. First time out on NYE with this band, and we are getting my wife to dep for the dep, which should be interesting. As we live right in the centre of London we have no idea how we will get home as the roads are shut until 6am. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 30 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said: We have recently got a few gigs in Retirement Villages around the Southeast. ... I still have to wipe a few asses as far as setting up etc I suppose you win some, lose some on those gigs! 31 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said: meaning I have to take the PA, lights, and my gear, and set it all up and break it al down without help. That was all very normal with our group. The drummer has always helped with the load in, but obviously, he has the drumkit too, and the singer now almost always sets up the PA when we have have it in (except always one wire missing in the end) after some not so subtle hints, but it still has been pretty much on me to get it in and set up, the guitarist has never helped with any of it. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 Starr Sports, Canvey Island, on Saturday night. Load-in and set-up went quickly and smoothly. Everyone (well, nearly everyone) knew their roles and what to set up now. It was also somewhat aided by both singers now migrating to the Xvive U4 system the two guitarists and I have been using, meaning less trailing leads for P2 IEM packs. A bit of a challenging audience in the first set, apart from a group of young drunk booked going nuts over the heavier stuff, and getting way too close and knocked the singer's sample pad over - he managed to grab it before it hit the deck. The bouncers turfed them out shortly after. It didn't help that the bar has a new pool table in the middle of the room that is way too close to where bands play, leaving not enough room for dancing - and it can't be moved... at all. (Honestly, this is one thing that really pees me off in some venues). Oh, and shortly before we started, I came out of the loo to see the female singer walking away from chatting to the drummer and catch her flares on my guitar stand, and watched in horror as my Ibanez EHB fell face down on the deck! Luckily, it appears to have survived its fall unscathed apart from a small ding in its headstock. The second set was much better. More party tunes in this set and more lubricated people ready to sing and dance (at the space next to said pool table rather than right in front of it). Obligatory encores and we were done by midnight. By this point, I was running on fumes (and Red Bull) due to a late night the night before and a very early start (cruise ship dinner party with family - get to bed at 1am and didn't realise until I was awakened by my uncle phoning our cabin that we had to be out of the cabins by 7.30am!) So yeah, I was rather tired by this point, but we all mucked in (well, nearly all) and was tucked up in bed by 1.30am. Next stop, The Sarah Moore in Leigh. Earlier start than usual due to them showing the boxing after (🙄). It's usually a good one for us, but sadly our last one there as it's closing in the new year as the building owner want to build flats! 10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 43 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: I suppose you win some, lose some on those gigs! That was all very normal with our group. The drummer has always helped with the load in, but obviously, he has the drumkit too, and the singer now almost always sets up the PA when we have have it in (except always one wire missing in the end) after some not so subtle hints, but it still has been pretty much on me to get it in and set up, the guitarist has never helped with any of it. Ive been harping on at the band to do more up to date songs for ages, now we are asked not to play anything past the early 80's of these gigs. At least we have pub gigs to let loose. My wife is our usual singer, so she normally gets the PA and lights set up at gigs. We live on the 3rd floor and it all has to be taken downstairs and across the car park. We insist that everyone plugs themselves in etc, but then after it's all plugged in i still have to check that everyone can't actual count. There is always one that in the wrong channel. We do get help with loading in and out if there is anyone else there, but it's the setting up that seems to take some ages. I had the PA/lights/keyboard rig broken down before the bass player had packed his rig away (just bass/amp/cab and a cable). I get they aren't as experienced as I am, but it's just common sense. The drummer is the one that ends up sorting them out most of the time now. me and the wife used to take a big bag of spare mic leads etc, now I just take bare minimum for the PA and that's it. Now when any of them come up to me and says the lead they have isn't long enough, they get the standard 'this doesn't sound like a me problem so go and sort it'. Can't believe there are still calls of 'where do I plug this in to'? Dont get me started lol. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 One good thing to come out of the last gig, I managed to get a keyboard working using a power bank, using bluetooth midi back to my macbook. I can now soundcheck from out front. Really happy about that as I dont trust the others to do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 4 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said: We insist that everyone plugs themselves in etc, but then after it's all plugged in i still have to check that everyone can't actual count. There is always one that in the wrong channel. Oh people do plug themselves in - I don't even check that, if they aren't plugged in they are going to be pretty quiet, but every socket has a label on it as to what it is so there is no excuse to get it wrong, i wouldn't expect anyone to know the right channel numbers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 (edited) 1 hour ago, Woodinblack said: Oh people do plug themselves in - I don't even check that, if they aren't plugged in they are going to be pretty quiet, but every socket has a label on it as to what it is so there is no excuse to get it wrong, i wouldn't expect anyone to know the right channel numbers! When we got our XR18 I made up laminated A5 cheat sheets for everyone. Everyone was also colour coded. I printed out labels (in the corresponding colour) for the leads that go in to the XR18. I have numbers stuck on the XR18 under the XLR inputs. I really can't do much more.....and yet 😂 To be fair, although all the instruments go through the Mixer, most of the time it's for the IEM users rather than FOH. We still mostly only put vocals/keys and kick through it, but we also record multitrack off the desk and have had a couple of 'cut down' recordings where someone has used the wrong input and ive just left it. Edited December 16 by dave_bass5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 When the bass player isn't being sawn in half by a table... He's gone bloody walkabout, again! 20241214 Tolbooth walkabout.mp4 Bloody wireless pest! 5 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 I was in a band a log time ago with a guitarist and bass player both using wireless. We used to play at the Roadhouse in Covent Garden quite a lot as the guitarist was also the house sound guy on the nights we weren't playing. I remember one gig where both of them went out in to the crowd (this was a sat night so it was packed). All of a sudden the guitar stopped and the bass player started doing a solo. Next thing I see is the guitarist coming back on stage carrying a try with drinks on it for us. Classic!!! 3 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 (edited) On 15/12/2024 at 14:30, neepheid said: That's an unusual T bird colour. Very nice, like that. Dave Edited December 16 by dmccombe7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said: When we got our XR18 I made up laminated A5 cheat sheets for everyone. Everyone was also colour coded. I printed out labels (in the corresponding colour) for the leads that go in to the XR18. I have numbers stuck on the XR18 under the XLR inputs. I really can't do much more.....and yet 😂 Our leads are colour-coded and numbered, with corresponding numbers on the stage boxes, and numbers on the mixer. The CQ20T mixer also has corresponding colour codes for each channel. Even so, there's a couple of people who don't know how to plug themselves in. I think I might make up some more labels for the stage boxes with people's names and instruments (such as "Greg Bass" and Greg Mic") to make it even clearer. Whilst I'm at it, I ought to colour code the speaker cables and speaker sockets to make it as foolproof as possible. I think I'll take a couple of rolls of electrical tape and a Sharpie to the next gig! Come to think of it, can anyone recommend a good quality, not too expensive 6m dual XLR cable? We're running two leads from the mixer to the sub. A dual cable would save a few minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 6 hours ago, BigRedX said: Saturday was the last ever gig for In Isolation. Singer Ryan is calling it a day after 20 years, and with my other band being much more active I have been struggling to find the time to be in more than one. We were able to persuade the organisers of the Spellbound Goth Night at The Salutation in Nottingham to let us perform before the main event, so we had an early start of 7.15 in order to play an extra long set and be packed up before the normal club night opening time of 9.00pm. Probably the longest single set I have ever played in 45 years of gigging with 17 songs. I was more than a little relieved to find that all the songs were ones we've been playing for the last 18 months and that they had decided against dusting off some from before my time, I've been with the band almost 8 years but I am to a certain extent still the FNG. Based on the ticket sales and door takings there must have been close to 100 people in to see us, which was very nice, but it would have been nicer if they had all been regulars at all our previous local gigs (we played this time last year to just over a third of that number). There were several down the front who I had never seen at one of our gigs before but who seemed to know most of the songs! Played all three songs from the new EP which seemed to go down well and all 5 of the covers that we occasional add to the set including our version if "I Believe In Father Christmas". I'll miss playing our version of the Bauhaus classic "She's In Parties" because we really made that our own. I heard the original the other day and was pleasantly surprised by how different our version is! Here's a couple of gig photos and a short video of the closing moments of the set... I Isolation.mp4 7.45 MB · 0 downloads Who says Goths never smile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 1 hour ago, neepheid said: When the bass player isn't being sawn in half by a table... He's gone bloody walkabout, again! 20241214 Tolbooth walkabout.mp4 7.83 MB · 0 downloads Bloody wireless pest! And bloody good fun song to play, don't care what anyone says! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 51 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said: I think I might make up some more labels for the stage boxes with people's names and instruments (such as "Greg Bass" and Greg Mic") to make it even clearer. I go for names for microphones, and instruments for the instruments. Which means the labels can be bigger, and the only trouble we ever had was that the bass drum ended up plugged into the bass socket a couple of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted December 16 Share Posted December 16 32 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: I go for names for microphones, and instruments for the instruments. Which means the labels can be bigger, and the only trouble we ever had was that the bass drum ended up plugged into the bass socket a couple of times. I think that’s why the use of the term ‘kick drum’ came about . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zbd1960 Posted Monday at 20:06 Share Posted Monday at 20:06 @StingRayBoy42 have to approve the top hat, goggles etc... I hav ebeen known to be similarly attired...Although the solstice is the shortest day, the earliest sunrise is about a week before that because sunrises continue to get later until the first week of January or so. I encountered something along your lines at Lincoln some years ago.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted Monday at 20:19 Share Posted Monday at 20:19 1 hour ago, casapete said: I think that’s why the use of the term ‘kick drum’ came about . he's a drummer - I'm not going to write "kick" on the mixer 😀 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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