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I got home at 8:30. It was a good gig. We sounded good ,had a great crowd, good food and the dep drummer was pretty good. Daryl

Just got home from what, in my opinion, was our best gig ever. 2 lots of hour-long sets at an old-timey inner-city pub here in Brum that has outlived the new developments around it. Proper small room crammed to the rafters with paying punters and it was party atmosphere all evening. Played up until about 11.57 and then had a quick break for the ball drop before finishing up our set. Had an absolute blast. Rig was Fender MIM P Bass > Tonex One > DI Box > desk. Footwear was Dune Chelsea Boots which have shredded my feet up but looked the part.

Great fun NYE job , officially my first gig as a full member, been depping for them over the last year here and there . Storrington West Sussex . Appy new year folks!

We had a bonus gig today. Given that we are a Blackmore's Night style renaissance-folk-rock band, the chance to play in this genuine Tudor manor house was irresistible. 2 hours of ballads accompanied by octave mandolin, interspersed with seasonal tunes on recorder and tambourine. We have an invite back, and we've also agreed in principle to use the location to record videos for our forthcoming album of renaissance tunes & ballads. The venue: The owners suggested we play by the log fire and so we did our first ever acoustic set.

Last gig of 2025 and the first gig for 2026 with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam band last night was another SOLD OUT gig for us at Airdrie WMC. 2yrs in a row at this venue which is rare at this club. 2 sets with a stop at 11:45 to 12:15 to bring in the bells in our traditional Scottish way. Dancing from the first song showed great promise for the night and we were not wrong. The floor was packed for a lot of the songs with dancers on every song. Great atmosphere the full night with a stream of requests in first set. I think we had a total of 6 to mention those celebrating anniversaries, birthdays etc. Best dancer of the night went to a guy who seemed to be on the floor from the start and even gave us his full Alvin Stardust impersonation and was rewarded at the end of the night with one of our T shirts. After midnight we went back on for our final 3 songs and had requests for more. but the club was closing. Loaded up the car and managed to get home for 2:30am, coffee and a biccy and then beddy by bo time knackered having been at the venue from 3:30pm it was a long day. Thought i would give the Godin Shifter PJ bass a wee run out and boy did it sound amazing thru the Handbox WB-100 / BF212. Nice deep tone with the sharp mids cutting thru the mix, it was the perfect tone IMHO of course. All in all a great night of party fun. Dave

Last gig of 2025 went to a large WMC, nice and local too! It was a ticket job and fully sold out, we had reservations as flu is still rife but we were happy to see a rammed club full of enthusiastic punters. 3 sets instead of our normal 2 and the obligatory Auld Langs Ayne, we were knackered at the end but it was a cracking night. That’s it for us Glam Lads until the 10th of Jan when we hit the Lion in Cas Vegas. A happy new year to all youse in the BC gigging fraternity.

"Have you improved?" - one of the stranger questions I've been asked. It turns out he thought we had since he last saw us. Anyway NYE proper (we played last night too) was a great night. The place was rammed, plenty of dancing. Mrs Norris even had a couple more glasses of prosecco than she would normally drink. The small stage extension I was on made for an interesting sound. (Photo taken during drum solo) The place had apparently not been as full since covid. Fabulous night, lots of nice comments and compliments. Have a great new year!

Just home from the dreaded Hogmanay gig. We have to do this as a 3 piece as our keyboard player always spends NYE with his extended family and fair play to him, I’d rather spend it with them too. Not a terrible gig, always interesting playing with more space in the mix, but I do miss the keyboards. As ever, some idiot insists on trying to speak with you whilst you’re playing, always a request that you can’t/won’t do. However, this was balanced out by a nice guy, who was interested in my bass (he was a guitarist, it turned out) and he looked up my bass, a Maruszczyk, while we were playing. Who says bassists never receive any attention? Anyway, we played OK, although the drummer is really starting to become clumsy (lack of home practise I suspect) and the groove often takes a break in these instances. The thing that gets me is the amount of folk repeatedly going to and from the toilets, with only moments spent in there. Who are they kidding? Perhaps they had bad colds, but I suspect the red nostrils were courtesy of Colombia’s finest marching powder. I’m not a prude, but a little moderation wouldn’t go a miss. Glad it’s over, only 365 days until the next one. At least it was an easy drive home. Rig as per Saturday’s gig earlier in the thread, with the side by side setup, which worked a treat again. EDITS: OK, maybe it was because I was tired (I wasn’t) but just read my post to find numerous autocorrects that made it seem that it was me on the illicit substances. ‘Have to’ became autograph () but more amusingly, groove became ‘groom’ .

Pretty much all our gigs are carbon copies of the ones before. The usual mix of uninterested pub goers, drunken tosspots and thankfully a few who appreciate half decent live music to make it seem all worthwhile but mainly nothing much to report here! So our NYE gig was a at a sports and social club in Warrington, new to us so no idea on what to expect. A sold out ticket event of 200 mixed aged partygoers so it was going to be a mixed bag of reactions. Probably not going to be everybody's cup of tea but heyho. Understandably started a bit subdued but it was a good (polite) crowd. Second set improved and just got better and better. We played well, PA was great and was well enjoyed by all with some very positive comments. The best gig I've done for about 15 years I should think.

Ok, New Year’s Eve gig with Electrik Soup last night. We’re a 90s/00s indie classics band, and we were at The Hare & Hounds in Claygate, nice to get out of that London for a change. Kick-off was 9pm, but we had an early load-in because the venue was doing a three-course dinner. I gave the vocalist a lift and we got there around 5pm; rest of the band were already in with kit and PA set up. I got my bass rig up but couldn’t soundcheck until later. Fortunately, we had a band tab, so some complimentary food was very welcome. No booze for me though as I was driving. I was using my TC Electronic BH800 bass amp with a SpectraComp in one of the Tone Print slots, honestly, how good are they‽ Great definition across all notes and it really cut through nicely, even with 2 guitars. Punters drifted in and out earlier on, but it started filling up properly around 9. First set got polite applause more than anything. It was the acoustic set that really warmed them up, and then we absolutely stormed the second electric set. The Guvnor had asked us to give the usual “get your drinks in” announcement at 11:30pm as the bar shut at midnight. We finished the last song with about 20 seconds to spare before the countdown, then went straight into our own take on Auld Lang Syne. Started off mellow and ended in a raucous thrash 😁 Audience loved it. Loads of nice comments afterwards. We played really well overall, no major mistakes. A couple of intros got extended, but the band just rolled with it and no one would’ve known it wasn’t intentional. Load-out was brass monkeys. First time this winter I’ve had to scrape ice off the car windows. All in all, cracking NYE gig and a great way to see the year out. Gear: Shuker 3 → Getaria wireless → TC Electronic BH800 → TecAmp 2x12 (upgraded speakers). DI to PA from the amp. Footwear report: blue ASICS trainers.

NYE dep gig with Backtracking at Bob Carter Centre in Drayton (Norwich suburb). Ticketed do with buffet etc. Sold out but quite a few non-shows due to flu/Covid/Colds/indifference. Touch and go whether I would make the gig as I was in hospital until the evening of the 23rd with sepsis. I only got released on virtual ward, so amused my bandmates by doing my vitals during the intermission between sets. I admit having to check my blood pressure and oxygen saturation between sets was a new one for me! Very enjoyable gig with people dancing from the first number in set 1. Organisers actually provided a room to leave our cases, gig bags, etc and a room to change! We also got first dibs at the buffet. No stage, which was a bit weird but plenty of space. I put bright green gaffa tape on the floor round the band area and it worked as a barrier. Nobody crossed it, except at midnight for the odd random kiss from strangers! Anyway, the punters seemed to love it. A full dance floor and several encores. The BL said the organiser had asked if the band could do next NYE. Think I might get a return dep for that too and the money was good. In bed by 2 am,so not bad for a NYE gig. No pics yet but will post when received. Gear: Maruszczyk Elwood 4a 32” and Hartwood Satellite with DiMarzio DP145 Will Power mod, Ashdown RM800, Blackstar U700 on standby, 2 x LFSys Monza, Soundcraft active monitor, Peterson Strobostomp HD, Boss wireless. Two LFSys Monzas proved to be total overkill: sound man had me turned down to about 9 o’clock on the master and my DI was just going to the monitors. Black Chelsea boots as trying to look smart. Got sent a pic.

Last night we played The Burton in Brixham. Our 2nd NYE there. The last one wasn't great, so we were hoping for more this time. We only got this one recently as we were booked for the 20th December originally and were offered this foe double pay and a crate of Bus so took it. For the most part a good crowd and some enthusiastic dancing in the 2nd set. I dressed up with a festive Santa Hawian shirt and matching bucket hat, with my shades to finish the look. A good couple of sets by us with only a few 'moments'. Back home by 1.45am. My usual rig of StingRay, RM 500 evo II & BF210. foot wear were my slip on Skechers. Got a couple of months off now before the next gig.

Final 2025 dep gig on lead guitar with a pub covers band. Ticketed NYE pub event with family members on the guest list. All went really well and had to remind myself that a lot of the gigs can be grim with a really late drive home. Looking forward to 2026 with at least 3 happening band projects!

Just back from my NYE gig. Awesome 😎 Will write more later today. Happy New Year y'all 😁

Thanks Dave, I think New Years Eve gigs are " slam dunk" for most bands. For me the fact the dep drummer did a good job was a huge relief. I'm looking forward to doing more shows with him. Our band leader thinks he's a good fit for the band. They think he has the right stage presence for the band . He just needs to do a few more gigs with us to get more familiar with the songs. Tips were generous an extra $125.00 for everybody. We don't do this but a punter walked the tip jar around the room. We also give some of the tip money to the bar and wait staff. Happy New Year ! Daryl

I found a good deal on one of these locally and couldn’t resist snapping it up. Love the blue - looks great in person and on camera! It just took a little setting up to get it playing well. Sounds good too but I have a spare G&L MFD P pickup I’ve been itching to get into something.. hmmm 🤔 Apparently these were made with laurel fretboards, but this particular one looks dark and rich unlike a lot of the dried out stuff I see. Would these be considered Classic Vibe tier instruments? Happy New Year to BC!

I know, my comment was just a general response. Here's another Pic with a fan from last night. Daryl

We've turned up to venues and played to 27 people. We even asked the organiser if she wanted to go ahead and she was up for it so we have a view that if people have paid good money then they get the full show and we just go for it. We always enjoy it and as it turns out so did the people that actually turned up. Paid rehearsal aint such a bad thing. Enjoy every gig is our motto. (well at least try to 🤩) Dave

As good as their word. It came this afternoon while I was doing a NYE Cello Duo Gig with an ex-pupil, so I'm just home... Okay, first I need to introduce The Judge from the Fazley Outlaw Series, aka "Kermit The Bass". So the hand oiled finish is about the worst shade of green you could possibly imagine, more like Ford Signal Green that you used to get on Escort Mk2s. But hey, it's only £63. About that £63... Look at the neck pocket fit and finish. I have £2k Fenders that aren't as well finished as this bass. I've a good mind to phone Bax and ask them if I owe them any more money?! Fit and finish is amazing for the money, even at the near £300 they should normally be. The roasted maple fingerboard is finished very well too. Frets are all properly seated with no sharp edges whatsoever, and the fingerboard edges are totally smooth, if not actually rolled. The ash body is a little lacking in grain, but hey, £63. Setup is almost bang on as well. It'll just need a slight tweak of the truss rod tomorrow. I haven't plugged it in yet, but so far I can't see any penny pinching as such. Even the tuners are the same quality as a Sire. Watch this space...

So this is the state of my board greeting the new year. Literally everything but the coil cable swapped. Gotta love the doomfunk sounds it can create. Very satisfied with it. All I'm missing is a chorus or flanger. Preferably something that can do both.

Dave, I think this was our 4th year playing The Precinct on New Year's Eve. I think the owner is a cousin of our band leader. Another nice touch, the chef prepared meals for the band after the show. Daryl

How could you have been bad if you're already booked for next NYE. Some people are very narrow minded when it comes to live bands. If their particular juke box songs aren't in your set they just like to complain. I sometimes think the younger generation are too used to getting things "on demand" and expect every live band to play every style when they want it. I'd put this down to excessive drink and rudeness, forget it and just move on to the next gig. Not everyone will be happy with a band but as you say "why actually say it" I certainly would never criticise a live band. All credit to any musicians that get up there and make the effort. Dave

I think the children/beginners thing could possibly be just about the biggest myth in the entirety of the world of bass 😊

Deffo out. Glad I didn’t enter and embarrass myself again 😆

Played at The Allington ACA near Maidstone for NYE and it was absolutely dire! It was a ticketed event and there were less than 50 people in a massive room, including 10 kids! We’d been booked for ages, for a decent fee, but it was a long night with no atmosphere, especially with having to do 3 x 45 minute sets which kills any momentum. Apparantly there had been some politics with the committee, which had led to a lot of people celebrating elsewhere, and people not wanting to pay £20 a ticket to go somewhere that they go to for free every other week when the pubs in town had bands on with free entry for NYE. That said, we played well and a few people complimented us at the breaks, and also apologised for the lack of people there. Took both of my Ibanez 5 strings, but just used the EHB all night.

While a few people have genuine reasons for needing a short scale, the number of kids playing long scale on 'influencer' videos shows that they are not needed by most small folk. Short scales sound and feel very different though, and to me they are a lot of fun to play.

Yes, have definitely had worse gigs and played to less people! It was nice to play on a stage and have a bit of space, and the organisers were very friendly and offering us free drinks etc. That was a nice change from our last gig where we had our fee withheld until we had paid for the two pints of coke that we had had (but that’s a different story!)

Likewise, but at the other end of the UK. Nothing is close to Cornwall, but research, couriers and calculated risk means I've got far more basses than fingers and toes to play them with... and that's saying something for someone from Cornwall! 😁

Coke has a lot to answer for too. It turns people into arrogant a***holes. We've played a few times in places where there's a bit of a "culture" - only the once though. We don't need that kind of hassle.

I'm coming out of gigging retirement this Saturday Jan 3rd at The Crown Inn, Hornchurch after a 13 month break. A real mixed bag of non standard rock and pop covers with bunch of mates. Roped the drummer in from my old band so I have a safety blanket there at least. Should be interesting.....28 songs learned with a load of homework and a couple of rehearsals. We haven't figured all the endings out yet though so will be eyes open on the night. Wish me luck.....

I’m not even entering. Picking a guitar up this evening 😆

Celebrities who applaud themselves on quiz shows, or on chat shows when they are introduced. Seems to be more and more common. I mean, where the hell did this ultimate expression of vanity first become acceptable ??? Rant over. Happy New Year everyone.

Thanks. He’s 18 now and ASD. Unfortunately he was on waiting lists for adolescent mental health care and was (eventually) being helped by adolescent social services. However, he got ditched the moment he turned 18, so we had to go through the processes all over again for adult care. He’s definitely doing much better than this time last year, but it’s a constant struggle and has really taken it out of me.

TODAY’s THE DAY FOLKS!! Come get your EARLY NYE PARTY started with us at Precinct - Tap & Table!! Doors open at 3:30 and show starts at 4! It fills up fast and seating is limited so don’t be late!

We've done this New Year's Eve Eve gig for a few years now and it's always a sell-out. It's in the small village of Twyford and seems that most of the villagers were there, probably for the excellent buffet! I'm glad I took the day off as we do it all again tonight...

I owned a Sei for a short while many moon ago (time stamp on these pics say it was 20 fecking years ago...Wow),Sold all but one my basses and guitars to get the Ca$h together to buy it (as i recall it was £1250 off of ebay from a guy in blackpool) I Sold after i got the self building bug to buy a load of wood working tools/gear and wood to start building my own stuff.....have to say It was a fantastic feeling/playing (& looking) bass with the highest craftmanship i've seen...but the Barts/Preamp seemed to lack any punch and i couldn't get anything like the grit i could get from my Spector/TP (which was the only bass i kept)... Pics (in case anyone recognises it !)... i had the matching Buckeye knobs made by a guy in the USA (£75 for the set, that's not something i be willing to pay for these days! (just because i could cnc them myself )

I think it is more than a few people. Try oldies and there are a lot of us. Size, weight and stretch become issues when you have back and joint problems. You might be spared but many of us aren’t. The sweet spot for me at the moment is medium scale but shorties are even more forgiving and may become my standard in the not too distant future as arthritis progresses. At the moment I use a couple in one band because they suit the material we play. I am not always convinced by the kids with full scale basses. They may be able to slap the hell out of a six string for 5 minutes but could they get through a full gig with that beast over their shoulder? I guess Tal Wilkenfeld is the prime example of a small person who can and is a brilliant bassist in multiple styles.

Talking of irrational prejudices, I remember talking to my Mrs about someone or other on't telly (can't remember who). We both said we didn't like her for some unfathomable reason - we couldn't work out what it was until my Mrs said "she's got an annoying chin!". And that's what it was!

It's either: a) all our entries are so terrible that the majority of BCers know that for the sake of their sanity they'd be wise to ignore the Compo Compo every month b) Most BCers are so busy that they can't spare 10 minutes or so to skim through the entries c) Most BCers aren't interested in any new music at all, as nobody's made anything worth listening to for at least 30 years d) Those who don't take any part just assume it's some sort of clique they're not invited to e) a combination of all those things f) something else entirely

I’ve found that it’s the so called “normal” people who when they take stuff like coke that then become a-holes, punks/skins/bikers/metallers, whatever they’ve been taking whenever I’ve been around I’ve never seen anything like that. Even the hardened football hooligans on the punk scene seem to be able to keep themselves in line when drunk/drugged.

Well, it's now all set up and the only thing I have to complain about is the strings. They're supposedly D'addario sets, but they were pretty lifeless and the E was a dud with a nasty overtone. No problem! I bought a couple of Warwick Red Label 35-95 sets in the Black Friday sales for £8 each, so I've put those on it, and it sings. The pickups (whatever they are) produce a deep and toneful bottom end, and a clear, but in no way nasty top end. It's a low and fast funk machine now. This will make someone a fine bass. Total spend, £71.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/187581584157?mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&siteid=3&campid=5336549684&customid=ppr-uk-2927546109&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

New Year.

Can't help feeling that the seeds of this myth were sown way back by Fender as an indirect way of rubbishing Gibson's 31"-scale basses and setting Leo's 34" scale as the gold standard.

I went out in a blaze of glory on 31st December 2025. A 13-note midi pedal board, won on eBay at 4:40pm and a Roland FP-30X piano ordered online at 9:20pm.

They know that all their listeners have reached the age that by the time they've played a dozen songs, we've forgotten what the first one was anyway. Buying any more than a dozen would just be a waste of money. Now what were we talking about again ?

OK Everyone, I'm going to call it! The winners are: @barkin @prowla @paul_5 @NJE @jimmyb625 @Jono Bolton @Downunderwonder @Maude @TimR The first out awards go to @SumOne and @Quatschmacher, both out on 5th Jan. There are too many interesting purchases to award a winner for that so I won't. Special sneaky award to @Mrbigstuff, who changed his name half way through in order to confuse me. It worked! Over to here now: