How was your gig last night?

[Clarky]

Just back from 93 Feet East in London's Brick Lane. My 2nd gig with ATQR. Was going so well until the penultimate song in our 7 song set when the guitarist broke a string and - with no help from the stroppy sound engineer whose only comment was to point out we were 10 minutes over our allotted slot (not our fault, the earlier bands overran) - had to borrow a guitar from another band. We then discovered this had a faulty jack socket. We muddled through that song with the guitar barely audible and totally inaudible in parts and then we had to abandon the final song as my bass then also started to cut out (coincidence, hmmm).

Oh well, the first five songs went really well and we will be better prepared for next Saturday's gig (guitarist will be bringing his spare guitar and I will bring extra cables, just in case)

[oggiesnr]

Actually it was this morning, 5.15 am to be precise. So the morris team I play with (Rackaback) went and greeted the May Day dawn at the Black Mill on Beverley Westwood. Considering the hour I reckon 60 or so punters wasn't a bad turnout.

First time they've had a double bass there so photos were taken (including the local paper). We actually managed to see the dawn before the clouds rolled in and we were finished before the rain came.

A fun time was had by all.

Steve

[Len_derby]

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1335852392' post='1636837']
Actually it was this morning, 5.15 am to be precise. So the morris team I play with (Rackaback) went and greeted the May Day dawn at the Black Mill on Beverley Westwood. Considering the hour I reckon 60 or so punters wasn't a bad turnout.

First time they've had a double bass there so photos were taken (including the local paper). We actually managed to see the dawn before the clouds rolled in and we were finished before the rain came.

A fun time was had by all.

Steve
[/quote]

That sounds brilliant. Any chance of posting the pictures or putting up a link when they appear?

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1335826655' post='1636777']
Just back from 93 Feet East in London's Brick Lane. My 2nd gig with ATQR. Was going so well until the penultimate song in our 7 song set when the guitarist broke a string and - with no help from the stroppy sound engineer whose only comment was to point out we were 10 minutes over our allotted slot (not our fault, the earlier bands overran) - had to borrow a guitar from another band. We then discovered this had a faulty jack socket. We muddled through that song with the guitar barely audible and totally inaudible in parts and then we had to abandon the final song as my bass then also started to cut out (coincidence, hmmm).

Oh well, the first five songs went really well and we will be better prepared for next Saturday's gig (guitarist will be bringing his spare guitar and I will bring extra cables, just in case)
[/quote]

Oh dear it looks as though this over-running problem is symptomatic of the venue and not just the promoters of the night we played being excessively optimistic about the time it takes for bands to swap over. I don't suppose it's helped by the fact that everything has to be finished by 10.45 and the staff are suggesting you have all your gear packed up and be ready to leave by 11.00 - still it's nice to get home from an out of town gig at a slightly less stupid hour in the morning...

Given the curfew times and the fact that no-one turns up early IMO it would be better if the venue only put two bands on each night.

However, glad to hear that it went well until you ran into a couple of technical problems. I find that these sorts of problems only make you better prepared for the next gig. Hopefully I'll be able to catch one soon.

[Clarky]

Yep, they had 5 bands on and seemed to allow about 5 minutes to switch over and line/sound check. Very silly. I felt for the main act (after us) who was cut off after just 4 songs at 10.45 (we all assumed that the music finished at 11 ....)

[Earbrass]

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1335852392' post='1636837']
Actually it was this morning, 5.15 am to be precise. So the morris team I play with (Rackaback) went and greeted the May Day dawn at the Black Mill on Beverley Westwood. Considering the hour I reckon 60 or so punters wasn't a bad turnout.

First time they've had a double bass there so photos were taken (including the local paper). We actually managed to see the dawn before the clouds rolled in and we were finished before the rain came.

A fun time was had by all.

Steve
[/quote]

Nice one Steve. Our side couldn't muster enough dancers to do Mayday Dawn at Box Hill - poor show I think. Glad you didn't get soaked.

[oggiesnr]

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1335854708' post='1636850']
That sounds brilliant. Any chance of posting the pictures or putting up a link when they appear?
[/quote]

These are the pictures that the press photographer took [url="http://www.dipintosales.co.uk/thisisHullandEastRiding/Gallery/View/f0nrw495tz"]http://www.dipintosales.co.uk/thisisHullandEastRiding/Gallery/View/f0nrw495tz[/url]

Steve

[dave_bass5]

Has anyone played at the Emirates Stadium (with a band, not on the pitch)?
We have a gig there on Sat afternoon and im guessing its going to be a nightmare get in.

[dave_bass5]

Just got in from the Emirates stadium. .
We were playing the end of season after game event in the WC club. Nice enough crowd and we had a lot of them up dancing by the end.
The first set was 40mins and the second was about 30 mins, then pack up and get out so not bad for £200 each.

The get in was a bit of a strange one. Not so much the fact that we had to get all the gear up in a lift ( which was fine as it was a big lift so we got everything in in one go) but getting in to the stadium was a bit of a nightmare due to the high security there.

I'm not in to football at all so couldn't care less who won but it was funny seeing the rest of the band there as they are all strong Tottenham supporters lol.

Edited May 5, 2012 by dave_bass5

[Clarky]

Just back from our gig at the Jazz Servants Quarters in Dalston. Despite the venue being empty half an hour before we were due onstage, it suddenly filled and we played to a decent size crowd. I played with my Kolstein double bass, rather than my Takamine acoustic bass - first time I have gigged this particular instrument - and it went really well. A lot more physical gigging a DB than an acoustic bass but all the more satisfying for it. Our Spanish/flamenco flavoured tracks went down especially well. After the fiasco at 93 Feet East on Monday (when we had technical problems and an @rse of a soundman) this was a very good and extremely gratifying gig

[paul_5]

Played at a friend's wedding this morning. Lovely do, beautiful old (and I mean [i]old[/i]) church, unfortunately it had old wiring to boot.

Tried a new mixer that I borrowed from a mate at work and stuff just whistled. Pulled my 30 year old studiomaster out of the boot and 5 minutes later we've got a great, clear sound.

All in all, a good do.

[WalMan]

Wel another with the fairly regular dep & just rouns the corner from home so nice & easy compared to most of my gigs, which tend to be a 100ish mile round trip.

Played the Tanglewater Classic J for most of the night just using the L2500 for a couple towards the end. The Classic J with the EB Cobalts on was really nice and got cpmpliments at the end compared to the L2500. Not an entirely fair comparison as the J had the gain switch in on the Streamliner & out for the L2500, and that bit of oof helps, added to which the L2500 needed re eq'g mids. I should really have taken the Microbass II and used the AB to handle the difference, but went for the bass, lead, amp option leaving the effects board in its bag.

Different dep drummer who I had played with once before. Good player but he doesn't know some of the songs or ends (I'm not sure I do even) Still getting the instruction early in the first set to "give him the cues" added to the spice of the night for me as we tried to work out nods between us & played follow the leader

[Bilbo]

Did a dep gig with this guy last nght, IPswich based Tim Ainslee. Great blues guitar player. Grungetastic!

[url="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/standing-ten-feet-tall-raging/id498511312"]http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/standing-ten-feet-tall-raging/id498511312[/url]

[clarkpegasus4001]

Did a good one at the Barge in Long Eaton, Nottingham last night. A fair few in and we went down great. Shame about one nutter at the front who said he had taken some pills (what I don't know but he was well out of it). That apart a great evening was had by all, lot's of positive feedback and a re-booking for January, can't be bad.

Edited May 6, 2012 by clarkpegasus4001

[Truckstop]

Just got in from the Wishing Well in Hayes.

Was a Battle of the Cover Bands type doo-dad. Got off to a fairly bad start as the promoter had told all the bands to bring all of their own kit. This led to obvious congestion and a good 20-30 minute changeover period; however, my spirits lifted after the first band (a gangly group of kids) tore into some great songs. They suckked, but looked great doing it and I loved their attitude. Some other bands played who were also awesome (you need to check out The Ruby Tuesdays AKA The Roobies. f***ing great band! The bassist was an 18 kid and played an Indie brand bass. Made it sound awesome and had clear influences from Entwistle. I great player, blew my socks off!).

So we played and brought the house down I'm pleased to say and ended up winning £500! We're struggling with what to do with it. £100 each or spend it on PA shizzle? We'll discuss it at band practice when we're all sober and vaguely half-awake!

Truckstop

[gary mac]

Nice one Truckstop, congrats on winning

[neepheid]

How was my gig last night? Not good. I have no desire to go into details publicly, but a band discussion will have to be had in the near future

Why does just typing that make me feel like the bad guy? Uh-oh, Mum's mad, bass player's stepped out of the shadows and asked for a band meeting - must be bad.

[barkin]

The gig itself went great.

As is so often the case with multi-band do's though, the organisers didn't leave enough time for the changeovers - guitarist, in the rush to get offstage and let the next band setup, forgot to zip up has gigbag - throws it over his shoulder, and his pride & joy crashed to the floor and broke the neck

He's not too p%^^$£ off though - see's it as an opportunity to buy another one !

[NJE]

Did a stormer of a gig at the 21 club in Cheltenham last night. Weather stayed pretty good so we were on a tiny piece of decking outsid. The drummer brought his full big kit and frame so took up most of the floor space so I ended up balanced on a 6" wide piece of stepped decking for the whole gig.

Apart from that, brilliant crowd and we played pretty well, few fumbles and the guitarist managed to not stomp on his gain during sweet child o mine so played teh whole thing with a slight blues drive, but it was a good night and a free bar.

[discreet]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1336399308' post='1644979']
How was my gig last night? Not good. I have no desire to go into details publicly, but a band discussion will have to be had in the near future Why does just typing that make me feel like the bad guy? Uh-oh, Mum's mad, bass player's stepped out of the shadows and asked for a band meeting - must be bad.
[/quote]

Everyone crap except for you..? I've been in the same situation. You should either 1) Tell them they're rubbish and leave, or 2) Find some pretext to leave... and leave. IMHO 2) Is better really - what's the point of 1) if you're leaving anyway?

[neepheid]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1336401052' post='1645015']
Everyone crap except for you..? I've been in the same situation. You should either 1) Tell them they're rubbish and leave, or 2) Find some pretext to leave... and leave. IMHO 2) Is better really - what's the point of 1) if you're leaving anyway?
[/quote]

No, it's not like that. Behavioural and procedural issues rather than musical.

[BottomE]

2 gigs this weekend with a difference. We had 2 deps, one on keys and one on drums. Our drummer sent a text on Thursday afternoon saying that he'd done his back in and couldn't make the Friday gig. Within 5 minutes of posting on Facebook i had 5 telephone numbers of drummers. The first guy i try is free for both gigs - i ask him to do it arranging to meet him for the first time at the Friday gig.

Friday comes and when i get to the venue the dep drummer is already setup and going through the set list with the singer. He's really excited and seems like a nice chap. 1-2-3-4 for the first song and bang - the guys has such great feel and timing that i am in heaven. We clicked instantly and it was like playing new songs all over again . The difference it made was astonishing and made me really look forward to the Saturday party in a barn gig that was coming.

Saturday night - again he's setup and ready to go. Also worked on some of the other tracks in the set that he didn't know. The gig is an absolute blinder - 3 encores - dancing all night from the off and a really funky set.

So two great gigs, good money and met a fab drummer. He's taken my number and asked if i would get involved with some other projects - of course i said "yes" but heres the dilemma. Should i ask him to join the band? The current drummer is great and a super guy but his approach is very "rock" when ultimately we are a party band playing soul, funk and disco stuff. I'd forgotten how limiting this can be and have grown used to it but after the liberation this weekend with a funky drummer its going to be really hard to go back to the full on approach that our permanent drummer has. The dep also had a better appreciation of the whole song in the way that he brought it down a bit for verses, up for soloing and a real feel for his role overall.

So two great gigs but left feeling like the next one is going to be an anti-climax.

[discreet]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1336402227' post='1645055']
No, it's not like that. Behavioural and procedural issues rather than musical.
[/quote]

Well that's something, I suppose. 'Behavioural issues' can still be a right PITA though, I'll agree.

[discreet]

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1336402593' post='1645063']
Should i ask him to join the band? The current drummer is great and a super guy but his approach is very "rock" when ultimately we are a party band playing soul, funk and disco stuff. I'd forgotten how limiting this can be and have grown used to it but after the liberation this weekend with a funky drummer its going to be really hard to go back to the full on approach that our permanent drummer has.
[/quote]

Yes, ask him to join the band. I was in exactly the same situation - Motown/Stax function band, but with a 'rock' drummer. It just [i]doesn't [/i]work, and he was one of the reasons I left the band. You must consider how serious you are about the band and what will be best for the band in the long run. And as you say, from now on you'll be missing the funky drummer and will probably end up resenting your 'rock' drummer anyway, so... all IMO, YMMV, GLWTS, etc.

Edited May 7, 2012 by discreet

[JTUK]

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1336402593' post='1645063']
2 gigs this weekend with a difference. We had 2 deps, one on keys and one on drums. Our drummer sent a text on Thursday afternoon saying that he'd done his back in and couldn't make the Friday gig. Within 5 minutes of posting on Facebook i had 5 telephone numbers of drummers. The first guy i try is free for both gigs - i ask him to do it arranging to meet him for the first time at the Friday gig.

Friday comes and when i get to the venue the dep drummer is already setup and going through the set list with the singer. He's really excited and seems like a nice chap. 1-2-3-4 for the first song and bang - the guys has such great feel and timing that i am in heaven. We clicked instantly and it was like playing new songs all over again . The difference it made was astonishing and made me really look forward to the Saturday party in a barn gig that was coming.

Saturday night - again he's setup and ready to go. Also worked on some of the other tracks in the set that he didn't know. The gig is an absolute blinder - 3 encores - dancing all night from the off and a really funky set.

So two great gigs, good money and met a fab drummer. He's taken my number and asked if i would get involved with some other projects - of course i said "yes" but heres the dilemma. Should i ask him to join the band? The current drummer is great and a super guy but his approach is very "rock" when ultimately we are a party band playing soul, funk and disco stuff. I'd forgotten how limiting this can be and have grown used to it but after the liberation this weekend with a funky drummer its going to be really hard to go back to the full on approach that our permanent drummer has. The dep also had a better appreciation of the whole song in the way that he brought it down a bit for verses, up for soloing and a real feel for his role overall.

So two great gigs but left feeling like the next one is going to be an anti-climax.
[/quote]

Tough call.

Normally I am not sentimental about these things but there is a right way of doing this..

Firstly.. you need a very good player and then decide what he brings ...personality, playing, etc etc
Can you ask the other guy to leave just like that..? is it your call alone..? what do the other guys think.. who is friends with whom..?

I don't agree that these things can't work as you are supposed to be a section and work together so it is a marriage of what you both have that is key.

But then if the other guy is so far adrift, it would only be a question of when he gets to leave anyway. I only resent it if the guiy can't play but then again, I wouldn't stick around in that position anyway.
If someone else is picking the band, then that is bad enough................

How come he has lasted so long..??