How was your gig last night?

[spike]

15 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Sorry to hear @spike hope you all recover quickly and it doesn't spoil your Christmas.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us at the McCombe household. 

Dave

 

Thankyou for your kind thoughts. I normally spend Christmas at my relatives so the plan is if I feel well enough I'll test myself on Christmas morning and if it is negative it will be Christmas as usual. If not, It'll be just me at home.

Merry Christmas to you and your family too.

[tony_m]

So, after Saturday's 70th birthday gig, onto last night's wedding gig. Nice pub venue, but an interesting load-in through a rabbit warren of passages (Hello Cleveland) and up two flights of stairs, with the added complication that Mr Drums is currently suffering from a severe case of L5 nerve root compression, so a) can't walk far, and b) can't lift anything. Fortunately he lives about halfway between my place and the venue, so it was easy enough for me to stop off en route and help him load his gear, then we all mucked in the other end to unload and get him set up.

 

The room we were in is normally used as a restaurant, and while there was plenty of width, there wasn't a whole lot of depth, so the "dancefloor" occupied about the same amount of space as we did. As it was, most people at the event only seemed to be interested in pouring booze down their necks and shouting at each other, so the area available was just big enough for the few people who did actually want to do a bit of dancing. Onstage sound was a constant battle between the monitors and the cackling crowd, but out front it apparently sounded good, as did my "Baby Trace" setup of AH200 head + BLX-110 cab. 

 

As nobody seemed to be in charge of proceedings, we just made it up as we went along, kicking off at 8pm and doing an hour, then resuming at 9:45pm and doing another hour. We dropped one longish, very wordy, song towards the end of the second set as Mr Singer was flagging a bit, but apart from that and a handful of off-piste moments, everything mostly went to plan. One moment in particular stands out - as we launched into our traditional second set opener "Call Me The Breeze", the front three all stopped playing when Mr Singer realised he'd forgotten to switch his new-fangled radio mic back on, but me and Mr Drums just kept the groove going until switches were switched and normal service was resumed, amazingly at the right point! All part of the act, obvs... 😉

 

We also managed to get the Happy Couple onto the dancefloor for our rendition of "You Do Something To Me" which went down well, and then the night ended with the pub manager joining us to do harmonies on "Stand By Me" - very good she was too. As the pub owner has invited us back to do one of their Sunday afternoon beer garden gigs next Summer, she may well get to sing with us again.

 

Obviously, the most fun we had all evening was loading-out through a slightly diminished crowd of folks who seemingly had no homes to go to, but everybody was very polite, and also very complimentary. Quick stop on the way home to help Mr Drums unload his gear, and that was that. 

 

Mr Drums has been told by his physio to take at least two weeks off even touching his drums, so we're now on an enforced break from rehearsing and working up a number of new songs, but I guess it couldn't have come at a better time as we don't have any more gigs currently lined up. Onwards and upwards next year then, L5 compressions permitting.

 

Postscript: Just had the following message from Mr Rhythm Guitar:- "Out of the gigs we've done, I've never had so many people come up to me and say what a brilliant band we are, and quite a few said how refreshing it was to hear songs that other bands don't play, and we play and sing them so well." Case in point - the number which got the most people up and grooving, and got the biggest reaction at the end, was Mr Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance". So, we must be doing summat right...  ☺️

[dmccombe7]

8 hours ago, spike said:

 

Thankyou for your kind thoughts. I normally spend Christmas at my relatives so the plan is if I feel well enough I'll test myself on Christmas morning and if it is negative it will be Christmas as usual. If not, It'll be just me at home.

Merry Christmas to you and your family too.

Fingers crossed for you.

[Bluewine]

On 20/12/2022 at 02:34, dmccombe7 said:

I was thinking the very same thing. Would look good in both my Glam and punk bands. One of those basses that looks and sounds the part in almost any style of band.

Its definitely put me in the mood for a Ric bass again. 

I now blame @Cat Burrito for Ric GAS. 

Dave 

 

Agreed,I own and play just about every important traditional iconic bass out there, except a Ric. I would love to have one in my collection.

 

Blue

[dmccombe7]

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Agreed,I own and play just about every important traditional iconic bass out there, except a Ric. I would love to have one in my collection.

 

Blue

Its finding a good one Daryl, i've heard stories of some new ones that had neck issues. Try before you buy is always best tho.

Dave

[asingardenof]

On 18/12/2022 at 16:01, asingardenof said:

In the salubrious surrounds of Birkenshaw Liberal Club. Set 1 wasn't great, but Set 2 was killer. Got to try out my new (to me) Barefaced Two10S and it's looooovely.

It was only after watching video back from the gig that I found out I'd learned one song in a key a semitone too high, and apparently nobody (myself included) had noticed for the last six months! Ah well, fortunately it's an easy song to transpose, but I'm still mortified.

[stewblack]

Bandeoke in Bristol last night. Poor turn out but those there enjoyed it. 

The Bugera Veyron / Elf cabs combination was absolutely stonking.

 

[Muzz]

Did you have PA support? Loud drummer? I'm doing a regular Jam Night hosting gig these days, and I could do with a smidge more than my Rumble 100 on (very small)stage, without taking up any more space...

[stewblack]

18 minutes ago, Muzz said:

Did you have PA support? Loud drummer? I'm doing a regular Jam Night hosting gig these days, and I could do with a smidge more than my Rumble 100 on (very small)stage, without taking up any more space...

Incredibly loud drummer, big room too. And a six string noise merchant. They are astonishingly loud, tight and not lacking in bottom end.

Oh and no PA support.

Edited December 23, 2022 by stewblack

[DaytonaRik]

Van broke down night before!  AA fixed the issue so got the gear and myself to North East Lincs (g/f lives close to the venue) only for the van to die just as we set off for the venue the next afternoon!

 

Luckily we had lots of time in hand so 2 x return trips in the g/f's car!  Managed to get everything except the PA subs to the venue for a private birthday party with plenty of time to setup and sound-check before the guests arrived.

 

Show itself was great to a room of approx. 200 hundred rock music loving bikers, but due to the late finish we had to leave half of the gear at the clubhouse of the local patch club - top guys who were very accommodating and had attended the party as guests - and return to collect it the next day

 

Overall - 4 return trips totalling 240 miles and 4.5 hours but worth it!

 

Van goes into the garage in Jan for a replacement fuel filter and one-way valves in the fuel lines to prevent further fuel vapour lock issues.

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by DaytonaRik

[dmccombe7]

31 minutes ago, DaytonaRik said:

Van broke down night before!  AA fixed the issue so got the gear and myself to North East Lincs (g/f lives close to the venue) only for the van to die just as we set off for the venue the next afternoon!

 

Luckily we had lots of time in hand so 2 x return trips in the g/f's car!  Managed to get everything except the PA subs to the venue for a private birthday party with plenty of time to setup and sound-check before the guests arrived.

 

Show itself was great to a room of approx. 200 hundred rock music loving bikers, but due to the late finish we had to leave half of the gear at the clubhouse of the local patch club - top guys who were very accommodating and had attended the party as guests - and return to collect it the next day

 

Overall - 4 return trips totalling 240 miles and 4.5 hours but worth it!

 

Van goes into the garage in Jan for a replacement fuel filter and one-way valves in the fuel lines to prevent further fuel vapour lock issues.

 

Well done for exceptional effort there sir.

Dave

[Muzz]

A sterling effort - I remember once we had to phone a Father Of The Bride who'd booked us for the wedding from a service station 50 miles away at about 7 in the evening because the van had died a death and the AA had given us a 2-hour window to attend...awful call, he was very nice in the end, but we all sat around in silence until the AA towed the van back to the starting point and we all shuffled off home...probably the worst (non) gig I've ever done...

[dmccombe7]

Had  a van hire from a local garage couple years ago using a VW LWB Crafter van that was very nice indeed.

I was getting 40-50mpg from it until i picked up drummer and large PA and we hit the motorway and a yellow warning light came on and the engine went into limp mode. Driving along the M74 motorway thru Glasgow at night and dropping down to 30mph on a motorway is a scary experience. I started pulling onto hard shoulder with hazzards on every time i hit a hill. Also had to keep the revs up a bit when stopped intraffic or lights in case it stalled and wouldn't start.

Garage didn't even offer a partial refund for the worry and length of time it took me to get to and from the gig.

Dave

[Stub Mandrel]

My hire van story... my brother's band was playing (in Scotland) for my other brother's partner's 60th.

 

First Bro drove van full of gear up to Scotland. Rest of band flew into Edinburgh. Second bro hired a Sprinter minibus, set off with him to collect band and some other folks, on way beck we went to Coop in Dunblane for 'essentials'=huge quantity of alcohol. On return to minibus sliding door appeared warped and wouldn't shut, so I gave it a more enthusiastic shove. This time it shut and the glass cracked - not a sudden shatter but a progressive breaking into ever smaller shards over a couple of seconds. Looked very impressive!

 

We patched it up with parcel tape and the next day the hire company agreed the door was at fault, swapped it for another (lesser but actually nicer to drive) minibus and all was fine.

 

Ever since I treat sliding doors very carefully.

[Bluewine]

15 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Its finding a good one Daryl, i've heard stories of some new ones that had neck issues. Try before you buy is always best tho.

Dave

I've heard negative stories about Rics even the MIJ Ibanez copies which I would have thought were a good alternative.

 

I'm not sure I could recognize a good Ric from a bad one.

 

Daryl

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Bluewine

[Bluewine]

10 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Had  a van hire from a local garage couple years ago using a VW LWB Crafter van that was very nice indeed.

I was getting 40-50mpg from it until i picked up drummer and large PA and we hit the motorway and a yellow warning light came on and the engine went into limp mode. Driving along the M74 motorway thru Glasgow at night and dropping down to 30mph on a motorway is a scary experience. I started pulling onto hard shoulder with hazzards on every time i hit a hill. Also had to keep the revs up a bit when stopped intraffic or lights in case it stalled and wouldn't start.

Garage didn't even offer a partial refund for the worry and length of time it took me to get to and from the gig.

Dave

 

Wow!

 

Dave at our age driving to these gigs is not going to get easier.😒

 

Daryl

[gjones]

17 hours ago, Muzz said:

Did you have PA support? Loud drummer? I'm doing a regular Jam Night hosting gig these days, and I could do with a smidge more than my Rumble 100 on (very small)stage, without taking up any more space...

I have a Rumble 100, which is a great little combo, it struggles with loud drummers though. 

I bought a Markbass CMD 121 P recently, which is about the same size but is significantly louder.

If you want a loud but small combo I recommend it.

[casapete]

2 hours ago, gjones said:

I have a Rumble 100, which is a great little combo, it struggles with loud drummers though. 

I bought a Markbass CMD 121 P recently, which is about the same size but is significantly louder.

If you want a loud but small combo I recommend it.

I have a Rumble 100 too, and absolutely love it. As you say though, loud 

drummers are just a bit too much for it, but I’m guessing the 200 or definitely

the 500 versions would do the job. 

[Old Horse Murphy]

A gig of two halves last night. We were booked to play in deepest darkest Forest of Dean with an 8.30 start. 
 

We duly turned up and set up in record time, sound checked and then hung around ready to start. 8.30 came and went and we decided to push it back by 30 minutes as there was basically five people in the bar. We started at 9pm and I don't think the crowd got above 8 people, including the singer's parents. 
 

After a short break we started the second set around 10.30 and after the first song the place was rammed and the atmosphere was brilliant. For the first time ever (probably the only time) we actually had a punter give us some money out of his own pocket as a thank you for (his words) "a joyful night" 😊
 

I got to gig my 72 Jazz for the first time and it was a joy to play. That's us done for 2022 now but it was a great way to see the year out. 

[krispn]

48 minutes ago, casapete said:

I have a Rumble 100 too, and absolutely love it. As you say though, loud 

drummers are just a bit too much for it, but I’m guessing the 200 or definitely

the 500 versions would do the job. 

I use the 210 500w Rumble combo (about 350w without the ext speaker) and it holds up well but we have pa support too so I’m not pushing it super hard. I tend to run a cam sim/IR to the desk but have a thru out on that pedal (Omni cab sim) to the amp. I like to have the amp with a bit of dirt on stage at one of my main venues. Both the drummer and I appreciate the feel of a bass on stage. My other regular venue the sound tech likes the amp to be quite low as not to ‘overpower’ the foh mix but as it’s iem only the amp is optional.

At our last gig I had a nice bass sound but I was using the DBird and it makes anything sound good! Back out on the 30th for our last gif of the year and I’ll be in the same venue. Might swap out a pedal but the crowd are always up for a dance and a party. We’re very lucky that it’s a city centre venue popular with locals and tourists and Edinburgh is rammed over Hogmanay. Fish in a barrel!

[dmccombe7]

9 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Wow!

 

Dave at our age driving to these gigs is not going to get easier.😒

 

Daryl

I love driving Daryl altho not in cities. I live in countryside but your cities are bigger than our Country 

Have a wonderful Christmas Daryl and a prosperous New Year.

Dave

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Played a particularly busy pub in Hornchurch, Essex which I've just returned from. It was a ticketed affair and was sold out.

Load in wasn't great due to the amount of people we had to get past and I was dreading the load out.

The band leader (it was a dep gig) neglected to let me know that I wasn't the only dep. There was a drummer there that I'd never met before.

Any reservations were dissipated after a few songs. Unbelievably good player. Hooked up with him on social straight away.

We finished playing at 11.20pm and did everything we could to break everything down and escape before it went completely nuts at midnight. We made it out with one minute to spare!

25 min drive home with double the usual fee in my sky rocket. Showered and in bed with a glass of vino by 1am. Happy with that.

 

[Downunderwonder]

My 10c of the current? Rumble 100, 112 I believe... multi band festival in a sizable bar. Jumped on stage for my turn,  expected to see the stage combo plugged into the PA. Not actually. Granted, it's jazz bands, but they're big derrière jazz bands and all those horns aren't holding back. Impressive to say the least.

 

Contrast that with a year or two previous and the much bigger Rumble combo sounded like derrière with every band that was on that night. Imagine your amp with the mids scooped to the max and buried in a pile of duvets and that's what it sounded like. Nobody fixed it so either all those bassists liked to be invisible or it was incapable of anything else. 

[mrtcat]

Wedding in Stoke. Thankfully many of the guests didn't want to stay too late, what with today being Christmas. Two sets, nice venue, average food and decent crowd that started leaving straight after last set so we could pack down and get on the rd by 11.30.

Groom was a bit self obsessed and insisted on getting up to play a song, of his choosing, with us which we were reluctant to learn so we just winged it a bit.  Luckily he didn't suck.......unlike the in house sound system which was shocking.

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by mrtcat

[casapete]

Just in from my monthly acoustic duo gig at a pub in West Hull. Due to 

illness we couldn’t do our November gig, so this was our first one

for a while.

It was absolutely slinging it down when I was going out, and thought the

lousy weather would impact upon the number of punters. Got there at 

7.30pm to find the room full, with booked tables and some people willing

to stand all night too. Am guessing that a lot of folk just wanted to get out

after a couple of days of family stuff over Christmas. 

The evening is based on requests, and we’ve never had so many. Managed

most of them, although despite trying to get my head around ‘Ghost Town’

in the car on my way there, thankfully nobody actually requested it. Plenty

of other good song requests though, including an older lady who loves Toto,

so we attempted ‘Africa’ for her and she didn’t leave so think we got away with

it. Had a couple of enquiries for private gigs during the evening too, so all in

all a good night.

Next one is on Friday at a nice pub just outside Sheffield, so if it goes pretty

much like tonight we’ll be well happy.