How was your gig last night?

[cheddatom]

Friday we played Cropredy Fringe at the Brasenose Arms. I've done this gig before, depping with someone else, and this was pretty much the same deal. Great weather, a bunch of middle class families out enjoying the food and drink, and not seeming too interested in the music. However, about 3 songs into our set, the generator failed. Our singer is a master of this, and he went straight into an old folk song. He got everyone to join in, AND he got them to gather down by the stage making it feel like a proper gig. Once the generator kicked back in, everyone stayed down the front and had a good dance. Not a huge crowd, but good fun, and we sold some CDs and Vinyl.

 

Saturday we played Gig In A Field which is a small outdoor festival near Doncaster. Maybe 500 people there. We did an hour set and they sang along to every song. We sold loads of merch and the pay was good. The only downside was the creepy female promoter (she was there as a punter but has given us gigs in the past) who insists on touching me up. It's so gross. I think I've mentioned her previously in this thread.

 

Sunday we played at Grand Social in Dublin. We go to the ferry 10 minutes before sailing which was a bit nerve wracking. We had a few beers and a good laugh on the way over, then drove into town. We couldn't park by the venue but it was only a 2 minute walk from the van. They'd insisted we didn't bring any gear, just guitars and sticks. I (on drums) tend to break gear so I took my snare, stool, pedal, and cymbals just in case. In the end used all of their gear except for the snare drum. This meant I didn't have to pack anything away so I could go from stage to my brother (who lives in Dublin) and stroll out for a brief pub crawl round Temple Bar. Apparently we went down well and sold a decent chunk of merch. I went to meet the guys at the accommodation at midnight. Unfortunately the guy assigned to meet me with a key was very drunk and his phone wasn't working, so it took a cold and lonely 30 minutes to get to my bed for the night. 

 

I didn't get any photos from the shows but here we are on the ferry home

 

[Bluewine]

16 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

No amp there Daryl ?

Dave

 

No amp Dave just a bass and an instrument stand. I'll use a di box and a monitor. 

 

Daryl

Edited August 14 by Bluewine

[dmccombe7]

On 11/08/2024 at 10:32, rwillett said:

we need more pictures of you in glam gear....

 

Pictures or it didn't happen 😊

Screenshot just for you @rwillett from a Vid taken at BLOCKBUSTARZ gig on Sat night at Longstone Hearts Club in Edinburgh as proof it did actually happen.

Honest i tell you no lie. Vids are on our FB page. 

Dave

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Bluewine said:

No amp Dave just a bass and an instrument stand. I'll use a different box and a monitor. 

 

Looks like an RCF Evox, which is what I am using for bass now.

[dmccombe7]

11 hours ago, casapete said:

Guilty as charged m’lud! 😆

 

I think it’s more a case of knowing that ‘famous’ people will generally be guaranteed to do a great

job and not make your band seem incompetent. Having said that, over the years we’ve had one 

or two names (who were probably a little bit  ‘tired and emotional’ ) get up to play who on 

reflection maybe shouldn’t have! All good fun though. 

Its knowing when and where and if you get it right it works a treat and everyone has fun with it.

I guess that's experience coming thru there. 

Dave

[casapete]

12 hours ago, cheddatom said:

The only downside was the creepy female promoter (she was there as a punter but has given us gigs in the past) who insists on touching me up. It's so gross. I think I've mentioned her previously in this thread.

I find it amazing in these ‘enlightened’ times that this is deemed okay by certain females.

Can you imagine if this was a man touching up a woman, and the possible outcome?

Dreadful behaviour. 

[Bluewine]

6 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Looks like an RCF Evox, which is what I am using for bass now.

 

Yes, we use RCF for smaller gigs and acoustic gigs.

 

Daryl

[cheddatom]

9 hours ago, casapete said:

I find it amazing in these ‘enlightened’ times that this is deemed okay by certain females.

Can you imagine if this was a man touching up a woman, and the possible outcome?

Dreadful behaviour. 

 

Yep. It's bad enough from drunken fans but when it's a promoter, and they say things like "you owe me a hug" etc, it's extra gross

[AndyTravis]

30 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

 

Yep. It's bad enough from drunken fans but when it's a promoter, and they say things like "you owe me a hug" etc, it's extra gross

We used to have a photographer like that.

 

Then really standoffish when I saw her about a year after that band had folded.

 

So odd.

 

She wouldn’t know me now, 2 stone and a ginger beard…like Clarke Kent/Superman 🤣

[Muzz]

No gig the weekend before last, it was cancelled just as I was loading the car (agent/new landlord non-communication, I'm completely bored with agency gigs now, the only ones we've had cancelled have been because the agent hasn't confirmed the gig (or forgotten to tell us) - I mean, agents have one job after the gig's been placed, right? Pfffft), but Satdy's made up for that.

 

The Polished Knob in Tod, a proper music venue pub for a change: raised stage, drum riser, house PA, lights, etc, and more importantly a clientele who are there for live music. We didn't use their analog mixer, we just ran the feeds from our digital one to it (so my inears worked perfectly), and it was all good: dancers from the first song, three encores, etc, etc... Fans mounted high around the stage even kept the temperature pleasant (and that's not something you hear said in Tod very often). I can highly recommend it as a venue.

 

Such a great change from the run of completely indifferent venues/crowds (and I'm using the term 'crowd' here very loosely) in pubs of late, it was positively life-affirming. We'll be back in the New Year (unsurprisingly, they're booked out till then) and I can't wait.

 

Oh, and a new system for controlling the BL's tendency to have us way too loud too early: the percussionist (who goes out front for the soundcheck to listen) tips me the nod if we're too loud (he and I are on the same page re volume), then he distracts the BL with something while I surreptitiously drop the mains a little and turn the BL's monitor up. Did it Satdy, BL didn't notice. Don't tell him. 🙂

 

Potentially more problematic gig coming up Satdy; apparently the landlord's just got out of custody, having been arrested (for what no-one seems to know); after the Police turning up to that gig a couple of weeks ago (and briefly almost doubling the audience size) it appears we'll be back to normal. I'm not taking an expensive bass, and will be checking exit routes before we start playing.

 

Modded Squier Sonic P (still very very good), Stomp, inears.

Edited August 14 by Muzz

[Gasman]

 

The great thing for semi-pro  musicians who are otherwise retired or self-employed is that mid-week afternoon gigs are easy to fit in – as of course are holidays and things like golf, although I’m not a fan of either… This being the case for all five of us our band gets regular work playing at the many agricultural and steam-fair shows down here in Wurzel country; typical was the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show yesterday, playing from 17:30 to 18:45 straight through. First act before us was a pair of glamorously frocked lasses, singing 1940-50 style harmonies a la Andrew Sisters, plus some more recent Post-Modern Jukebox style takes on numbers like ‘Bad Romance’ – I liked it!

 

Following us was a funk-oriented band, with then a big brass ska outfit to finish. This year the organisers had coughed up for a proper mini-Glasto-type stage instead of pallets in a marquee, with a good PA and engineer who knew what he was doing, so we had no excuse for a poor sound!

 

We were using guitar dep #2 from a choice of four – he’s very good. We rattled through a pretty mixed set (see attached), including a ‘new’ rock’n’roll medley featuring sax, where I actually get a total of 24 bars improve – whoopee! I must say that our KB player’s bass lines are worryingly good…

 

Short video attached to prove we were there. Mrs G came along but made a beeline for the show-jumping (she had to give up riding a few years ago but still loves horses). Apparently our band could be heard at the main ring where she was sitting – ‘not a bad bit of sax,,,’ she mused later on the way home, ‘but I think the people doing camel-racing were a bit distracted by it!’

1x75_minute set_v1.pdf

[Jackopie1]

Not from the last couple of gigs, but a few weeks ago we played a fundraiser for my boy's school- great party, organiser had got hold of a decent stage and we had a lovely old time! Raised a good amount, too.

 

A little clip of our We Are Family/Alright Now fun- but not much bass playing...

 

 

 

 

And here's a little clip of a Prince tune.

 

 

[colleya]

15 minutes ago, Jackopie1 said:

Not from the last couple of gigs, but a few weeks ago we played a fundraiser for my boy's school- great party, organiser had got hold of a decent stage and we had a lovely old time! Raised a good amount, too.

 

A little clip of our We Are Family/Alright Now fun- but not much bass playing...

 

 

 

 

And here's a little clip of a Prince tune.

 

Sounds great! Really tight and you're obviously having a brilliant time, top stuff!

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, Jackopie1 said:

Not from the last couple of gigs, but a few weeks ago we played a fundraiser for my boy's school- great party, organiser had got hold of a decent stage and we had a lovely old time! Raised a good amount, too.

 

A little clip of our We Are Family/Alright Now fun- but not much bass playing...

 

 

 

 

And here's a little clip of a Prince tune.

 

 

Fab!

 

Daryl

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Jackopie1 said:

Not from the last couple of gigs, but a few weeks ago we played a fundraiser for my boy's school- great party, organiser had got hold of a decent stage and we had a lovely old time! Raised a good amount, too.

 

A little clip of our We Are Family/Alright Now fun- but not much bass playing...

 

 

 

 

And here's a little clip of a Prince tune.

 

 

Most excellent!

[Staggering on]

On 15/08/2024 at 12:17, Gasman said:

 

The great thing for semi-pro  musicians who are otherwise retired or self-employed is that mid-week afternoon gigs are easy to fit in – as of course are holidays and things like golf, although I’m not a fan of either… This being the case for all five of us our band gets regular work playing at the many agricultural and steam-fair shows down here in Wurzel country; typical was the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show yesterday, playing from 17:30 to 18:45 straight through. First act before us was a pair of glamorously frocked lasses, singing 1940-50 style harmonies a la Andrew Sisters, plus some more recent Post-Modern Jukebox style takes on numbers like ‘Bad Romance’ – I liked it!

 

Following us was a funk-oriented band, with then a big brass ska outfit to finish. This year the organisers had coughed up for a proper mini-Glasto-type stage instead of pallets in a marquee, with a good PA and engineer who knew what he was doing, so we had no excuse for a poor sound!

 

We were using guitar dep #2 from a choice of four – he’s very good. We rattled through a pretty mixed set (see attached), including a ‘new’ rock’n’roll medley featuring sax, where I actually get a total of 24 bars improve – whoopee! I must say that our KB player’s bass lines are worryingly good…

 

Short video attached to prove we were there. Mrs G came along but made a beeline for the show-jumping (she had to give up riding a few years ago but still loves horses). Apparently our band could be heard at the main ring where she was sitting – ‘not a bad bit of sax,,,’ she mused later on the way home, ‘but I think the people doing camel-racing were a bit distracted by it!’

1x75_minute set_v1.pdf 273.43 kB · 8 downloads

 

I enjoyed the video and was surprised when I saw the banner at the front of the stage. My grandfather Bartlett was from Yeovil and came to Canada in the early 1900's and I expect I am related to the Bartlett of the construction company on the banner. An uncle of mine did a lot work on our family history and met a number of Bartletts from Devon and I heard about some of them when I was in Yeovil a few years ago.

Sorry to derail the main topic but it was interesting to see my family name on the banner. My son who doesn't have any children will be the last of my grandfather's side of the family in Canada to be surnamed Bartlett.

[WalMan]

Fun night in Bognor at the Hothampton Arms. Great venue with punters up for a good time which always helps. Lots of singing and dancing, but man alive it was hot and airless on stage, thought I was going over at one point.

 

Powered up ready for sound check and the bass was sounding choked and distorted. Tinkered with settings on the Darkglass. Swapped to the Streamliner that I always have set up as a spare (not needed it to date) but no change. Bypassed the pedalboard and all was fine so it was something there but time was getting on so just went for it straight in and without IEM’s which wasn’t great but got us ready and I could check everything on the board again - turned out the compressor control on the SkarBassOne had turned right up. Putting it back to 12 o’clock sorted the problem but I carried on with the Streamliner, which I haven’t fired up for a while. Still sounds great.

 

I love the SkarBassOne pedal, but my one critique would be that pointer on the controls is a notch on an aluminium knob that is impossible to see on stage, or maybe it’s my eyesight as I don’t have that issue with the Origin DCXBass.

 

Part of the second set was a run through live of our set for Gosport Waterfront Festival tomorrow afternoon and seemed to run ok.

 

Another run out for the three new songs which all seem to work well. Still need to sort the harmony lines for all three of us for the middle of the solo in Hold The Line but it still works as a slightly heavier cover minus keyboards running similar to the Who On Earth  version.

 

The sets are running well now as well. Keeping chat between songs to a minimum and banging through is great for keeping the atmosphere up, but a nightmare for taking on fluids. The first set had minimal gaps to get to the water. Second set at least had a couple of songs where I don’t come in straightaway and could neck a pint of water.

 

Had a good chat with another member here beforehand but forgot to get his name/handle 🤦‍♂️

[Bluewine]

On 12/08/2024 at 22:05, Bluewine said:

Back at The Harley Motor Bar & Restaurant this Saturday! Enjoy the *bourbon and BBQ specials and we’ll provide the tunes! 
5:30-8:30pm

 

Daryl

 

*Seriously,  who drinks bourbon in Wisconsin? That's a down south thing.

 

We played from 5:30- 8:00. Not much of a crowd. It's a restaurant and live music is an after thought. We we're tight and I was happy with my playing. We actually tried some new material we covered " Work Song" by Hosier.

 

I left with a comped baroque pulled pork entree.

 

We also invested in new monitors for acoustic shows.

 

I know Dave likes Harley so I took a few pics.

 

Daryl

 

 

[BigRedX]

Daytime outdoor gig featuring five "goth" bands in a hot and sunny Stevenage. Now that's not a sentence you expect to be typing!

 

Hurtsfall were part of the musical entertainment for The Peculiar Market at the "Event Island" in Stevenage. Not really sure what to expect when we agreed to play, but the whole afternoon was great, helped the sunny weather, even though it's not the natural environment for goths, and a decent turn out of people to watch the bands as well as a lot of totally bemused Saturday shoppers who just happen to be passing by. There were deckchairs and a sand pit, although a lot of the audience chose to watch from the relative shade of the grassy knoll...

 

Once again playing the middle of the bill seemed to the optimum time for catching random shoppers who stopped to listen. Our cover of Enola Gay went down particularly well, and we completely sold out of "Lucid" CDs which means we'll have to think about another short-run CD single to fill in until the album is finished. Also completely sold out of L and XL T-shirts in all the designs. In fact merch for all the bands seemed to be doing very well.

 

Afterwards all the bands - Glasshouse Museum, Byronic Sex & Exile, Hurtsfall, Jan Doyle Band and Chaos Bleak posed for a group photo:

 

Back home before 7.00pm. No photos of Hurtsfall on stage have appeared yet. I'll post some up if they do.

 

 

[dmccombe7]

5 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

We played from 5:30- 8:00. Not much of a crowd. It's a restaurant and live music is an after thought. We we're tight and I was happy with my playing. We actually tried some new material we covered " Work Song" by Hosier.

 

I left with a comped baroque pulled pork entree.

 

We also invested in new monitors for acoustic shows.

 

I know Dave likes Harley so I took a few pics.

 

Daryl

 

 

Cheers Daryl you know i'm so jealous of you guys getting to play there. 

Always happy to see any pics of you guys.

Dave

[BigRedX]

By the time I'd finished typing my previous post someone's put of some photos of us playing:

 

 

[Bluewine]

17 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Cheers Daryl you know i'm so jealous of you guys getting to play there. 

Always happy to see any pics of you guys.

Dave

Dave, Here's a pic from last weekend at the Waukesha Blues Festival.

 

Always wireless.

 

Daryl

Edited August 18 by Bluewine

[dmccombe7]

Busy weekend for BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam. 

Fri night at The Cave in Paisley near Glasgow. Very small venue but we know the owner very well and just enjoy playing there. Stage was a bit crowded but we had the usual dancers in front of us and good comments at the end. An hours drive home mostly motorway and as usual on a weekend they completely closed THE main motorway into Scotland the M74 Southbound and had to take a diversion. Luckily i know the area and wasn't too late home around 2:30am. Bed by 3am. Wakened by cat at 6am and feeling tired knowing i have another gig on Sat.

 

Sat night was at Hot Rods in the Borders in Lilliardsedge Holiday Park near Jedburgh. Decent sized venue that was full when we started (after the 2hrs of Bingo we had to sit thru) Set up and sound was a bit rushed with just 1 hr to complete from power being switched on to doors open. We were using our desk mainly for vox and bass drum into their PA and our monitors so a bit of a hotchpotch and the sound was ok but not as good as we're used to with our own full QSC PA but hey ho. My wife said something wasn't quite right first set but for some odd reason when we came back out 2nd set it was ok. She wasn't quite sure what it was but not our usual good mix.

Anyway place was very appreciative and we had the dance floor busy most of the night with it completely full for most of the 2nd set with rapturous applause and requests for more so that was good.

We played here last year and Hot Rods club were there and asked if we could play their event there this year but we were already booked that weekend and they moved their event to coincide with our diary and they've asked us back for next year. From what we were told the event started last year with about 30 cars and this year had 150 so it was a busy event.

Down side was the burger van in the park cost me £0 for 2 cheeseburgers and chips (£25) and 2 bottles of Fanta (£5). I'll take my own food next year like last year.

1.5 hrs drive home thru twisty country roads and home by 2am so not too bad as roads were empty and i know most of the route very well and could get the foot down.

Photo requests by many in the audience including the Hot Rods organiser who was over the moon with the turnout and the band of course. The venue manager was very nervous as this was the busiest weekend they've had and was worried she didn't have enough tables to accommodate everyone. There were actually people sitting at the tables along the front of the venue.

The DJ who is actually a Sound Engineer and was depping as DJ last night said the sound at the back of the hall was amazing and was stunned to find out we only had vocals and bass drum thru his PA. Trying to keep it as it was back in the day using backline with  vocal PA. 

No pics as yet but here's a screenshot from a vid.

Using my Sandberg VM4 into Mesa TT800 and Subway 210/115 cabs with Shure GLXD Wireless. Loving the new Mesa TT800 Boogie channel. Lots of depth and clarity no matter how i set the EQ.

Dave

Edited August 18 by dmccombe7

[Jackroadkill]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Daytime outdoor gig featuring five "goth" bands in a hot and sunny Stevenage. Now that's not a sentence you expect to be typing!

 

Hurtsfall were part of the musical entertainment for The Peculiar Market at the "Event Island" in Stevenage. Not really sure what to expect when we agreed to play, but the whole afternoon was great, helped the sunny weather, even though it's not the natural environment for goths, and a decent turn out of people to watch the bands as well as a lot of totally bemused Saturday shoppers who just happen to be passing by. There were deckchairs and a sand pit, although a lot of the audience chose to watch from the relative shade of the grassy knoll...

 

Once again playing the middle of the bill seemed to the optimum time for catching random shoppers who stopped to listen. Our cover of Enola Gay went down particularly well, and we completely sold out of "Lucid" CDs which means we'll have to think about another short-run CD single to fill in until the album is finished. Also completely sold out of L and XL T-shirts in all the designs. In fact merch for all the bands seemed to be doing very well.

 

Afterwards all the bands - Glasshouse Museum, Byronic Sex & Exile, Hurtsfall, Jan Doyle Band and Chaos Bleak posed for a group photo:

 

Back home before 7.00pm. No photos of Hurtsfall on stage have appeared yet. I'll post some up if they do.

 

 

 

I must make it to see Hurtsfall at some point.  In fact, there's a few Goth bands whose bass players are BC natives - BC GothFest?!

[stewblack]

Massive pub employing multiple door and bar staff with just a handful of punters. 

I have no clue how they remain open. 

However, those few therein thoroughly enjoyed the band and the sound was surprisingly good. 

I employed this rig 

and once again the Elf absolutely astonished me.

The venue as I've said is huge, the last time I played there I used an Ampeg CL all valve amp through two 15" Barefaced cabs. The Elf was barely on. Gain at about 2, master about 4 and it filled place.