How was your gig last night?

[Bluewine]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Tom Petty is popular in the UK, but others are less well known.

 

So I guess my idea for UK Bar/Pub tour for my band wouldn't work out well. Lol

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

16 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

We had a bit of a schlepp over to Nottingham yesterday supporting South Africa's finest, The Soap Girls...

It was the first outing for our new guitarist, who rather than humping around some enormously heavy Marshall amp, uses one of those Blackstar Amped They f Soap Girls pic, none of us available:

 

Sounds like a fun night to me.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

On 07/05/2024 at 03:00, vmaxblues said:

Great gig at one of our local music venues, first outing for my Rics, which performed amazingly well!  Nice Bank Holiday vibe, 

 

The Ric looks they way it should. SWEET!

 

Daryl

[dmccombe7]

12 hours ago, asingardenof said:

Ford Mondeo.

 

I was very pissed off that they were talking about having a local contractor come out until nobody wanted to and I had to wait for the morning patrol to start. I've been with the AA and they weren't any better from memory, so I might investigate Green Flag or another alternative when renewal time comes around.

 

To be fair I've never had a bad experience with an RAC patrol, it's always the arranging of them to come out that's the major headache.

I'm also with RAC but i was under the impression they responded within 1 hr or something like that. Only time i've used them was when i had a company car and it wouldn't start at home and sure enough guy appeared in under an hour but that was 8am on a weekday.

Pretty poor considering you couldn't lock the car or leave it secure. 

Think i'd be putting a complaint in. You might get a discount on your payments of some kind.

Dave

Edited May 13 by dmccombe7

[Simon C]

22 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

So I guess my idea for UK Bar/Pub tour for my band wouldn't work out well. Lol

 

Daryl

You could play any 4 songs you wanted at ourJam Night Daryl.   Ask for one of the later slots and the beer, rum and cokes, and various colours of gin would make sure you were well received 😉.

 

I think the furthest anyone has ever travelled to our Jam night was about 200 miles (Leeds in the North of England to Epsom in the South).  I'm fairly sure we haven't had a band come from North America.  Although my mate from Idaho did once come along as a punter. 😀

Edited May 13 by Simon C

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

So I guess my idea for UK Bar/Pub tour for my band wouldn't work out well. Lol

 

Daryl

 

I don't know about that 😁 blues fans are into Tedechi/Trucks!

[Stub Mandrel]

21 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

I'm also with RAC but i was under the impression they responded within 1 hr or something like that. Only time i've used them was when i had a company car and it wouldn't start at home and sure enough guy appeared in under an hour but that was 8am on a weekday.

Pretty poor considering you couldn't lock the car or leave it secure. 

Think i'd be putting a complaint in. You might get a discount on your payments of some kind.

Dave

 

I got a year's discount after the AA took 11 hours to reach me, despite me telling them multiple times their automated system had obviously gone bottom up.

[dmccombe7]

16 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Hi Dave,

 

Hope you had a good week.

 

No gigs for me until 5/25 at The Harley Motor Restaurant.  Nice contracts. They do direct deposit. Everything is detailed in the contract, hours, breaks, fee,food and drinks comped and close load in parking. One of the few that do it right.

 

I know there are exceptions.  However I'm also in the "give those freebies a rest" camp. Especially when they get

*" chincy" with food and drink.

 

Daryl

 

* Not sure if that's a word. I stole it from George Harrison when commenting on the $1,000.00 SNL offered to pay for a Beatles Reunion. Lol

Hi Daryl,

Great wee gig in a small Bowling Club (grass bowls rather than indoor bowling that you probably have) About 70-80 people so it was an intimate wee gig but good fun. Sold out so that was good too.

Outside of bands i've been getting rood repairs finished which cost a lot more than expected but its one of those kind of jobs when you start you come across other issues. £6k it cost me last month. I'm now skint till pay day. I had to raid the gig piggy bank. 

Got another almost sold out for Sat night coming. Think there was 20 tickets left last week so hopefully they'll sell this week or on the night.

Had a 6hr rehearsal yesterday too to run thru some new songs for Glam band. Been having a go at Sweet's The Six Teens but its a hard one for the drummer when you start getting into it. 

Interesting fact but Mick Tucker from Sweet was very good friends with Ian Paice from Deep Purple and they would share drumming techniques. However Paice was left handed but it meant Tucker being right handed would start drum riffs with his left hand rather the normal because Paice would show him how to play certain bits but what that means is that for most right handed drummers playing some Sweet covers its not normal to play that way and many drummers miss some of the drum part out if that all makes sense.

Apologies there i'm of topic a bit.

Anyways i like that word "chincy"

Dave

Edited May 13 by dmccombe7

[Greg Edwards69]

16 hours ago, Piers_Williamson said:

Do you play any Dr Feelgood numbers?

We don't. Despite some of the band members hailing from Canvey, and playing there quite a bit, Dr Feelgood music would fall on deaf ears at the venues we play. Anyway, there's already a fantastic Dr Feelgood tribute doing the rounds in these parts.

[Rodders]

Gigged Saturday night, in stark contrast to the previous week, this social club didn't appear particularly social..

Large L shaped room, they put us at the bottom of the L with the bar at the top, we had to squeeze into the corner as we couldn't block the door to the toilets or the fire exit at the opposite end. 

First set was ok, few people singing along and we did get the odd bit of applause but for the second set, what there was of the audience had dwindled, so the audience was down to 4-5 plus our wives/partners.

Three quarters of the way through the second set the last person walked out so we packed up, still got paid so can't complain, but very difficult to put any energy or effort in at a gig like that..

 

Highlight of the night was Steve the 2nd guitarist pulled out of the car park and got immeadiatly stopped and breathalyzed by the plod! Thankfully all clear..

[BigRedX]

With In Isolation at the Black Bull in Gateshead on Saturday.

 

This is great gig but the last two times it's been rather poorly attended, with this time probably due to to Eurovision and several other high-profile goth gigs up north. Despite that those that did turn up seemed to enjoy it and some were even dancing all the way through the set. Sold some CDs afterwards and had several people asking when the new songs are likely to be released. 

 

Special mention to the support band Machiner who were absolutely brilliant, and by far the most interesting and enjoyable new band I've seen for some time. Go and check them out on your streaming or download service of choice. There's a good chance that we'll be sharing the bill with them again in the future.

 

The whole gig was video'd so hopefully I'll have some visuals to post later.

[cheddatom]

Ey Up Mi Duck festival near Doncaster on Saturday night. We were last on and they went absolutely nuts for us, singing along so loud I could clearly hear them over the on-stage racket. This was the view while the previous band played at the other end of the tent.

 

 

Sunday night at the Castle and Falcon in Birmingham supporting Theatre Of Hate. There weren't many in, and the response seemed a little lack-lustre, especially when compared to Saturday night, but we won some new fans and sold some merch so that'll do!

 

[Muzz]

Another Satdy night, another bar...this one, however, was a bit upmarket/older clientele (a new venue to us), and when a 60th birthday Do walked in (about 15 ladies, there were balloons and sashes, that kinda vibe), a hasty rearrange of the set towards the Girly Dancy Songs led to a more engaged night than it could have been...

 

Downside, tho, was something that hasn't happened for a bit: Singist/Geetard/BL got there first, and texted 'Lads, it's up two flights of stairs', which was followed by three immediate responses of 'Oh, f**k nooooo...'  Still, as I say, that's the first one this year, so can't really complain, especially as I've tweaked me back (Physio booked Weds) and was able to honestly swerve much of the heavy lifting...thank the gods for Helix and inears...

Edited May 13 by Muzz

[asingardenof]

4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I'm also with RAC but i was under the impression they responded within 1 hr or something like that. Only time i've used them was when i had a company car and it wouldn't start at home and sure enough guy appeared in under an hour but that was 8am on a weekday.

Pretty poor considering you couldn't lock the car or leave it secure. 

Think i'd be putting a complaint in. You might get a discount on your payments of some kind.

Dave

Apparently because of the hot weather they were super busy or something. I might put in a complaint but don't expect anything to come of it as they'll just trot that out and shrug probably.

[Paul S]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Interesting fact but Mick Taylor from Sweet

 

Mick Tucker.

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

 

Mick Tucker.

Sorry what was i thinking Mick Taylor. Don't even know who Mick Taylor is.

The worst thing about it is that our drummer knew The Sweet and lived in the next street from Steve Priest and even had some drum lessons from Mick Tucker. He was a bit younger than them to be fair. He even got a lift home from the pub by Steve Priest in his Rolls.

I should know better.

I'll go back and correct that.

Thanks for pointing out my mistook Paul.

Dave

Edited May 13 by dmccombe7

[casapete]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Sorry what was i thinking Mick Taylor. Don't even know who Mick Taylor is.

He took over from Brian Jones in The Stones.

 

You young ‘uns can’t be expected to know I suppose…..😅

[peteb]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Sorry what was i thinking Mick Taylor. Don't even know who Mick Taylor is.

The worst thing about it is that our drummer knew The Sweet and lived in the next street from Steve Priest and even had some drum lessons from Mick Tucker. He was a bit younger than them to be fair. He even got a lift home from the pub by Steve Priest in his Rolls.

I should know better.

I'll go back and correct that.

Thanks for pointing out my mistook Paul.

Dave

 

Confusing him with the early 70s Rolling Stones guitarist perhaps?? 

 

Edited May 13 by peteb

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

He took over from Brian Jones in The Stones.

 

You young ‘uns can’t be expected to know I suppose…..😅

I wasn't aware of that but i'm not a fan of The Stones even tho i am of a certain age. 

Dave

[Bluewine]

9 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Hi Daryl,

Great wee gig in a small Bowling Club (grass bowls rather than indoor bowling that you probably have) About 70-80 people so it was an intimate wee gig but good fun. Sold out so that was good too.

Outside of bands i've been getting rood repairs finished which cost a lot more than expected but its one of those kind of jobs when you start you come across other issues. £6k it cost me last month. I'm now skint till pay day. I had to raid the gig piggy bank. 

Got another almost sold out for Sat night coming. Think there was 20 tickets left last week so hopefully they'll sell this week or on the night.

Had a 6hr rehearsal yesterday too to run thru some new songs for Glam band. Been having a go at Sweet's The Six Teens but its a hard one for the drummer when you start getting into it. 

Interesting fact but Mick Tucker from Sweet was very good friends with Ian Paice from Deep Purple and they would share drumming techniques. However Paice was left handed but it meant Tucker being right handed would start drum riffs with his left hand rather the normal because Paice would show him how to play certain bits but what that means is that for most right handed drummers playing some Sweet covers its not normal to play that way and many drummers miss some of the drum part out if that all makes sense.

Apologies there i'm of topic a bit.

Anyways i like that word "chincy"

Dave

Dave,

 

I wish I was that busy .

 

I'll take 70-80 engaged folks any day of the week.

 

 My gig piggy bank is dwindling at a rapid pace.

 

Daryl

[dmccombe7]

1 minute ago, Bluewine said:

Dave,

 

I wish I was that busy .

 

I'll take 70-80 engaged folks any day of the week.

 

 My gig piggy bank is dwindling at a rapid pace.

 

Daryl

Are you guys using agents or getting the gigs on your own.

Have to admit the age group of most folks that listened to UK Glam Rock in early 70's means the dancing can be limited to a few songs at a time then a wee break. It was very warm with ambient temperature at 22 oC with no air-con and that's quite warm for this area especially in May. Meant the hall was fairly warm. I had a large 18" gym fan that i use to keep myself cooled down.

Not sure how you boost your audience with blues based band in US. 

Are you advertising on your band FB page plus the usual Instagram or other social media. We also put posts on any local FB gig guide pages. We supply posters for any clubs that take them and most of the clubs will put them up. Some clubs take our FB pic and make their own with whatever they want to add.

The one thing i do find a wee bit annoying is the bingo or raffle at the break. Bet you don't get that in US Daryl 

Is it an option to take on work with another working band, maybe some dep work or are you guys out every weekend ?

Dave

 

[Bluewine]

On 13/05/2024 at 13:55, dmccombe7 said:

Are you guys using agents or getting the gigs on your own.

Have to admit the age group of most folks that listened to UK Glam Rock in early 70's means the dancing can be limited to a few songs at a time then a wee break. It was very warm with ambient temperature at 22 oC with no air-con and that's quite warm for this area especially in May. Meant the hall was fairly warm. I had a large 18" gym fan that i use to keep myself cooled down.

Not sure how you boost your audience with blues based band in US. 

Are you advertising on your band FB page plus the usual Instagram or other social media. We also put posts on any local FB gig guide pages. We supply posters for any clubs that take them and most of the clubs will put them up. Some clubs take our FB pic and make their own with whatever they want to add.

The one thing i do find a wee bit annoying is the bingo or raffle at the break. Bet you don't get that in US Daryl 

Is it an option to take on work with another working band, maybe some dep work or are you guys out every weekend ?

Dave

 

 

Nobody calls me for anything. I wish I could dep. Lol

 

As for agents, we do pretty good on our own. However, we're like most people, life circumstances can get in the way. And the agents here only handle the top tier cover bands.

 

Daryl

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Nobody calls me for anything. I wish I could dep. Lol

 

As for agents, we do pretty good on our own. However, we're like most people, life circumstances can get in the way. And the agents here only handle the top tier cover bands.

 

Daryl

I've been asked a few times over the years but its not something i do. Because of how my wee brain has been trained in an engineering background I simply don't retain songs. I spent 40 yrs sorting faults and just moving on from one fault to the next, no time for sitting back and examining the faults in details. Gas plants and profits were dependant on me sorting faults ASAP and i've found since starting in bands again in 2012 my brain now does that automatically. When a song is dropped i completely shut it down and forget it. If someone asked me to play a song we've dropped in past 6mths i couldn't play it without going back over it and re-learning it again.

I think if you are good at depping you need to have a huge repertoire of songs that you can call on. I know some guys on here can dep at the drop of a hat and play in a variety of styles and i am always taken aback and amazed at them with a huge respect and envy.

Perhaps you should advertise yourself for depping work in your local area. I see that done on FB and other social media.

Dave

[msb]

I played (and still play) a weekly blues jam , so if somebody was doing blues material and needed somebody at the last minute , I’d often get a call simply because I knew so many players.
 

And over the years had been in a lot of varied lineups. These days I try and get a song list in advance and give everything a listen. Sometimes I just have to listen hard and trust the instincts. My odds are pretty good at nailing the groove , but there are times the inevitable is inevitable. 

[Stub Mandrel]

15 minutes ago, msb said:

I played (and still play) a weekly blues jam , so if somebody was doing blues material and needed somebody at the last minute , I’d often get a call simply because I knew so many players.
 

And over the years had been in a lot of varied lineups. These days I try and get a song list in advance and give everything a listen. Sometimes I just have to listen hard and trust the instincts. My odds are pretty good at nailing the groove , but there are times the inevitable is inevitable. 

 

Jam nights are a brilliant way to develop your skills. Yes there's the odd hiccup, but it's more than made up for by times when you know you've really been able to lift a performance.