thumperbob 2002 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='237798' date='Jul 12 2008, 09:07 AM']Great story! We played at The Elms in Worthing last night and it was one of those gigs where everyone in the band was a bit below par! It took me two-thirds of the gig to get up to what I would consider a decent level of playing.. Up till then my hands felt like they were coated in treacle!! Odd thing (or is it a sad thing?) is that the audience didn't seem to notice our failings at all?? They were quite happily singing, cheering and dancing the night away.. Playing a wedding at some caravan park in Bognor tonight the thought of which is enough to make me want to take up basket-weaving or patchwork quilt making instead.. [/quote] I always think that as long as the band is enjoying themselves the audience will too. Bit different playing in a muso venue though. cheers Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 We played [a support] in Reading last night...very short notice. We'd had one rehearsal in the last month due to band holidays. About thirty people in while we were on...most of whom left after we finished (I like to think they stayed because we were so great, not that we emptied the place after we finished). Main band played to pretty much my band and a few teenagers sitting around a pint of Fosters taking pictures of each other on their phones. Sad. We were blinding BTW P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) So our first gig was last night, and i'm of mixed feelings about it. We all played really well, and some people genuinely said that they thought we were really really good, but hardly anybody turned up because it was at a different venue from normal and nobody knew (despite it being on ALL the flyers!). Also my bass amp kept messing up all night (i know, good timing!). During the sound check there was hardly any level coming through, no matter how high i turned it up, so i just cranked the whole thing, then during the first song it was ok, my musicman sounded absolutely perfect in the mix (despite it being too loud because after the sound check some absolute plonker turned the gain knob all the way down and i forgot where i positioned it), but during the second song my glass of coke on top of the amp fell off and made a mess of all my leads, soaked my bottom cab and my pedal (both of which worked, but it was just asking for trouble i suppose!), and then my amp decided to do the opposite of what it was doing before (the coke didn't touch the head so it wasn't that), basically the gain was just really high on a low setting and was really distorting unless i turned it down the tiniest bit, in which case the level went RIGHT down and there was nothing, so it was either no bass, or farty bass, which i wasn't impressed with and a few people commented on it. Though they did say it sounded great for the first song (i used my musicman for that one). Someone also commented on my bass, he was like "i thought it was an OLP or a vintage or something, it's an actual musicman? awesome!". You don't see them round here much i suppose. All in all, not a hassle free gig. Here's the one picture i managed to get hold of of us playing, not great quality but somebody took it on their phone, you can just about make out my SUB bass. More photos: L-R rhythm guitarists epi LP classic and '76 gibby explorer with customised diamond plate and emgs (VERY nice guitar!), lead guitarists BC rich bronze series warlock and ibby GRGsomething, and finally my tobias and SUB bass Our stage setup, all our gear apart from the marshall half stack Edited July 12, 2008 by budget bassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 [quote name='budget bassist' post='238041' date='Jul 12 2008, 04:36 PM']So our first gig was last night, and i'm of mixed feelings about it. We all played really well, and some people genuinely said that they thought we were really really good, but hardly.....[/quote] So that's it under your belt now. It wasn't a disaster and you learned the not putting drinks on your gear rule. Result! Hope you get your amp sorted for next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 [quote name='Ou7shined' post='238244' date='Jul 12 2008, 10:44 PM']So that's it under your belt now. It wasn't a disaster and you learned the not putting drinks on your gear rule. Result! Hope you get your amp sorted for next time.[/quote] Haha yeah i did *sheepish grin*. And the amp seems to be behaving itself now... gonna make sure it's alright at next practice though, i can't really crank it at home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 [quote name='OldGit' post='236927' date='Jul 10 2008, 10:11 PM']Oh dear .. Got a gig in a tent tomorrow .. last time we played in a tent they'd borrowed a few garden gazebo things for the band to cower under at the end of the real marquee .. of course it was teaming down .. We spent the first setup hour gaffa taping the seams and creating gutters to stay dry, and alive .... Weather forecast for tomorrow is "wet wet wet" Best take my wellies I think ..[/quote] Turned out fine, weather and gig. A celebration of surviving breast cancer in diagnosed in pregnancy, and teh rather nasty treatment. "Go on, have a feel, they feel really real" she said .. They did, There's a first. I do know her a little from several years ago when I helped her not marry the wrong bloke ..(another Old Gt service) So loads of fun once we'd rebuild the stage (hah!) into a barely big enough drum riser. Lots of cowboys and Indians so we played all our American traditional tunes and dances whilst they rode the electro/pnematic bucking bull helpfully positioned on the dance floor ... They were up for the set dances too, mostly ... We were also booked for 1.5 hours of DJ stuff at the end as well, for more money, natch. Actually the punter gave me £75 too much in the envelope at the start of the evening and was very chuffed when I gave it back to her. So chuffed she gave us a small bonus and bought the drinks Everyone happy. Bass gear report: Over the last few weeks I've installed my head, wireless and all their cables into a rackbag and also wired up all my pedals as a lump in an attempt to speed up my setup and break down as I always take longer than everyone, especially as I have to do the schmoozing of the punters and any booking enquiries we get at gigs ... Well it works well .. The rackbag looks a bit big atop the relatively narrow Bergantino AE12's but with the help of an IKEA luggage strap everything was stable. The pedal setup was fast and all worked too. Phew. I'll be very happy when all the changes I've been doing settle down .. My Markbass LMK head was humming in the PA through the line out, even when the head's power was off. I forgot about the ground lift switch and so didn't try that. I hope that is the answer. The noise from the bucking bull covered the hum last night but we may not have one of those at the posh wedding on Thursday Bass sound was great as ever and easily audible all over without being overly loud. The audience enjoyed the bass teasers game we play .. and we got requests for Rawhide, Running Bear (too cold!), Stand by your man, oh and These Boots on teh EUB for all the Daisy Dukes in the audience, sadly not in the shorts.. actually in general that was probably a good thing. The woman in sheepskin chaps was a distraction though Back to wedding mode on Thursday, still fun but in a different way ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARGH Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 WE got paid,nice place,bit odd,but was told alot of people are on holiday,hense smallish number....Met someone who could teach me German. 2 drunk birds were annoying,but harmless,I need sleep.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 [quote name='OldGit' post='238283' date='Jul 13 2008, 12:48 AM']A celebration of surviving breast cancer in diagnosed in pregnancy, and teh rather nasty treatment. "Go on, have a feel, they feel really real" she said .. They did, There's a first. I do know her a little from several years ago when I helped her not marry the wrong bloke ..(another Old Gt service)[/quote] Let me get this straight OG, this other service you mention is it "near marriage guidance" or "copping a feel". As if it is the latter, I have some experience in this field and would be willing to help out too. I am north of the border but would be willing to travel if you operation was limited to the west country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Right, I've missed out quite a few gigs so here they are in brief: [b]Last week:[/b] Gig in Ledbury at Eastnor Castle. Staff were very helpful but the venue wasn't good. We were stuck outside in a small tent and it was pissing down with rain the whole time so that anyone who wanted to get from the main room (which actually had enough space for us) to the tent had to get wet. Lovely. Load in involved lugging everything from the courtyard in front around the other side of the castle to where the marquee was, through two narrow stone tunnels in the battlements. The meal was superb - roast beef and three veg! Punters were pretty good - up for a laugh although it took them a while to warm up. We went down well. I'd flown in from Dubai the previous evening so my body clock was on GMT + 3 hours. I left the venue in Herefordshire at 1:30am and drove back until I got to Membury Services on the M4. By this time I was so tired I needed a rest so I kipped in the services for an hour. When I woke up at 3:30am, my body clock was on 6:30am. So I managed to make it back on a stomach of diet coke! There was never any risk of me falling asleep but my eyes were very tired, I never want to do that again. [b]Friday night:[/b] Washout corporate gig at Ravens Ait, an island in the middle of the Thames in Surbiton. The venue was a total dump, built (badly) in the 70's in true working mens club style. We were out in a marquee and apparently the building of it had been stopped half way through because of rain during the week. Add to that the guttering hadn't been put up so that meant yet more water was leaking in during the evening because it was still pissing down, so the carpet tiled dance floor was sopping wet when it was walked on. We insisted on getting a hole in the ceiling plugged before we would even set up. The client was a very large employment agency and they were a bit indifferent during the first set but the second set had them flooding (aha) the dance floor and it went off quite nicely. They were a bit of a pikey bunch - most of them didn't make an effort to get dressed up. The load in was a nightmare, we had to use a ferry and there was no way to park close to the ferry landing so the gear had to be lugged down steps and on to the mooring point. It started to rain as I was waiting for the ferry and it was at this point I really wished I had a cover for the 2x12 cab. I got to the gig in anticipation of trying the Genz Benz Shuttle but discovered the speakon cable I asked for hadn't been included because the amp had been shipped straight from the distrbutors. So after lugging the cab onto the ferry and offloading it then wheeling it through the guests to the stage, effectively I had no rig, apart from a 30w Roland keyboard combo that I usually use for monitoring the keys on larger stages. So I ended up plugging the line out of the Shuttle into the keyboard combo and using the amp basically as a big ol' DI box (the amp doesn't need a speaker load when in use). Highlight of the evening was the venue manager. South African and (apparently) ex-Army, it was like watching a cross between David Brent and Gordon Ramsey. Given the stuff up with the marquee, it was classic micro-management expecting clockwork precision, high performance table setting up and breaking down, constantly harrying the staff. We asked some of the staff what working for him was like and they all said 'no comment'. LOL He insisted on sitting the staff down in the foyer after they had finished work and giving them a 30min team review session (and it was 1am). The meal was BBQ with the rest of the guests - it was OK but the meat was over cooked so not the best ever. We went down well. [b]Last night:[/b] Wedding gig in Painshill Park, Cobham. Before the gig I got up early (after 5 hours sleep) and went to our local Maplins to get a speakon cable... ...surprise surprise they were out of stock. If there's one thing I know I can rely on, its that my local Maplins never have the one thing I'm looking for. So I faced a schlep under time pressure into the city to find a place that sold speakon cables. At this point I really missed Sound Control. But I ended up in the London PA Centre on Denmark Street and they made me up a 2m cable on the spot. Top blokes, really helpful and very funny to boot. Probably the only shop I'd go back to on that street. The venue was a huge marquee, but there was no dressing room for us. This was one of the first gigs we booked back in September before our Terms and Conditions were in place and the bride got a bit arsey with the percussionist when he asked her for a dressing room after they'd signed the booking form. Apparently she was going to be charged an extra £150 for the band dressing room and basically told us a few weeks back that if it wasn't in the terms and conditions then too bad. Luckily the venue manager sorted us out with something in their staff offices but she watched us like a hawk because she wasn't supposed to let us use them. The meal was superb in quality but meagre in portions - half a fillet steak with potato gratin, peas, cherry tomatoes and beans. In fact it was one of those meals that made me completely ravenous and hypoglycemic about 1 hour later. A dessert would have been nice. When they announced the cheese board, I got stuck right in during our between set break. Client permission or not, I was so hungry I seriously didn't give a sh*t. We went down well although the bride didn't talk to any of us all night, her hubby did most of the thanking and interfacing. Verdict on the Shuttle? The lows were focussed and not at all muddy, the mids are lovely and firm. The semi para eq is as much as you need to nail the mids. What I did pick up on was a slight lack of top end snap in comparison to my Trace V8. It made hearing the pops I was playing when I was slapping the intro to "Don't Blame It On The Boogie" difficult, in fact most of what I heard came from the FOH. I think I need some more time with the amp to be sure whether it was the amp or the venue though. Made me wonder whether I could possibly find someone to make me a lightweight neo 2x12 + 1x10 wedge tilt back cab with a 2U rack slot. I really really miss the tilt back feature of my GK combo. I love the fact that I can slip this amp into the pocket in my gig bag! Good times! I started out the first set with a good sound but it got increasingly mushy as the gig progressed. I get this happening a lot when I'm on stage, regardless of the amp and I have no idea why it happens. I can only presume its something to do with my hearing getting more fatigued after the first couple of songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 ^^ scary insight into the world of functions Kiwi. My gig last night didn't happen - playing on a float in the local town carnival to promote a local pub's band nights, followed by a gig at said pub. Been planning it for 6 months... ...then I dislocated my knee last week and I'm hobbling around on crutches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 [quote name='stingrayfan' post='238438' date='Jul 13 2008, 11:57 AM']^^ scary insight into the world of functions Kiwi. [/quote] Hehe, yeah. That one at Ravens Ait was probably the worst one we've had to date. Even the AC/DC power adaptor I use with the Deep Impact pedal quit working! I bought three of them about 3 months ago and every unit has packed up and refuses to work. One of them refused to work straight out of the box but I've lost the reciepts so can't claim money back. [quote name='stingrayfan' post='238438' date='Jul 13 2008, 11:57 AM']My gig last night didn't happen - playing on a float in the local town carnival to promote a local pub's band nights, followed by a gig at said pub. Been planning it for 6 months...[/quote] Well thats a bit of a bugger! What happened? [quote name='stingrayfan' post='238438' date='Jul 13 2008, 11:57 AM']...then I dislocated my knee last week and I'm hobbling around on crutches. [/quote] Ouch! I've done that a number of times and managed to pop the joint back in although the process was excrutiatingly painful. Did you damage your knee joint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brooks Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='238399' date='Jul 13 2008, 11:10 AM']Right, I've missed out quite a few gigs so here they are in brief: [b]Last night:[/b] Wedding gig in Painshill Park, Cobham. Before the gig I got up early (after 5 hours sleep) and went to our local Maplins to get a speakon cable... ...surprise surprise they were out of stock. If there's one thing I know I can rely on, its that my local Maplins never have the one thing I'm looking for. So I faced a schlep under time pressure into the city to find a place that sold speakon cables. At this point I really missed Sound Control. But I ended up in the London PA Centre on Denmark Street and they made me up a 2m cable on the spot. Top blokes, really helpful and very funny to boot. Probably the only shop I'd go back to on that street.[/quote] Without sounding flippant........why didn't you give me a shout, you plonker! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 [quote name='Mike Brooks' post='238479' date='Jul 13 2008, 12:53 PM']Without sounding flippant........why didn't you give me a shout, you plonker! Mike[/quote] Because I'm a plonker? It was OK, I managed to get to the gig on time for load in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I had a great gig last night, one of those ones that really make it all worthwhile. We played outdoors at a bike show along with five other bands. It didn't rain, the crowd loved us, we had a sea of dancers in front of us all through our 1 hour set, we played well, the other bands were good, the sound engineer was very good and even provided a nice Trace Elliot amp so all I had to do was turn up with my bass and plug in. It was great to see all the bikers getting into our Stax and Motown set. Best one for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 [quote name='Ou7shined' post='238367' date='Jul 13 2008, 10:37 AM']Let me get this straight OG, this other service you mention is it "near marriage guidance" or "copping a feel". As if it is the latter, I have some experience in this field and would be willing to help out too. I am north of the border but would be willing to travel if you operation was limited to the west country. [/quote] ha ha I'm sure you local NHS fake boobs store could use your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 CrazyKiwi said "I really wished I had a cover for the 2x12 cab" IKEA big blue bag, cut off teh handles, cut a hole or tow for teh cab handles.. bit of gaffa, two layers of blue bag + bubblewrap sandwhich if you are fussy .. works a treat for about a quid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Thought Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 (edited) Charity gig at Gwithian near Hayle, organised by a chap from work and not terribly well publicised-venue is an established originals place usually frequented by DJ's and surfy, acoustic acts (Jack Johnson was to play a secret gig there a couple of weeks ago when he was down for a festival in Newquay, but pulled out due to bad weather.) Excellent sound system and a proper front of house sound man, a real luxury for us. We were support for a band which consists entirely of doctors from our local A&E ( my band are all ambulance staff). This is our second gig with the new band, the Steely-Eyed Missile Men, the female lead singer having now officially departed, quite amicably, which allows us to get on with playing the blues and R'n'B we really like, with your humble servant now promoted to lead vocals as well as bass. Long drawn-out soundcheck due to limited stage space (I was clearly heard to offer to share amps, but my offer was declined). We were confidently expecting to play to an empty venue, a situation we are well accustomed to, but the punters started pouring in, admittedly I think most were there to see the other band, but that didn't matter to us. Also being a restaurant as well, the owner wanted to wait 'til everyone had finished eating before we went on, which also gave the place more time to fill up, again grist to our mill. Anyway one of our best gigs so far, a big improvement on our 3-piece debut, only one major cock-up by yours truly in the final song, which we fairly successfully recovered from. Very well received all round-free drinks for the rest of the night, cries of 'awesome!' and 'you played a f***ing blinder mate!', and promises that we will definitely be booked for a second similar and better publicised event in the future. A bonus was that we got a decent, usable recording from it which we can use as a demo. The main band were very good indeed, very popular and rightly so-a different sort of act to us altogether, aimed at a different sort of crowd, so we were quite satisfied on the whole with the way the evening turned out. Felt most unwell next day-at least I didn't have to be at work by 10AM like my mate the drummer did! Edited July 13, 2008 by Deep Thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 [quote name='OldGit' post='238646' date='Jul 13 2008, 05:38 PM']CrazyKiwi said "I really wished I had a cover for the 2x12 cab" IKEA big blue bag, cut off teh handles, cut a hole or tow for teh cab handles.. bit of gaffa, two layers of blue bag + bubblewrap sandwhich if you are fussy .. works a treat for about a quid [/quote] Hmm, I happen to have one of those kicking around as well... ...top tip! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 (edited) [quote name='stingrayfan' post='238438' date='Jul 13 2008, 11:57 AM']...then I dislocated my knee last week and I'm hobbling around on crutches. [/quote] Ah ha, knees. The Chichester, Chichester, Easter 2006 - Half way through Kerosene by Big Black (4th song in), my knee gave out, I fell over, managed to get back up & signal to a bird in the audience to get me a chair, sat down, finished the song, passed out, then woke up with my mate Matt just about to start CPR - I'd had such a bad whitey from the shock, he couldn't feel a pulse (he was an A&E nurse too). Apparently my first words were 'f*** off Matt'! I got up, and finished the set, went back to me mates house where I'd been planing to stay anyway, then had to call a heavily pregnant Mrs Lager the next morning to pick me up. This wasn't simple, of course - she had to get a train on Easter Sunday (engineering works, so buses) 70 miles to the middle of nowhere, then drive me back home via the hospital - dislocated knee & ruptured medial collateral ligament. Cue 3 months off work, dangerous amounts of codeine and an entire World Cup to watch from the sofa. The previous time we had played there, the guitarists sister spent the night in A&E with a large gash to her head after falling onto the corner of a table whilst moshing to our set while pissed. Won't be playing there again. I love this thread. Edited July 13, 2008 by johnnylager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='238760' date='Jul 13 2008, 09:02 PM']Hmm, I happen to have one of those kicking around as well... ...top tip! Cheers. [/quote] Blige I really must spellcheck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fudge Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Had to dress up, although most of my gear was back in the dressing up box at this stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Afternoon gig, open air, at Addenbrookes Hospital - I played like a t****r Trio gig in a pub in Bury St Edmunds (the Ben Pringle Trio) - fanbloodytastic. Couldn't hit a note wrong. I've never been able to work out why that happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galilee Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 [quote name='bilbo230763' post='238923' date='Jul 14 2008, 09:01 AM']I've never been able to work out why that happens![/quote] Drink, usually. :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I don't.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It'll be the crack then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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