How was your gig last night?

[StingRayBoy42]

LAST NIGHT!

The Cantina band at the Cameo Suite in Coleshill (Brum) for a 60th birthday party.

I've played here before with the big band, tonight was a very different vibe.

We'd invested in (and were all wearing) some 'Mos Eisley Cantina' T-shirts ('No droids! Live music!'), which made us look like we'd put some thought into a cohesive onstage appearance and would project an air of professionalism. (We hadn't. It didn't.)

Load in during a biblical rainstorm was fun, setup fairly standard, (I got to tell my 'Ernie Ball gave me this Bass for nothing' story), the audience didn't look like your typical heavy rock fans, we thought we'd be about as popular as a double-sided sandpaper condom but to be fair a few of them got up and had a boogie, so that was nice.

The second set was tons better, loads of people up and dancing (apart from Helter Skelter, which absolutely cleared the dancefloor), the 80s section of the set went down a storm, my hiphop joke got a laugh (just the one) and they were loving it by the end - even the too-cool-for-school youngsters were up dancing. I spent the last three songs on the dancefloor (apart from going to the bar to order a round of drinks mid-song as it was last orders) which was ace and got a lot of bemused looks.

Sterling -> small board -> MB CMD121P.

I played a couple of songs with a pleccy for the first time in about twenty years, which was very gratifying, the drummer played a blinder (he's an absolute machine, he deps with Edwin Starr (!), no idea why he's playing with a bunch of half-arsed charlatans like us), we even got the riff in the Sweet child of mine solo right, birthday boy loved it, Mrs birthday boy (who'd booked us) loved it and it was a pretty decent payer.

Pack up, load out (rain had stopped, thankfully), Marvin Gaye on the way home, back about 1 for a Henry Westons vintage (8.2% ABV - the Hereford Heroin) and leftover Jambalaya.
 

[StingRayBoy42]

43 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.

 

 

That pink instrument is gorgeous, and your Sire is really nice too.

[Chienmortbb]

6 hours ago, Merton said:

I’d prefer to buy a power conditioner or new valve set 😆

Neither. Leave the valves until you are sure they are duff and save your pocket money on the power conditioner, they are a con. Mad  Mr Furman a lot of money.

[Chienmortbb]

6 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Still same mains ring as most venues only have one ring on stage areas.

So they should. its the only way to ensure everyone is on the same phase.

[Mickeyboro]

58 minutes ago, ricksterphil said:

 

Wish my todger was long enough to play air guitar with 😂

What a c0ck, eh?

[taunton-hobbit]

30 minutes ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

, the drummer played a blinder (he's an absolute machine, he deps with Edwin Starr (!), 
 

Umm Edwin Starr died in 2003 ..................

 

😎

[StingRayBoy42]

7 minutes ago, taunton-hobbit said:

Umm Edwin Starr died in 2003 ..................

 

😎

My apologies - he deps with The Edwin Starr band featuring Angelo Starr

[MichaelDean]

Played at The Gryphon in Bristol last night as a part of Gryphest. After battling Bristol traffic to get to the other side and being a bit late, it actually went very well. Sound checked quickly, but it sounded great. I was running my Combustion and pedalboard into my new Digbeth and an old Trace 410 that is the venues and I'm really confident that my new head was the right move. Just looks and sounds the part a bit more. We've also finally managed to convince the guitarist/singer to use an amp instead of going direct with his Valeton unit. It just sounds better like this. We have a more cohesive sound. Also, it's doom. Amps are expected. 

 

We (Hora) opened up the evening. Godless Suns were after us, telling tales of how the gods have betrayed us with crushing riffs. Battalions then tore the house down. Wasn't entirely keen on the vocals, but they were tight AF. Witchsorrow then finished the night with a very polished set of face melters. 

 

[Mickeyboro]

1 hour ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

My apologies - he deps with The Edwin Starr band featuring Angelo Starr

With Twinkle on backing vox?

Oh no, she’s dead too😂

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, ricksterphil said:

 

Wish my todger was long enough to play air guitar with 😂

 

Life's tough. I have to stick to air bass. I suppose you could take up air ukulele?

[Jackroadkill]

2 hours ago, MichaelDean said:

Also, it's doom. Amps are expected. 

Absocockinglutely.

[dmccombe7]

7 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

So they should. its the only way to ensure everyone is on the same phase.

Would that make any difference ?

Dave

Edited Sunday at 22:59 by dmccombe7

[Dad3353]

15 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Don't understand why being on a different phase would affect anything ? 

Most pubs will only have a 230V supply any roads rather than 3 phase. Could be wrong tho. ?

No idea how larger venues set up their 3 phase supplies ie does the full stage area have one single supply taken from 2 phases ?

Dave

 

I was installing the lighting Fx in a brand new disco, just been built. As I was fitting the various units into and under the lights console, out of some 'je ne sais quoi' feeling, I checked the voltage from the sockets under there. All were 220v, but I decided to check the voltage between the rows of sockets; it was 400 volts. The rows were on different phases. I stopped, and pointed it out to the company installing the wiring; it got fixed for the next day so that I could continue. Without my check, I would quite likely have been fried under there. A Lucky Escape. 

I have a younger brother, rather inexperienced in electrics, hired by a touring band for roadying, in France. He (with colleagues) rigged the PA, lights, backline etc in one theatre. When the PA was turned on, all Altec-Lansing and JBL rigs burned up, immediately. I was working as a technician; they brought me the whole sorry lot to sort out, replacing every driver in every column, and all of the power transistors in all of the power amps. I can't remember the total cost, but somewhere in the tens of thousands. Each side of the stage had, apparently, a different phase, unmarked. 

Edited Sunday at 23:12 by Dad3353

[Burns-bass]

13 hours ago, MichaelDean said:

Played at The Gryphon in Bristol last night as a part of Gryphest. After battling Bristol traffic to get to the other side and being a bit late, it actually went very well. Sound checked quickly, but it sounded great. I was running my Combustion and pedalboard into my new Digbeth and an old Trace 410 that is the venues and I'm really confident that my new head was the right move. Just looks and sounds the part a bit more. We've also finally managed to convince the guitarist/singer to use an amp instead of going direct with his Valeton unit. It just sounds better like this. We have a more cohesive sound. Also, it's doom. Amps are expected. 

 

We (Hora) opened up the evening. Godless Suns were after us, telling tales of how the gods have betrayed us with crushing riffs. Battalions then tore the house down. Wasn't entirely keen on the vocals, but they were tight AF. Witchsorrow then finished the night with a very polished set of face melters. 

 

Great pub and some fantastic images!

[Jack]

8 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

I was installing the lighting Fx in a brand new disco, just been built. As I was fitting the various units into and under the lights console, out of some 'je ne sais quoi' feeling, I checked the voltage from the sockets under there. All were 220v, but I decided to check the voltage between the rows of sockets; it was 400 volts. The rows were on different phases. I stopped, and pointed it out to the company installing the wiring; it got fixed for the next day so that I could continue. Without my check, I would quite likely have been fried under there. A Lucky Escape. 

I have a younger brother, rather inexperienced in electrics, hired by a touring band for roadying, in France. He (with colleagues) rigged the PA, lights, backline etc in one theatre. When the PA was turned on, all Altec-Lansing and JBL rigs burned up, immediately. I was working as a technician; they brought me the whole sorry lot to sort out, replacing every driver in every column, and all of the power transistors in all of the power amps. I can't remember the total cost, but somewhere in the tens of thousands. Each side of the stage had, apparently, a different phase, unmarked. 

Can you explain the problem with this please? Not the physics, that bit I get, but the install? When one is installing a large system such as this do you tie all the power together first and then plug the system in? I just can't see the issue if one side is on one and the other on the other.

[dmccombe7]

8 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

I was installing the lighting Fx in a brand new disco, just been built. As I was fitting the various units into and under the lights console, out of some 'je ne sais quoi' feeling, I checked the voltage from the sockets under there. All were 220v, but I decided to check the voltage between the rows of sockets; it was 400 volts. The rows were on different phases. I stopped, and pointed it out to the company installing the wiring; it got fixed for the next day so that I could continue. Without my check, I would quite likely have been fried under there. A Lucky Escape. 

I have a younger brother, rather inexperienced in electrics, hired by a touring band for roadying, in France. He (with colleagues) rigged the PA, lights, backline etc in one theatre. When the PA was turned on, all Altec-Lansing and JBL rigs burned up, immediately. I was working as a technician; they brought me the whole sorry lot to sort out, replacing every driver in every column, and all of the power transistors in all of the power amps. I can't remember the total cost, but somewhere in the tens of thousands. Each side of the stage had, apparently, a different phase, unmarked. 

Surely any 2 phases to common would give 230V. If its wired correctly it shouldn't be an issue. Not every feed in a building will be from the same 2 phases. It should be shared across all 3 phases to balance load.

Dave

[Leonard Smalls]

17 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Surely any 2 phases to common would give 230V.

The voltage between any 2 230V phases would be just under 400V!

And duff sparkies wouldn't bother trying to balance any sort of load, amazing how many times I found completely unmarked live wires. Or neutrals borrowed from other circuits so they wouldn't distinguish between phases!

https://calculator.academy/phase-to-phase-voltage-calculator/

[Rodders]

50th Birthday party Saturday night at a local football club (though the club was still open to the public/members). 

Played there before and it is a nice venue, not the best for sound as it is low ceiling L shaped room with us positioned at the bottom corner right corner of the L. 

We played well considering only one rehearsal prior as members of the band had been on holiday. 

 

I was impressed with the sound of my Dingwall ABZ 4, only second time gigging it, we struggled with the sound overall as the 2nd guitarist has gained confidence but that means he is the loudest and overuses distortion. 

Despite lots of work on this at rehearsals nothing seems to improve so we are looking at improving overall monitoring as a solution. 

 

Bonus was I could watch the fight on the TV at the back wall from time to time! 

[Dad3353]

3 hours ago, Jack said:

Can you explain the problem with this please? Not the physics, that bit I get, but the install? When one is installing a large system such as this do you tie all the power together first and then plug the system in? I just can't see the issue if one side is on one and the other on the other.

 

3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Surely any 2 phases to common would give 230V. If its wired correctly it shouldn't be an issue. Not every feed in a building will be from the same 2 phases. It should be shared across all 3 phases to balance load.

Dave

 

In a perfect world, and an existing layout, there may never be an issue. When cabling and installing stuff, however, I would want to be able to be certain that, when I trip a 'live' feed, all the stuff downstream is effectively cut off, with no voltage at all anywhere. This was not the case in the layout I was working on. Tripping the part I was working on did not isolate all the sockets and cables; some were still 'live', and on differing phases, so that, if I start working on one, supposedly 'dead' wire which had not, in fact, been isolated, and touch another equally 'live' phase, I would fry. The phase distribution was all wrong, and not at all as per the 'house' wiring schemas. The company doing that part of the building were severely reprimanded, and their work tightly inspected.
The discotheque opened on time, however, and ran successfully for many years (The Empire, Laval...).

[dmccombe7]

4 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

The voltage between any 2 230V phases would be just under 400V!

And duff sparkies wouldn't bother trying to balance any sort of load, amazing how many times I found completely unmarked live wires. Or neutrals borrowed from other circuits so they wouldn't distinguish between phases!

https://calculator.academy/phase-to-phase-voltage-calculator/

I've never had to do that calculation but i was always under the impression that with 440V 3-phase you took a supply from any 2 phases to neutral ?

Having done a quick search i realise its for motor windings i was thinking off. If you measured across 2 phases on a motor you would get 230V. I now see what you mean. My apologies there.

 

Dave

Edited 16 hours ago by dmccombe7

[cheddatom]

We played Nightrain in Bradford on Saturday. Ace venue, great stage and PA, just ridiculously loud. We complained at the start of soundcheck but the engineer said "yeh, it's a loud stage". WTF is that? Turn it down man! He just had the FOH cranked and as is the case at such venues, the subs were wobbling the hollow stage making the whole stage sound muddy and rumbly. No worries, just EQ it out? Apparently not possible. Anyway, the gig was cool even if we couldn't tell what we were doing

[BigRedX]

Less than brilliant gig on Friday night, for reasons I won't go into on a public forum, but anyone who has ever been to The Dog House in Nottingham will probably understand where I'm coming from.

[Japhet]

Out this weekend. Will either be Eden WT800 in TechSoundsystems 2x12 (which is an epic rig) or SWR SM500 into Gallien Krueger Neo 2x10 (which is much lighter and more load in/out friendly). Both are great sounding rigs but I'm running out of opportunities to use either of them. Can't decide. Cast your votes 🫡

[urbanx]

Metal stage at Baldock: 

Tent at the bottom of a beer garden - is what it is. 

Well received though, we're not that 'metal' and I think we were a welcome interlude. 

 

 

 

[dmccombe7]

Last night with Emergency Exit punk covers band in a regular venue for us in The Cave in Paisley.

Sex Pistols were playing in Glasgow so most of our regulars were there but it turned out to be reasonably busy which was a big surprise for us. Few mistakes made as we wind the band down this year. 

It was a good gig tho and we did get asked for several encores.

Lack of interest within the band after many many years together. 

No ill feeling about it but we've decided it might be best to just take a break and see how everyone feels in New Year. Not sure if it will come together again tho.

Auditioning with another band on Thu night doing 80's rock so will see how that goes. Its not so much an audition as more to see if i fancy doing it. I know the singers and guitarist.

Dave 

Edited 13 hours ago by dmccombe7