Bass Day

[niceguyhomer]

Just curious about how Bass Day went, I was feeling a bit knackered after the gig on Saturday night so I didn't make it. Was it good?

[jwbassman]

It was excellent - here's my post from last night:


[quote]Just got back from Manchester - what a great day...

Stevie Williams not only did a great job organising and MC the event but I thought his spot to open proceedings was fantastic - really melodic smile.gif

Watched all the performances and attended all but one of the lectures so a very full but rewarding day.

Great to meet a couple of the guys on here (bleedproof and ead), but would be good to meet more next time.

Had a chat with Jon Shuker and Dave Hall, both good guys and very complimentary about the forum.

Feel I must also mention Pat Illingworth who performed with most of the acts - what a great drummer...


Right, work in the morning so it's time for bed... later[/quote]

[ped]

And here is mine (I wanted to start a thread but my browser is still weird and won't let me!)

Hi all,

Well today I went up to Manchester (never been before - lovely place!) to BASS DAY! Although I was only able to stay for a couple of hours I was thoroughly impressed with the venue, the companies and people there and the line up of acts, the sound in the auditorium and the value of the event. A massive thanks and congratulations to Gary and the team for a superb event. Next year I hope to be there from the very start to the bitter end, and to meet more of you lot. As it was, I chatted to as many people as I could - great to catch up with Mr. East, Alpha Dave and to meet Mr Shuker and several basschatters. What a fantastic day. I left with a massive smile on my face.

So - how did you like it? What was the best live act? Did I miss anything fun? Does anyone have any pictures?


Cheers
ped

[thedontcarebear]

I want to see pictures.

[Rayman]

As far as the day itself goes, I'd say this:

Venue excellent, much better than the previous two. Organisation excellent, timing excellent, food better too, generally a much more polished event than before, so congrats to Gary, Steve, Pris and all else involved.

Now the downside for me. The acts. I must admit to being a bit of a Stevie Williams fan, and I'm always a bit gutted when we only get 10 minutes of him playing, but hey ho. It was a [i]very[/i] jazz orientated bass day this year, and to be honest, after listening to half a dozen acts including Laurence Cottle, and Jeff Berlin, all playing very simillar styles of jazz, I'd had enough. I turned around to Kev as we waited to the bitter end to see the last act, and said, "if this is yet another jazz player, I'm off", it was, and I was too.

This event needs to appeal to a broader range of people if it's going to survive. There should be a mix of rock, jazz, funk, something for everyone, and I for one would [i]love[/i] to see some upright bass too, maybe some rockabilly slap.

Another point. If the equipment dealers want to sell gear, I think they should bring low/mid priced stuff too, not just 1965 Fender P's worth 4 grand and the like.
It's different for the custom builders of course, but the bass shops should bring more affordable stuff, then they might make a sale.

A good day generally for me, but I needed the 3 pints of Guiness to get me through all that jazz. Last year was still the best for me so far, but I'm looking forward to the next one.

Again, [i]BIG[/i] up to the organisers, top job, I just needed more variety in the music.

[jwbassman]

+1

I'd have to agree with Rayman with regards the acts...

I like my jazz stuff probably more than the next guy but agree a bit more variation was required - I also felt that excellent as the supporting musicians were, to have the same guys back most of the artists didn't help with the variation.

Bond was interesting just because he brought something different and his drummer Michael was superb.

Stevie's short set was a real highlight for me too.

Personally I'd like the performances to feature a bit more groove and a few less notes, but that's just me

[skelf]

I was there with John East and a few of my basses which all but one were brought by my customers.
I would like to thank all the guys for turning out with the basses with out you it would have been a pretty poor display.

I had a very good day, it was good to put faces to some names, and catch up with people I have met before.
Also had a chat with Chris from Overwater Dave from DHA and John Shuker.

I didn't really get time to see any of the acts would have loved to see Lawrence Cottle but was talking to various people during his show.
I did however get an excellent show from Hadrien Feraud as he dropped by and played AD's 6 string headless for about half an hour. This was brilliant to watch what a player absolutely stunning technique. He came back again and played for another while until we had to ask him for the bass as Dave had to go home.

All in all I had a really good day even managed to get out of Manchester without getting lost which I did on the way in.

Alan

Edited November 12, 2007 by skelf

[ead]

I had an excellent and very rewarding day. Nice to meet jwbassman and to drool over the Overwater basses. One day...

Personally I thought Jeff Berlin's was the top set (by a narrow margin) even though I not a natural jazz fan. But I found him entertaining and his evident enjoyment for me really shone through.

Seminars particularly useful for me as an intermediate standard player looking for a bit of guidance.

I hope the next one is not too far away!

Cheers
Alain

[DHA]

Hi,

I had a great time meeting and talking with customers and BC members, nice chat with jwbassman. Very nice to meet Alan of ac guitars and John East.

Big thanks to Alfa Dave for helping with the stand. Very pleased that Sug liked his VT5-400-Bass amp which he picked up at the show.

I don't normally talk to many bassplayers as I play lead guitar and the drummer is the only one that will talk to the bassplayer which is the best way I find. But, it was nice to see some of you are almost normal so I must make more of an effort in future.

ONLY JOKING!

Dave

[paul, the]

[quote name='DHA' post='87322' date='Nov 12 2007, 01:58 PM']I don't normally talk to many bassplayers as I play lead guitar and the drummer is the only one that will talk to the bassplayer which is the best way I find. But, it was nice to see some of you are almost normal so I must make more of an effort in future.

ONLY JOKING!

Dave[/quote]

I bet you hesitated over posting that, Dave.


*zombie drools*

[jwbassman]

You see Dave we're not that bad

[DHA]

[quote name='paul, the' post='87337' date='Nov 12 2007, 02:32 PM']I bet you hesitated over posting that, Dave.


*zombie drools*[/quote]

I was a bit worried for a while when it didn't get a reply right away.

May be we should start a thread about the stereotypes in bands? My amp goes to 11 you know.

Dave

Edited November 12, 2007 by DHA

[BassBunny]

+2 . Yep Rayman has it pretty spot on. Excellent venue. Fabulous organisation but I agree on the content of the acts. As a seasoned musician, (albeit most of the time on Guitar until I discovered the "Dark Side"), I appreciated what was going on. But there is just so much you can handle. There were however, some young bass players there who have just started playing and it would have been nice for them to see/hear a wider range of styles.
Lawrence Cottle was excellent and it was nice to see a unit with a sax featured. Star for me has to be Jeff Berlin. Lost his Bass and then lost power after the first number. Quickly turned it into a clinic and had some good jokes as well. The consumate professional.
Bond was pretty awesome as well. God knows what we would have been in for if he had brought all his kit......
Dave Marks lecture should not have been missed by anyone. Some excellent advice, nice guy to talk to and although he was stating the obvious, it does need stating.
Had a nice chat with John Shuker and looks like I am off to Sheffield next year to build my own bass. Something i have wanted to do for ages.


Hats off to the organisers. An amazing amount of time and energy gone into the event and can't wait for the next one. Even got a free Rotosound T shirt and a set of Elites. More than covered the ticket cost.

[Stuart Clayton]

Just a quick note to say it was great to meet everyone yesterday. I had a great day even though I have now completely lost my voice after spending the day chatting and extolling the virtues of studying at BIMM...

Lessons will be interesting tomorrow...!

Stu

[blamelouis]

Sorry i missed it!

I'm gonna make sure i go next year,esp if Michael Manring was there

[Alun]

Hello. Just got back from Manchester ( by choice - haven't been travelling since last night!) so here are my thoughts...


The venue as a whole was great and the sound in the main theatre was pretty good. The downside of using big rooms is that bass frequencies can get muddy but on the whole it was pretty good, better to me than sitting downstairs in the Life Cafe. It was great having food available all day, although the lack of any hot food after 2.30 did send me scuttling off to the nearby Subway before Jeff Berlin.

The stands were great and there were some lovely instruments on show. If anyone has a spare £2850 they don't want, there's a very lovely 6 string Marleaux that I feel hopelessly in lust with ( or did until I looked while trying it and found Hadrein Feraud standing there ). A nice range of stuff you don't get to see everyday plus Promenade had a few more affordable goodies like Squiers, etc. The only suggestion I might make for future years is to not face Bernie Goodfellow's stand at any other traders ( or give him his own room!) as he was deafening all day and made hearding things tricky on the nearby stands. A lovely man, and a nice player playing nice gear, just a bit much all day

Concertwise, these are my thoughts...

Stevie Williams - seemed more relaxed as compere this year and did a great job. Nice set too with a gorgeous bass sound from his Jazz and some unbelievable trumpet from Graeme Flowers.

Laurence Cottle - great as always. He mentioned earlier in the day that they were just going to jam through a few tunes, but it was far beyond your average blues jam. Great playing by the whole band, especially drummer Jeremy Stacey.

Bond - wasn't sure what I was going to make of this but I really enjoyed it. A mix of tunes, brief jams and discussion on his use of effects. The last track "Japan" was particuarly nice. The only downside was being sat a little too close to another player and his entourage who made little comments to themselves throughout.

Lorenzo Feliciati - I didn't really enjoy his set at the 2005 show, but thought this year's was really nice. The last track in particular stood out. It worked pretty well with the house band although I foind the pyrotechnic piano runs a little out of place at times.

Jeff Berlin - probably the highlight for me. Great playing and he came across as a genuinely humourous person, despite his "serious educator" persona. I'm still giggling at the joke about the rock bass player I thought the drums and piano really shone on this set too, the piano solos fitted into this setting a lot more comfortably to me. The power cut and subsequent mini-clinic just made the event seem that little bit more intimate and personal.

Reggie Washington - a nice mix of playing with the trio, solo playing and CD tracks. A lovely tone ( a quite Marcus-esque hard plucked Jazz sound) and some nice playing throughout.

Hadrien Feraud - I was knackered by this point but glad I hung round to the end - possibly the most technically adept fingerstyle bassist I've seen. Yes, there are elements of Matt Garrison, Dominique DiPiazza and Jaco in Hadrien's style but I think he's taken it to the next level again. His playing on the Promenade and ACG stands was also breathtaking. Again, the piano solos were outstanding too, especially on Giant Steps ( who the Hell opens with Giant Steps???)

I only went to one seminar, more through crap time managament on my part than anything else, which was Dave Marks' opening one. I'm afraid I only lasted through their first full tune due to the volume where I was sitting being a little on the loud side ( just in front of the guitar), but what I saw was great. Dave came across really well as an educator and the sound on his rig was beautiful. Really nice solo too.

All in all, a great day.

I do agree with what others have said about the jazz overload though. I am a jazz lover but I did miss the diversity of earlier years and would love to hear some funk, soul, rock and some upright too. Or fretless come to think of it!

The house band idea worked much better than I feared it might, but I'm still torn as to whether it's a good thing or not. Obviously it makes things a lot more managable logistically, but I found it weird having a house band with a bassist (normally a house band would back a frontline player, not have the guest backing the piano). Stevie said at the end that he wanted more of the bass being in a band setting, but for me that would best be achieved by the bassist being accompanied by at least their regular drummer. Not that there was anything wrong with the drumming, in fact the level of intuition and listening was mind blowing on many occcasions, but we always talk about the bass and drums being a team, so I think using a house drummer does infringe on that idea.

Two other things Stevie said got me thinking too - first was that it was important to showcase local musicians. I can see this from the Manchester music scene point of view, but surely it's BASS Day so the emphasis should have been on maybe showcasing Manchester bass players if promoting local players was important.

The other thing, which I found a little worrying, was the line about featuring the bass as part of a band rather than encouraging people to buy a Loop Station and sit in their bedrooms. I understand where he's coming from, but does this mean we can kiss goodbye to any chance of Michael Manring, Steve Lawson, Trip Wamley, etc in the future? It would be a shame if the UK's one outlet for bass music turned its back on the solo bassists. Hopefully, that won't be the case.

I must also mention how much I enjoyed seeing Stuart Clayton play at long last. Nice to meet you too! I didn't run into many Basschatters but it was great to catch up with Gary and Pris.

All in all a fabulous day and congratulations to all involved. Here's to next year!

Cheers,
Alun

PS Apologies for length of post!

Edited November 12, 2007 by Alun

[guyl]

Sure - a bit heavy on the jazz, but overall a great day!

Jeff Berlin was my highlight - his enthusiasm was infectious ..... and his playing wasn't too shabby either!

Thanks to the organisers - excellent job! Can't wait until next year!

[jacko]

Well, it's pretty much all been said. All I want to say is Thank you stevie, Another bloody good day (and thanks for having a band format too!)



p.s. Hadrien Feraud was the best performer of the day. What a f'ckin' unbelievable player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( and a realy nice guy to chat with too)

[Gary.Lowe]

Hey All

Thanks for the feedback, we will be meeting up this week to discuss feedback and start planning Bass Day UK 2008.

Thanks for all you support and we hope to see you next year.

Gary