How was your gig last night?

[Gasman]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

So where did you play Mike? your facebook page seems to be a bit neglected!

 

Sounds like a good night anyway, especially when you are winging it!

Hi Woody - we were at the George Inn, Castle Cary. Alas, the FB page isn't mine to maintain!

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Gasman said:

Hi Woody - we were at the George Inn, Castle Cary. Alas, the FB page isn't mine to maintain!

 

Ooh, Castle Cary, how posh, they don't let scum like us in there

 

[Bluewine]

On 01/01/2025 at 06:35, casapete said:

Played at The Palm Court Hotel in Scarborough last night for a NYE dinner dance.

 

Despite horrendous weather warnings we made it there okay, the 50 mile journey

affected mainly by high winds. Got set up in the hotel lounge whilst the guests were 

dining - took my usual Rumble 100 combo to use with a Squier SS Jag bass which

has been given to me on permanent loan by a friend. Sounded fine and easy to play

for the three long sets we did, starting around 8pm through to 12.30am. 
We were well looked after by the hotel manager - we took our partners and they were

given lots of bubbly and stuff, and we had a few drinks too although as I was driving

I stuck to water and coffee. 🙁

Playing wise it went okay. Had a keyboard player with us ( old mate Steve ) as

well as singer guitarist Doug who is well known in the Scarborough area.

Songs requested and played were the usual dance standards ( Sinatra etc)

right through to slightly more recent stuff. I got a request to sing ‘Dead Flowers’

by the Stones - slightly unusual choice for a NYE do - so duly obliged , along with 

some other 60’s and 70’s stuff and of course ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at midnight.

Got packed very quickly and then had a dreadful journey home - roads were 

virtually rivers in places, with biblical amounts of rainfall. My trusty Skoda didn’t

 miss a beat though, so back around 2.30am, absolutely knackered!
Not the best of gigs I’ve done recently, (made worse by wearing dinner suit and

bow tie which I despise!) but a lovely venue and being well paid made up for it. 
Mrs CP had great fun too, and after the terrible few years she’s endured health

wise it felt like we were celebrating the start of better times. Here’s hoping. 😃

 

 

 

A very Happy New Year to all BC people, may 2025 be a great one for you. 
 

 

 

Love the black jag. What a classy looking gig !

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

11 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I have never had a bad NYE, I have had a couple that weren't that great, but most have them have been just like a pub gig only busier and paid double for being up an hour later. Actually, that is the same with wedding gigs for us - not sure why anyone would book us as a wedding band, as we are going to do most of the same pub set in pretty well the same way with maybe a special song, but I guess for a wedding band we are cheap compared to the silly rates people can charge, and people who book us are people who have seen us anyway, so they obviously want what we do.

 

I would say NYE gigs in my neck of the woods are always a great night and lucrative.  However for me they've always been what we call early NYE celebration, 3-6 or 4-7. And it's all old people, too old to get out of hand. Lol

 

Doing a late night NYE gig would be challenging for me. 

 

Daryl

[mikebass456]

Guess it's going to be a bit of a quiet period gig-wise for the next few weeks at least.....

What's the next thing anyone's starting to prepare for/looking forward to?

For me, the next gig with the full band is a private birthday party on Feb 15th, and the acoustic band first gig is a paddys day gig on March 15th. Having to learn a load of stuff for this one, including some stuff new to me (Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys).  We currently do lots of Levellers stuff which can slot in nicely as we have a fearsome fiddle player and can 'borrow' an accordion player so I'm really looking forward to that one.....Happy New Year everyone - power to your callouses!! 😆

Edited Friday at 08:12 by mikebass456
Grammar!

[asingardenof]

2 hours ago, mikebass456 said:

Guess it's going to be a bit of a quiet period gig-wise for the next few weeks at least.....

What's the next thing anyone's starting to prepare for/looking forward to?

For me, the next gig with the full band is a private birthday party on Feb 15th, and the acoustic band first gig is a paddys day gig on March 15th. Having to learn a load of stuff for this one, including some stuff new to me (Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys).  We currently do lots of Levellers stuff which can slot in nicely as we have a fearsome fiddle player and can 'borrow' an accordion player so I'm really looking forward to that one.....Happy New Year everyone - power to your callouses!! 😆

The next gig we have booked in is early March at a cricket club we play at regularly and where one of their committee is one of our core crowd. Hopefully we'll have some new songs to keep them interested by then.

[dmccombe7]

Next gig for me is early Feb. We normally use this quiet period to learn new songs or polish up on the things we haven't managed to finish.

Also i joined an 80's classic rock project that was put on hold during Dec because everyone was busy with other bands.

Still no idea what's happening with the punk covers band either. Nothing has changed since we decided to have a break until New Year but there doesn't appear to be any great interest in it so i'm guessing its done and dusted.

I also enjoy the quiet period after New Year as it gives me time to chill out and catch up on other things i wanted to do.

Dave 

[mikebass456]

26 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Next gig for me is early Feb. We normally use this quiet period to learn new songs or polish up on the things we haven't managed to finish.

Also i joined an 80's classic rock project that was put on hold during Dec because everyone was busy with other bands.

Still no idea what's happening with the punk covers band either. Nothing has changed since we decided to have a break until New Year but there doesn't appear to be any great interest in it so i'm guessing its done and dusted.

I also enjoy the quiet period after New Year as it gives me time to chill out and catch up on other things i wanted to do.

Dave 

My February 15th gig is with a punk covers band - all the British 1976-1982 stuff. We only 'publicly' play 4 or 5 times a year, so it tends to attract a crowd. This year is our 10th year, after which we're taking a year off to try and write some of our own stuff.......inevitably we pick up a couple of private gigs for the old punks who are enjoying it for the second time around! Three of the four of us are in our 60's, so it does take it out on us a bit now!!  Hope you still get to go out and punk it up places - it's a great atmosphere when you've got near OAPs bouncing around and singing along to every song!!

[dmccombe7]

58 minutes ago, mikebass456 said:

My February 15th gig is with a punk covers band - all the British 1976-1982 stuff. We only 'publicly' play 4 or 5 times a year, so it tends to attract a crowd. This year is our 10th year, after which we're taking a year off to try and write some of our own stuff.......inevitably we pick up a couple of private gigs for the old punks who are enjoying it for the second time around! Three of the four of us are in our 60's, so it does take it out on us a bit now!!  Hope you still get to go out and punk it up places - it's a great atmosphere when you've got near OAPs bouncing around and singing along to every song!!

My apologies there Mike i meant no interest within the band. The guitarist who is the original member since 78 has been playing the same songs for approx 16yrs now and feels like a change. He is in a Ramones tribute as well so i think its down to him.

If he decided he's had enough we might change the name of the band and look for another guitarist and perhaps move in a slightly different direction maybe adding in a few other songs from bands like The Jam etc.

We do get a decent audience in one of my fav venues The Dreadnought in Bathgate but to be honest we kept playing the same venues 5-6 times a year each. Audiences get fed up with the same bands or same songs so we need to make some changes in that department too.

I'm 64 and drummer is 65 with our singer the baby in her 50's shall we say trying to be polite there 

Dave

Edited Friday at 12:24 by dmccombe7

[lozkerr]

4 hours ago, mikebass456 said:

Guess it's going to be a bit of a quiet period gig-wise for the next few weeks at least.....

What's the next thing anyone's starting to prepare for/looking forward to?

For me, the next gig with the full band is a private birthday party on Feb 15th, and the acoustic band first gig is a paddys day gig on March 15th. Having to learn a load of stuff for this one, including some stuff new to me (Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys).  We currently do lots of Levellers stuff which can slot in nicely as we have a fearsome fiddle player and can 'borrow' an accordion player so I'm really looking forward to that one.....Happy New Year everyone - power to your callouses!! 😆

First gig of 2025 with the punk band is a two-day mini festival at the Home Bar and Leith Depot in Edinburgh on the 17th and 18th January. We're kicking off the evening slot at Leith Depot on Saturday the 18th.

[mikebass456]

29 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

My apologies there Mike i meant no interest within the band. The guitarist who is the original member since 78 has been playing the same songs for approx 16yrs now and feels like a change. He is in a Ramones tribute as well so i think its down to him.

If he decided he's had enough we might change the name of the band and look for another guitarist and perhaps move in a slightly different direction maybe adding in a few other songs from bands like The Jam etc.

We do get a decent audience in one of my fav venues The Dreadnought in Bathgate but to be honest we kept playing the same venues 5-6 times a year each. Audiences get fed up with the same bands or same songs so we need to make some changes in that department too.

I'm 64 and drummer is 65 with our singer the baby in her 50's shall we say trying to be polite there 

Dave

Hi Dave - no apology needed there!

I didn't take your comments as a knocking of the punk genre at all.  There's a time and place for it - if we were out every week doing it then it would gradually get less and less folks coming.  Less is definitely more we've found! Good luck with whatever direction you end up going this year - it's great to be out playing in the current climate (and respective ages! 😆😆)

Cheers

Mike

[mikebass456]

5 minutes ago, lozkerr said:

First gig of 2025 with the punk band is a two-day mini festival at the Home Bar and Leith Depot in Edinburgh on the 17th and 18th January. We're kicking off the evening slot at Leith Depot on Saturday the 18th.

Sounds like the perfect antidote to the new year slump - have a great time all! 🤘🤘

[Stub Mandrel]

12 hours ago, mikebass456 said:

What's the next thing anyone's starting to prepare for/looking forward to?

 

Was expecting a quiet period but picked up a couple of gigs in late January.

[Bluewine]

On 03/01/2025 at 02:12, mikebass456 said:

Guess it's going to be a bit of a quiet period gig-wise for the next few weeks at least.....

What's the next thing anyone's starting to prepare for/looking forward to?

For me, the next gig with the full band is a private birthday party on Feb 15th, and the acoustic band first gig is a paddys day gig on March 15th. Having to learn a load of stuff for this one, including some stuff new to me (Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys).  We currently do lots of Levellers stuff which can slot in nicely as we have a fearsome fiddle player and can 'borrow' an accordion player so I'm really looking forward to that one.....Happy New Year everyone - power to your callouses!! 😆

 

We're playing the Anodyne at the end  of the month with an opening act. I'm not sure how we got the gig,they usually only book national signed touring bands.

 

Daryl

[dmccombe7]

39 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

 

We're playing the Anodyne at the end  of the month with an opening act. I'm not sure how we got the gig,they usually only book national signed touring bands.

 

Daryl

Your reputation now precedes you. Either that or that phone call i made for you has paid off. Send your cheque to my usual address Daryl. 

Dave 

 

[Lozz196]

Just got in from a Spacewasters gig in Wingham, Kent (a 100 mile journey which the drummer did).

 

Was a sort of private party, it went well, 3 bands on with us 2nd though we left as soon as we’d finished due to the possibility of snow. I played my CIJ Mustang bass through the provided - I think - Harley Benton combo, probably a 1x12 but was fine for on stage sound.

 

My footwear was my winter DM Chelsea boots. We did encounter snow though thankfully wasn’t too bad til we hit Watford dropping off the guitarist. 
 

 

[MacDaddy]

38 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

We did encounter snow though

 

Start panic buying now before the country grinds to a halt!

[mikebass456]

5 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

Start panic buying now before the country grinds to a halt!

I've already cleared the local Tesco out of Cadbury Creme Eggs........,👍😆

[Ed_S]

Last night was my second dep with a really good local band that has a guitarist in common with my main band - both power/operatic metal originals, ours a bit heavier with two guitars - theirs a bit lighter with guitar and keyboard. The first dep was an acoustic-ish birthday party set as they were missing drummer and bassist, so got me in to play a 50/50 mix of covers and their lighter originals. This one was another private party, but a full electric gig with only their bassist absent.

 

It all looked like it might not happen as the planned venue had an unforeseeable problem so had to pull out at the last minute, but another nearby venue stepped in to host and it all went ahead just a short walk down the road. Then one of the bands pulled out of the gig as they were travelling in and didn't fancy the idea of getting stuck on the way back due to the weather - again, perfectly reasonable. So we ended up all taking longer sets, which is fine if you know the full back catalogue of the band due to being... well.. in the band, but I'd only learned one spare original so we ended up adding a cover that they recorded and released their version of during lockdown, and which I'd done acoustically at the previous gig so had no problem rocking back up.

 

45 minutes passed very quickly and I don't actually think I messed anything up. There were a couple of bits where somebody else came in early, and a missed cue for a guitar solo that resulted in another loop through the chords before commencing, both of which I spotted and adjusted accordingly. I wouldn't normally congratulate myself for such basic musicianship but they're original songs that move at a fair pace, so I was quite pleased not to get tripped up. I did forget to put in my earplugs for the first song, which was interesting as it showed me just how much top end detail the Doc's ProPlugs take away, and how I might like to have some of it back to a safe level. I shall have to try some different ones and see if there's something a bit better for me out there.

 

The other bands on the bill were great and I was able to have a few drinks and enjoy them as we were opening the night and I was getting a lift. Got home just in time to see the snow start settling, so I reckon the band that decided it was a bad idea to travel 100 miles each way made the right call.

 

Signal chain for the evening...

Ibanez SR1105B -> [G30 wireless -> TU3 tuner -> Thumpinator -> MXR M87 compressor -> SansAmp BDDI v2] -> GK MB500 -> Blackstar house cab - might have been a Unity Elite 115C

Tuner operated using a pair of Skechers Industrial Workshire boots - to say they're safety boots they make even moderately damp surfaces feel like well greased glass, but they're black and comfy.