How was your gig last night?

[BassAgent]

4 hours ago, SICbass said:

Those are some crackin‘ looking photos. What venue is that?

Thanks! It was at the Paaspop festival, the unofficial opening of the Dutch festival season.

[casapete]

Couple of gigs for me this weekend.

 

Friday night I was with The Alligators blues band in Hornsea on the East Yorkshire coast. Gig was 

The Green Owl, a decent cafe bar more popular with locals than holidaymakers. Used my P-Lyte

straight into the Rumble 500 combo which is now my go-to setup for this band. The Rumble is

astonishing both tonally and volume wise - one of the best amps I’ve used. Anyway, the gig

went well, with an appreciative audience for us - I’m the only band member not from the area

so it’s nearly a complete hometown gig for us. 

 

Saturday saw the acoustic duo playing at a lovely big village hall in the Yorkshire wolds near Driffield.

It was an early VE Day / late St George’s day bash! They hired a local fish and chip van for the catering

(see pic) and by the time we started the hall was full. Some fairly normal requests, with no surprises 

so an easy gig really. 2x50 minute sets flew by, followed by a quick pack down as my guitarist mate

was flying off to another gig, in Hornsea! I was home by 9pm so well happy - these late afternoon 

into early evening gigs suit me just fine, after decades of getting in at 2 or 3 am.

 

 

[Bluewine]

15 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I've been to a few of the dealer days and the band is more background music than a show. Only time people take time to watch the band is when they have been to the burger stall and still eating.

Shame its the last gig in the diary this year ? Is the band folding or something else happening there Paul. ?

Dave

 

Dave, We're basically background music at The Harley Motor as well. However, we're set up in front of  they're large horse shoe shaped bar and I know we draw more interest from the punters than most bands that play there.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

52 minutes ago, casapete said:

Couple of gigs for me this weekend.

 

Friday night I was with The Alligators blues band in Hornsea on the East Yorkshire coast. Gig was 

The Green Owl, a decent cafe bar more popular with locals than holidaymakers. Used my P-Lyte

straight into the Rumble 500 combo which is now my go-to setup for this band. The Rumble is

astonishing both tonally and volume wise - one of the best amps I’ve used. Anyway, the gig

went well, with an appreciative audience for us - I’m the only band member not from the area

so it’s nearly a complete hometown gig for us. 

 

Saturday saw the acoustic duo playing at a lovely big village hall in the Yorkshire wolds near Driffield.

It was an early VE Day / late St George’s day bash! They hired a local fish and chip van for the catering

(see pic) and by the time we started the hall was full. Some fairly normal requests, with no surprises 

so an easy gig really. 2x50 minute sets flew by, followed by a quick pack down as my guitarist mate

was flying off to another gig, in Hornsea! I was home by 9pm so well happy - these late afternoon 

into early evening gigs suit me just fine, after decades of getting in at 2 or 3 am.

 

 

 

 

Sounds like a nice weekend. 

 

Daryl

[dmccombe7]

8 hours ago, casapete said:

Couple of gigs for me this weekend.

 

Friday night I was with The Alligators blues band in Hornsea on the East Yorkshire coast. Gig was 

The Green Owl, a decent cafe bar more popular with locals than holidaymakers. Used my P-Lyte

straight into the Rumble 500 combo which is now my go-to setup for this band. The Rumble is

astonishing both tonally and volume wise - one of the best amps I’ve used. Anyway, the gig

went well, with an appreciative audience for us - I’m the only band member not from the area

so it’s nearly a complete hometown gig for us. 

 

Saturday saw the acoustic duo playing at a lovely big village hall in the Yorkshire wolds near Driffield.

It was an early VE Day / late St George’s day bash! They hired a local fish and chip van for the catering

(see pic) and by the time we started the hall was full. Some fairly normal requests, with no surprises 

so an easy gig really. 2x50 minute sets flew by, followed by a quick pack down as my guitarist mate

was flying off to another gig, in Hornsea! I was home by 9pm so well happy - these late afternoon 

into early evening gigs suit me just fine, after decades of getting in at 2 or 3 am.

 

 

We've done a few afternoon / early evening slots with the Glam band too and its great getting home before 9pm.

Dave

[Cat Burrito]

I was delighted to play a charity fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society in Salisbury at the weekend. Having lost my Mum to Alzheimer’s, it wasn’t one I had to think twice over! A great lineup of bands - 7 acts who for the most part all supported each other. It was a really friendly atmosphere and we played really well. Our mid placed billing was definitely the golden hour and it is absolutely a contender for my gig of the year, so far. We played electric, mostly original gothic tunes. 

 

Here’s a pic, courtesy of John Armstrong, of me heading up the dusty end to channel my inner Peter Hook. 
 

[SICbass]

25 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

I was delighted to play a charity fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society in Salisbury at the weekend. Having lost my Mum to Alzheimer’s, it wasn’t one I had to think twice over! A great lineup of bands - 7 acts who for the most part all supported each other. It was a really friendly atmosphere and we played really well. Our mid placed billing was definitely the golden hour and it is absolutely a contender for my gig of the year, so far. We played electric, mostly original gothic tunes. 

 

Here’s a pic, courtesy of John Armstrong, of me heading up the dusty end to channel my inner Peter Hook. 
 

 

Very cool pic.

[SICbass]

12 hours ago, casapete said:

I was home by 9pm so well happy - these late afternoon 

into early evening gigs suit me just fine, after decades of getting in at 2 or 3 am.

 

What we used to refer to as "the early dart" - always a favourite.

[Lozz196]

54 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

I was delighted to play a charity fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society in Salisbury at the weekend. Having lost my Mum to Alzheimer’s, it wasn’t one I had to think twice over! A great lineup of bands - 7 acts who for the most part all supported each other. It was a really friendly atmosphere and we played really well. Our mid placed billing was definitely the golden hour and it is absolutely a contender for my gig of the year, so far. We played electric, mostly original gothic tunes. 

 

Here’s a pic, courtesy of John Armstrong, of me heading up the dusty end to channel my inner Peter Hook. 
 

Great pic Tim, what strap are you using, looks like a good one to support a weighty bass.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Great pic Tim, what strap are you using, looks like a good one to support a weighty bass.

 

Is that one of those 3" Couch straps?

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

I was delighted to play a charity fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society in Salisbury at the weekend. Having lost my Mum to Alzheimer’s, it wasn’t one I had to think twice over! A great lineup of bands - 7 acts who for the most part all supported each other. It was a really friendly atmosphere and we played really well. Our mid placed billing was definitely the golden hour and it is absolutely a contender for my gig of the year, so far. We played electric, mostly original gothic tunes. 

 

Here’s a pic, courtesy of John Armstrong, of me heading up the dusty end to channel my inner Peter Hook. 
 

Cracking pic as always but i'm now curious what the 269 signifies ?

Dave

[Franticsmurf]

That is a very cool photo.

 

[Cat Burrito]

8 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Great pic Tim, what strap are you using, looks like a good one to support a weighty bass.

 

See below... & I don't own any heavy basses. Unfortunately, my shoulder is just knackered!

 

7 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Is that one of those 3" Couch straps?

 

I am impressed - indeed it is. 

 

6 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Cracking pic as always but i'm now curious what the 269 signifies ?

Dave

 

269 is on all my basses. It was the number given to a cow that was destined to be killed but was liberated. 269 went on to live a long and healthy life. 

[dmccombe7]

18 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

 

 

 

 

269 is on all my basses. It was the number given to a cow that was destined to be killed but was liberated. 269 went on to live a long and healthy life. 

I like that. 

Dave

[Woodinblack]

49 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

I am impressed - indeed it is. 

 

There was a certain level of familiarity!

[Bluewine]

11 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

I was delighted to play a charity fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society in Salisbury at the weekend. Having lost my Mum to Alzheimer’s, it wasn’t one I had to think twice over! A great lineup of bands - 7 acts who for the most part all supported each other. It was a really friendly atmosphere and we played really well. Our mid placed billing was definitely the golden hour and it is absolutely a contender for my gig of the year, so far. We played electric, mostly original gothic tunes. 

 

Here’s a pic, courtesy of John Armstrong, of me heading up the dusty end to channel my inner Peter Hook. 
 

 

 

"Delighted", that's where I like to be.

 

I'm jealous of the pic, very cool.

 

Daryl

[super al]

11 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

I was delighted to play a charity fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society in Salisbury at the weekend. Having lost my Mum to Alzheimer’s, it wasn’t one I had to think twice over! A great lineup of bands - 7 acts who for the most part all supported each other. It was a really friendly atmosphere and we played really well. Our mid placed billing was definitely the golden hour and it is absolutely a contender for my gig of the year, so far. We played electric, mostly original gothic tunes. 

 

Here’s a pic, courtesy of John Armstrong, of me heading up the dusty end to channel my inner Peter Hook. 
 

Our drummer went to that gig, his mate was playing in Folk'd About. He was also checking out the venue as we're playing there this Friday.

That is a very cool pose, I have hat envy too!

[Cat Burrito]

9 hours ago, super al said:

Our drummer went to that gig, his mate was playing in Folk'd About.

Folk'd About were great fun. I really enjoyed watching the other bands and pretty much everyone made a point of supporting each other. 

 

It was an odd venue to show up to. When we first walked through the bar, I thought we might need chicken wire but the people in the back room was really friendly. To be fair, although we definitely got checked out walking through the main bar, everyone was cool. Hope you have a great show. 

[Cat Burrito]

10 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

There was a certain level of familiarity!

 

I have the solid black one, a black / grey leopard print one and the white version of your one on the left. All 3" style. I should do a photo sometime too. 

[Franticsmurf]

My gig last night was a recording session for which I was the engineer. My mate has opened a small studio where he records his music school students, so it's mainly acoustic guitar and singers. His initial attempt to record were, in his own words, rubbish (well, actually he used non-Basschat language which I have translated) so he asked me in to do it properly. Having been recording myself and bands for years (I started on small Fostex 4 track cassette in the late 80's and went through an 8 track reel-to-reel machine and various digital hard disk recorders), I have some experience. 

 

Last night was a beginner singer/guitarist who wanted to record a CD's worth of cover songs so it was a relatively simple set up. He wanted to sing and play at the same time, which made getting separation from guitar and voice impossible and he kept moving around, so trying to get a consistent sound was hard. We managed to get through about half of his list before his voice gave out and he started to struggle nailing some of the guitar parts.    

 

After he'd gone, my mate explained that he was in his 90s. He didn't look it, and my admiration for his performance went up a notch or two.

[mikebass456]

1 minute ago, Cat Burrito said:

Folk'd About were great fun. I really enjoyed watching the other bands and pretty much everyone made a point of supporting each other. 

 

It was an odd venue to show up to. When we first walked through the bar, I thought we might need chicken wire but the people in the back room was really friendly. To be fair, although we definitely got checked out walking through the main bar, everyone was cool. Hope you have a great show. 

RAWHIDE!!!!😆😆😆😆🤘

[BigRedX]

On 25/04/2025 at 10:47, Cat Burrito said:

For some reason we had a virtually non-existent kick drum and barely audible count ins, coupled with ear bleedingly loud keyboard washes!

 

I suspect your backing had been put through a rarely used channel on a digital desk which had previous been used for something that needed to be aggressively band-passed. We've encountered this a few times, and re-setting the EQ on the channel in question to flat has always sorted it out.

[BigRedX]

Late to report but I've been in Whitby for the April Goth Weekend.

 

We played the Shadow Factory event at The Crafty Cove on Friday night with bright new things Social Youth Cult and local stars Westenra. Sold out gig which wasn't that surprising given the line-up. The Crafty Cove is an interesting venue, being a shop during the day and a night club in the evening. When we arrived to load in they were still putting all the clothing racks away. Sound checks nearly over-ran mostly because Social Youth Cult had been told that backline would be provided and then discovered that what was in the venue wasn't very suitable and neither us or Westenra use any that they could have borrowed. Finally got everything sorted minutes before the doors opened. 

 

Despite the sound check hiccups Social Youth Cult were even better than when I saw them in October and their sound is veering towards Bauhaus rather than their previous Joy Division heavy influences. It could have been a hard act to follow but I think we managed it. There were some interesting glitches: I managed to hit my bass so hard during the breakdown in "Adore Me" that the wireless transmitter dropped out of the jack socket. Luckily I spotted it before someone trod on it and was able to plug it back in only missing the first bar of the next verse. Our singer forget all the lyrics to the first verse of "Tilting" and the foot switch for the backing was doing some weird things that required manual intervention at the computer. Despite all of that we went down really well and sold an unfeasible amount of T-shirts and CDs including loads of copies of our brand new single "Robert Smith's Eyes".

 

Obligatory photos:

 

 

Next gig is Carpe Noctum on 10th May at The Lending Room in Leeds supporting Faces Of Sarah.

Edited 5 hours ago by BigRedX

[Cat Burrito]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

I suspect your backing had been put through a rarely used channel on a digital desk which had previous been used for something that needed to be aggressively band-passed. We've encountered this a few times, and re-setting the EQ on the channel in question to flat has always sorted it out.

That makes sense. I nearly messaged you as I know you have more experience with backing tracks. It was frustrating but we worked around it. We aimed to research it and come back better informed. That makes sense. My theory (as someone who isn't into tech) was that Nick's iPad is ancient and the desk wasn't reading it. We used my more modern one at the next gig and there was no problem. I'll pass your answer on to Nick from the group as I really don't want that happening again. 

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Cat Burrito said:

That makes sense. I nearly messaged you as I know you have more experience with backing tracks. It was frustrating but we worked around it. We aimed to research it and come back better informed. That makes sense. My theory (as someone who isn't into tech) was that Nick's iPad is ancient and the desk wasn't reading it. We used my more modern one at the next gig and there was no problem. I'll pass your answer on to Nick from the group as I really don't want that happening again. 

 

We had exactly this problem when we played Whitby last year at The Brewery. Being the first band on and the last to set up with all three bands using lots of DIs we ended up being routed through channels on the desk that were rarely used. The backing was a bit weedy sounding on stage, no kick drum and all very upper mids, so I stepped off to go and ask the PA engineer, if something could be done, and then realised it sounded even worse FoH. Turns out that the channels it was going through had the bass very aggressively rolled off. As soon as the EQ was reset to flat it sounded much better, and we were able to get a much better sound very quickly after that.

 

And it's probably just as well you didn't try and get in touch as I was in the middle of setting up for my own gig and generally don't bother with any kind of social media when I'm gigging. I only carry a phone for emergency calls or texts if there is a problem getting to or back from the gig and since this time the venue was 10 minutes walk from where we were staying and everyone I might want to contact was in the audience, I didn't even bother bringing it to the gig!