How was your gig last night?

[dmccombe7]

44 minutes ago, Angelus said:

First gig for us last night at the Howlin’ Wolf in Glasgow ( there a separate thread about playing in the ULEZ zone 🙄 ) and it went down a storm with the crowd. Before we started we got requests for AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, so carried on with our planned set list. Afterwards the bar manager said, despite the crowd and reactions, they might not book us again, as we weren’t “Bluesy enough”. After such a good set and fantastic audience, it was a wee bit of a sour taste, but it’s their pub and they’re trying to carve out a niche in the city centre, so we’ll wait and see what’s said on Monday. But it’s typical of my luck right now, spending £15k on a crew cab lwb van for one gig. 🤣

Surprised they wanted a more bluesy sounding band. Its not so common as it used to be but maybe that's why they want it. I know a few yrs back a few friends that were into Blues said they couldn't even get any gigs these days. That was the borders area to be fair.

Shame about the gig especially when you've played well.

Wouldn't class AC/DC or Zep as particularly bluesy either 

As for the Crew cab how much to hire you 

Dave

 

[stewblack]

Private party in a marquee last night. The whole thing overran so the guests were fairly far gone by the time we went on, but we won them round. 

I used the Trace Elliot on my Zoom B6 as a preamp DI and it sounded to my ears very nice indeed.

Paid and home just after midnight. Win.

Edited July 9, 2023 by stewblack

[Angelus]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

 

Shame about the gig especially when you've played well.

Wouldn't class AC/DC or Zep as particularly bluesy either 

As for the Crew cab how much to hire you 

Dave

 

If we only ever play there once, then so be it, as it was actually the best gig we’ve done in a long time. We all thought we were playing to the crowd, as the reactions were so good to the set we were playing. 
 

I’m sure I’ll be cheaper than a hire van, especially for you Dave. 👍 I’m playing the H&J this Friday, but Wee Ted has booked me for Saturday, for his gig in Shotts. 🤣
 

edited to add the picture of my setup from last night. Using the flea bass, for a change and the Fender Rumble amp. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Angelus

[Kiwi]

4 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

Eh, don't over analyse it - I used to have a G&L Tribute L-2000 which I modified to give 27 different switch combinations (pickup select, series/single/parallel, passive/active/active with treble boost) plus 2 band passive EQ.  Found one combo of settings I liked (both pickups, single (inner coils), passive) and left all the knobs at 10 for practically the whole time I owned it!

This is usually what happens with any guitar or bass related technological innovation that claims to offer an overwhelming number of options. It's why sliding pickups never really became a thing.  Or those passive mid filter circuits that were on Gibson basses in the seventies. 

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Angelus said:

If we only ever play there once, then so be it, as it was actually the best gig we’ve done in a long time. We all thought we were playing to the crowd, as the reactions were so good to the set we were playing. 
 

I’m sure I’ll be cheaper than a hire van, especially for you Dave. 👍 I’m playing the H&J this Friday, but Wee Ted has booked me for Saturday, for his gig in Shotts. 🤣
 

edited to add the picture of my setup from last night. Using the flea bass, for a change and the Fender Rumble amp. 

Is that an old J bass there Lee. 

I was only jesting about the van hire LOL

I'll see about dropping in Fri night but a Fri is a busy day for me. Will try and make the effort tho.

Dave

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by dmccombe7

[Adey]

We played at Dublin Castle on Thursday night.

Seems to have got fair reviews....

😁

 

😁😁😁😁🤘

Edited July 9, 2023 by Adey

[Angelus]

31 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Is that an old J bass there Lee. 

I was only jesting about the van hire LOL

I'll see about dropping in Fri night but a Fri is a busy day for me. Will try and make the effort tho.

Dave

 

Newest, but oldest bass I own. 🤣

if I’m available, I’d be happy to help. 👍
Would be good to see you on Friday, but I can already see my playing ability falling apart when a pro, like yourself, walks into a gig. 🤣

[Graham]

Two this weekend, both pubs not too far away

 

Friday was The King's Head in Seaford, I quite like it there nice folk if a bit quiet as it was so hot and most were in the garden

 

Saturday was The Garden Bar in Eastbourne; I'd had a very challenging day with our autistic/ADHD children to the point of unsuccessfully trying to find a dep, but by some stroke of luck managed to get the youngest settled for bed before going out with just enough time unload, set-up and start playing. 

 

I was running almost entirely on adrenaline so gave a very energetic, cathartic performance - really needed it and it went down very well.

[dmccombe7]

58 minutes ago, Angelus said:

Newest, but oldest bass I own. 🤣

if I’m available, I’d be happy to help. 👍
Would be good to see you on Friday, but I can already see my playing ability falling apart when a pro, like yourself, walks into a gig. 🤣

Stop it, its just a hobby for me and i'm no better than most.

Good news is i've since discussed with my boss and we're moving our Fri appointments to Thu so we can get down to Lanark.

Dave

 

[markbunney]

The 77s played the Friday night of a local private festival called The Big Stiff, near Sevenoaks.

 

They had hired in a full lorry to play on, and a full pro PA and lighting rig, along with sound engineer. It was great to play on such pro equipment compared to our usual Facebook marketplace PA & lights.

 

It went pretty well, and we were able to get some good pictures and videos for social media.

 

All I had to take was my bass and pedal, and one of the best things about the night was it only taking 5 minutes to pack up!

 

we played for over 3 hours, which became a bit of a drag to be honest, as it had been a long hot night. I am trying to convince the rest of the guys to play for a bit shorter duration - less is more etc

[Greg Edwards69]

A corporate family fun day event, for Cat Surveys in Brentwood - a.k.a “CatFest”. Really nice setup when we arrived, with a small fun fair for children (inc dodgems and lots of inflatable bouncy things), pizzeria, candy floss station, hotdog wagon, waffle vendor and bar… all free!

 

We were given a 90min slot from 6pm, after a children’s entertainer and before the DJ, in a lovely, large teepee with plenty of space to set up an and a generous dance floor. Not a lot of time to set up everything - just about 1 hour, but we did it with minimum fuss and with discipline. We finally got our IEM issues resolved with a single, balanced mix for everyone (some of us wired and some on wireless all from a splitter box). Me and the two guitarists each brought our usual frfr speakers as backline which were left switched off - I finally feel like we’ve reached the point we don’t need them anymore. The IEM sounded great, and the recent addiction of a sub woofer has filled out the FOH sound. 

 

As such, all our vocals were on point - a couple of songs with big harmonies/backing vocals such as “Blinding Lights”, “Long Train Running” and “I Gotta Feeling” sounded massively incredible in my ears. Apparently the sound out front was just as good. We played well, and kept the set moving with minimal gaps between songs. It took 20mins or so for people to have the courage to come in and have a dance, but after 40mins, the dance floor was full and stayed full (which surprised me as it was twice as hot inside the teepee than outside - sweating buckets!). Only a couple of fluffs from me, one brain fart and one where I jumped a song in the set, but I saved them both and nobody noticed apart from the band).

 

Happy people and happy customer who said they loved it and definitely want us for next year’s shindig.

 

Oh, and the heavens opened just as we finished packing the cars - so we stood in it and basked in the cool rain.

 

Obligatory photo of the setup:

Edited July 9, 2023 by Greg Edwards69

[jazzyvee]

We were Passing the Dutchie and headlining at CamperJam last night in Weston Park. Great audience considering there were a few heavy downpours, there were still shed loads of people who still stayed out to catch our set.
 

Edited July 9, 2023 by jazzyvee

[Downunderwonder]

9 hours ago, Angelus said:

If we only ever play there once, then so be it, 

I wouldn't be that dismissive. Once they have had their fill of quiet blues gigs you can go back and rock the joint again no worries.

[12stringbassist]

12 hours ago, Angelus said:

 After such a good set and fantastic audience, it was a wee bit of a sour taste, but it’s their pub and they’re trying to carve out a niche in the city centre, so we’ll wait and see what’s said on Monday. But it’s typical of my luck right now, spending £15k on a crew cab lwb van for one gig. 🤣

They will find what actually works there may not be what was their original plan.

[cheddatom]

The first time in Hull for us (Headsticks) at the New Adelphi Club. I've heard of this place and I gather a lot of big names have played there. Apparently the sound engineer has done every single gig there since it opened. He really knows the venue and it sounded fantastic. Not a massive crowd but it's a small place so felt good. Everyone wanted to chat before and after, which is always nice although I do get a bit bashful if I haven't had a pint. Another sweaty one! I changed after the set, put my stage shirt in the van, and chucked it over the line when I got home at 3AM. It was still soaked at 10AM! I might have to bin that one. I've nicked a photo from a fan on facebook. 

 

[Obrienp]

Bit of an omnibus coming up, all related to the Dereham Blues Festival. 
 

Thursday night I was in the house band for a jam held in a pub on the outskirts. Not as big a turn out as expected because there were bands playing elsewhere in town. However, it gave me a chance to hear what my rig sounded like in others’ hands. I quickly realised that the combination of an Orange Terror 500 and Barefaced Two10 (retro) was too old school. I love both bits of kit but I’m not going to pair them again. The Terror cuts through much better when paired with my two Orange 112s and ditto the Two10 with a more modern sounding head.

 

On the Saturday of the festival I played 3 one hour gigs with the Checkmate Kings. This was pretty challenging : 3 set-ups and breakdowns in different pubs. We had to bring everything, as there are no in-house PAs. To add to the challenge, we had one hour between the last two gigs and the weather made it like being in a sauna. I got through 4 shirts in the day. The gigs went pretty well, especially the last one in the Kings Head that has a band stand in a huge beer garden. They set up a real ale tent and food stalls, which guarantees masses of punters on a sunny evening. The down side is that only the front 50 or so folks near the stage are actually there to enjoy the bands. The rest are getting hammered with their mates and would rather listen to grime, or Beyoncé (depending on gender). Lesson learnt from Thursday evening: I paired the Two10 with my Warwick Gnome Pro (280 watts), which worked really well and was really loud at quarter volume. Mishaps: my previously trusty Boss WL20 wireless system packed up during the first number at the second gig: I missed a whole verse while plugging in a lead. I had hoped to get more than 5 years out of the Boss, given the price.

 

I thought that was it for the festival, apart from a leisurely afternoon jam in the beer garden on the Sunday but our guitarist was on the phone first thing to say that we had been offered a two hour slot due to a cancellation. A quick ring round revealed that our drummer had taken his partner to hospital for a procedure and was too tired to do another set anyway. In desperation the organisers found us a step in drummer and a couple of hours later I was doing yet another set up in a different beer garden. This time I had to provide the whole PA set-up (apart from the desk) as the drummer normally provides a tower. Somehow we got through it OK and got some really great feedback from the punters. All tribute to Henry Lascelles on drums. We had never met him before and he managed to hold it down for two hours. Especially amazing as I felt my timing started to slip in the second half of the set and he was keeping it all together. Turns out he is a drum tutor: highly recommended IMO.

 

I don’t think I could have got through all this with a standard scale bass and old school kit. I used a Maruszczyk Elwood 32” and although not the lightest bass around, the neck is just brilliant for my arthritic left hand. The Two10 and Warwick Gnome are just so light for the tone and volume they put out. It makes set-up and breakdown so much less demanding. I haven’t got away with it entirely: my left shoulder and back are giving me a lot of jip today but I guess after 7 hours of playing and all that gear moving it is only to be expected. Now for a rest!

Edited July 10, 2023 by Obrienp

[Lozz196]

35 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

The first time in Hull for us (Headsticks) at the New Adelphi Club. I've heard of this place and I gather a lot of big names have played there. Apparently the sound engineer has done every single gig there since it opened. He really knows the venue and it sounded fantastic. Not a massive crowd but it's a small place so felt good. Everyone wanted to chat before and after, which is always nice although I do get a bit bashful if I haven't had a pint. Another sweaty one! I changed after the set, put my stage shirt in the van, and chucked it over the line when I got home at 3AM. It was still soaked at 10AM! I might have to bin that one. I've nicked a photo from a fan on facebook. 

 

Great venue, was where I did my first “proper” gig (as oppose to rubbish no-plan performances), was 13 June 1987.

[BigRedX]

Hurtsfall were in Derby at the Victoria Inn on Friday supporting Chaos Bleak and local band Courtesan.

 

Somewhat frustrating as the PA were very slow to set up and they appeared to have run out of working channels on the mixer or multicore by the time we were ready for our sound check requiring them to use channels from the other bands, so playing first was a definite advantage as there was less likelihood the sound changing between the sound check and the actual gig. Also it meant that were almost 30 minutes late starting.

 

In the end it all worked in our favour because by then there were lots or people there - as soon as we started playing they flooded in from the "beer garden" and were very enthusiastic, especially when we played our forthcoming single "Tilting" and even the new song which we were only playing for the second time was well received. Only issue was one of the synths was very quiet on the last two songs, but we carried on regardless and I doubt if anyone other than us even noticed.

 

We'd gone in expecting the gig to be fairly quiet and were intending to treat it as a practice for next weekend's Goth City performance, but were pleasantly surprised and even sold a couple of T-shirts and Lucid CDs.

[gjones]

23 hours ago, Angelus said:

First gig for us last night at the Howlin’ Wolf in Glasgow ( there a separate thread about playing in the ULEZ zone 🙄 ) and it went down a storm with the crowd. Before we started we got requests for AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, so carried on with our planned set list. Afterwards the bar manager said, despite the crowd and reactions, they might not book us again, as we weren’t “Bluesy enough”. After such a good set and fantastic audience, it was a wee bit of a sour taste, but it’s their pub and they’re trying to carve out a niche in the city centre, so we’ll wait and see what’s said on Monday. But it’s typical of my luck right now, spending £15k on a crew cab lwb van for one gig. 🤣

Playing there in September with The Dana Dixon band which will be the first time for a while. I'm going to have to pay the ULEZ charge unfortunately but it will be spread amongst the band.

[SuperSeagull]

Another hot, sweaty pub in Crawley on Friday night. Lots of punters in the beer garden but we did the full two and half hour set with a dep drummer who did well although hard work for me helping cue him all night. Guitars were struggling to stay in tune but my Status was rock solid, in fact forgot to check the tuning until I had to retune for a drop D in the first set - gotta love some carbon graphite! Bit of a break now over the summer while we search for a permanent drummer.

[Stub Mandrel]

Busy weekend. Friday night went to see Dansette, a motown type band complete with horns, arranged by my partner, so delighted that the place was rammed with some new faces. Their drummer agreed to dep for us in August.

 

On Saturday played a 'beer garden' gig at The Bell Inn for Caerleon Festival. Not a huge attendance, but a pretty good crowd considering we were on after a thunderstorm followed by a Morris Dancing troupe. Acid test - for our last two songs it rained and everyone stayed - so we played Purple Rain as an encore.

 

That evening our guitarist played another open air gig with his other, younger, band, and I was on the door at a sold out gig headlined by my brother's band, met two guys I hadn't seen since I was a teenager. Their drummer played with the support, a Faith No More tribute as well, he must have sweated off a stone by the end of the night as the portable coolers struggled to keep the place habitable!

 

Yesterday evening at Cubanas, a club in Barry. We got confused about start time so went on about 15 minutes late, but only took a 5-minute comfort break and went about fifteen minutes over with encores so everyone happy. The weather and the fact that many of the regulars went to my bro's band's gig the night before (traitors!) meant we had a good crowd, but not packed like the previous time. A local singer got up and joined us for two Free songs at the start of our second set, which went down very well. Here's a Facebook video, I think it's set to public... We played Gary Clarke's 'Bright Lights' and it being all on Am somehow I ended up improvising a very rambling, jazzy walking line under Alex's solo which I was enjoying then he got a glint in his eye and stopped playing, so I found myself just blattering the fetboard as many positions and rhythms as I could think of, which to be honest was an absolute blast, and apparently it was OK out front, which is a relief!

 

We got lots of positive comments after both gigs, but I'm knackered, so I won't be going to an open mike tonight!

 

Punter pics:

 

Up the dusty end!

 

 

[Angelus]

2 hours ago, gjones said:

Playing there in September with The Dana Dixon band which will be the first time for a while. I'm going to have to pay the ULEZ charge unfortunately but it will be spread amongst the band.

First offence is £60 and if you’re not out of the city by midnight, then it’s another £120 on the way out. 🙄 That was over half the gig money for us. 😳 

[neepheid]

29 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Up the dusty end!

 

 

 

Fake news/photoshopped/deepfake hands

[Leonard Smalls]

8 minutes ago, neepheid said:

deepfake hands

Here's a photoshop one of me pretending to know what goes on in the nether regions...

 

[dmccombe7]

10 minutes ago, Angelus said:

First offence is £60 and if you’re not out of the city by midnight, then it’s another £120 on the way out. 🙄 That was over half the gig money for us. 😳 

If you can get the use of a business van then you might be exempt. I've heard others talk about this. 

Dave