How was your gig last night?

[asingardenof]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

I'm a worryingly short distance down the coast in Cleveleys, just have rogue mobility scooters and the resident seagull gangs to deal with here.

My relatives live in Poulton and we go there quite often. It's a shame the café on the prom has gone downhill now despite its Star Wars fame.

Edited April 14 by asingardenof

[HeadlessBassist]

4 hours ago, asingardenof said:

Do you mean Blackpool? Because Lytham is nowhere near Liverpool.

 

I just let Google Maps do the navigating. My single aim is to get to soundcheck by 5pm, or preferably an hour before. 🚗

[ezbass]

17 hours ago, Merton said:

 

 

 

We were celebrating the release of our first single from our debut album - feel free to go check it out 😎

 

https://music.apple.com/gb/album/bumpy-single/1807891026
 

https://music.amazon.co.uk/artists/B002H5YZCU/the-youths

Absolutely love that, right up my street; quality!

[Merton]

9 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Absolutely love that, right up my street; quality!

Thank you kind sir!

 

I will claim all of the credit for it, even though all I did was plonk the bass on the recording 😄

[cheddatom]

The Salty Dog in Northwich on Friday night. It's a small place so we easily filled it. I love this place 'cos they always have great beer. For the first time since I started playing there, they had a great sound engineer! Every other time we've played there the sound has been plagued by low end rumbling and constant feedback, however, it's always been a barman or the like just doing their best. This guy clearly not only knew what he was doing, but was also concerned with doing a good job, and he did! A very sweaty 1.5hr set and all the free beer I could drink made for a very entertaining evening

 

[cheddatom]

here's the view from the back of the room

 

[StingRayBoy42]

NOT LAST NIGHT!

I played a gig at the O2 Ritz in Manchester (My old stomping ground) a few weeks ago with The Groove Chorus - a 40 odd piece choir playing fun/funky/cheesy/disco/pop stuff.

I used to go clubbing at The Ritz when I was a kid (Monday night Alternative (Goth) night and Wednesday night student (Indie) night) and I've seen loads of big gigs here (Including Chas & Dave!) so... this was a big deal for me!

It was a long day, got there about 1 for setup, tech sortouts etc then a full run through... knackering but good fun!

Eight piece band including a four piece horn section - we had a monitor engineer which hasn't happened to me for a long time.
The MD, guitarist and drummer were guys I've worked with before and not seen for ages, which was nice; the keyboard player was a great bloke and really good laugh - it's always nice to meet someone who hasn't heard any of my jokes.

The dress code was 'Denim on Denim on Denim' (NO black clothes allowed!) so I had to buy a pair of blue denim jeans - I don't own that many clothes that aren't black...
It was as camp as a row of pink tents (at christmas) - we did 'I Will Survive'... how camp do you want it?!

The gig was FANTASTIC - the place was packed, the choir sounded brilliant, the crowd loved it, the band were great, I played pretty well... a great night all round.

Certainly the biggest gig I've played for a while.
The organisers (and the rest of the band) said some nice things about my playing, which was gratifying and I've since been asked to play the next one, so... a good nights work! (Decent payer as well)

Highlight was probably 'Groove is in the heart' - who wouldn't want to play 'that' riff through an ENORMOUS PA while hundreds of people dance to it?!

Played the StingRay -> Secret Weapons board (Thumpinator ->VTDI) -> MB802 -> ENORMOUS PA
Shoes were peach pink sparkle Converse (not pictured)

Video-
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1005081587691904

Edited April 14 by StingRayBoy42

[casapete]

Two gigs for me last weekend.

 

First was with the blues band at a rather remote pub on the coast. Not as busy as last time

we did it but still a small appreciative crowd. I made a classic schoolboy error of leaving home

a bit late and grabbing a gig bag on the way out, only to discover I’d brought along the ‘wrong’

bass. Fortunately I also brought along my Dano Longhorn to show the guys, so ended up using 

that into the Rumble 500 and it sounded pretty damned good.  Haven’t used it for a while,

so a nice reminder of how it will always be a keeper. (see pic).

Then Sunday I was with the duo at our regular venue in Scarborough, ‘The Lookout on the Pier’.

A full house as per usual and some interesting requests, including ‘A certain smile’ ( for the 

owner Jill ), ‘Africa’ and ‘An Englishman in New York’ with the crazy walking bit in the middle 

which is OLF. Encore of ‘Eight days a week’ which is a cracking tune as well. We’re there again

in May and it’s always a pleasure.
 

 

 

[msb]

6 hours ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

NOT LAST NIGHT!

I played a gig at the O2 Ritz in Manchester (My old stomping ground) a few weeks ago with The Groove Chorus - a 40 odd piece choir playing fun/funky/cheesy/disco/pop stuff.

I used to go clubbing at The Ritz when I was a kid (Monday night Alternative (Goth) night and Wednesday night student (Indie) night) and I've seen loads of big gigs here (Including Chas & Dave!) so... this was a big deal for me!

It was a long day, got there about 1 for setup, tech sortouts etc then a full run through... knackering but good fun!

Eight piece band including a four piece horn section - we had a monitor engineer which hasn't happened to me for a long time.
The MD, guitarist and drummer were guys I've worked with before and not seen for ages, which was nice; the keyboard player was a great bloke and really good laugh - it's always nice to meet someone who hasn't heard any of my jokes.

The dress code was 'Denim on Denim on Denim' (NO black clothes allowed!) so I had to buy a pair of blue denim jeans - I don't own that many clothes that aren't black...
It was as camp as a row of pink tents (at christmas) - we did 'I Will Survive'... how camp do you want it?!

The gig was FANTASTIC - the place was packed, the choir sounded brilliant, the crowd loved it, the band were great, I played pretty well... a great night all round.

Certainly the biggest gig I've played for a while.
The organisers (and the rest of the band) said some nice things about my playing, which was gratifying and I've since been asked to play the next one, so... a good nights work! (Decent payer as well)

Highlight was probably 'Groove is in the heart' - who wouldn't want to play 'that' riff through an ENORMOUS PA while hundreds of people dance to it?!

Played the StingRay -> Secret Weapons board (Thumpinator ->VTDI) -> MB802 -> ENORMOUS PA
Shoes were peach pink sparkle Converse (not pictured)

Video-
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1005081587691904

Pink sparkle Converse ! 
Jeez !

[Cat Burrito]

As part of Record Store Day, I played a church in my hometown. Not only did it mark 12 months of me being alcohol free but it marked the first time I played a venue that my Dad had played. No, we're not religious but it amazes me that in 37yrs of playing, it hasn't happened already. I had friends come over from Wales and down from Yorkshire and we were on it throughout. The playback confirmed it. It was promoting my friend Rich Davies and his band The Dissidents. Got to use my Blackstar head and cab with my trusty Ric 4003s. It sounded immense. 

 

[StingRayBoy42]

11 hours ago, msb said:

Pink sparkle Converse ! 
Jeez !

I'll have you know they're PEACH pink sparkle Converse! 😀

[AlexDelores]

13 hours ago, casapete said:

Two gigs for me last weekend.

 

First was with the blues band at a rather remote pub on the coast. Not as busy as last time

we did it but still a small appreciative crowd. I made a classic schoolboy error of leaving home

a bit late and grabbing a gig bag on the way out, only to discover I’d brought along the ‘wrong’

bass. Fortunately I also brought along my Dano Longhorn to show the guys, so ended up using 

that into the Rumble 500 and it sounded pretty damned good.  Haven’t used it for a while,

so a nice reminder of how it will always be a keeper. (see pic).

Then Sunday I was with the duo at our regular venue in Scarborough, ‘The Lookout on the Pier’.

A full house as per usual and some interesting requests, including ‘A certain smile’ ( for the 

owner Jill ), ‘Africa’ and ‘An Englishman in New York’ with the crazy walking bit in the middle 

which is OLF. Encore of ‘Eight days a week’ which is a cracking tune as well. We’re there again

in May and it’s always a pleasure.
 

 

 

That Dano looks fantastic…

But, I’m very intrigued what the wrong bass was that you picked up? 👀

[casapete]

3 hours ago, AlexDelores said:

That Dano looks fantastic…

But, I’m very intrigued what the wrong bass was that you picked up? 👀

I’d forgotten I had put a short scale Squier Jaguar into my usual gig bag. It’s a friend’s bass which I 

haven’t played in anger, so wasn’t really ideal for the gig. I’ve had the Dano for a long time, and it

was just like putting on a pair of old slippers, one of my favourite instruments. 
It is actually a Longhorn Pro, which is one of the slightly less authentic Korean reissues from the

late 90’s. Factory upgraded bridge / tuners / pickups, and no tape around the edges! Sounds 

immense though, and weighs the same as a packet of crisps. 

[AlexDelores]

On 15/04/2025 at 16:23, casapete said:

I’d forgotten I had put a short scale Squier Jaguar into my usual gig bag. It’s a friend’s bass which I 

haven’t played in anger, so wasn’t really ideal for the gig. I’ve had the Dano for a long time, and it

was just like putting on a pair of old slippers, one of my favourite instruments. 
It is actually a Longhorn Pro, which is one of the slightly less authentic Korean reissues from the

late 90’s. Factory upgraded bridge / tuners / pickups, and no tape around the edges! Sounds 

immense though, and weighs the same as a packet of crisps. 

Fair enough! Mystery solved! 
 

Well, it looks the dogs! 👌

[Bluewine]

On 14/04/2025 at 11:25, StingRayBoy42 said:

NOT LAST NIGHT!

I played a gig at the O2 Ritz in Manchester (My old stomping ground) a few weeks ago with The Groove Chorus - a 40 odd piece choir playing fun/funky/cheesy/disco/pop stuff.

I used to go clubbing at The Ritz when I was a kid (Monday night Alternative (Goth) night and Wednesday night student (Indie) night) and I've seen loads of big gigs here (Including Chas & Dave!) so... this was a big deal for me!

It was a long day, got there about 1 for setup, tech sortouts etc then a full run through... knackering but good fun!

Eight piece band including a four piece horn section - we had a monitor engineer which hasn't happened to me for a long time.
The MD, guitarist and drummer were guys I've worked with before and not seen for ages, which was nice; the keyboard player was a great bloke and really good laugh - it's always nice to meet someone who hasn't heard any of my jokes.

The dress code was 'Denim on Denim on Denim' (NO black clothes allowed!) so I had to buy a pair of blue denim jeans - I don't own that many clothes that aren't black...
It was as camp as a row of pink tents (at christmas) - we did 'I Will Survive'... how camp do you want it?!

The gig was FANTASTIC - the place was packed, the choir sounded brilliant, the crowd loved it, the band were great, I played pretty well... a great night all round.

Certainly the biggest gig I've played for a while.
The organisers (and the rest of the band) said some nice things about my playing, which was gratifying and I've since been asked to play the next one, so... a good nights work! (Decent payer as well)

Highlight was probably 'Groove is in the heart' - who wouldn't want to play 'that' riff through an ENORMOUS PA while hundreds of people dance to it?!

Played the StingRay -> Secret Weapons board (Thumpinator ->VTDI) -> MB802 -> ENORMOUS PA
Shoes were peach pink sparkle Converse (not pictured)

Video-
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1005081587691904

 

Wow! Gigs like this are far and few inbween for me. Love it.

 

Daryl

[StingRayBoy42]

1 minute ago, Bluewine said:

 

Wow! Gigs like this are far and few inbween for me. Love it.

 

Daryl

They're few and far between for me, too!

For every gig like this, there's fifty "Why do I bother?" pub gigs... something most Basschatters can probably relate to!

[leschirons]

Great gig. Packed it out, crowd loved it. 

First time I've played with a real Hammond master AND horns.  Loved it.

All originals, mixture of Blues, jazz, funk and a little rocky/pop. 

[Lozz196]

Just got home from my Spacewasters gig at The Hope & Anchor, Islington.

 

4 band bill, in an 80 capacity venue, luckily a dedicated storage area for gear. 

 

We headlined and played well, though it was soooooo hot down there, even setting up had us all sweating out half a stone. Didn’t bother with a soundcheck but the sound man was very good and kept the volume to reasonable levels. I played my black Fender JMJ Mustang into my Behringer BDI21, DI taken from that to FOH, and then into a small 100 watt Ashdown combo of some sorts for stage volume which was plenty. 

 

Due to my plantar fasciitis rather than DMs I wore my Skechers trainers. 
 

Edit - Review now online, in punktuationmag:

 

The Spacewasters are approaching their 25th anniversary, and over the years, they’ve become really damn good musicians. Maybe that’s not a very punk thing to say, but as their guitarists sprinkle frenzied solo magic on the likes of ‘Leave Me Alone’ and ‘Devil’s Bones’, we have to be thankful that they’ve chosen to channel their talents not into tedious 20 minute jazz-prog suites, but into shit-kickin’ street-level punk rock n’ roll. Add the larger than life presence (and sense of humour) of frontman Mick, and you have a recipe for one hell of a good time. Check out their new album ‘The 7-Legged Groove Machine’, it does exactly what it says on the tin, and it does it very well.

 

Edited April 19 by Lozz196

[martthebass]

A twofer for the Glam Lads this week, played to a group from Mencap Gateway on Thursday night, we love doing this and the clients always love the show. We normally only do one per year but we’ve already agreed a return in December. Last night was a private party in a local WMC, we normally avoid private jobs as they rarely work for us but the couple who booked us have been to a few gigs and convinced us. Surprisingly it was a great night with enthusiastic dancers all the way through both spots. Resting these aching bones now until next Saturday for a more normal gig at the Pen Nook in Deepcar north side of Sheffield.

 

Oh….red, white and blue sparkle Converse.

 

 

Edited April 19 by martthebass

[Len_derby]

9 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Just got home from my Spacewasters gig at The Hope & Anchor, Islington.

 

4 band bill, in an 80 capacity venue, luckily a dedicated storage area for gear. 

 

We headlined and played well, though it was soooooo hot down there, even setting up had us all sweating out half a stone. Didn’t bother with a soundcheck but the sound man was very good and kept the volume to reasonable levels. I played my black Fender JMJ Mustang into my Behringer BDI21, DI taken from that to FOH, and then into a small 100 watt Ashdown combo of some sorts for stage volume which was plenty. 

 

Due to my plantar fasciitis rather than DMs I wore my Skechers trainers. 

 

 

 

Are you persevering with the JMJs Loz? I remember reading you were finding the neck uncomfortable to play.

Edited April 19 by Len_derby
Spelin

[peteb]

An interesting one last night, the 'occasional' blues band playing as the opener in a three band bill in a pub! The headliner was a goth band, with an original indy type band in the middle. 

 

Essentially the gig was everything we would normally avoid - too many bands with nothing in common, playing in a pub with not enough space for not much money. Originally we thought that we were being offered a normal pub gig to cover another band pulling out, but it transpired that we were part of a multi band bank holiday event. Anyway, the blues band doesn't play enough gigs (due to a couple of members being very busy with other bands), so it was nice to play live together again - Facebook had just informed us that our last gig was a year ago! 

 

The gig was pretty good, we sounded as if the last show was a week ago and went down really well. All the people involved were great, even if there was a bit of a clash of genres. Every band used my cab, which wasn't what I originally intended. 

 

In another thread, some people were saying that they never let anyone else touch their bass. I'm usually pretty relaxed about that (to a point), as you have to be a bit of a d1ck to damage a FSO type bass. I'm more bothered about other people using amps, as you can do damage if you don't know what you're doing with absolutely no ill intent, as the girl playing bass for the goth band nearly did at the soundcheck when she plugged her amp into my Berg cab while my amp was already running and then wondered why it wasn't working! I quickly unplugged my amp (a MB LM3) and then adjusted the gain on her TE Elf so that everything was OK. I took my amp off after our slot and let the middle band use the Elf, just in case! 

 

Edited April 19 by peteb

[peteb]

10 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Due to my plantar fasciitis rather than DMs I wore my Skechers trainers. 

 

 

I must admit that I have succumbed to wearing slip-on Sketchers trainers, but I still can't bring myself to wear them on a gig! A couple of the guys in a band last night were not so fussy, proudly rocking the Sketchers onstage...! 

 

[basexperience]

I recently joined an Alanis Morissette tribute act, Jagged Little Alanis. First full set was last weekend at the Essex Arms in Brentwood - great little venue. The amazing fella who did sound videos everything. Here’s me trying to be Flea 🙄

 

 

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, Len_derby said:

 

Are you persevering with the JMJs Loz? I remember reading you were finding the neck uncomfortable to play.

Well I’ve spent the last year or so changing my technique on my fretting hand, always used to do the thumb-wrap over the neck and now arthritis has set in that hurts, so now trying to play with thumb straight on back of neck. Seems to have worked, something I’m rather pleased about.

[Stub Mandrel]

6 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Well I’ve spent the last year or so changing my technique on my fretting hand, always used to do the thumb-wrap over the neck and now arthritis has set in that hurts, so now trying to play with thumb straight on back of neck. Seems to have worked, something I’m rather pleased about.

 

Interesting, I 've been working against arthritis in my thumb for several years and that's something I've just started looking at.

 

Meanwhile boswellia and/or ibuprofen can get me through the worst times, plus daily glucosamine & chondroitin.