radiophonic Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Cancelled!I I was supposed to be playing Saturday and next Saturday, partly to warm up new material for some festival slots over the summer. However, middle of last week, both the bands I play in suddenly split up within two days of each other and I'm now gigless and bandless. Likelihood of finding anything remotely interesting to replace this unfamiliar gaping hole? A brief survey of JMB suggests low to nonexistent, I'd say. Grrrr. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbass Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Outdoor private party on Saturday on some rich guys estate (how we got this gig Il'l never know), Raised stage draped in medieval bunting and chifon. Great stage sound with no reflections anywhere and a supplied Marshall 4x10 and valve top.....gnarly and thick, reckon my P bass thought it had died and gone to heaven! Appreciative small crowd but wouldn't want to do it again, long drive then waiting around from 2 till our 8.30 start and back home at 4am..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 I got back from Ireland last night. We did 3 nights, Friday in Dublin, Saturday in Dundalk, Sunday in Cork. It all went pretty well and was loads of fun but now I'm absolutely wiped out. I didn't expect it to be so tiring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Just got in from the first of a three gig weekend, two more tomorrow, with not much of a break between them. You know that bit when there is some woman in the audience and all her friends are saying 'oh get her to sing' and you just know they are going to be awful, they are always awful. well, she came up when we were going to do all right now and grabbed the singers microphone (he is good with crowds, not me!), and started singing. OMFG was she good! Honestly I can't remember when I last heard as good a singer, a really strong voice, but not forced, perfect timing, great personality. Can we keep her?? Turned out she was a depping singer on a night out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Woodinblack said: Just got in from the first of a three gig weekend, two more tomorrow, with not much of a break between them. You know that bit when there is some woman in the audience and all her friends are saying 'oh get her to sing' and you just know they are going to be awful, they are always awful. well, she came up when we were going to do all right now and grabbed the singers microphone (he is good with crowds, not me!), and started singing. OMFG was she good! Honestly I can't remember when I last heard as good a singer, a really strong voice, but not forced, perfect timing, great personality. Can we keep her?? Turned out she was a depping singer on a night out. I love 3 gig weekends. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 (edited) Had a good gig tonight, the venue was pretty full with punters. The downside is that our guitarist put in his notice due to a medical problem, he has been suffering with tendon issues in his left hand, he has just seen a specialist and it’s not going to get better, so he has no other option that to give up playing. We are now left in a position where we will be seeking out a replacement, not looking forward to sifting through folks with flaky attitudes or massive egos, hopefully we will find the right person, otherwise the band will fold. Edited June 17, 2018 by steantval Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 22 hours ago, Bluewine said: I love 3 gig weekends. Well, this afternoons gig wasn't great fun. Private party in a large garden, in a leanto. Sound was good, we played ok, but not really any involvement from the crowd, so rather dull. Paid ok though. This evening was a local community field on a truck. It was cold and a bit windy, and I thought it wouldn't be any good. Turns out I was wrong, and I was pretty happy about that, apart from a couple of my leads dying for some reason and another mysteriously coming out it was a great night with a responsive and friendly crowd. AND it paid ok! All in all, a good weekend for enjoyment and money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telebass Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 (edited) Wedding gig in mid-Cornwall. All good, plenty of folk we knew, so good crowd. Main bass dead out of the case. Just an earthing fault, but irritating. The BB414 was well up for the backup, but I'd forgotten how heavy it seems... Edited June 17, 2018 by Telebass Autocorrect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 A top night out in Anglesey for the razors last night . It was a return visit to a little pub in Amlwch . A bit of a treck but boy do these guys know how to party ! we started at 9 as it was chocka to try and keep a hen party in and did well to hold them in for 40 minutes but it meant we had to throw in an extra 30 minutes of material . All in all we were on for 2and a half hours and rocked the place . LL wanted us back for 2 more this year but we only had one date left in the diary , so he took that ! a good night with good pay 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 (edited) An ex-colleague from the '3 Elephants' festival days was organising a private party (we've already played at mini-festivals he'd put on...), and invited us to play as support for a rock'nroll trio. A couple of rehearsals (we've not played since 2016, as I've been ill, and other stuff...) so a bit rusty, but still... As if conditions weren't precarious enough, our 2nd guitar has taken a contract for four years in the Caribbean, so this was to be his last date with us..! We arrived an hour early, giving plenty of time for setting up in a well-adapted agricultural outbuilding, the size of a small cathedral but open on one side. A decent PA and efficient, friendly sound crew, simple but effective LED lights and spots, so conditions were quite comfortable. One slight but significant bugbear: the tom mics had a longer than usual overhang, and protruded over the batter heads, making it quite delicate when executing stuff like 'Toxicity', for fear of hitting 'em. A bit more than an hour in all, to a mixed audience; we managed to warm 'em up enough for the main attraction, though, so 'mission accomplished'. Got home at about 02h30; we'll unload the truck in a while this afternoon and discuss how we're to continue. We've a new 2nd guitar to talk to, but I'm not in any real state to take on a world tour, so we'll be taking things easy for now. It was great, despite everything, to get out and play again after this enforced hiatus, and well worth the sore arms and calves..! Next outing..? Hmm... Maybe towards end of year; we've a date pencilled-in, but we'll see... I may get some pics later, if Juliette remembers to send 'em. Edit: Photos added ... The 'tour bus' for the occassion (Merci, Monique, for the loan...)... No, I'm not asleep; I'm setting up a drum stand, honest... Our departing 2nd guitar, sound check ... ... and again, chatting with our singster ... Yes, that's my 'relax' session before we kick off ... Our Eldest ... ... and the singster, errrm... singing ... ... and a couple of (very..!) short clips from a 'phone (thanks, Juliette...)... Edited June 17, 2018 by Dad3353 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 City centre bar on a busy main road so parking for load in/out is a nightmare. Stage area at the back of a long bar meaning a difficult load in/out especially as the bar was full of punters waiting to go to a gig at the adjacent O2 Academy venue. But what a cracking gig, more than made up for the hassles. Bar full of folk dancing and enjoying themselves, reminds you why we do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Bit of a story to last night's gig. My 'fledgling' Bon Jovi tribute band are still looking to do as many gigs as possible, so when the agent offered us a weird one a long way away we decided to take it. Described to us as a 'mystery celebrity' having a 50 year birthday bash for which he was hiring the Meridian Showground in Cleethorpes, big covered stage, 3 tribute acts - we were headlining etc. We are based in south Essex so it was approx 4 hours away. It was thought that there may well be lots of other celebs there and it could lead to other things, good exposure etc (yeah, I know ). We were due to start at 9:15, play 75mins then fireworks. We shared the drive in two cars, arriving in plenty of time to a windswept open space with bouncy castles, face painting, fairground rides.... it transpires that the mystery celebrity was in fact Total Fuels, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the local refinery with a family day. So not quite as advertised... the promised 'big covered stage' was just a smallish marquee that, at a push, could have housed maybe 200 of the 800 or so people that were spread over the site when we got there if the weather took a turn for the worse. And my God it did. 10 mins into the first act - a Little Mix tribute - the heavens opened and it absolutely hammered down. Some people sheltered in the 'main arena', most in the similarly-sized cream tea tent. Groups of children ran around, jumping over the soaked hay bundle seating. The occasional drunk ran through the rain, aeroplane-fashion with twinned beer cups aloft, to the beer tent for refills but soon even they got drenched and bored. Small lakes appeared on the grass, the rides packed up and left, pulled pork and burger baps remained uneaten. People left in droves, some returned with coats, others didn't bother. The Little Mix lot overran. Next band were a local pub band. They were late starting and also massively overran, playing perhaps a 70-80 minute set. However, the rain had stopped by then. They then took a staggering 25 mins of our 30 minute change over time to clear the stage - the drummer had augmented the provided kit with a whole bank of extra toms, cymbals, fan etc - each of which were then fastidiously packed away with smoothed out bubblewrap packaging into their boxes all over the stage. We set up without sound checks in record time but were still so late we were left with just a 45 minute slot before the fireworks. So an 8 hour round trip for 45 mins playing. To be fair the 100 or so stalwarts who remained to the end gave us a fantastic reception, we played well and got handsomely paid. I then slept and snored all the way home. Luckily I wasn't driving. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 We played Moon Rally, a small biker event at a holiday park in Penarth. We were last on of three bands, due to start at 11:00pm but due to the inevitable overruns it was about 11:30 that we finally got going. This was only the second time I've played at an event with a provided PA and sound man (well, third actually, but on the first occasion the PA was a couple of underpowered and over driven 12" tops and the sound man was more clueless than me, but that's another story...). As we brought our kit in the sound guy grabbed me and told me that I'd best set up at the left hand side of the stage as the sub had just failed on that side. I suspect it's not often that the sound guy tells the bass player "turn up as loud as you like, and I'll balance the rest of it with you" ! Then after about half an hour of playing all the power went out - I think the main PA had blown a fuse and tripped out their circuit breakers. Power came back on after a couple of minutes and we started up again, not really knowing what was going on at that point. Sound guy comes over after the next song and tells us it's just our backline and the monitors still working, so we just turned the monitors around to face the audience and carried on playing. The main PA did get restored after a few more songs, but the sound guy seemed very impressed that we'd just got on with it in the meantime, which left me wondering what bands do in that situation - flounce off?! After we'd finished the guy came over for a chat - he'd miked up one of my cabs (Basschat 1x12 Mk 1s - calling @Phil Starr...) rather than taking a DI and was hugely complementary about how even the tone was through the range. All in all a good night - got a great reception, had a good time, and didn't have to pack up the PA at the end of the night! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 6 hours ago, Gottastopbuyinggear said: We played Moon Rally, a small biker event at a holiday park in Penarth. We were last on of three bands, due to start at 11:00pm but due to the inevitable overruns it was about 11:30 that we finally got going. This was only the second time I've played at an event with a provided PA and sound man (well, third actually, but on the first occasion the PA was a couple of underpowered and over driven 12" tops and the sound man was more clueless than me, but that's another story...). As we brought our kit in the sound guy grabbed me and told me that I'd best set up at the left hand side of the stage as the sub had just failed on that side. I suspect it's not often that the sound guy tells the bass player "turn up as loud as you like, and I'll balance the rest of it with you" ! Then after about half an hour of playing all the power went out - I think the main PA had blown a fuse and tripped out their circuit breakers. Power came back on after a couple of minutes and we started up again, not really knowing what was going on at that point. Sound guy comes over after the next song and tells us it's just our backline and the monitors still working, so we just turned the monitors around to face the audience and carried on playing. The main PA did get restored after a few more songs, but the sound guy seemed very impressed that we'd just got on with it in the meantime, which left me wondering what bands do in that situation - flounce off?! After we'd finished the guy came over for a chat - he'd miked up one of my cabs (Basschat 1x12 Mk 1s - calling @Phil Starr...) rather than taking a DI and was hugely complementary about how even the tone was through the range. All in all a good night - got a great reception, had a good time, and didn't have to pack up the PA at the end of the night! Well done for keeping going. It's always distracting when things like that go wrong but you can only control your own bit and getting on with that is the truly pro attitude, whatever gets said afterwards. Good to hear the Mk 1's got some approval too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Photos and (short...) video added ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 33 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: Photos and (short...) video added ... Where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Played Wookyfest last night. No sign of Hans Solo however. We supported The Drystones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 1 hour ago, leschirons said: Where? Eight posts up ^^ from this one, added to my earlier post. I can't see how to link to a specific post in a topic, as in the previous version of the site; sorry... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 On 16/06/2018 at 19:06, Woodinblack said: Well, this afternoons gig wasn't great fun. Private party in a large garden, in a leanto. Sound was good, we played ok, but not really any involvement from the crowd, so rather dull. Paid ok though. This evening was a local community field on a truck. It was cold and a bit windy, and I thought it wouldn't be any good. Turns out I was wrong, and I was pretty happy about that, apart from a couple of my leads dying for some reason and another mysteriously coming out it was a great night with a responsive and friendly crowd. AND it paid ok! All in all, a good weekend for enjoyment and money. I love "paid ok" Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 (edited) We played an indoor Biker event, 3:00-7:00 today. I was particularly impressed with our BL and lead guitarist. Hard to believe she wasn't around in the 60s or 70s. We did 2 new Savoy Brown songs. Hot as hell inside but a good gig with good pay. We raised our fee at the beginning of the year. We're back out this Thursday & Friday night, Festival gigs. Blue Edited June 19, 2018 by Bluewine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 16 hours ago, Gottastopbuyinggear said: We played Moon Rally, a small biker event at a holiday park in Penarth. We were last on of three bands, due to start at 11:00pm but due to the inevitable overruns it was about 11:30 that we finally got going. This was only the second time I've played at an event with a provided PA and sound man (well, third actually, but on the first occasion the PA was a couple of underpowered and over driven 12" tops and the sound man was more clueless than me, but that's another story...). As we brought our kit in the sound guy grabbed me and told me that I'd best set up at the left hand side of the stage as the sub had just failed on that side. I suspect it's not often that the sound guy tells the bass player "turn up as loud as you like, and I'll balance the rest of it with you" ! Then after about half an hour of playing all the power went out - I think the main PA had blown a fuse and tripped out their circuit breakers. Power came back on after a couple of minutes and we started up again, not really knowing what was going on at that point. Sound guy comes over after the next song and tells us it's just our backline and the monitors still working, so we just turned the monitors around to face the audience and carried on playing. The main PA did get restored after a few more songs, but the sound guy seemed very impressed that we'd just got on with it in the meantime, which left me wondering what bands do in that situation - flounce off?! After we'd finished the guy came over for a chat - he'd miked up one of my cabs (Basschat 1x12 Mk 1s - calling @Phil Starr...) rather than taking a DI and was hugely complementary about how even the tone was through the range. All in all a good night - got a great reception, had a good time, and didn't have to pack up the PA at the end of the night! We once played a bike rally where the generator tripped out every two or three songs, and it turned out it was whenever the burger van tried to use their microwave. On another occasion playing a rally for the National Chopper Club the sound man rushed to the stage near the end of our set to say there was enough diesel left in the generator for lights during the load out or an encore. Needless to say we loaded out in the dark! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 I forgot to mention the bass-related incident at our gig. I'd bought a new 9-volt battery for the bass, so Our Youngest fitted it just before sound-check. No bass from the amp, so he queried the DI box. As a quick test, I got 2nd guitar to plug in instead of the bass; lo and behold... guitar..! The DI was fine, then, but no bass still. First suspect: the new battery. I opened the trap, 'tongued' the battery and got a 9-volt sting, but then all became apparent. The flimsy snap-on connector was missing the black wire. Survival mode kicked in, so the missing wire was fished out from the nether regions of the battery box, stripped with finger nails and wedged between the contacts of the connector and the battery terminal. Stuffed carefully back into the battery box, trap closed... Bass..! I'm now looking through Ebay for more robust connectors, or even a suitable replacement for the whole battery box. OK, it's a 'low-cost' bass, but that connector was really, really flimsy. The day was saved, though, which is the main thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seashell Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 Well, I usually come on here and boast if I have had a particularly good gig. So I suppose it's only fair that I should own up to a real stinker! Doing a set of country/rock covers and a couple of originals. First song went well , but then it all started to collapse from there. Singer/LG missed out the second bridge in the second song...the rest of us managed to go with him but it was a bit unsettling. It was my first time doing BVs with this band - I sounded very nervous and warbly. Horrible really. Then in the next song Singer/LG seemed to hit one of those awful mental blocks. Just dried up and stopped half way through. He definitely knows this song, we've been rehearsing it for ages. We started again and he dried up at the same point! We decided to move on to the next one, but by now were all a bit shaken and there were bum notes and hesitations all over the place, including from me! We staggered through to the end and slunk off somewhat embarassed. What made it worse was there were two other bands on who were really good!! Luckily this was in a nice quiet pub with a regular crowd who were very polite about it all. No abuse or rotten vegetables were thrown. I'm playing the same place again next week, but with a different band (and not doing BVs this time!!). So I may have the chance to redeem myself! 😥 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 5 minutes ago, seashell said: Then in the next song Singer/LG seemed to hit one of those awful mental blocks. Just dried up and stopped half way through. He definitely knows this song, we've been rehearsing it for ages. We started again and he dried up at the same point! Funnily, in my gig on Friday the guitarist dried in Sweet Home Alabama. I stepped up and finished the first verse for him. Ironically, I have told the band I wanted to sing lead on the song in the past but was overruled 'unless you have a load of mates in the crowd'... I told them where they could stick that!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 I played one at the weekend and it was a place with it's own monster PA, so we didn't have to cart ours along. We went on at 10pm, which I think was a bit late. Our first half went down really well and we played it like we meant it. Our break was fairly short between sets, but the crowd started to drift and when we kicked off again and saw them leaving... for the first time, all of my momentum just went. I just felt like stopping. With the number of people left in, I just couldn't bring myself to go into the sing-along crowd pleasers. Unusual. I think tiredness due to my health condition was catching up with me. Oddly, the pub management were more than happy with us, but I felt like we had lost one for a change. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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