How was your gig last night?

[Bluewine]

9 hours ago, alant said:

We played McCathy's Sports Bar in Bletchley on Saturday. I believe live music is a relatively new thing there and the guy who runs it is trying to build things up. Very quiet to start with but got busier for our 2nd set.

 

 

 

I wish the owner luck. It's not easy establishing yourself with live music.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

On 10/06/2024 at 04:20, dmccombe7 said:

Ooohh i do like a kebab after a gig but usually too late to get one. 

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave,

 

We've briefly touched on complimentary meals for the band here.

 

Thursday night were doing an acoustic gig at a rather high end restaurant.  We've done shows there before and unlike other clients I don't ever remember them offering up any grub. Seems sort of " chincy".

 

Daryl

[BigRedX]

Moody shot from Monday's Hurtsfall gig:

 

[Lozz196]

That`s a great shot

[dmccombe7]

6 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Hi Dave,

 

We've briefly touched on complimentary meals for the band here.

 

Thursday night were doing an acoustic gig at a rather high end restaurant.  We've done shows there before and unlike other clients I don't ever remember them offering up any grub. Seems sort of " chincy".

 

Daryl

Not had complimentary meals but we have had sandwiches and juice supplied in dressing room areas. TBH its not a big deal for me as i normally take a Tesco meal deal with me. I don't like anything too heavy before playing so a cheese and onion sandwich and a fruit juice is my preferred food before playing. 

Dave

Edited June 12 by dmccombe7

[dmccombe7]

6 hours ago, Bluewine said:

* Summer Concert Series. That's fancy talk. It use to be known as We Have Bands. Lol

 

 

 

Great PR there. You gotta applaud that. 

Dave

[Muzz]

Ohhhh, I'm nicking that for our pub band gigs...we can progress to the Autumn Concert Series, Winter Concert Series...   We can stick another £50 on the fee if we go for that... 😁

[Bluewine]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Not had complimentary meals but we have had sandwiches and juice supplied in dressing room areas. TBH its not a big deal for me as i normally take a Tesco meal deal with me. I don't like anything too heavy before playing so a cheese and onion sandwich and a fruit juice is my preferred food before playing. 

Dave

 

I never eat before or at a gig. However I like taking home a comped entree at the end of the night. 

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

On 10/06/2024 at 04:52, oldslapper said:

1:40 Sunday afternoon slot at Home Farm Fest was a bit weird. 
Most of the other acts were nice n chilled for a post lunch snooze. But we went down well, some peeps got up and danced even though they wouldn’t know our songs. 
The PsychoDahlias 3rd gig so far but were well rehearsed and getting gig fit. A few more festivals and headliners over the summer and autumn. I’m beginning to enjoy gigging again. 

 Very cool pic.

 

Daryl

[Muzz]

Donkeys years ago, we played a big health club Xmas Do in the city centre. This being a very chic health club (our BL was a very wealthy dilettante; he used to come to rehearsals in a Ferrari), the posh buffet was mostly unmolested, and after the punters had picked and faffed I went up to the ice stand where two lobsters were displayed above the prawns. 'Are those things just for show?' 'No, they're real' 'Right, I'll have them, then'...

 

That was the same gig where the bloke who'd booked us came up to me as I was getting changed after the gig (black tie and suit had been the request) and gave me a wad of cash. I went up to the bar where the others were 'Lads, I've got the money' They looked at me... 'Yeah, so have we'... I looked at the wedge in my hand. It was more money than any band I'd been in till then had ever been paid. 'But....oh.'   It was a shame that band fell apart, we never went anywhere near the Dog & Duck, the nearest we got to the hoi polloi was a golf club...

[Bluewine]

THIS SATURDAY EVERYONE!
Maple Road Blues Band plays this fantastic car show from 11am-2pm! Check it out! 
Jenny L. Abbott-Goodell
Daryl Wheeler
Max Jones
Rory Grouse
*Heidi Lange
Rods -N- Relics Car Club

 

 

We haven't played together or rehearsed in months. This is a car show, it's walk by traffic. We'll get a chance to work out the kinks for some of the higher profile summer shows coming up. Especially our 8:30 slot at Bastille Days.

 

Daryl

* I have no idea who Heidi is.

[Dad3353]

36 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

... * I have no idea who Heidi is...

 

The creator of ...

 

[musicbassman]

[Boodang]

On 12/06/2024 at 01:28, alant said:

We played McCathy's Sports Bar in Bletchley on Saturday. I believe live music is a relatively new thing there and the guy who runs it is trying to build things up. Very quiet to start with but got busier for our 2nd set.

 

When I'm back in the UK (which is not often) I live just around the corner from McCathy's. It's changed hands over the years and at one stage it was quite rough..... what's it like now?

PS Just down the side street to thew place, there are two cracking Indian restaurants that are worth visiting... Rose of India and Golden Curry.... if you like curries that is.

[dmccombe7]

9 hours ago, Bluewine said:

THIS SATURDAY EVERYONE!
Maple Road Blues Band plays this fantastic car show from 11am-2pm! Check it out! 
Jenny L. Abbott-Goodell
Daryl Wheeler
Max Jones
Rory Grouse
*Heidi Lange
Rods -N- Relics Car Club

 

 

We haven't played together or rehearsed in months. This is a car show, it's walk by traffic. We'll get a chance to work out the kinks for some of the higher profile summer shows coming up. Especially our 8:30 slot at Bastille Days.

 

Daryl

* I have no idea who Heidi is.

We are doing a Hot Rod and Classic car event in Aug at a holiday park with Glam band. We played the holiday park last year and by coincidence the car club just happened to be there that weekend. The holiday park originally booked us. 

The car club then asked us if we could play it in 2024 on same weekend but we were already booked that weekend so they moved their club event booking to suit us. Looking forward to it again this year and i might even get a look at some of the cars this time.

Dave

[Doctor J]

9 hours ago, Bluewine said:

* I have no idea who Heidi is.

 

 

Bronze medallist at the last World Championships. She's got a lot of natural ability, but she really needs to work on her seeking.

[Bluewine]

54 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

We are doing a Hot Rod and Classic car event in Aug at a holiday park with Glam band. We played the holiday park last year and by coincidence the car club just happened to be there that weekend. The holiday park originally booked us. 

The car club then asked us if we could play it in 2024 on same weekend but we were already booked that weekend so they moved their club event booking to suit us. Looking forward to it again this year and i might even get a look at some of the cars this time.

Dave

 

I hope I get a chance to check out some of the cars too. We played this gig last year with no stage. This year they have a stage.

 

We have not played together since March 8th. I found a clip from that show.

 

 

 

Daryl 

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Bluewine said:

 

I hope I get a chance to check out some of the cars too. We played this gig last year with no stage. This year they have a stage.

 

We have not played together since March 8th. I found a clip from that show.

 

 

 

Daryl 

So good Daryl, That was class sir. I would go see you guys. Is that a cover or original song but thoroughly enjoyed it. That little quiet bit towards the end was so nice with the build up to the end superb. I love your singers voice. Its very easy to listen to but i'd have to say its more Country than Blues to me which i prefer and please take that as a huge compliment.

There's an upsurge in modern country over here at the moment and some youngsters at the gym circa early to mid 20's love exercising to the new country sound kinda Luke Bryan type of songs. You should be jumping on that bandwagon and move away from the Blues thing. Your sound suits it more IMHO of course.

The bass tone is nice and deep with a nice click top end coming thru.

That would make a great pic of you and the singer together for advertising the band too.

Why are you guys not doing more and bigger gigs. ?

Post more please.

Dave

Edited June 13 by dmccombe7

[Lozz196]

I agree Dave, really like that 

[Staggering on]

A bit late but it's been a busy week.

Last Thursday I drove 400km to Manitoulin Island to play at a bluegrass festival with a band called Simply Blu (dumb name, not my idea) that I have been with for about 18 months. We have 5 members, 3 of us live close to each other but the others are 3 and 5 hours away so we decide on set lists and the three of us rehearse and then meet up with the other two at the venue for a run through. All are seasoned bluegrass players and excellent musicians and the music comes together quickly and away we go. We played two sets on two days of the three day festival and had a good time with only a few bad moments. 

It was supposed to be on an outdoor stage but incredibly bad weather for all three days with wind and rain and temps in the 10 to 13 C range meant we played in a small hockey arena that was on the festival site, sound was a bit of an issue but we managed, good FOH sound crew.

I also played a set with a band that needed a bass player. I had never met them before the festival but they sent me a set list and I learned the 13 songs and I met them the evening before the gig, we had a one hour rehearsal the next day before our set and it went amazingly well. That band is basically a family band, the leader and his three teen kids are the main part and a banjo player and I filled things out and we all had a good time. 

The highlight for me was the Thursday night open mic jam, I was the only bass player at the jam and spent a wonderful two and a half hours playing some songs that I knew and a lot that I had heard but never played and a few that were new to me. Luckily I also play guitar so I watched the guitarists for the chords but in bluegrass that is made a bit tricky because they use capos all the time, I had some nice compliments about my playing so I guess what I played was acceptable. Great fun and I learned a lot, I'm primarily a jazz guy so I'm still learning bluegrass. We have two more festivals to play this summer and I'm looking forward to them.

I used my old Czech bass with Spiros and a pickup into the PA and it sounded great.

 

 

 

 

 

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Staggering on said:

A bit late but it's been a busy week.

Last Thursday I drove 400km to Manitoulin Island to play at a bluegrass festival with a band called Simply Blu (dumb name, not my idea) that I have been with for about 18 months. We have 5 members, 3 of us live close to each other but the others are 3 and 5 hours away so we decide on set lists and the three of us rehearse and then meet up with the other two at the venue for a run through. All are seasoned bluegrass players and excellent musicians and the music comes together quickly and away we go. We played two sets on two days of the three day festival and had a good time with only a few bad moments. 

It was supposed to be on an outdoor stage but incredibly bad weather for all three days with wind and rain and temps in the 10 to 13 C range meant we played in a small hockey arena that was on the festival site, sound was a bit of an issue but we managed, good FOH sound crew.

I also played a set with a band that needed a bass player. I had never met them before the festival but they sent me a set list and I learned the 13 songs and I met them the evening before the gig, we had a one hour rehearsal the next day before our set and it went amazingly well. That band is basically a family band, the leader and his three teen kids are the main part and a banjo player and I filled things out and we all had a good time. 

The highlight for me was the Thursday night open mic jam, I was the only bass player at the jam and spent a wonderful two and a half hours playing some songs that I knew and a lot that I had heard but never played and a few that were new to me. Luckily I also play guitar so I watched the guitarists for the chords but in bluegrass that is made a bit tricky because they use capos all the time, I had some nice compliments about my playing so I guess what I played was acceptable. Great fun and I learned a lot, I'm primarily a jazz guy so I'm still learning bluegrass. We have two more festivals to play this summer and I'm looking forward to them.

I used my old Czech bass with Spiros and a pickup into the PA and it sounded great.

 

 

 

 

 

Nice venue and well done to you for helping the other band out too. 

Amazes me how band members can turn up and just play without what i regard as "proper rehearsal time" Huge respect to you @Staggering on. That's a talent all on its own.

Dave

[Bluewine]

4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

So good Daryl, That was class sir. I would go see you guys. Is that a cover or original song but thoroughly enjoyed it. That little quiet bit towards the end was so nice with the build up to the end superb. I love your singers voice. Its very easy to listen to but i'd have to say its more Country than Blues to me which i prefer and please take that as a huge compliment.

There's an upsurge in modern country over here at the moment and some youngsters at the gym circa early to mid 20's love exercising to the new country sound kinda Luke Bryan type of songs. You should be jumping on that bandwagon and move away from the Blues thing. Your sound suits it more IMHO of course.

The bass tone is nice and deep with a nice click top end coming thru.

That would make a great pic of you and the singer together for advertising the band too.

Why are you guys not doing more and bigger gigs. ?

Post more please.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave,

 

That's one of Jenny's originals.

 

We have several big gigs this summer. I never know where the videos come from. We don't do any videos ourselves.

 

I stumbled upon this video yesterday.  I had never seen it before. I'm still playing the G&L ASAT bass.

 

Daryl

 

 

Edited June 13 by Bluewine

[Stub Mandrel]

A local band of youngsters has posted on Facebook, wondering why they are struggling to get any gigs:

"we have a 35 minute set ready to go at a moments notice mostly original with a couple covers thrown in"

 

OK guys, even if you are only looking for support slots, I think you could perhaps put in the effort to learn a few more songs...

[Bluewine]

2 hours ago, Staggering on said:

A bit late but it's been a busy week.

Last Thursday I drove 400km to Manitoulin Island to play at a bluegrass festival with a band called Simply Blu (dumb name, not my idea) that I have been with for about 18 months. We have 5 members, 3 of us live close to each other but the others are 3 and 5 hours away so we decide on set lists and the three of us rehearse and then meet up with the other two at the venue for a run through. All are seasoned bluegrass players and excellent musicians and the music comes together quickly and away we go. We played two sets on two days of the three day festival and had a good time with only a few bad moments. 

It was supposed to be on an outdoor stage but incredibly bad weather for all three days with wind and rain and temps in the 10 to 13 C range meant we played in a small hockey arena that was on the festival site, sound was a bit of an issue but we managed, good FOH sound crew.

I also played a set with a band that needed a bass player. I had never met them before the festival but they sent me a set list and I learned the 13 songs and I met them the evening before the gig, we had a one hour rehearsal the next day before our set and it went amazingly well. That band is basically a family band, the leader and his three teen kids are the main part and a banjo player and I filled things out and we all had a good time. 

The highlight for me was the Thursday night open mic jam, I was the only bass player at the jam and spent a wonderful two and a half hours playing some songs that I knew and a lot that I had heard but never played and a few that were new to me. Luckily I also play guitar so I watched the guitarists for the chords but in bluegrass that is made a bit tricky because they use capos all the time, I had some nice compliments about my playing so I guess what I played was acceptable. Great fun and I learned a lot, I'm primarily a jazz guy so I'm still learning bluegrass. We have two more festivals to play this summer and I'm looking forward to them.

I used my old Czech bass with Spiros and a pickup into the PA and it sounded great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very clean ! Ilike it.

 

Daryl

[BigRedX]

47 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

A local band of youngsters has posted on Facebook, wondering why they are struggling to get any gigs:

"we have a 35 minute set ready to go at a moments notice mostly original with a couple covers thrown in"

 

OK guys, even if you are only looking for support slots, I think you could perhaps put in the effort to learn a few more songs...

 

On the originals circuit 35 minutes is more than enough for a support slot. Most support gigs are 30 minutes maximum. However, in a 30 minute originals set you should only be doing one cover at the very most which should be under 4 minutes and well known for your band's genre. I haven't seen the post but I suspect the problem may well lie elsewhere other than the set length.