How was your gig last night?

[Lozz196]

Played the Bolton Punk Picnic - rather bizarrely named as it was in a pub, and no sausage rolls!

Anyway, it was an all-dayer, we were on at 6:30. For most of the last 2 months we’ve been recording our latest album so it was nice now that that’s out of the way to be back where we belong, gigging.

And what a gig, the reception was great, bodies flying everywhere, people up on the stage, I had to dodge more microphones coming straight at me than Anthony Joshua dodges punches. Singing backing vox was difficult as the audiences singing of the choruses was so loud I could hardly hear myself.

We put some songs off of the new album into the set - it was a 30 min set so decided on 4 new ones and they went down a storm. 

Recording might be good fun but nothing beats gigging for me. What a gig!

 

[leschirons]

Played our third gig in 36 hours this afternoon. Went down really well but no let up with the weather here. Continuous supplies of iced water from very considerate  organisers but that didn't  prevent our drummer being carted off with heat stroke two numbers before the end. He's fine now. Another three in a row coming up in 4 days time, looking to still be very hot. Oh joy.😆

[Mudpup]

Hard work last night - pub gig and played to about 20 people inside whilst 50 people sat outside and listened from there. I don't blame them as i would prob have done the same but it makes it difficult to stay interested. Sore fingers from sweaty hands all night too.

[HengistPod]

This was the view from the stage when we started on Friday night.  

Me: "Where are all the people?"

Bouncer: "It's Friday. Nobody comes out on Friday. It's always like this. We may get 2 or 3 later."

We actually ended up with 7 people - who danced and enjoyed themselves - so that was a bonus.  Sometimes you have to wonder why places book bands on guaranteed no-turnout nights, though.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, HengistPod said:

This was the view from the stage when we started on Friday night.  

Me: "Where are all the people?"

Bouncer: "It's Friday. Nobody comes out on Friday. It's always like this. We may get 2 or 3 later."

We actually ended up with 7 people - who danced and enjoyed themselves - so that was a bonus.  Sometimes you have to wonder why places book bands on guaranteed no-turnout nights, though.

That would make a great album cover.

You could call it "Couldn't Get In Through The Locked Door".

[NoRhino]

Our first time at a holiday/caravan park in South Scotland.  Planned three sets.  I was apprehensive about a Blues covers band playing to a holiday camp audience but it turned out well. We did have a couple of very young children running about the floor like every wedding ever but they were fine.  The crowd who were seated really appreciated what we did and clapped and sang along when prompted.  

At the end of the first set one chap approached me and said (You need to effect a whiney ned/chav voice here)

"Haw mate, whit dae yeis play? I like yer songs but whit Rock dae ye play? Dae ye play any Coldplay?"

"I'm sorry, we don't."

"Whit dae ye play?"

"Did you like that hour we just played?"

"Aye it was great"

"Well, we've got two more hours of stuff like that"

"Dae you know any Floyd?"

"Sorry, no."

"Whit aboot Roger Watters then?"

Despite his in your face approch he was dancing enthusiastically all night but he might have been supported by odd substances.

 

On the plus side we've been re-booked and offered a slot at an all day festival sometime later in the year.

One the down side one of my car's tyres shredded to bits on the drive home the next day but the AA and Kwik Fit had me back on the road inside two hours.

 

[radiophonic]

On 24/06/2019 at 08:44, Leonard Smalls said:

Quick photo from our recent Hereford gig highlighting special trousers...

 

That's a good shot. It took me a second loo to work out what the guy on the right was playing before realising the angle of the shot was across the band rather than through it. Personally, I wouldn't wear those trousers, but the I do have t-shirt.

[Bluewine]

SUMMERFEST 2019
The world's largest music festival.
 Wednesday July 3rd ULine Rock Stage

5:00  Maple Road
6:30 No Quarter
8:00 Tom Fuller
10:00 Lover Boy

I'll let you guys know how it goes on Thursday. I'm anticipating we'll be playing to a crowd of 2,000.

Blue

Edited July 1, 2019 by Bluewine

[HengistPod]

19 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

That would make a great album cover.

You could call it "Couldn't Get In Through The Locked Door".

Funnily enough, I was standing there thinking "I've seen more people on a Marillion album cover than this ..."  

That guy was Russian, was visiting Peterhead on business, and spent a long time drunkenly telling me in a very thick accent about bootleg records in Russia in the 1970s, and how rock music had been seen as "verrry bad". I could make out words like "KGB", "prison", and "my friend disappeared" accompanied by loud peals of laughter.

[Bluewine]

On 01/07/2019 at 18:26, Bluewine said:

SUMMERFEST 2019
The world's largest music festival.
 Wednesday July 3rd ULine Rock Stage

5:00  Maple Road
6:30 No Quarter
8:00 Tom Fuller
10:00 Lover Boy

I'll let you guys know how it goes on Thursday. I'm anticipating we'll be playing to a crowd of 2,000.

Blue

Great weather, grreat crowd. It was a good gig. It's so nice when you only have to play an hour. 

I had a blast!

Blue

Edited July 4, 2019 by Bluewine

[T-Bay]

Got our first gig with the new band tomorrow. Six months of work to get to this point. Kit sorted and ready to go already. Can’t wait.

[leschirons]

Played here tonight (last night I guess as it's now 2.30am) the world sheep shearing championships!! Yes, there is such a thing. About a 1000 out front, hospitality tent in which we ate ALL the chocolate before we even got anything out the van😆

Must say, very nice not having to unload 80% of the gear. 

[SICbass]

On 02/07/2019 at 00:26, Bluewine said:

SUMMERFEST 2019
The world's largest music festival.
 Wednesday July 3rd ULine Rock Stage

5:00  Maple Road
6:30 No Quarter
8:00 Tom Fuller
10:00 Lover Boy

I'll let you guys know how it goes on Thursday. I'm anticipating we'll be playing to a crowd of 2,000.

Blue

 

9 hours ago, Bluewine said:

Great weather, grreat crowd. It was a good gig. It's so nice when you only have to play an hour. 

I had a blast!

Blue

That looks like an all round  great event. And a single one hour set? What’s not to love, right? Glad you enjoyed it.

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, leschirons said:

Played here tonight (last night I guess as it's now 2.30am) the world sheep shearing championships!! Yes, there is such a thing. About a 1000 out front, hospitality tent in which we ate ALL the chocolate before we even got anything out the van😆

Eat to the Bleat.

[Muzz]

As long as your chops were up to it...

[casapete]

I can just imagine the set list -

Baa baa baa, baa Barbara Anne? 

Nothing compares to ewe?

Wooly Bully?

Or anything by Rammstein or Ewe B40?

[lurksalot]

“Is tha shearing’

“Clear off and get thar own”

 

[leschirons]

13 hours ago, casapete said:

I can just imagine the set list -

Baa baa baa, baa Barbara Anne? 

Nothing compares to ewe?

Wooly Bully?

Or anything by Rammstein or Ewe B40?

Behave😆

[leschirons]

Private summer party tonight. Only 50 people but nice crowd, great food and a nice welcome. Got paid straight away and a promise of next years do.

Played okay, but just okay as all still shattered from last night. Another one tomorrow and unfortunately it's a battle of the bands and we're on at 00.30 after the competition so going to be another 4.30 / 5.00 am back home job. Not looking forward to that. Drummer and guitarist also have a Sunday gig and both have day jobs Monday morning. Poor buggers.

You can actually have too much of a good thing.

[T-Bay]

First time out with the new band last night and it went very well indeed. Couple of minor mistakes but nothing major. As is often the case we were really getting going when it was time to stop. We were on before a band who we know very well (I work with their lead singer/ guitarist) so were able to get some accurate feedback which was all very positive. A great night all round, sadly our drummer goes to Australia for five weeks soon so our next gig is the end of August. Our lead guitarist has a busy weekend, he is doing three gigs today with two different bands.

[lou24d53]

Not tonight, but tomorrow...

Wee Sunday afternoon gig coming up...my back has been killing me since last weekend too, when I pulled a muscle, I'm taking the Lakland Jazz as it'll be lighter a load to take...

Maybe need to bathe in Voltarol gel before it...

Either that, or it'll be Val Doonican on bass...😬😂

[BrunoBass]

New venue for us last night, The Dirt House on the outskirts of Banbury (literally two miles from home...) 

Not a massive crowd, but an enthusiastic one, everyone up and dancing. We played well and had a lot of fun. We love a packed pub but sometimes playing to just 25-30 up for it people is just as good! 

[Staggering on]

Three hour sidewalk gig Friday night in North Bay went well but it was 33C when we started and 28C at the end and we were cooked! We were well paid and had some strollers stop to listen and a few little kids danced but it was really a paid rehearsal although we did make some contacts that might pay off. First gig using my Boss WL-20 wireless rig going from the KNA DB 1 pick up to my Schatten Design Mini Pre (volume control) mounted on my music stand and then cable to the PA.Worked like a charm and I had plenty of battery left after three 45-50 minute sets. The Bose PA is great for these gigs..great sound, lots of volume, easy to set up and it can be used as a monitor with no feedback so it is our go to system. Good gig but hot.

In the first photo you can see that I seem to have lost my head in the middle of the song but I did get it back later.😊

 

[JapanAxe]

Yesterday afternoon actually. A superbly organised village fête with a western theme, hence they booked us - a country band.

The promised 1k PA turned out to have speakers rated at 100W RMS, so we used it to augment our little 150W-per-side (mainly) vocal PA. This turned out to be surprisingly adequate to make us heard across a sports field. My Demeter/BF rig sounded huge and lovely without PA support.

However, no electricity was engaged until it was made safe. I always carry a ring-main tester, and it showed no earth. The organisers traced this back to the industrial-style outlets on the club-house exterior wall, but couldn't access the box to fix it. I suggested setting up a local earth - drive a metal rod into the ground next to the stage, connected by a length of sturdy wire to an earth pin plugged into the distribution board. They also watered the metal rod, and by golly it worked! We kept the tester plugged in so that I could confirm we still had a good earth connection.

The stage:

The view:

The Crow Valley Band:

Mrs Axe's view:

Edited July 7, 2019 by JapanAxe

[Woodinblack]

Played 2 gigs yesterday. One was a very poorly organised outdoor gig with a well organised truck and PA guy to set up playing on a truck. Had the best sound we have had according to the second band who saw us because we started late. The PA guy said "I don't think it is going to be busy, he hasn't done any advertising', and it wasn't busy but it wasn't surprising, there were a lot of local events on that afernoon that had been well organised and planned.  Still worked out fun though.

Anyway, the PA guy said 'you were great, you should have been the closing band for the atmosphere' but we coulnd' tbe because we had another gig that night.

Trouble of playing in a suntrap is you can get sunburned and I did a bit. However, still like playing on a truck, especially one with a great PA that is all set up for you!

The second gig was in a working mens club and as it turned out, it also went really well, and as a first, we actually got thanked by the venue organiser. so that was nice.