Cat Burrito Posted September 20 Share Posted September 20 We played an intimate acoustic set, mostly on two mandocellos last night in Old Town, Swindon. We supported Canute's Plastic Army who were both talented and very personable. Lots of peop!e came who had seen us before at Swindon Shuffle last year. I am 5 1/2 months alcohol free now and I think it was a strong contender for my personal favourite show of 2024. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted September 20 Share Posted September 20 (edited) On 16/09/2024 at 19:27, Bluewine said: Fancy gig this Thursday night for Maple Road. My concern is, I'm not sure we're a match for this type of affair. Daryl "We are just two days away from a joyous night curated in the name of culture and creativity: the THELMA Fundraiser for the Arts. Don't miss out as we celebrate the arts with live music from Maple Road Blues Band, delicious appetizers from The Cellar District, and decadent desserts from Bryanna's Bakery, along with live and silent auctions for some amazing baskets, cash raffle with a top prize of $2,000, and more! We can't wait to see you all there💛" Tickets: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36819/production/1207574 Silent Auction: https://app.galabid.com/thelma24/categories This gig was not a match for Maple Road. A jazz trio for background music would have been more appropriate. Nobody was interested in us.We played an 1.5 hour set then took an 1.5 hour break while the big $$ auction took place. We came back an played for another painful hour. On the plus side we strengthened our relationship with The Thelma Performing Arts Center and the "green room" was top notch. Daryl Edited September 21 by Bluewine 12 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 Just played a gig for my guitarist’s 50th birthday party at the Donkey in Leicester. Plenty of family and friends seemed to have braved the biblical rain and thunder to come along. Gig included various guest slots etc from other local musicians and friends etc. I took my usual Yamaha BB604, pair of Markbass traveller cabs and took along the Ashdown ABM500 I picked up on here a few months ago. I’ve realised the Ashdown isn’t for me after all. Its textured, deep, pillowy sound doesn’t suit my playing style or my onstage sound as well as my Markbass head. It sounded good, but just not my thing (so expect to see it back up for sale on here in due course!) Oh yes and there was birthday cake too, obviously. So all good. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Played our first gig with a new singer at Ringwood Meeting House, an old Methodist chapel. Last photo from upstairs, ‘the Gods’. Pulled about 50 on a rainy night. £10 admission (gulp!) shared with venue. Glad to have it under our belt really - not quite rehearsed enough, flying by the seat of our pants! Band - Otis Jay Blues Band Gear - Sandberg VM4, Barefaced One10, Elf. Great acoustics so minimal rig. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Did two in a day (while since I’ve done that!) Played Wootton Blues Festival which was brilliant. Absolutely fantastically organised, great crowd and some lovely people there. Met a couple of bass players and had a delightful pint and burger. Will return (and recommend you apply to play there, too, if you play blues music). Next, a bar called Gin & Juice in Bristol full of very attractive, well dressed and actually very appreciative young people who danced and clapped along to a set of Chess-era blues classics. (Quite possibly in an ironic way, but the venue liked us and paid so can’t complain!) Ended up with damn near £200 for the night (minus taxi home), 3 free pints and a burger. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Saturday night with the covers band Top Deck. One of our regular haunts, The Holly Bush, Marehay, Derbyshire. The crowd was smaller than normal but given the thunder, lightning and torrential rain, fair dooz. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksterphil Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 8 hours ago, bassbiscuits said: Just played a gig for my guitarist’s 50th birthday party at the Donkey in Leicester. Plenty of family and friends seemed to have braved the biblical rain and thunder to come along. Gig included various guest slots etc from other local musicians and friends etc. I took my usual Yamaha BB604, pair of Markbass traveller cabs and took along the Ashdown ABM500 I picked up on here a few months ago. I’ve realised the Ashdown isn’t for me after all. Its textured, deep, pillowy sound doesn’t suit my playing style or my onstage sound as well as my Markbass head. It sounded good, but just not my thing (so expect to see it back up for sale on here in due course!) Oh yes and there was birthday cake too, obviously. So all good. I'm told The Donkey is to close (again) soon, which is a shame if it happens. Always liked gigging there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalpy Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 40th birthday party at Red Barn just outside Hereford. Lots of families with lots of children running round, and whilst the venue is stunning in an amazing location a) it sounds like a barn, all boomy and chaotic and b) everyone sits outside as it’s so pleasant. Was hoping it would shed it down again. We had sections of the crowd dancing all night but it didn’t turn into a properly mad night. On the plus side- free Beefy Boys burgers for all (I had the blue cheese, delicious if messy) and the easiest ape sticks set up- just stick ‘em to the wall. Was doing the obligatory shot of my first wife under said lights when my second wife photo bombed it. 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 53 minutes ago, ricksterphil said: I'm told The Donkey is to close (again) soon, which is a shame if it happens. Always liked gigging there. Yeah I keep hearing that every couple of years and I’m never sure what the story is. I think it’s closed and reopened in the past. It would be a shame tho as it’s one of the few proper live music venues around here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Hot, sweaty pub rock covers last night in Dorking. Load in and out was potentially painful due to the road being closed (burst water main) but we found a work around. Found the first half of the evening stressful with the stage area being chaos - everything had just been dumped on it without any thought as to the most sensible approach to setting up a band. Once that was sorted the singer was getting tetchy about her IEMs, and then we started noticing an odd high pitched noise coming from my bass rig. Turns out the Handbox is super susceptible to noisy power, whether that was the fault of the pub or the LED lights we had running off the same ring main I’m not sure. A power conditioner is clearly in my future… So I switched to my Elf back up, cursing the fact that I’d *almost* put my TE1200 in the car but decided against it. But the Elf was fine, did a sterling job. The band was under rehearsed in all honesty- our second guitarist had switched to drums after the drummer moved north, and our first guitarist is currently unable to play due to a hand injury. We found a cool dep who learnt all the songs in 3 weeks, but two full band rehearsals for this weird new version of the band wasn’t quite enough for us all to bed in. We all played pretty well to be fair but we also all made some heinous mistakes! (Hopefully there isn’t any video of No One Knows 😂) All in all a fun night in the end, now to drop the PA back to its home and check my Handbox isn’t suddenly noisy at home as well… can’t decide if I’d prefer to buy a power conditioner or new valve set 😆 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksterphil Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 4 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said: Yeah I keep hearing that every couple of years and I’m never sure what the story is. I think it’s closed and reopened in the past. It would be a shame tho as it’s one of the few proper live music venues around here. When Zoe and her kilt-wearing, bushy beard toting partner ran the Donkey it had more atmosphere. He (the bearded one) used to run the door and was fond of kissing everyone 😊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I don't like boxing. The baying crowd, the violence, it appeals to our most base instincts. The dep gig I did in a pub in Swindon yesterday had to finish early so that the patrons could enjoy watching a 'big' fight. I was in my car and heading to the M4 at a quarter past ten. Home in bed before midnight. I was a big fan of boxing last night. 10 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 7 minutes ago, Merton said: Hot, sweaty pub rock covers last night in Dorking. Load in and out was potentially painful due to the road being closed (burst water main) but we found a work around. Found the first half of the evening stressful with the stage area being chaos - everything had just been dumped on it without any thought as to the most sensible approach to setting up a band. Once that was sorted the singer was getting tetchy about her IEMs, and then we started noticing an odd high pitched noise coming from my bass rig. Turns out the Handbox is super susceptible to noisy power, whether that was the fault of the pub or the LED lights we had running off the same ring main I’m not sure. A power conditioner is clearly in my future… So I switched to my Elf back up, cursing the fact that I’d *almost* put my TE1200 in the car but decided against it. But the Elf was fine, did a sterling job. The band was under rehearsed in all honesty- our second guitarist had switched to drums after the drummer moved north, and our first guitarist is currently unable to play due to a hand injury. We found a cool dep who learnt all the songs in 3 weeks, but two full band rehearsals for this weird new version of the band wasn’t quite enough for us all to bed in. We all played pretty well to be fair but we also all made some heinous mistakes! (Hopefully there isn’t any video of No One Knows 😂) All in all a fun night in the end, now to drop the PA back to its home and check my Handbox isn’t suddenly noisy at home as well… can’t decide if I’d prefer to buy a power conditioner or new valve set 😆 Ah man, I hate it when gear lets us down. Fingers crossed the HB is ok. Once again the Elf punches above it's weight though! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Merton said: Found the first half of the evening stressful with the stage area being chaos - everything had just been dumped on it without any thought as to the most sensible approach to setting up a band. One of my pet hates when arriving at a venue. I've had trouble with my old Mesa Mpulse picking up noise when using the same extension as other amps or even wireless units. Move it to another socket on same ring and its fine. Not experienced any issues with my HB WB-100 to be honest. I try not to plug my amp into the same extension as any other amp tho. Still same mains ring as most venues only have one ring on stage areas. Dave Edited September 22 by dmccombe7 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbybloke68 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 24 minutes ago, Merton said: Hot, sweaty pub rock covers last night in Dorking. Load in and out was potentially painful due to the road being closed (burst water main) but we found a work around. Found the first half of the evening stressful with the stage area being chaos - everything had just been dumped on it without any thought as to the most sensible approach to setting up a band. Once that was sorted the singer was getting tetchy about her IEMs, and then we started noticing an odd high pitched noise coming from my bass rig. Turns out the Handbox is super susceptible to noisy power, whether that was the fault of the pub or the LED lights we had running off the same ring main I’m not sure. A power conditioner is clearly in my future… So I switched to my Elf back up, cursing the fact that I’d *almost* put my TE1200 in the car but decided against it. But the Elf was fine, did a sterling job. The band was under rehearsed in all honesty- our second guitarist had switched to drums after the drummer moved north, and our first guitarist is currently unable to play due to a hand injury. We found a cool dep who learnt all the songs in 3 weeks, but two full band rehearsals for this weird new version of the band wasn’t quite enough for us all to bed in. We all played pretty well to be fair but we also all made some heinous mistakes! (Hopefully there isn’t any video of No One Knows 😂) All in all a fun night in the end, now to drop the PA back to its home and check my Handbox isn’t suddenly noisy at home as well… can’t decide if I’d prefer to buy a power conditioner or new valve set 😆 Was that the old house or the kings arms? Saw the water main trouble t’other day 🫤 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 30 minutes ago, ricksterphil said: When Zoe and her kilt-wearing, bushy beard toting partner ran the Donkey it had more atmosphere. He (the bearded one) used to run the door and was fond of kissing everyone 😊 Warren! Yes that’s the man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 36 minutes ago, stewblack said: Ah man, I hate it when gear lets us down. Fingers crossed the HB is ok. Once again the Elf punches above it's weight though! I am currently viewing it less as the HB has let me down and more that I just need to treat it as a special to which needs special care. Will see if that theory is correct when I power it up shortly! But yes the Elf yes again showing it’s superb! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 20 minutes ago, tubbybloke68 said: Was that the old house or the kings arms? Saw the water main trouble t’other day 🫤 Kings Arms. Thankfully they’d managed to clean up and it was fine yesterday! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksterphil Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 24 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said: Warren! Yes that’s the man. Warren, how could I forget 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Played with blues band ‘The Alligators’ last night at a seaside boozer in East Yorkshire. I say ‘seaside’ as the venue in question ( The Sellwood Arms ) is getting closer to the sea at a perilously alarming rate due to coastal erosion. Talking to the landlady, she says it probably has another 20 years left, which they knew when taking it on. Last night the waves sounded quite near though! Anyway, the gig went well although first impressions were a bit doubtful - small playing area in one large room, one mains socket for the band and some err… colourful locals already well oiled. Quite a few ‘Satan’s Slaves’ members in ( a motorcycle club ) and turned out the landlord is a member too. We did two sets of around 50 minutes, and got some dancers up which helped us out a bit. Played two encores , one of which was me doing ‘You never can tell’ which got some interesting shapes being thrown by the punters. Used my Precision Lyte into a Rumble 500 combo, perfect for the job. The landlord asked if we would do New Years Eve , but I’m already booked - for a gig in Scarborough with my acoustic duo playing dinner / lounge music, which despite only being up the coast in Scarborough couldn’t be musically much further away. 😅 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 A day trip to the seaside for Glam Fever yesterday. Skeg Vegas…..well Chapel St. Leonards, what a lovely sunny day too. A great club, afternoon gig so an early finish. The wife and hound made the trip also but no dogs allowed in the venue so Megdog got a nice lie on the beach. Not my best performance as compromised by a tooth abscess (don’t get me started on dentists….), but the venue was well chuffed and more bookings for next year hopefully. Also met Dean Andrews of ‘Life on Mars’ and Emmerdale fame while we was there. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie C Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 (edited) On 16/09/2024 at 10:59, BigRedX said: Because it's easier to hold your phone this way without covering the camera lenses with your fingers. Also most video on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok is viewed in portrait mode. The last couple of videos I've done I've used a square aspect ratio... seems a very backward step to 1920s TV but works well for social media. But back on topic, last night's gig was playing at the Equinox Boat Burn at Butser Ancient Farm. An awesome experience - still coming down from it! Edited September 22 by Rosie C 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Last night, Nine Lives played at O'Donoghues - first time we've played there. What a cracking night! Decent crowd, I could get used to these late starts (11pm) if this is the result. Lots of dancers, singalongs and memorable characters and incidents. Early on in the set, this big guy decided to take a breather and have a seat on the end of the "stage" (it's like a foot high, maybe) and promptly sat his big arse down on my pedalboard. Thankfully he was soft and squidgy enough that he didn't mute me or change any settings - I had to give him a few pokes in the back and he got up. Moved my pedalboard back a bit after that. Then some guy came up and tried to talk to me mid song, I mean like how? Anyway I glared at him and he bogged off but it put me off my stride for a couple of songs because it pi$$ed me off. But the winner was this guy who was very enthusiastic in his appreciation of us. He was trying to high five us/fist bump a heap of times (I acquiesced when I could) then he asked to borrow my hat a couple of times - I allowed him to take it off my head and wear it for a song and he was fine, it was returned to me unscathed. But there's more! I didn't see this, but apparently he got so into what the guitarist was doing that he undid his fly and proceeded to play air guitar with his penis being the guitar from what I can gather. I mean, like WTF? I think the air guitar/penis incident happened after he borrowed my hat. At least, I bloody well hope so. Still, was a busy and fun night all in all, and it looks like we passed the audition - venue has already been in touch asking us for our availability for next year. Gear was a shiny new Sire Z7 then my black and gold Les Paul into the usual Markbass tone cubes. 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksterphil Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 3 minutes ago, neepheid said: Last night, Nine Lives played at O'Donoghues - first time we've played there. What a cracking night! Decent crowd, I could get used to these late starts (11pm) if this is the result. Lots of dancers, singalongs and memorable characters and incidents. Early on in the set, this big guy decided to take a breather and have a seat on the end of the "stage" (it's like a foot high, maybe) and promptly sat his big arse down on my pedalboard. Thankfully he was soft and squidgy enough that he didn't mute me or change any settings - I had to give him a few pokes in the back and he got up. Moved my pedalboard back a bit after that. Then some guy came up and tried to talk to me mid song, I mean like how? Anyway I glared at him and he bogged off but it put me off my stride for a couple of songs because it pi$$ed me off. But the winner was this guy who was very enthusiastic in his appreciation of us. He was trying to high five us/fist bump a heap of times (I acquiesced when I could) then he asked to borrow my hat a couple of times - I allowed him to take it off my head and wear it for a song and he was fine, it was returned to me unscathed. But there's more! I didn't see this, but apparently he got so into what the guitarist was doing that he undid his fly and proceeded to play air guitar with his penis being the guitar from what I can gather. I mean, like WTF? I think the air guitar/penis incident happened after he borrowed my hat. At least, I bloody well hope so. Still, was a busy and fun night all in all, and it looks like we passed the audition - venue has already been in touch asking us for our availability for next year. Gear was a shiny new Sire Z7 then my black and gold Les Paul into the usual Markbass tone cubes. Wish my todger was long enough to play air guitar with 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 7 hours ago, Mickeyboro said: Played our first gig with a new singer at Ringwood Meeting House, an old Methodist chapel. Last photo from upstairs, ‘the Gods’. Pulled about 50 on a rainy night. £10 admission (gulp!) shared with venue. Glad to have it under our belt really - not quite rehearsed enough, flying by the seat of our pants! Band - Otis Jay Blues Band Gear - Sandberg VM4, Barefaced One10, Elf. Great acoustics so minimal rig. Nice pics! Daryl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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