How was your gig last night?

[Muzz]

Completely agree with that, especially if, like I did last year, you get a hosting band seat. Then you're really in at the deep end, but it's very liberating (once you've got over the 'I've never played/heard this before, how can I play it now?' thing)...

[Bluewine]

On 13/05/2024 at 06:17, Rodders said:

 

 

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..

 

 

Interesting,  over here it's not a pass / fail proposition.  If they pull out the breathalyzer and put you through the little physical exercise even if you can do it your still riding back to the station with them.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

On 13/05/2024 at 06:31, BigRedX said:

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.

 

I'm starting to see more and more reports of poor attendance . What does this say about the future of live music?

 

Daryl

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

I'm starting to see more and more reports of poor attendance . What does this say about the future of live music?

 

Daryl

 

A while back, it was the roller-rinks. Dance marathons were very popular, and well-attended. Circuses roamed the land, setting up, then moving on. Street drama troops busked between towns and cities. These things and more had their day, and Life moved on. There's always been live music, for troubadours and sponsored orchestras. There's no reason why rock'n'roll should get a free pass. The wheel turns. 

Edited May 15 by Dad3353

[peteb]

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

 

A while back, it was the roller-rinks. Dance marathons were very popular, and well-attended. Circuses roamed the land, setting up, then moving on. Street drama troops busked between towns and cities. These things and more had their day, and Life moved on. There's always been live music, for troubadours and sponsored orchestras. There's no reason why rock'n'roll should get a free pass. The wheel turns. 

 

I think that we are talking more about economics than changing tastes in entertainment. 

 

While rock'n'roll band is obviously not as dominant in popular culture as it was in it's heyday (early 60s to whenever, probably late 90s), live performances were still drawing large crowds up to the economic crash of 2008. Since then there has certainly been a drop-off in crowds, but certain events will still attract a healthy audience. In my experience, gigs in the more affluent areas are still pulling crowds as big as ever, where shows in poorer areas are much more hit and miss. 

 

[Woodinblack]

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

Interesting,  over here it's not a pass / fail proposition.  If they pull out the breathalyzer and put you through the little physical exercise even if you can do it your still riding back to the station with them.

 

We don't do the little dance thing - you get the breathalyzer and if you fail that, you are going to get a free visit to the police station!

[casapete]

I did another dep last night at a local rock’n’roll club. Just a 3 piece band, quite a large room

and an audience who all want to dance. Played a lot of standards, but also some not so 

obvious stuff which still went down well. These included a Big Joe Turner medley of 

‘Flip flop and fly’ / ‘Lipstick, powder and paint’ and a couple of Elvis tunes - ‘Fool such

as I’ and ‘Mess of blues’ which certainly got my walking bass lines moving. I sang 

Springsteen’s ‘From small things Mama…’ and we finished the night with one of my

favourite ever tunes ‘I’m losing you’ by Brenda Lee ( and more recently Paul Carrack.)
 

Used my Dano Longhorn into a Fender Rumble 500 combo, simple but very effective!

The regular bassist is unfortunately having some health issues, so I’m expecting some

more deps here. It’s a really enjoyable gig and a nice change for me, as well as being

just 10 mins away - was home by 11.40pm. 
 

 

[BigRedX]

13 hours ago, Bluewine said:

I'm starting to see more and more reports of poor attendance . What does this say about the future of live music?

 

Daryl

 

I think in this case events have just conspired against us when playing at this venue. On the previous occasion the weather was atrocious. At least one of the band who had been booked to play the night before our gig had been unable to get there due to being snowed in. This time around our gig coincided with THE main goth/post-punk event the month - Carpe Noctum in Leeds at the Lending Room, and while there is a healthy audience for our music in the North of England, and I know that as a punter if I had to choose between 3 or 4 reasonably well-known bands at an excellent venue in Leeds complete with a great club night after the live music, or 2 bands (only one I'd heard of) in the back room of a pub in Gateshead, I know which gig I'd be favouring. If I was a promoter I wouldn't be putting on a goth gig the same night as Carpe Noctum unless it was for some really well-known band at a venue in London.

[Lozz196]

Sadly some pubs don`t do their research, in my old punk band we played in Gateshead on the same night that Stiff Little Fingers were playing in Newcastle, as such barely anyone there. The landlord was moaning about "once-a-year-punks" going to see the big bands but there were plenty of other dates we could have played there and probably drawn a decent crowd.

[dmccombe7]

Just now, Lozz196 said:

Sadly some pubs don`t do their research, in my old punk band we played in Gateshead on the same night that Stiff Little Fingers were playing in Newcastle, as such barely anyone there. The landlord was moaning about "once-a-year-punks" going to see the big bands but there were plenty of other dates we could have played there and probably drawn a decent crowd.

Had exact same with punk band in fact it was SLF that was playing locally too. Fortunately they were doing a late Sun afternoon slot finishing at 6pm and we were due to start at 6 so we agreed with landlord to move the start back an hr and we might pull in the SLF crowd and yep we did. Bar was full that night and we did a few SLF covers. Everyone wins.

Dave 

[cheddatom]

Tuesday night we played the Crauford Arms in Milton Keynes supporting Theatre Of Hate again. We packed the van so exceptionally well I had to take a photo.

 

 

We usually have another couple of big plastic boxes full of merch, so maybe that's why it went in easier. It felt like it took forever to get there, but the venue is very cool. There were plenty of people in for us, and we went down really well. I'm not sure I like the music of Theatre Of Hate but they're good players. Either way I had to wait until the end of their set before we could pack the merch up and get on the road. I got to bed at 3AM and had my alarm set for 6:30AM to get up for an important meeting on Wednesday morning. I'm still tired now!

 

 

[Lozz196]

Very professional packing. 

[Muzz]

Jenga Master Level on the packing...years ago, my friend and I had a Satdy morning job helping load his Dad's HGVs with furniture. We'd spend half an hour lining up the sofas and tables and armchairs and stuff into the back of the lorry, only to find ourselves with about a third of the load left still out. The driver would come out from the office, shake his head, point out three or four things that should be rotated or lined up differently, and hey presto, the lot would be in. It was baffling how they could just see it...

[dmccombe7]

37 minutes ago, Muzz said:

Jenga Master Level on the packing...years ago, my friend and I had a Satdy morning job helping load his Dad's HGVs with furniture. We'd spend half an hour lining up the sofas and tables and armchairs and stuff into the back of the lorry, only to find ourselves with about a third of the load left still out. The driver would come out from the office, shake his head, point out three or four things that should be rotated or lined up differently, and hey presto, the lot would be in. It was baffling how they could just see it...

Some people can just visualise in 3D. I find it fairly easy packing a van yet others in bands just don't get it.

Maybe its all the puzzles i did as a kid. 

Had one band member who would not stack any gear in a van. We had to hire LWB vans so that nothing was sitting on anything else. Talking the heavier stuff like cabs, PA, flight cases etc. Things like gig bags etc he was ok with whereas i'd have hired a smaller van and just double stacked and secured to the side.

If you pack a van correctly things shouldn't move about but its definitely an art in its own.

Dave

Edited May 16 by dmccombe7

[Stub Mandrel]

I chose my car partly on having a decent load space, biggest in small estate class. But my 2x15 pa speakers weree so bulky they made it very hard to fit things around them. On monday I picked up a pair of 1x15 Peaveys from ebay that are more efficient and short enough to stand up so they will occupy much less than half the space and be able to fit in much more flexibly. No more jamming bass cab in front seat.

[asingardenof]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

Jenga Master Level on the packing...years ago, my friend and I had a Satdy morning job helping load his Dad's HGVs with furniture. We'd spend half an hour lining up the sofas and tables and armchairs and stuff into the back of the lorry, only to find ourselves with about a third of the load left still out. The driver would come out from the office, shake his head, point out three or four things that should be rotated or lined up differently, and hey presto, the lot would be in. It was baffling how they could just see it...

Tetris Master Level!

[Lozz196]

54 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Some people can just visualise in 3D. I find it fairly easy packing a van yet others in bands just don't get it.

Maybe its all the puzzles i did as a kid. 

Had one band member who would not stack any gear in a van. We had to hire LWB vans so that nothing was sitting on anything else. Talking the heavier stuff like cabs, PA, flight cases etc. Things like gig bags etc he was ok with whereas i'd have hired a smaller van and just double stacked and secured to the side.

If you pack a van correctly things shouldn't move about but its definitely an art in its own.

Dave

When we used to go on tour I was amazed that the guy who did the driving was as much use as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking competition when it came to packing the van. I suppose it`s like anything, some have skill-sets in certain areas and some don`t, but you`d think that when it`s your day job even if at the start you struggled you`d learn a bit along the way.

[dmccombe7]

7 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

When we used to go on tour I was amazed that the guy who did the driving was as much use as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking competition when it came to packing the van. I suppose it`s like anything, some have skill-sets in certain areas and some don`t, but you`d think that when it`s your day job even if at the start you struggled you`d learn a bit along the way.

I was and still am the van driver. 

Not sure why i've always seemed to be left to do any van hire. Possibly because i've been retired in recent years and had more time available.

In late 80's/early 90's we had our own Ford Cargo truck that i usually drove. To be fair i really enjoyed driving the truck.

Current bands use our cars for most gigs these days. I carry the bass rig and larger PA cabs and drummer carries the smaller PA and his drums and lights etc. Our Glam band stay so far apart across Scotland that its not practical getting one vehicle for a gig. When we need the subs for larger gigs we hire a van tho and it comes off the fee that night altho its usually just myself and drummer that use it as we live approx 25min apart and for most gigs he goes past my area but guitarist lives approx 100miles from me. Singer is approx 40miles away. 

Dave

 

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I chose my car partly on having a decent load space, biggest in small estate class. But my 2x15 pa speakers weree so bulky they made it very hard to fit things around them. On monday I picked up a pair of 1x15 Peaveys from ebay that are more efficient and short enough to stand up so they will occupy much less than half the space and be able to fit in much more flexibly. No more jamming bass cab in front seat.

I went for a Volvo V90 estate but it was pure luck that i could actually fit the QSC 3-way 15's PA cabs as well as my 2off Mesa cabs etc. I didn't buy it with that intention but its saved us a lot of money on van hires.

Dave

[msb]

13 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

We don't do the little dance thing - you get the breathalyzer and if you fail that, you are going to get a free visit to the police station!

 

Here they’ve just announced that if you are stopped at night , you will be breathalyzed. The level here is .05 so two beers will put you over. I was tested over Christmas , driving home after a gig. It only took a few minutes to be tested and released. 

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, msb said:

 

Here they’ve just announced that if you are stopped at night , you will be breathalyzed. The level here is .05 so two beers will put you over. I was tested over Christmas , driving home after a gig. It only took a few minutes to be tested and released. 

 

I have never been breathalised, always wanted to be, as I don't drink. But happy to lock up people over .05

 

[Lozz196]

8 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I have never been breathalised, always wanted to be, as I don't drink. But happy to lock up people over .05

 

I got stopped back in say 2012, got the usual where have you been, have you been drinking, when did you last have an alcoholic drink etc,

 

I replied “not being a smartass, Sep 14 2007”.

 

Thank you sir, on your way, have a pleasant evening.

[Mickeyboro]

Been breathalysed 4 times. Never positive. 3 times after gigs… night shift must be boring. 👮 

[Woodinblack]

5 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I replied “not being a smartass, Sep 14 2007”.

 

Yeh, mine was Dec 31st 2005, although it was just a sip to appear sociable

[neepheid]

I've never been breathalysed in my life!  Not that I'd have an issue with it - it's one or the other, drinking or driving.  I mostly just guzzle pints of water when playing a gig!

 

Last drink?  Saturday night - had a few drams with a mate.  Walked home.

Edited May 16 by neepheid