How was your gig last night?

[uk_lefty]

Saturday afternoon private party in a social club. Weird time to play, caused allsorts of issues with my wife having to have the kids all day with me hardly around having other commitments in the morning too. Getting more confident with the set list though, so much so that there's now joking about between us all on the stage. 

[Dazm66]

14 hours ago, Paul S said:

There's Joe!  You nicked my drummer!  

Borrowed 😌

[dclaassen]

Not a gig, but I have an audition today with a bunch of old rock 'n' roll guys. I did not get the set list until yesterday afternoon, and have never played half the stuff on the list...so should be fun. I like the Who, but need more time than I was given to climb into Entwhistle's head......it is NOT a comfortable place for me most of the time...

 

Pray for me....

[dmccombe7]

50 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

Not a gig, but I have an audition today with a bunch of old rock 'n' roll guys. I did not get the set list until yesterday afternoon, and have never played half the stuff on the list...so should be fun. I like the Who, but need more time than I was given to climb into Entwhistle's head......it is NOT a comfortable place for me most of the time...

 

Pray for me....

Bit much to expect someone to know their set with just a days notice.

Maybe they want to see how quickly you can pick things up from them. You know ...... how you work together as a band.

It might be a lot more relaxed than you think if they only gave the set yesterday.

Take it for what it is. A bit of a laugh with like minded people. 

Hope it goes ok and let us know how you got on.

Dave

Edited March 9, 2022 by dmccombe7

[Woodinblack]

WIth a days notice it is a bit like a dep - you can't expect someone to know all the details, just put the chords down, get the easy ones knocked out and anything with any detail, do the best you can and say that you can't get the detailed part of all the songs in a day.

[dmccombe7]

9 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

WIth a days notice it is a bit like a dep - you can't expect someone to know all the details, just put the chords down, get the easy ones knocked out and anything with any detail, do the best you can and say that you can't get the detailed part of all the songs in a day.

That's why i dont dep at short notice. I dont want to be put under that kind of pressure. I know a lot of guys on here know lots of the usual songs for their particular band style and can drop in at very short notice but i tend to forget songs once they are out the set list and if i need to play them again i need to refresh my old head.

Its not age i've always been like that.

Best example for me is Burn by Deep Purple. I absolutely love playing that song over the many years but could i play it today ......... NOPE, and i've played it so many times including a DP tribute band 😂

Dave

[Woodinblack]

18 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's why i dont dep at short notice. I dont want to be put under that kind of pressure. I know a lot of guys on here know lots of the usual songs for their particular band style and can drop in at very short notice but i tend to forget songs once they are out the set list and if i need to play them again i need to refresh my old head.

Its not age i've always been like that.

Best example for me is Burn by Deep Purple. I absolutely love playing that song over the many years but could i play it today ......... NOPE, and i've played it so many times including a DP tribute band 😂

 

I often can't remember how a song starts, but once i know the first two notes I pretty well remember it all. Some thingns that are a bit tricky I will forget the detail of, but most of the time not an issue. Certainly if I was going to do something with songs I knew, if I went through them once beforehand I would remember them.

Obviously if they are things you don't know, and there is a lot of them, its has the potential to be much harder!

[dclaassen]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Bit much to expect someone to know their set with just a days notice.

Maybe they want to see how quickly you can pick things up from them. You know ...... how you work together as a band.

It might be a lot more relaxed than you think if they only gave the set yesterday.

Take it for what it is. A bit of a laugh with like minded people. 

Hope it goes ok and let us know how you got on.

Dave

BL just called back and wants me in…pretty stoked because they seem like a great bunch of guys. Now I’ve got a big set list to learn.

[dmccombe7]

10 hours ago, dclaassen said:

BL just called back and wants me in…pretty stoked because they seem like a great bunch of guys. Now I’ve got a big set list to learn.

Well done and i bet you thoroughly enjoyed it.

When i get a full set to learn quickly i usually start by getting all the songs on youtube playlist or download to CD and play along with them to get a feel for them then start at the top and work my way thru them a few at a time. I like to write out the songs note for note as i find it helps me remember them on paper too. I will try to find music or tabs as a quick reference but mostly done by ear.

Just pick the first 3 or 4 and work on them and once happy move to the next few.

Sounds like you've found "your band" and that's always a good feeling.

Have fun and enjoy.

Dave

[dclaassen]

25 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Well done and i bet you thoroughly enjoyed it.

When i get a full set to learn quickly i usually start by getting all the songs on youtube playlist or download to CD and play along with them to get a feel for them then start at the top and work my way thru them a few at a time. I like to write out the songs note for note as i find it helps me remember them on paper too. I will try to find music or tabs as a quick reference but mostly done by ear.

Just pick the first 3 or 4 and work on them and once happy move to the next few.

Sounds like you've found "your band" and that's always a good feeling.

Have fun and enjoy.

Dave

Thanks! Your procedure is pretty much what I like to do. My memory for detail is not good until I have played the whole list live a few times. I've been out of action for quite a few years, and it feels good to be playing again. 

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, dclaassen said:

Thanks! Your procedure is pretty much what I like to do. My memory for detail is not good until I have played the whole list live a few times. I've been out of action for quite a few years, and it feels good to be playing again. 

You're gonna be just fine. Bet you love being back into it again. It just takes the right people.

Keep us posted on your progress and if we can help just give us all a shout. The big BC family is always here.

Dave

[odysseus]

First one in 2 years last night - a support slot with some friends of ours. Excellent night and great to be back.  Freezing my t!ts off to start with, but by the end of our set I wish I hadn't worn the hoodie as I was sweating like a glass-blower's bumbum...

 

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by odysseus

[tony_m]

Warning: Long post!

 

TL;DR It was an interesting night...

 

So, a friend of Mr Rhythm Guitar had decided that our Country-fried Rock & Blues combo would be the ideal entertainment for a relatives' 80th birthday bash, to be held at a small "Gin Bar & Cocktail House" in Louth where they describe themselves as "Curators of Good Times". Okaaayyyyy...

5:30pm We all arrive, and are informed by the Friendly Lass In Charge that we can park in the large side entry outside the fire door, and load-in through there. Awesome.

6:00pm Friendly Lass In Charge returns while we're setting up, and informs us that she's had it in the neck from the landlord (who's not actually on-site) and he won't let us park in the side entry after all, so we need to move our vehicles to the public car park 200yds down the road, the wrong way round the one-way system.

6:15pm We finish setting up, and all do a lap of the one-way system to the approved car park, with vehicles full of empty guitar and drum cases etc. as there's nowhere to store them at the venue.

6:45pm Friendly Lass In Charge returns again just as we're about to soundcheck, and asks how long we'll be playing for - apparently the landlord now has concerns about noise and wants us to finish at 9pm, despite us being quieter than the piped music blaring out around the place. We explain that we normally do two sets, one 45m and the other 1hr 15m, which isn't really going to meet his 9pm deadline as the bash doesn't officially start until 7:30pm. We soundcheck, and prove to FLIC that we're not really Metallica in disguise. FLIC goes away seemingly satisfied. I am slightly less satisfied, as every time I play a C, it booms out far louder than any other notes, and no amount of EQ tweaking will cure it. I resolve to pluck any C's more gently, and see how we get on. Why do so many of our tunes have so many C's in them?

7:45pm We launch into "Green River" to a few interested folks, a few more less-interested folks, and a number of small kiddiewonks running around with balloons.

8:10pm My monitor (which worked perfectly at rehearsal on Thursday) starts crackling horribly. Hitting it doesn't help, so we turn it off and me and Mr Drums both work off his.

8:30pm Set 1 ends to applause and more than a few complimentary comments from those who've stayed in the function room with us. Meanwhile, the rest of the party is going on loudly in the front room of the venue.

9:00pm As nobody has come to tell us we can't, we launch into "Call Me The Breeze", to the same interested folks as before plus a few new ones.

9:15pm Mr Drums' monitor (which worked perfectly at rehearsal on Thursday) starts crackling horribly and peaking out. We turn it down, which seems to cure the crackling, but Mr Drums can now no longer hear his electronic kit properly so plays the rest of the night by feel (aka "Hit And Hope").

10:00pm As "King of the New York Streets" reaches its climactic ending, Grumpy Bloke who has seemingly replaced Friendly Lass In Charge taps Mr Rhythm Guitar on the shoulder and tells him we need to wrap things up. We launch into "Bad Moon Rising" by way of wrapping things up. 30 seconds later, Grumpy Bloke reappears and through the medium of mime informs us we need to wrap things up NOW or else!!!

10:03pm We do indeed wrap things up, to the apparent disappointment of the folks watching. 

10:20pm We start breaking down, only to discover that the miserable beggars have closed and locked the barrier into the side entry, so having retrieved our vehicles and cases etc. we end up trying not to block the narrow street outside while loading-out, surrounded by inebriated Louthians, and accompanied by the sound of breaking bottles.

11:45pm Home!

 

On the plus side, we had a good number of folks dancing through our Mary Jane's Last Dance / Roadhouse Blues / Walking By Myself section, and I enjoyed an odd feeling of detachment throughout the gig as though someone else was doing the playing while I was just watching on, and apart from a couple of small glitches when my mind drifted a bit too far off course, everything just seemed to flow beautifully.

 

Oh, and we did get paid... 😃

[casapete]

We've done some gigs in Scotland this week. First one at the wonderful Caird Hall in Dundee (pics 1&2), a favourite of mine. Great crowd and a good sounding room.

Gig made even better by some of the best pizza we've had at the wonderful Mozza restaurant near the theatre.

Second one was at The Edinburgh Playhouse (pic 3).  It's massive, seats something like 3060 people, unfortunately not when we were there though. One of the biggest seated theatres in Europe apparently. Gig slightly marred by a group of pis*sed people near the front kicking off through the first set, but the excellent security staff had them sorted for the 2nd. I love Edinburgh, and had time pre gig to walk around this wonderful city.  

 

[dmccombe7]

46 minutes ago, casapete said:

We've done some gigs in Scotland this week. First one at the wonderful Caird Hall in Dundee (pics 1&2), a favourite of mine. Great crowd and a good sounding room.

Gig made even better by some of the best pizza we've had at the wonderful Mozza restaurant near the theatre.

Second one was at The Edinburgh Playhouse (pic 3).  It's massive, seats something like 3060 people, unfortunately not when we were there though. One of the biggest seated theatres in Europe apparently. Gig slightly marred by a group of pis*sed people near the front kicking off through the first set, but the excellent security staff had them sorted for the 2nd. I love Edinburgh, and had time pre gig to walk around this wonderful city.  

 

You guys must be first class to be playing those gigs. Some nice venues there. At some point i need to come along and see you guys.

What bass rig were you using on the gigs .

Dave

[casapete]

27 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

You guys must be first class to be playing those gigs. Some nice venues there. At some point i need to come along and see you guys.

What bass rig were you using on the gigs .

Dave

Thanks Dave - we don’t always do such large venues but sometimes they’re the only option in some places. We’re doing Glasgow Kings Theatre on May 18th if you can make it-drop me a PM if you can. 

I just use my regular GK set up - 1001RB amp into a Neo 410 cab. Used this for years and never let me down. I’m the only one not using IEMs so like to have headroom onstage etc. Would maybe like to try something else for a change, Aguilar or Ampeg but the pandemic hit us hard so will need to save up for a while.  Cheers, Pete.

 

[Mudpup]

Last night's gig was at one of our favourite venues. Great crowd and we tried a couple of off the wall new songs out which worked out really well. We've invested in a DMX foot controller that muggins has been tasked with operating and I spent a week programming it and the whole gig tap dancing on it. But it worked pretty well. Here's some pics that someone in the crowd took... 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Mudpup

[dmccombe7]

9 hours ago, Mudpup said:

Last night's gig was at one of our favourite venues. Great crowd and we tried a couple of off the wall new songs out as well which worked out really well. We've invested in DMX foot controller that muggins has been tasked with operating and I spent a week programming at and the whole gig tap dancing on it. But it worked pretty well. Here's some pics that someone in the crowd took... 

Plus a smoke machine to operate by looks of it. 

Can you not programme the main lights for a sound to light or even an auto fade in/out whether its slow or fast it can usually be set up thru programming. Just use the switching for special effects like your pin spots i see in one of the pics. Just trying to save you a lot of tap dancing thru the night 😂

Dave

[Stub Mandrel]

On 10/03/2022 at 08:41, dclaassen said:

Thanks! Your procedure is pretty much what I like to do. My memory for detail is not good until I have played the whole list live a few times. I've been out of action for quite a few years, and it feels good to be playing again. 

Sounds lime you are where I was a few years back.

 

One thing I do is find a reasonable tab for each dong i learn, edit it down so the essentials fit on one page - enough to get by. I now have loads of songs that even if i have forgotten I can pick up again quickly.

[dmccombe7]

34 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Sounds lime you are where I was a few years back.

 

One thing I do is find a reasonable tab for each dong i learn, edit it down so the essentials fit on one page - enough to get by. I now have loads of songs that even if i have forgotten I can pick up again quickly.

Exactly what i do. I have lots of notes to the point bands find humour in my love of notes but all in good humour.

The other benefit from it is that i know exactly what the song structure is from my notes where others tend to have listened and learned their part but can't remember the structure especially after a break like covid or we reinstate a song we've dropped for a bit.

Dave

[Mudpup]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Plus a smoke machine to operate by looks of it. 

Can you not programme the main lights for a sound to light or even an auto fade in/out whether its slow or fast it can usually be set up thru programming. Just use the switching for special effects like your pin spots i see in one of the pics. Just trying to save you a lot of tap dancing thru the night 😂

Dave

I was only controlling the pin spots last night as a first attempt but there are 15 scenes set up in them to monkey around with. The rear sweepers are too bonkers on sound to light so we leave them on a slow autorun macro which I can change on a remote and we leave the front lights on a slow 3 colour fade as well. The fazer is on a remote programmable switch as well. It's not so bad really - most things have been set on autoruns historically but we're going to get them a bit more organised with the DMX thingy. 

[dmccombe7]

21 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

I was only controlling the pin spots last night as a first attempt but there are 15 scenes set up in them to monkey around with. The rear sweepers are too bonkers on sound to light so we leave them on a slow autorun macro which I can change on a remote and we leave the front lights on a slow 3 colour fade as well. The fazer is on a remote programmable switch as well. It's not so bad really - most things have been set on autoruns historically but we're going to get them a bit more organised with the DMX thingy. 

Sounds like you have it all in hand. I operate our smoke machines when used but lights are all on sound to light. Drummer owns all the lights but they have a sensitivity control on them for S to L use.

Dave

[Rich]

Last night was a 45 minute set supporting the Complete Madness tribute act at Melksham Assembly Hall. We did a blasting greatest-hits set (minus all our Madness songs, obvs) and though I say so myself we played an absolute blinder. Crowd loved it, we got loads of praise afterwards, we'd brought some t-shirts with us and sold the lot. We're getting a whole load of new followers on our Farcebook page this morning. Here's a couple of pics... god I'm really digging into that E..!

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Rich

[wateroftyne]

A reunion gig with my lovely pals in the Peter Donegan Band last night. One or two of you might have seen him on The Voice a few years back singing with Tom Jones.  We haven't been in the same room for four years, but it was (mostly) like riding a bike. Full house, loads of fun.

 

I even used a HandBox WB-100 that I managed to borrow for the night from Warwickhunt, too. Win after win after win.

 

 

[itu]

An hour of jazz from 5 pm.

Five hours of wait.

A bit more than an hour of dance.

Home at 2 am.

Basic stuff.