How was your gig last night?

[Woodinblack]

4 hours ago, stewblack said:

 

 

Yep, if there is an image to accompany the words 'I take it too seriously', thats the one right there!

[Bluewine]

8 hours ago, Franticsmurf said:

We were booked to play a new festival being held in Gower this weekend. I felt sorry for them as the weather forecast was horrendous and there weren't many people there. When we turned up the van got stuck in the mud and had to be pushed several times. We were due on third but the 2nd act had cancelled at the last minute so the opener, a solo sax act, valiantly played on until we could get set up. By the time we relieved him, he'd been paying for 2.5 hours. Not our regular sound guy but he was very quick getting a decent sound and we played for about 75 minutes (rather than the 45-50 we were due to play) which put the event back on track. The last 15 minutes was punctuated by great flashes of light as the lightning arrived. The stage was facing out to the sea overlooking Oxwich bay, so it was spectacular. But also a little unnerving as each flash got a bit closer! We finished and managed to get the vans packed just before the torrential rain started. Finding our way down to the gate through the field was almost impossible but every few seconds a massive flash of lightning lit the whole field and we managed to get on the lane and away.

 

I'd left my car at our rehearsal place (a couple of miles away) so I was dropped off there and headed home. Most of the road is at the foot of sloping fields so the water was running through the hedgerows like little waterfalls. I was driving (slowly) through 6" deep water most of the way but the first I knew of the really deep stuff was when my headlights dimmed. The water was blocking them. I managed to keep going and it took about 30 seconds to get through. Then I went through a shorter section of the same depth and finally came across a car stuck in the middle of a third. And all of this during an almost non-stop display of lightning. 

 

Got home about 3 hours later, having had to dodge debris from collapsed walls and hedges on the way. Our gig tonight is back in the same area and I've just been told that the road into Port Eynon village has partially collapsed. Rock 'n' Roll! 🤘

 

With a small stage, I decided to use my Ibanez EHB100s through an Ampeg pre-amp pedal (which was always on) and I DI'd into the desk. I was really happy with the sound and it was a good band mix. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice! Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Got a private function tonight with Glam covers band. Not comfortable doing these gigs as not everyone shares the taste in music of the birthday person so it can be a hit or a miss. All else fails its a well paid rehearsal. 

Dave

Hi Dave,

 

We have a private event tonight. We're on the same page. Not sure the host's friends will share his appreciation of the band.

 

Daryl

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, Franticsmurf said:

We were booked to play a new festival being held in Gower this weekend. I felt sorry for them as the weather forecast was horrendous and there weren't many people there. When we turned up the van got stuck in the mud and had to be pushed several times. We were due on third but the 2nd act had cancelled at the last minute so the opener, a solo sax act, valiantly played on until we could get set up. By the time we relieved him, he'd been paying for 2.5 hours. Not our regular sound guy but he was very quick getting a decent sound and we played for about 75 minutes (rather than the 45-50 we were due to play) which put the event back on track. The last 15 minutes was punctuated by great flashes of light as the lightning arrived. The stage was facing out to the sea overlooking Oxwich bay, so it was spectacular. But also a little unnerving as each flash got a bit closer! We finished and managed to get the vans packed just before the torrential rain started. Finding our way down to the gate through the field was almost impossible but every few seconds a massive flash of lightning lit the whole field and we managed to get on the lane and away.

 

I'd left my car at our rehearsal place (a couple of miles away) so I was dropped off there and headed home. Most of the road is at the foot of sloping fields so the water was running through the hedgerows like little waterfalls. I was driving (slowly) through 6" deep water most of the way but the first I knew of the really deep stuff was when my headlights dimmed. The water was blocking them. I managed to keep going and it took about 30 seconds to get through. Then I went through a shorter section of the same depth and finally came across a car stuck in the middle of a third. And all of this during an almost non-stop display of lightning. 

 

Got home about 3 hours later, having had to dodge debris from collapsed walls and hedges on the way. Our gig tonight is back in the same area and I've just been told that the road into Port Eynon village has partially collapsed. Rock 'n' Roll! 🤘

 

With a small stage, I decided to use my Ibanez EHB100s through an Ampeg pre-amp pedal (which was always on) and I DI'd into the desk. I was really happy with the sound and it was a good band mix. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cripes!

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, E sharp said:

Bit late on a couple…

Last Saturday was at a club in Cromer with the Northern Soul band, and it was a great night. Loads of Northetn Soulies dancing all night from the off. 
Next day was a Sunday afternoon session with the ska band. The main sax player, who also plays guitar and sings, has not been well for a while, and has had numerous tests and scans etc. He said it’d be his last gig for a while, until he’d got sorted out what was wrong with him. So the extended sax break in Pigbag, with the main singer/guitarist/2nd sax, where they trade off licks at the end, was far far longer. It’s brought to an end by me hitting a note, for them to come back in with the main riff. I let them both carry on for ages, as non of us knew when we’d play with him again. 
Turns out that we won’t ever again. The next day he was told he had terminal Pancreatic cancer, that had also gone to his lungs, liver, and bones. Been given 6 months; but knowing people who’ve had this, he’s probably looking at weeks. He’s only 51, and been a pro played for years- spent ages with Suzi Quattro on tours, playing sax, guitar, and bass- when she went on keys for the occasional song. 
Not got another Ska gig until next Friday , so we’ve drafted in the Northern Soul singer, so we can pad out the sets with some other songs etc. 

All a bit sh*t really. 
 

This Thursday did a small wedding with the Function band (all of the 3 bands have some members that play in all of them), and that was a lovely little gig. 
 

Last night was Function band again, that was a complete scrub out- but there you go. 
We’re out again tonight at another wedding, which should be good; and then tomorrow afternoon with the Northern soul lot.

 

So apart from the bad news , which has hit us hard, it’s a really busy month of gigs

 

 

Poor guy. At least he's had a great gig to remember.

[colleya]

This one's from last Saturday.

 

A bit of a reunion for the old band up in the Lake District. The drummer is a permanent Coniston resident. We played an hour or so as part of a multi band charity do in a friend's garden.

 

Just bloody good fun. Like putting on an old pair of slippers, we just dropped back into the groove. I'm sure that it was looser than when we were gigging regularly. No idea what the live FOH sound was like either. Sandberg Cali TM5 into the house rig. Couldn't hear much onstage, least of all my backing vox but didn't care.  Just great to be back making noise with good mates.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Edited September 7 by colleya

[msb]

5 hours ago, E sharp said:

Bit late on a couple…

Last Saturday was at a club in Cromer with the Northern Soul band, and it was a great night. Loads of Northetn Soulies dancing all night from the off. 
Next day was a Sunday afternoon session with the ska band. The main sax player, who also plays guitar and sings, has not been well for a while, and has had numerous tests and scans etc. He said it’d be his last gig for a while, until he’d got sorted out what was wrong with him. So the extended sax break in Pigbag, with the main singer/guitarist/2nd sax, where they trade off licks at the end, was far far longer. It’s brought to an end by me hitting a note, for them to come back in with the main riff. I let them both carry on for ages, as non of us knew when we’d play with him again. 
Turns out that we won’t ever again. The next day he was told he had terminal Pancreatic cancer, that had also gone to his lungs, liver, and bones. Been given 6 months; but knowing people who’ve had this, he’s probably looking at weeks. He’s only 51, and been a pro played for years- spent ages with Suzi Quattro on tours, playing sax, guitar, and bass- when she went on keys for the occasional song. 
Not got another Ska gig until next Friday , so we’ve drafted in the Northern Soul singer, so we can pad out the sets with some other songs etc. 

All a bit sh*t really. 
 

This Thursday did a small wedding with the Function band (all of the 3 bands have some members that play in all of them), and that was a lovely little gig. 
 

Last night was Function band again, that was a complete scrub out- but there you go. 
We’re out again tonight at another wedding, which should be good; and then tomorrow afternoon with the Northern soul lot.

 

So apart from the bad news , which has hit us hard, it’s a really busy month of gigs

 

So sorry to hear this. I’ve lost a number to pancreatic cancer.

[ezbass]

Just in from our gig in Stirling, where we played under the stairs. Sounds terrible, but was actually fine, plenty of room and a decent sound too. It’s kind of a 2 shift place, live band from 7-10 and then a disco for much younger folk from 10-3. I think the good weather kept folk at BBQs rather than going to the pub, but a decent enough crowd, who were appreciative and complimentary. The boss lady liked us and chatted with for a good while outside, after we’d packed up. I’d happily play there again. I think I finally managed to nail the settings on my VTDI (far more aggressive than what I’d set at home), it sounded great, the Mustang veering into classic Ric tone territory.

 

The view from outside the establishment.

Edited September 8 by ezbass

[Bluewine]

11 hours ago, colleya said:

This one's from last Saturday.

 

A bit of a reunion for the old band up in the Lake District. The drummer is a permanent Coniston resident. We played an hour or so as part of a multi band charity do in a friend's garden.

 

Just bloody good fun. Like putting on an old pair of slippers, we just dropped back into the groove. I'm sure that it was looser than when we were gigging regularly. No idea what the live FOH sound was like either. Sandberg Cali TM5 into the house rig. Couldn't hear much onstage, least of all my backing vox but didn't care.  Just great to be back making noise with good mates.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Nice! Good lighting, the band d sounds and looks great t

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

On 06/09/2024 at 18:04, Bluewine said:

Private Party tonight for Maple Road.

 

Tented event with stage at a Country Club . That's what I'm told. Lol

We start at 7:00.

 

Daryl

 

 

 

 

Well, it wasn't a Country Club. I guess you could call it a tent and the stage was adequate. The event had something to do with people that hunt with a bow.

 

We played 3 long sets with 2 long breaks. They had a DJ playing Salsa when we were on break. There were a lot of attractive people that were advanced Salsa dancers. Very diverse crowd, which was cool.  All ethnicities and ages.We were quite loud. We were pretty good and we actually had a lot of young people dancing.

 

I didn't get home until 1:00. I don't like that. However the pay was top notch. I do like that.

 

No video. However here's a few pics. All humorous comments are welcome. Lol

 

Daryl

 

 

[mep]

12 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

No video. However here's a few pics. All humorous comments are welcome. Lol

 

Daryl

 

Looks More like a Stag do to me. (I'll get my coat!)

[scalpy]

Another wedding for the Hey Yahs at the Haybarn, Dulas in Herefordshire’s Golden Valley. The 8 piece line-up only just fits on the stage there but the team has gotten really good at setting up quickly and tidily, so we all squeezed on. We struggle to understand why wedding planners think cake cutting takes 15 minutes and then it’s the first dance, it’s three most of the time, so we’ve learnt to be ready when they slice away, but they called that early too making it bit of a scramble to get on stage. Some sound issues in the first half, not quite enough vocals but second half was spot on.
 

I was much happier with my pedal settings last night, particularly the drive from the Stomp. I bought the bright onions extension switches so I can change between banks of presets much more easily- then we choose a set where I only had to use it once! It’ll be great for the future!

[dmccombe7]

Well the private function last night with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers was a retirement party that actually turned out a great wee night. Club wasn't full but dancers on and off the first set and almost all the 2nd set and i think at one point everyone was on the dance floor. 

Smallish stage so i set up bass rig on the floor next to stage and played there.

 

8:15pm start

9:30pm buffet that we were told to help ourselves and it was very nice with a lovely salted caramel cupcake. Mmmm

10:30 to 12-ish 2nd set.

 

We were requested to play Ballroom Blitz at the end again as the girl that booked us had said her Grandad missed the first song and its his fav song ever. 

 

Used the usual Glam rig with VM4 into Keeley compressor and Mesa TT800 (mainly the Boogie channel that i love) into Mesa SW210/115 cabs. We played a little more quiet last night and the cabs didn't quite reach that sweet spot but still a wonderful rig.

 

Packed up and left venue just before 1am and home by 2am altho a lot of mist and fog on country roads but no traffic. 

Unloaded car into garage and then my usual coffee and 2 tea biccies as part of my post gig routine and then bed for 3am

 

Back up at 8:30am with cats making their usual nuisance noises to waken you.

 

Mrs dmccombe7's birthday so loads of cake planned. I do like cake. 

Dave

[Chienmortbb]

15 hours ago, colleya said:

great to be back making noise with good mates.

That is what it is all about for me. 

[Franticsmurf]

Following on from my experiences on Friday (see above), I headed back along the same roads to Port Eynon for a wedding party gig yesterday. More rain was forecast but the venue, another outdoor tented affair, was much better. We avoided the road I got stuck on (there were cars that had been stranded in the water still blocking it) but the road in to Port Eynon was blocked as it had collapsed into a sink hole! We found an alternative route via an unmade track behind the dunes. The venue was flat and the tent was actually a double teepee(?) with plenty of room and, more importantly, dry and sheltered. We had a few issues with power as we set up - it was coming from the village hall about 50m away. Fortunately, two of our line-up are electricians so it was quickly sorted.

 

We played our full set with a number of requests from the bride and groom. Our first half was very tight (it benefited from having been played the night before) the second suffered a little from being a bit rushed between songs. I was very tired from the previous night's adventures, so I wasn't playing at my best during the second set but it went down well with the folks who were there (we had about 50-60 guests). We had dancers from the start and through to the end. 

 

I'd left my kit in one of the vans from the night before so the line up was my Ibanez EHB1000s through an Ampeg pre-amp into the desk. I had my full IEM set up, which was great, and this time I was singing. For once we had plenty of room on stage.

 

 

 

 

[neepheid]

Friday night, Nine Lives played at the Butchers Arms in Inverurie.  It was... ok.  Not super busy, crowd had a weird ebb and flow to it, sparse but with some enthusiastic dancers, and as is typical a big bunch of folk came in with about 10 mins to go - why do folk leave it so late these days and then get all butthurt when you say "this is our last song" - mate, we've been playing since 10pm, if you wanted more music, you should have got here sooner.  No, we don't get paid more if we keep going.

 

Anyhoo, a gig's a gig and deep down, even if it isn't an epic one, it's still fun to play and we made some people happy, so that's the main thing.

 

Gear: Gear4Music/Lace rat bass followed by the Wunkay, into the usual Markbass tone cubes.

 

 

 

Also, the singist took some "proof of audience" video.  Of course, when the camera turns to me, I flub my lines - right at the very end too FFS.

 

 

 

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

Gear: Gear4Music/Lace rat bass

Used exactly this G4M bass myself last night. Isn't it great?

[Leonard Smalls]

Quite a weird one for us last night!

We trekked all the way to a campsite near Pwllheli to play at a North Wales car and machine club annual shindig, which raises money for Blood Bikes Wales.

After we'd set up our tents and had a fine pint of Trooper Ale we got the gear on the (rather spacious) trailer/stage, did a quick soundcheck and we went on just after seven - billed before the raffle! and sound was excellent, everything could be heard, there was a bit of kick in the PA plus Vox (and a tiny touch of guitar) but bass was just down to our own rigs - Raph with his tiny Elf driven by Sansamp into a no-name 4x10 and Squier bass, and me with the ACG into Helix, my ancient Marshall Jubilee and Markbass 4x10. I'd managed to get a really fat but slappy sound sound with various amp sims and tube compression which cut through beautifully at all frequencies with no boom.

No mistakes, plus a bonus moshpit of about 10 6-8 year old kids and maybe 300 others, including a couple of patch clubs. No adult dancing, but it was early! Comments after were largely appreciative, one Manchester bloke told us he was "madferit", and another larger chap stormed over - we were a bit worried - but he said "it's great to see bands who are actively anti-fascist!", which was nice.

There was a display of cars and bikes - highlights were a De Lorean, a Lancia Stratos, a David Brown DB1 (first vehicle I ever drove, aged 10 or so!) plus a brace of Buell M2 Cyclones.

And the Raffle showed why it was called that, our Raph won two prizes. Afterwards, a most excellent covers band played two sets of AllTheRockin'Hits.

Highlight though was a crazed contraption made from a car turbo mounted on a beer keg filled with some sort of fuel - this made a rudimentary jet engine which was used to start the firepit, and sparked up periodically to freak folks out...

 

 

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

Friday night, Nine Lives played at the Butchers Arms in Inverurie.  It was... ok.  Not super busy, crowd had a weird ebb and flow to it, sparse but with some enthusiastic dancers, and as is typical a big bunch of folk came in with about 10 mins to go - why do folk leave it so late these days and then get all butthurt when you say "this is our last song" - mate, we've been playing since 10pm, if you wanted more music, you should have got here sooner.  No, we don't get paid more if we keep going.

 

Anyhoo, a gig's a gig and deep down, even if it isn't an epic one, it's still fun to play and we made some people happy, so that's the main thing.

 

Gear: Gear4Music/Lace rat bass followed by the Wunkay, into the usual Markbass tone cubes.

 

 

 

Also, the singist took some "proof of audience" video.  Of course, when the camera turns to me, I flub my lines - right at the very end too FFS.

 

 

 

Ha Ha that really is funny. If i make a mistake anywhere in our set its that bit of the Blondie song. Its not hard i just seem to keep forgetting how long i stay on B to E right in the middle of the solo. Last few times i've managed to get it ok but that really is my achillies heal. Sorry for laughing but it was just such a coincidence when i heard it. 

Dave

[neepheid]

13 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Used exactly this G4M bass myself last night. Isn't it great?

 

It certainly is, and some marker thrown down for what £150 can buy you these days.  Now it isn't perfect - and I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner because it needs work to realise the potential contained within, but fundamentally, the bones are solid and the modder can have a field day.  Tuners and pickup replaced, nasty fret ends tidied up and it's a killer bass.  I'm really fond of it.  Plus it's just a little bit different from your average P bass with the bound body, lightly roasted and 21 fret neck.  A fantastic vehicle for whichever pickup you want to put in there.  The Lace Aluma-P is a fantastic pickup, it's got that "active without being active" sound for want of a better description.

Edited September 8 by neepheid

[stewblack]

I was going to share that last night represented a nightmare gig for me. A rugby club full of suited idiots, playing infantile drinking games, abusing the female singer just because she was female and its just a joke innit? I'm a recovered alcoholic so the environment did not suit me.

Then I read the above post bringing to my knowledge the existence of something called a bow hunters ball. Replete with the decapitated remains of poor innocent creatures and no doubt populated with people for whom bloodshed is fun.

Truly there are deeper circles of hell to which I've never been introduced.

Anyway the gig was horrible but well paid and not far from home. Win.

Edited September 8 by stewblack

[stewblack]

5 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

It certainly is, and some marker thrown down for what £150 can buy you these days.  Now it isn't perfect - and I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner because it needs work to realise the potential contained within, but fundamentally, the bones are solid and the modder can have a field day.  Tuners and pickup replaced, nasty fret ends tidied up and it's a killer bass.  I'm really fond of it.  Plus it's just a little bit different from your average P bass with the bound body, lightly roasted and 21 fret neck.  A fantastic vehicle for whichever pickup you want to put in there.  The Lace Aluma-P is a fantastic pickup, it's got that "active without being active" sound for want of a better description.

Ah, we have a different experience. I've never felt the need to touch mine beyond fitting a strap and tuning it. Perfect out of the box I thought.

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, stewblack said:

Ah, we have a different experience. I've never felt the need to touch mine beyond fitting a strap and tuning it. Perfect out of the box I thought.

 

That is indeed fortunate.  Out of the box mine had the aforementioned rough fret ends (only a handful at the dusty end, but they were well scratchy), a duff tuner (D tuner became really stiff to turn as it approached being in tune - but they were all ropey TBF), and one half of the pickup was microphonic.  But my motivation was always to use it as a mule to carry other things and I had a spare set of black Grover minis in the shed so it all worked out well in the end.

[dmccombe7]

4 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I was going to share that last night represented a nightmare gig for me. A rugby club full of suited idiots, playing infantile drinking games, abusing the female singer just because she was female and its just a joke innit? I'm a recovered alcoholic so the environment did not suit me.

Then I read the above post bringing to my knowledge the existence of something called a bow hunters ball. Replete with the decapitated remains of poor innocent creatures and no doubt populated with people for whom bloodshed is fun.

Truly there are deeper circles of hell to which I've never been introduced.

Anyone the gig was horrible but well paid and not far from home. Win.

Yep that's not on and i have to admit i find Rugby Clubs are typically old school ugg mentality but in fairness the ones i've seen have been relatively harmless but very boisterous. 

With regards @Bluewine at the hunting gig i'm not sure i'd want to take that gig but he is in a different boat from me and gigging is a job for him and he relies on the income because of his lavish lifestyle   We're simply not used to the hunting fraternity in UK apart from the deer and grouse shooting which is "licensed" and "needed to cull the numbers on the estate" pivel. Its simply an income and a day out for the snobs of this planet and those that strive to be snobs. Not a fan of hunting for the sake of killing.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

3 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

That is indeed fortunate.  Out of the box mine had the aforementioned rough fret ends (only a handful at the dusty end, but they were well scratchy), a duff tuner (D tuner became really stiff to turn as it approached being in tune - but they were all ropey TBF), and one half of the pickup was microphonic.  But my motivation was always to use it as a mule to carry other things and I had a spare set of black Grover minis in the shed so it all worked out well in the end.

Think i'd be ok changing things on a cheap bass and gaining some experience rather than change things on an expensive one.

At £150 you don't have as much worry of severe / permanent damage  Best experiment on a cheap bass. I like the look of it too.

Dave