How was your gig last night?

[niceguyhomer]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='354185' date='Dec 14 2008, 12:55 PM']Sorry for being probably more depressing than Homer, but I needed to vent.[/quote]

I'm more depressing than than the credit crunch and did I mention that my grandma's a cripple in Nashville?

Chin up fella - come up to Preston and help me finish this bottle of Jack

[Kiwi]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='354171' date='Dec 14 2008, 12:37 PM']I've told the singer that I'll be looking for something else in the New Year - the spark of enjoyment has gone now and the guitarist is causing problems with his dreadful sound and incompetence (which he won't acknowledge) riding the desk.

It's a fantastic band when all is well but time to move on methinks otherwise I'll be hanging my boots up and I don't wanna do that.[/quote]
It sounds all too familiar to my situation mate Now the 'manager' has gotten back with his on/off girlfriend/fiance things in our band have settled down again.
I still keep having a go (along with the soundman) at our guitarist over his sound. He doesn't use any effects at all when a bit of wah, heavy distortion, delay and chorus might sweeten up his otherwise very harsh sound. I'm half tempted to donate my £100 Mesia valve guitar combo to the band just to put the soundman and I out of our misery. It knocks the Peavey guitar amp he's borrowing off the drummer into a cocked hat.

I just try and stay out of the politics thing along with the rest of the guys these days. Its a shame because the band is still cliquey but one day the message may get through to the girls but for now its just the best way until I have better reasons to leave.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='354185' date='Dec 14 2008, 12:55 PM']Now seriously hacked-off with the whole thing. The band has only done two gigs this year and one of them was just a 20 minute 4-song set. We've spent 18 months dicking about with replacement lead guitarists and TBH none of them have the same vibe of the original guy.

Right now playing music is pretty much the only good thing going on in my life, but I see little point in being in a band that doesn't do any gigs (which is the only time I come out of my rather shy and geeky shell).[/quote]
Hang in there mate - how about a solo spot with a bit of MIDI bass?

[BigRedX]

Thanks for the encouragement and offer of alcohol!

Probably more depressed than I should be about the situation since the thought of the gig was one of the things keeping me going when I was trying to fix ActionScript bugs at 1.00 in the morning during the last week...

Still the lack of momentum in the band needs to be addressed in order to keep my interest and commitment and I'll be discussing this with the others sometime in next couple of days.

[RayFW]

50th birthday party last night to a really enthusiastic crowd of about 120. They were up dancing straight away and stayed on the floor all night. We did manage to tire them out somewhat with our 15 minute Chic medley though!
Decent sized stage for a change. With 8 of us we're usually crammed together like sardines so it was nice to have some space to move around. I could have a couple of pints as well as my GF agreed to pick me up. Bonus.
I took the Lakland DJ4 and my Cairnes Stingray and managed to get a great sound straight off from the 'ray. Even with both pickups on, the DJ was buzzing like a beehive however. After switching off some of the fluorescents I managed to tame it but I think it's time to get it properly shielded. Strange that the guitarist wasn't having any probs with his unshielded single coiled Strat though. Hmm.
Overall a great night - the band really seem to have gelled now (we've only been together 5 months) and I'm really enjoying my playing. Next gig is a wedding on the 27th. I can't wait.

Edited December 14, 2008 by rayfw

[ezbass]

Not too bad, but we decided to record last night's gig so a good performace without mistakes was required. Unfortunately there were some horrendous cock ups. Drummer starting 2 beats late on Stevie Wonder's I Wish, stopped, started again, same outcome, stopped & gave that one up! I start Rhythm Stick to set tempo, drummer comes in and speeds right up (eek) and then the singer decides to come in a bar late in two separate places which means I have to move the groove around at a breakneck pace, messy. Guitarist didn't have the best night either, probably down to using a Tele that I've never seen him use and having recordingitis. It's not always everyone else though as I decided to play a "jazz" version of Parklife in the chorus, oops! But all in all not a bad night, the paying punters had a good time having braved the crap weather to get there.

[bassace]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='354174' date='Dec 14 2008, 12:44 PM']For me? Definitely. I'll stick to my middle class pretentious ways, its what I know best. [/quote]

Sorry, I can be a total prat sometimes. No hard feelings, I hope.

[ardi100]

Just had a great gig, unusually, covers only and the first time I've gigged my new double bass through my Roland DB500 combo. Sounded fantastic, even if the pickup was a super cheap borrowed jobbie! Can't wait for Tuesday's!

[Faithless]

My long-waited gig in local capital's pub on Thursday... We actually had to play 2x45, but we've actually done 2x30~ because we've turned up a bit late and audience was small anyway (Thursday's result..), but money remained the same.

I've used my new Ashdown amp (MAG II 600w Head+ 4x10 Cab) for the first time publicly. In studio it was loud enough, but I couldn't hear myself clearly onstage, though I've even asked to bring 'some more' bass to my monitor. I wasn't pleased with sound, and I think, it was the first and the last time, when I've DI'ed 'myself'. That's cuz last night, when recording in studio, we've compared DI'ed and Mic'ed sound - latter was sooo much massive and clear.

All in all, it wasn't bad gig, though, my crew was a bit sad about the audience.

Gotta few pics from gig. Here goes Faith!

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[url="http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9157copywd6.jpg"][/url]

[url="http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9183copypt7.jpg"][/url]

[url="http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9161copybw0.jpg"][/url]

Edited December 15, 2008 by Faithless

[Toadonroll]

Awesome.

Norwich Arts Centre with my 11-piece funk band. Horns, backing singers, percussion and all that... Great gig with a great crowd in a great venue. Didn't quite sell it out, but the best gig in years!

Edited December 15, 2008 by Toadonroll

[OldGit]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='354216' date='Dec 14 2008, 01:39 PM']Thanks for the encouragement and offer of alcohol!

Probably more depressed than I should be about the situation since the thought of the gig was one of the things keeping me going when I was trying to fix ActionScript bugs at 1.00 in the morning during the last week...

Still the lack of momentum in the band needs to be addressed in order to keep my interest and commitment and I'll be discussing this with the others sometime in next couple of days.[/quote]


Ive been there - when rehearsals are the best thing in your life .... Things move on matey, just hang on in there...

[farmer61]

The best ever, 250 Tux'd and Frocked punters, I really don't think that the last hour can get any better than this.

The whole room pogoing to Pretty Vacant, priceless!!!!

Got flu today though

[Rich]

Great gig on Saturday night to a rammed-out and very enthusiastic Fiddlers club in Bristol. Debuted a couple of tunes and a new intro, all went down very well. Crowd were absolutely brilliant, up and dancing from the off, and they never stopped.
Just for a laff, we did it in fancy dress... 3 fairies, 2 pirates, a French peasant, a convict, a Mexican wrestler, a clown, a naval officer, James Bond, Al Capone, and Darth Vader

Thanks to Matt for coming along! glad you enjoyed it, see you again soon

[BigRedX]

[quote name='OldGit' post='355237' date='Dec 15 2008, 06:11 PM']Ive been there - when rehearsals are the best thing in your life .... Things move on matey, just hang on in there...[/quote]

It wouldn't be quite so bad if I knew we had a couple of other gigs lined up in the new year, but unfortunately that's it. Four months of rehearsals with the latest lead guitarist and nothing to really show for it. I guess the band that doesn't gig is a bit like the zen proverb about the tree falling in the forest - does anyone hear them?

I think the way forward will be to have more than one gig at least organised at any one time so if any do get washed out there's always something else definite to work towards.

In the mean time it was good to hear that most people had happy and positive gigging experiences at the weekend after some fairly depressing posts from myself and a couple of others...

[OldGit]

[quote name='Rich' post='355430' date='Dec 15 2008, 10:18 PM']Great gig on Saturday night to a rammed-out and very enthusiastic Fiddlers club in Bristol. Debuted a couple of tunes and a new intro, all went down very well. Crowd were absolutely brilliant, up and dancing from the off, and they never stopped.
Just for a laff, we did it in fancy dress... 3 fairies, 2 pirates, a French peasant, a convict, a Mexican wrestler, a clown, a naval officer, James Bond, Al Capone, and Darth Vader

Thanks to Matt for coming along! glad you enjoyed it, see you again soon [/quote]


Oh pictures please!

[OldGit]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='355436' date='Dec 15 2008, 10:25 PM']It wouldn't be quite so bad if I knew we had a couple of other gigs lined up in the new year, but unfortunately that's it. Four months of rehearsals with the latest lead guitarist and nothing to really show for it. I guess the band that doesn't gig is a bit like the zen proverb about the tree falling in the forest - does anyone hear them?

I think the way forward will be to have more than one gig at least organised at any one time so if any do get washed out there's always something else definite to work towards.

In the mean time it was good to hear that most people had happy and positive gigging experiences at the weekend after some fairly depressing posts from myself and a couple of others...[/quote]

so why don't you gig much?

[Sarah5string]

Not last night but sunday night. Played the 'Kitty Rocks' all dayer in aid of Cannock and Burntwood cats protection league. Cue lots of pussy/hairball/etc jokes Was supposed to be 9 bands but most of the day bands dropped out. We were on at 8.30 and played a 1/2 hr set. Went REALLY well and we got a great reception. We play serious music but always have a laugh, joke and banter on stage which always goes down well. Pics, a review and hopefully audio/video coming soon!!! The guitarist and me then took the gear home and then we went back for the party and to see the rest of the bands
Loved EVERY minute of it Had a brilliant night all round and can't wait to do it again.

Oh and £230 was raised for the cats protection league Unfortunately wasn't as busy as they'd hoped, mainly presumably because of it being a sunday night.. but oh well

Edited December 16, 2008 by Sarah5string

[crez5150]

Another weekend of Weddings...... nice one on Saturday up in Allington, Lincolnshire at some toff's weekend retreat.... one of the smallest rooms we have played in as it was effectively a living room but it was jammed all night with people dancing and singing....







Great bunch of people and managed to score two more gigs for next year out of it....

[Sarah5string]

From sunday night.



and to prove you ain't rock n roll til you wear pvc trousers...

[Bass-ic]

[quote name='Rich' post='355430' date='Dec 15 2008, 10:18 PM']Great gig on Saturday night to a rammed-out and very enthusiastic Fiddlers club in Bristol. Debuted a couple of tunes and a new intro, all went down very well. Crowd were absolutely brilliant, up and dancing from the off, and they never stopped.
Just for a laff, we did it in fancy dress... 3 fairies, 2 pirates, a French peasant, a convict, a Mexican wrestler, a clown, a naval officer, James Bond, Al Capone, and Darth Vader

Thanks to Matt for coming along! glad you enjoyed it, see you again soon [/quote]

Am bringing a small crowd next time. Awesome gig Rich.

[dave_bass5]

Played our annual Christmas party at the American Air Museum, Duxford on Sat.
4th year in a row and our best yet. 430 people and we set up and played under the wing of a B-52.
The acoustics are normally horrendous here but the wing kept all the bands goodness in check and we sounded very clear and punchy for a change. Still had about a sec delay on everything away from the dance floor but that didn't matter.
Had my SA450 on about 1/4 in to my 1212L but it was loud enough that my rig kept moving around.

Audience were in a much better mood this year as last year a lot of them had redundancy hanging over them.

[Thunderthumbs]

Absolutely fantastic night.

The last of our 3 Wednesdays at The Landmarc in Bournemouth. A long travel there and back from Manchester, but still had a great time.

Full of Xmas party revellers who danced and sang along all night.

Myself, the guitarist and singer were all wireless too so we had a good run round the place while playing.

But man, was it hot......I must've lost a few pounds while playing (which is no bad thing ).

[OldGit]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='357168' date='Dec 17 2008, 05:19 PM']Played our annual Christmas party at the American Air Museum, Duxford on Sat.
4th year in a row and our best yet. 430 people and we set up and played under the wing of a B-52.
The acoustics are normally horrendous here but the wing kept all the bands goodness in check and we sounded very clear and punchy for a change. Still had about a sec delay on everything away from the dance floor but that didn't matter.
Had my SA450 on about 1/4 in to my 1212L but it was loud enough that my rig kept moving around.

Audience were in a much better mood this year as last year a lot of them had redundancy hanging over them.[/quote]

Lucky you didn't bomb ...






I'll get me coat

[Kiwi]

We did a gig at a place in Sloane Square on Monday. It was a corporate do for a chain of hairdressers. Went OK, the punters were mostly young and I guess enjoyed themselves but I don't think we were cool enough for some and if we had been cool enough, we would have lost broader appeal. I dunno, it was a forgettable one probably apart from the MD's 'Christmas speech' which went something like "you've all done ok this year but there's a sh*t storm coming in the new year with the recession so lets be 'focussed'." Really cheered them up no end! Had to pack down and lug gear through the dancing and drunk too and narrowly missed clouting a couple of them.

We have a triple bill this weekend with Leeds Friday night, Northampton on Saturday and Kent on Sunday. Speaking of which I need to get packing.

[silverfoxnik]

Went to see bassninja's band last night at The Eagle in Arundel, West Sussex.

Arundel's a beautiful old town with a very strong 'artsy' community and there's a real appreciation of good live music.. Hence, the place was packed, the band were great, punters were loving it and the bassninja was seriously on form!! That Thumb 5 sounded absolutely gorgeous

Cheers Wal; see you at the next one. Have a good Xmas in the meantime!

[Paul S]

Small private birthday party in a small community hall. Everyone seemed to have a great time, especially us, despite making loads of cock ups. We were called back for a second encore, only planned for one. My second ever gig - I want more!