Leaderboard

I was rather bemused when my son told me there was a pedal-sized parcel for me today. I knew I hadn’t ordered anything as I’ve been having to tighten my purse strings due to impending major change of circumstances. I was therefore completely taken by surprise to find this incredibly lovely gesture and gift when I opened the box: Folks, this was totally unexpected and unnecessary, nevertheless I want to express my profound gratitude to the anonymous benefactors who were kind enough to do this. Thank you! My faith in humanity has been given a much needed boost after the kicking it’s been getting lately. ❤️

I'm playing Glastonbury 2025, I have 4 gigs lined up, playing with Andrew Maxwell Morris. Wednesday 25th: Toad Hall - 17.10-17.50 (40mins) Thursday 26th: Mandala Stage - 14.00-14.45 (45 mins) Friday 27th: Open Arms - 12.00- 12.45 (45 mins) Small World Stage - 14.10-15.00 (50 mins) I so can't wait 😁

Ive only just became aware of this (and spent 30 mins sobbing afterward) a few members im close too will know that after 22 years of marriage my wife asked for a divorce. At the risk of oversharing. For many years ive struggled with (for a long time undiagnosed) carpal tunnel in both wrists, which at times has hampered my playing. This is on the mend, but among other things has taken a toll. Im devastated, but ive done a lot of thinking and looking back, it cant go on Ive been harming myself mentally, and suppressed anger and frustration and sadness until it warped me into something im not, and caused her to fall out of love with me ive numbed the pain with Alcohol which has affected my physical health. She knew what was happening to me, but dealt with it by keeping busy with other things and remained focused on creating a life for herself that didnt include me, in time we were more roommates than a husband and wife. So sad, we had a beautiful relationship, and it withered and died and we both let it happen! heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking Ill always love her,she was my best friend, soulmate and the love of my life. Right now im still full of anger and resentment and need to try and let it all go and forgive, because ive tortured myself and her for years If this looks at all familiar i beg you COMMUNICATE, share your feelings and find the person you love. Im not courting sympathy or even attention, but please hug your partner and love them fiercely and with all of your heart. Ive been a nember of this forum since 2007 and it has been part of my everyday life in all that time. Ive made friends for life and brothers id never had, and many many times been a small light in my darkness. I cant thank you all enough for this, im very moved and grateful to have so many wonderful people in my lif Im going to move out and get a flat with the shirt on my back and a couple of basses, at 51 my life parallels when i left Newcastle at 19 Im on the cusp of a new start My focus will be on healing myself phyisically and mentally, i plan to throw myself into the thing thats always defined me , Music!! Time to forgive and heal

Continuing my post-midlife crisis 'straying from Precisions' period, I couldn't resist this absolute stunner over the weekend. Just... look at it. It's a 1998 model, and was actually the L-2000 they used in the catalogue that year. A couple of honest dings here an there, but otherwise spot-on. I'll be gigging it on Friday.

Since my last band split almost a decade ago I completely fell out of love with all things bass. I have hardly picked up a bass in that time. I’ve been getting that itch again and was hunting for a Geddy Lee Jazz as I’ve had 2 in the past and love them. BassBros had one to win in one of their competitions. I bought a ticket the day before the competition ends, and it was my first time buying a ticket. I only bloody won! Beyond chuffed! Won on Sunday and today this was waiting for me at home. 😍

Late report... you'll see why. Saturday's Bendrix Rock gig at Penarth Ex's was memorable for all the right and wrong reasons. I help organising/publicising gigsat the club and it was where we had our first gig so I put out a press release bigging up our dinosaur connections. It got taken up by a local paper and I heard stories it was being talked about. Expectations were high but we were down to a four piece. Indeed the drummer and lead guitarist handwrote two setlists of what we could do after setting up. We also had our mascot for the first time. Around this time I got really dizzy while setting up some simple lights. Tried rehydrating but was so bad when we soundchecked with War Pigs I expected the rapidly expanding audience to disappear. This was unusual as people normally arrive at quarter to nine. We had lots of new faces arriving from eight. I did recover a bit but wasn't 100% right through and had a nasty wobble and nearly fell backwards playing Saturday Night's all Right. We went down a storm. Right through the first set we got not applause, but cheering. We played War Pigs, Paranoid and Crazy Train (we had to from our list) and this went down well, of course, but so did everything else. We finished saying we literally had no more songs (our current full band list is about 10 longer). But after several minutes of chanting and roaring we gave in and our singer said what do you want us to repeat. They all shouted "Muse". Fortunately it was Uprising not Hysteria! I turned up the sub on my octaver and you could see the audience's glee when I shook the whole building. Don't say people don't notice bass. It took longer to deal with all the handshakes and well wishes than to pack up. Several people said how much better we were than our first gig. I've been to literally hundreds of gigs there as it's my local club and I can honestly say it was as packed as I've ever seen it and the best reception I've ever had for a gig. People spilled over from the 'Music Alley' into the lounge, but were coming in to join the dancing. We all agreed this was why we gig, and we donated a modest bit of our fee to the raffle for the stroke association. I packed my gear, dropped it to my partner's nearby house and walked to the pub, feeling a little wobbly. I joined her and friends but managed no more than a sip of my Inches cider when the bar stated pulsating and swaying. She walked me home (I was crashing into walls and generally swaying like a drunk). I didn't get to the loo before the first 🤮 I ended up on the floor for three hours, my brother came over as we were told four hours for a priority ambulance. They got me downstairs somehow and I was lying in the porch contemplating how to get to his car when the blue lights appeared after less than an hour. Cutting it short, it's probably severe positional vertigo. I puked so much I had to go on a drip but thanks to the wonderful NHS and lots of pills/IV, I am recovering and hoping to go home soon. Waiting on a cat scan to be sure it's not a brain injury. So good and bad! I gave the Performer an outing. It sounded glorious. This really doesn't give an impression of how full it was.

Had an absolutely banging gig today down in Poole at Country In The Park with Katy Hurt. We opened proceedings and had an absolute blast. Interesting moments..: I didn’t read the set list so was almost caught out by the first song My (Dunlop) strap lock popped out during the first song so I ended up having to improvise til I could sort myself out (embarrassing photo below) Cris, playing lap steel/acoustic guitar/mandolin kept stepping on my lead so I couldn’t wander the stage as freely as I’d been trying to do. Ironically I drove home via @franzbassist to pick up his Rockboard Tree 3.0 so I can have a bigger board to fit my wireless receiver… needed more forward planning on my part! But on the whole, an absolute blast of a gig. Very hot, very fun, and I hope we made some new friends. Shoes were the lo top Soul Cals again. Me pretending to play djent when the strap popped out: The whole band just having fun:

Blockbustarz Glam covers at The Dreadnought in Bathgate. One of my fav gigs to be honest. Sound check went well and everything sounded great. Then for some weird reason i started to struggle to hear the bass out front. I had deliberately kept my on stage volume low and assumed the SE was on top of FOH. Unfortunately i spoke with my wife at the end and she said she struggled to hear the bass at times. I'll have a word with SE next time we play. He was experienced a deep feedback ring that we couldn't identify and maybe he's dropped the bass FOH to help and possibly forgot to turn it back up. My wee fingers are aching tonight as i automatically play harder when i'm struggling to hear myself. In future i'll be setting my stage volume to suit me if FOH are just gonna turn me down. I always set my stage level to balance drum levels. Other than that we had dancers from the get go. Only sold 40 tickets but a lot of walk-ins which the owner said was pretty normal these days. Ended up reasonably busy when we started and the audience remained. We had folks up from Galashiels and some came over from Livingston to see us so we have a fan base out there 😂 2x1hr sets or thereabouts. 2 encores which was nice. Odd thing was we had a crowd of Goths in and they were loving it and dancing virtually every song. At the end while loading car I overheard one of them say he's not danced that much in ages and loved it. So that was nice. It was an 80-20% ticket deal tonight and we did OK with that as we usually do. Back again Sat before Xmas which is always a fun party night and very busy. Usual gear :- Sandberg VM4 Shure GLXD+ wireless Keeley Bassist Comp. Handbox WB100 Barefaced 212 cab Loving this bass cab. Its lightweight and easy to lift but retains so much depth and the wide angle dispersion means i can clearly hear it if standing right next to it. Only downside is i always find 12's lack the mid punch of a 10" speaker but its still a superb cab and i just need to tweak my EQ abit more. I am loving the tone i'm getting with this rig. No more distortion when i play slightly harder now since i dropped the P pick up a touch on the VM4. I can still trigger it if i dig in really hard but i'm trying to play a bit lighter these days to save damaging my wee fingertips on plucking hand. All in all a great wee night and the Pizza from next door was pretty good too. 50min drive home on quiet roads and a nice wee toasted pancake and coffee and now time for bed. Night night guys. Dave

Nearly a year ago my brother, and our singer, suffered a stroke live on stage at a festival. For a while we wondered if we'd ever get to play a gig again. Luckily, that chance came last friday! A filmmaker friend brought his camera along, and I arranged to record the set. We put together someof the footage and mixed a brand new song that we played. It was the hottest day ever, but in my 20 years of being in this band, it's the gig I'm most glad to have been able to do, and I know this video will be something to look back at and cherish as long as I live. Hope you enjoy!

I frequently trawl various 'instrument for sale' sites when I've got nothing better to do of an evening once the boy is in bed and after the wife and I have had some dinner... 8pm to 9pm is my prime hour! I stumbled across a Conklin GTBD-7 on eBay yesterday, not too many of these were made, they were meant to be a cheaper, more accessible version of the USA Custom Shop Conklins, however they were very expensive to make and the quality was exceptionally good, not too far off that of the USA Custom Shop basses, so they stopped production after maybe a year or so. They did the GT-7 (the cheaper version) and this GTBD-7 versions with Bartolini pickups and preamp as well as a premium top and through neck. I've owned a couple of these over the years as well as two USA Custom Shop Conklins (one I still have and I will die with), so I'm very familiar with them vs the USA stock and they are really great basses. I made an offer on this one, we had a quick chat about logistics, and the offer was accepted! Should be with me Tuesday/Wednesday of next week. Comes with a spare set of strings and a hardcase too. 👍 Damn you eBay for FORCING me to buy this! 😆

It's happened again Another tribute band has been joined and it needs one of these They're called Total Jam and I've played with them in the past, they're the Andy and Stewart in my Police tribute

My fave Glasto moment, old friends reunited

First of three gigs with this guy 😃. We have a Billy Joel tribute band in Holland and we got our stamp of approval from original drummer Liberty DeVitto. He agreed on coming over from the US to do these gigs with us. Needless to say we are over the moon with him agreeing to play with us. Had a blast on the first and looking forward to number two and three.

Cool weekend of gigs. Friday night playing bass with Superbad at the Sapcote Social Club in Leicestershire. Really good turnout, lots of dancing and good sound. Saturday night playing bass with my own band (the Andy Wales Band) at Bar Dos Hermanos in Leicester. We were all knackered and it was a bit ragged and “seat of pants” at times but still plenty of good bits, a decent crowd and some righteous noises were made by all. Gear for both gigs was a Yamaha BB604 and little Markbass traveller rig. Then Sunday, helping our local village guitar teacher with his twice yearly gig for his students (including my eldest lad who’s just discovered Nirvana). It’s quite inspiring to see the youngsters grow as musicians over the few years we’ve been involved. The biblical rain from the morning thankfully stayed away all afternoon and it was a lovely outdoor shindig in his back garden, with me providing the PA and bass gear, being a general helper and being roped in on bass for one song. Gig below from Saturday night and Sunday afternoon’s gigs.

A bit of electrical tape on my old CV Squier Jazz and she's ready to rock for tonight's gig with Stray at 'Time to Rock' Festival in Sweden!

I found some video from last Saturday. Not our best. I post the good and the bad. Guitars seem out of tune, it was 100°, sound mix was not great and I played with a healing broken ankle. I'll stop because I can go on forever with making excuses. I can't hear any bass without earbuds. Daryl

Just got back from a gig with Bendricks Rock in Newport. Overloud DJ/karaoke distorting and making setting up hard and soundcheck impossible. Town was quieter than last time, but we had an enthusiastic reception. My bass was very boomy and I had to cut bass and >gasp< boost mids to get a decent sound. Forgot my mic stand and really missed doing bvs, although there wasn't really much room for another mic. My usual rig with the AVII Precision. Quecha approach shoes which give my dodgy ankle excellent support. Got a band selfy for once!

An unusual gig this morning at a classic car breakfast meet down in Hampshire with the new funk band and then back home to Horsham to play at kings Lea school fate this afternoon with some old musician friends. Really enjoying my GB Spitfire 5 since it came out back from a service by Bernie recently. Sounds fantastic though the puma and LFsys Monzas . Now to enjoy a nice relaxing evening ( not playing) x😊

Just back from a sports and social club over in Nuneaton about 12 miles away. There were quite a few in, which made for a good evening, and a bit of dancing in the last set. We've played there before but I think there were a few more in this time. The guitarist had a bit of an off night, making some silly mistakes in songs we've played loads of times. However we were pleasantly surprised at how well Sir Duke came together after just learning our bits at home and then playing it together for the first time in the gig. I love playing with such talented guys. I love the painted back wall. The usual Stingish bass into GT-6B (operated by burgundy suede Converse one-stars) into Fender Rumble v3 500 combo. Passable cheese and onion batch (we ventured from our native cob-eating Leicester into batch-eating Nuneaton) from the bar - only £1.50 - bargain

Gig last night was a little two hour, two set, Thursday night soiree. Everything went ok and it was free from any technical or equipment issues. The pair of G4M 1x12 powered pa speakers bought used for less than a ton nearly a year ago as a stop gap when our previous singer left with his EV’s continue to provide sterling service, and have more than paid for themselves. They aren’t hugely powerful but 1x12 + horn seems an ideal configuration for pub gigs. It’s only vocal, saxophone, and kick going through them. First time out for my new LFSYS Silverstone II cab, and also first gig with my newly restored Trace Elliot SMX head. Both worked perfectly and the clarity and sound quality were quite astonishing. I used my Sadowsky M/J for this gig. If there was anything to be noted for after gig discussions, it was that the second set started to get a bit jazzy rather than blues and perhaps a bit louder than was necessary. Both the guitarist and drummer were suffering from “The Guiness Effect” by then.🤔 Venue was Baker Street in Stirling, not the most spacious of venues. The band name seems to be sticking now as Blues Delux( for the last three gigs). Must admit I prefer the Sunday afternoon shows at this venue rather than late week nights. It also rained tonight, and the venue was late advertising the show. So it wasn’t a big crowd we played to, but they seemed to enjoy it. Everyone was happy, the band all enjoyed themselves, and we got paid to boot. I’ll take that any day. I believe there was video footage but it's not available yet. That maybe a good thing😊

Saturday evening saw Rascallion return to our spiritual home of Anderby Village Hall. The atmosphere was a bit subdued, partly due to the heat which had kept a number of regulars away and reduced the size of the audience, but also in the knowledge that the RNLI and Coastguard were engaged in searching for a teenager who was missing in the sea just a couple of miles away (sad to report, his body was located in the early hours of Sunday morning). After being fed and watered (copiously!), we launched into our usual opener of CCR's "Green River" with all due respect to John Fogerty who'd played the same tune (as well as several others of his / ours) at Glastonbury earlier in the day. Apart from a) forgetting to un-mute the amp as we kicked off (fortunately I was in the PA too, so nobody noticed the lack of bass apart from me and Mr Drums, and I managed to sort it a couple of bars in!), b) the usual couple of curveballs courtesy of Mr Singer (including an almost complete trainwreck in Steve Miller's "Rock'n' Me" which we somehow managed to salvage), and c) a few more minor incidents caused by sweaty fingers, we got through the evening OK, and even the new stuff we were debuting went acceptably well. Gear was my 1997 CIJ Jazz, Trace AH200 head (acquired from @Deedee on here) and Trace BLX-110 cab, the usual Micro Thumpinator > NUX tuner > Ampeg OptoComp > Ampeg Scrambler > Ampeg Liquifier > Ashdown 12-band Graphic EQ/DI > Behringer DI600P DI, with charcoal Converse AllStars taking care of the footwear department. Now, let's see if I can get a phone video snippet to load... AnderbyVH MJLD.mp4

I played at our self organised Hullabaloo festival yesterday. Apart from being the assistant stage manager for our sound man, I was in a 5 piece band made up of people from our 13 piece main band. With two gigs, one of which lasted a marathon 4 hours, it was a busy day. The 5 piece played in the late afternoon and were the first of the bands that managed to get people up and dancing - seeing folks bopping along is always a moral booster. We hadn't been able to rehearse much and although everyone is a competent player, there was that 'will it all come together' feeling just before we started. Part of the reason for doing the 5 piece splinter band is to give the players a chance to expand on what they do in the main band - so each year we choose a couple of songs that will challenge us and feature the players who would normally be at the back of the stage. This year our Uke/trombone player (who is an accomplished guitarist) chose 'Sultans of Swing' on which she played the lead parts and our sax man picked 'Baker Street'. Both nailed it after shaky rehearsals and Baker Street was one of those performances that you realise early on is something special - everything just clicked - and it was amazing to be playing it. It's those moments that remind me why I love playing gigs. Of course, there were a few dodgy moments, mostly involving my singing ('Sultans' and 'I'm a Believer' and a distinctly off key element to my backing vocals on our opening number, 'Pinball Wizard'). But it was all good and there were some nice compliments for the band and my bass playing. The main band (the Hulla band) went on just after 7pm to a full village green - perhaps 700 people - and we played until just after 11. The festival is a charity event and we raise money for, amongst others, a local homeless drop-in centre. They have a choir and we had them on stage to sing with the band (they had played their own set earlier in the day). I always love the choir and band combination as the voices add an extra level to what were doing. This is the 5th years I've played this gig and it was by far the best performance we've done as a band. I was very happy with my sound - I went through the desk with no backline and using IEM and my Sterling bass was sounding so good that I decided not to swap basses half way through as I had originally planned. My kit line up for the day was a Sterling 34HH through a Sine Effects HPF (set at 40hz), MS60B for compressor, noise gate and octave/chorus (for one song) and an Ampeg SCI DI (unused back-up bass was my Ibanez 205). For the songs I played guitar on I used a Squire Telecaster that went through a Zoom MS50G+. IEMs came from a Behringer P16 personal monitor mixer fed from our Behringer X32 desk pre-fade so I had my own monitor mix which I was able to adjust (for example, when the singer decided to play his harmonica at full last through his vocal mic!) Footwear was courtesy of Skechers (if I mention them often enough I should get the sponsorship deal I'm after). As usual no photos have yet emerged of either of the bands I was playing in (as I was the principal photographer on the day). I will amend this post if/when they appear. Edit: Some photos from the night.

Bought this corvette as a back up ….just couldn’t fall for the post box red so I was going to move it on ..it did play and sound awesome ..so I spent Sunday morning stripping it back and waxing it Jacobean oak ..literally cost me my time and that’s it ..looks like it was originally antique tobacco it’s as ash wood and think I’ve been quite lucky with the grain ..🤟

Had an absolutely amazing gig last Wednesday playing in Guildford at part of the very busy GT Session weekly gigs. We were headlining out of 4 acts with a 30 minute slot. We weren't quite sure what type of set to play as each act was different and we originally decided to play a more uplifting choice of songs. The act before us was very chilled and laid back so we mixed it up and played some chilled songs and a few upbeat songs to lift the vibe and pick the listeners up. I can say we played an absolute blinder and went down a storm. I play fretless and the sound was incredible, so I decided to have a bit of fun by really bringing out the fretless tone, emphasising the slides and the use of my chorus and octave pedal, so much so that our singer gave me a nod and gesture to take a bit of a lead bass part as it was just sounding so good. After the gig, another bassist came up to me and said I saw you were playing so I had to come down and listen as you are my favourite fretless bass player and you sounded incredible 😲 Another bassist came up to me and was fascinated by the pedals I was using and what strings I was used and a few other people came up after and complimented me. Absolutely awesome gig and makes it all worthwhile.

We had a great 4 piece acoustic show at The Ziegler Winery yesterday. We had a very good guest blues harp player. I played sitting down because of my ankle. The 3 hour gig went fast and we were sounding really good to me. I was approached by several people after the show. I love that. It makes me feel famous. Lol The Ziegler Winery is a beautiful venue and they feature live music 3 days a week. Super nice crowd with lots of dancing. Perfect weather. Next week we have Summerfest in Milwaukee. Daryl

Sunday afternoon gig with the covers/original band at the Red Hart in Bodham. We were meant to be playing outside in the beer garden under the newly completed covered area (nice job) but the governor was worried by the forecast of thunderstorms and the likelihood of the rain being driven under the shelter (guess there are insurance implications). It was decided we should play indoors in the dining room but needed to wait until the end of the main service before setting up. I have been to jams and open mics in the dining room and wasn’t too impressed with the acoustics, so I was a bit apprehensive, especially as we had come equipped for playing outside. Fortunately, our drummer plays an electronic kit, so we can turn him down 😀. I had my two LFSys Monzas driven by a Blackstar U700, with a MB LMIII as standby. Basses: Guild Starfire 1 and a custom made P/J shorty. In the end I only connected the top cabinet and the guitarists just used their amps, with only vocals, drums and keys going into the PA. Somehow we managed to get a good sound, according to friends who had come to watch. I had the master on the U700 so low it was almost off but apparently could be heard throughout the pub: testament to the amazing projection of the LFSys cab. Unfortunately, waiting until the main service was over meant that we lost 50% of our audience and instead of a full beer garden, we ended playing to about a dozen people, with some leaving and new arrivals taking their place. The governor said he would normally have a full beer garden but the weather forecast had obviously kept the punters away. We were supposed to do a three hour stint but ended up doing an hour and 10 minutes for the first set and almost an hour for the next two sets. This was largely because the audience was appreciative and we decided to see if we could get through every song on the set list (bit of a paid rehearsal). Despite the temperature dropping it was very humid and with 5 of us crammed into the end of the room, it felt like a sauna. Anyway, we got good feedback from the punters and the governor has invited us back, so not a disaster. No pics: I must remember to take some next gig. Footwear: trainers to cope with being on my feet that long.

Our gig Saturday night was expected to be a bit of a muted affair, due to a range of other events happening in the area the same night. While we did lose a few of our usual following to these, it turned out to be a busy night after all, with plenty of new faces (and future followers). These included one bloke who I know from our village who never knew I was in a band, but had us recommended to him by the postman who regularly attends our gigs. Also there was someone I'd not seen since leaving school! Gig wise, the usual two 45 minutes sets of the British 76-82 punk classics - first outing for Stay Free by The Clash was a bit wobbly but well received! Played my shortscale LP Junior DC custom bass through the Orange Terror 500 and twin Isobaric cabs (lurking in the darkness with it's one glowing orange eye!). The Samsamp Geddy Lee YYZ pedal put a touch of damaged/overdriven speaker cone effect into the sound for authenticity, while the usual Dr Martens black safety boots (health and safety at all times!!) kept me the right way up all night! Next one is in a marquee at a scooter rally in a couple of weeks.....

Busy weekend, after a while of not doing anything. Had an hour slot at a local festival, Party by the Parrett, and got the 6pm slot which was nice. We had played a wedding and a party at the venue, and the guy that run the club liked us. Very well organised (stocked fridge back stage and everything) and handily the two main sound guys were the guitarists friend and one of the guitarists in my other band. We had argued a bit trying to get the set list down, we had been asked to do mainly rock (there was a more poppy band and a ska band on after us, so we stuck to the rock mostly) seemed to go down well and we managed to get it down to 1hr and 3 minutes, so went over a bit, which messed stuff up a bit but not too bad. We had quite a few dancers . My guitarist / sound guy did a video from the side WhatsApp Video 2025-07-05 at 18.45.55.mp4 Today we played a pub, outside, on shingle which is a bit of a pain for getting dust everywhere and trying to stand your drink up. Also not good for wasps (or well, good depending on if you are a wasp or not!), back to the normal 2.5 hour set. To be honest I wasn't really feeling it as my hand hurt for some reason but it went well with only a few notable mistakes, like going to do the organ backing section of Brick in the wall, and not realising I didn't change my patch from the backing track of Baker street (which is like a bell), which was quite amusing. We had a request for timber which we hadn't done for a year or so but the singer couldn't remember how to play it! Glad to get back to work tomorrow for a rest!

Yesterday I was a Punk Pirate, having been to the Brighton Guitar Show with #2 son during the day and managed to avoid an impulse buy of a 72 P bass. It was very nice as was the 73 and the canary yellow 75 , but I just resisted. Having left there around 3:30 and dropped son off I headed over to Emsworth for a little light pirating at Kingsfest. Almost didn’t bother with IEM’s because it was quick turnarounds, but guitar from my usual main band said the onstage sound was a bit muddled, so in the end I set it up and just took a mono aux with bass, guitar and vox and put one plug in and it worked well. Timings for the day got out of sync due to weather and the Fest starting indoors then moving out. Would have helped if the acoustic duo had used the second stage rather than main, so when the compère said “the Pirates will be on in 15 minutes” there were cries of “I don’t think so!” but we were on pretty quick. Still somewhat curtailed of set time, not helped by my right leg going through the stage just before we started so so quick patching required…”I be capsizin’ cap’n” … “‘‘tis but a scratch ya scurvy scum” 🤣 Pretty solid set generally. Some flubs, but we’re Punk Pirates, nobody died, and it was generally good. Good crowd up for it and a lot of money made for a dementia charity, so all good. 90725182-ba33-4dba-ac6a-e0da656b2980.mp4

I dont know what to say, other than thank you all, in very lucky to have so many people who care. Im making positive steps, ive started therapy to manage my depression. Im trying to give up alcohol (only two and a half weeks, but every day counts) eating better and no caffeine. Some playing oppertunities have came my way which will hopefully open doors, if asked 2 months ago id have made a BS excuse and said no, im not doing that anymore. Importantly my wife and i have finally opened up to each otherand while too late to save the marriage, l feel we can (in time) become friends and love each other in a different way. I feel like a light has been switched on and i can finally see clearly how this has come to pass. Heartbreaking but regrettably a common story. Some of you have offered very kind and shared your stories with me, and every one has helped me as i grieve. Once again, i am humbled by the generosity youve all shown, and you've taken a big chunk of stress off my shoulders.

We concluded our Welsh "tour" tonight, playing at Fuel in Cardiff. We had to go home after our set for various Father's day things tomorrow, so I'm home already after driving people back and enjoying a beer with the cat curled up next to me! We'd not played there before and save the sticky floors, it's a nice venue for that sort of thing! We went on at 8 and there was a decent crowd for us who, most importantly, stayed to watch us instead of vacating the room 😂 Always a good sign. A few gaffs, but it's all good! Same gear and footwear as above.

I actually bought this in March but have only now gotten around to posting it. Saw the ad on BassBros' socials about a collection of Fender Japan signature models they had just taken delivery of, and it immediately caught my eye. This is a Fender Japan Tomomi jazz bass in fiesta wash, with mint pickguard, CS 64 pickups and stacked knobs, amongst other distinctive features. I'll keep this brief - great specs, sounds great, plays great, and everything you have ever heard about Fender Japan's attention to detail is spot on. Really impressive bass First time buying from BassBros and it was a top-notch experience. Sam and Will were extremely helpful, the bass arrived on time, was well packaged, good comms and they are nice guys to boot.

Finished up at the bluegrass festival this afternoon in very heavy rain. Full 5 piece band and we had a good rehearsal before our set and then found out it was shortened to 30 minutes instead of the normal 45-55 minutes. Not much playing and a two hour drive each way. Yesterday we played at noon and the band was in good form and we were very tight and did a beautiful version of Seven Bridges Road, the acapella part was wonderful four part harmony, a good set and the crowd enjoyed it and our leader and lead vocal was back in good health. Usual festival set up, Czech DB with Nux wireless into Traynor amp and DI to PA, excellent sound guys and we sounded good.

Did a really lovely gig by the seaside near Swanage and, as well as a large fee, was allowed to order anything form the menu, which included this £70 lobster. Would have been rude not to!

We played the fabulous Richard Jefferies Museum in Swindon. A beautiful setting with what I thought was a respectable crowd. I flew back from Spain yesterday so we hadn’t really rehearsed. I think we have it in the bank though. A varied crowd from 3-87yrs old and the under 10s all helped us pack up. Luckily, the other half of my duo is a teacher so he was able to coordinate them so we had no breakages! Everyone was super friendly and it was certainly one of the more memorable gigs.

A very hot and sticky this last Saturday; a Bikers Rally at the Breighton Ferry. Absolutely cracking gig with lots of enthusiastic punters; sound was a bit of a problem as there was a wall in front of me a couple of metres out which gave me some horrible harsh sound spikes in the first spot.....the ears are still complaining despite me having moulded 21db Decibulz plugs.....

Played a gig at a classic car show yesterday afternoon with the covers/originals band. The venue was a farm/caravan site in Nelson’s birthplace. We were playing in the doorway of a barn which had been converted into the amenities block for the caravan site, so not as bad as it might originally sound: it even had coir carpeting in the band area. This faced across the main entry road to a courtyard/stable block which had been converted into a cafe, bar and shop. The classic car display was in a field to the right of this area. All a bit odd in terms of our audience but on the other hand, the owner was extremely welcoming, told us to get whatever we wanted from the catering for free and paid slightly more than the usual local pub rate👍. It turned out that kit messages were somewhat confused prior to the gig, such that I arrived with my EV active 12” PA speakers, as did the keyboard player with his Yamaha equivalents, the drummer also brought an active sub. Given the distance from our location to the punters, we opted to use all of it and DI everything. That made my two LFSys Monzas somewhat overkill for “onstage” and consequently I didn’t get my chance to open them up. The gig itself went OK but seemed a bit of a paid rehearsal as most of the punters were a long way away. It was like a sauna in the barn entrance but fortunately I had brought a towel and a change of shirt. I got somewhat irritated with the lead guitarist who was constantly turning round, urging us to speed up. I agree that we took a few numbers at a leisurely place but given the lack of A/C, or fans, I thought our drummer was heroic. Everything has to be taken at breakneck speed, or the lead is not happy. IMO some stuff just doesn’t work fast: I Can See Clearly now at almost 150 BPM; nah! It’s also pretty tiring over a 2 to 3 hour set. Anyway, we got a lot of compliments from punters; even some we couldn’t actually see during the set but evidently they had no issues hearing us given our double PA 😀. More importantly we have got a follow on booking from the venue.👍🤟

Good gig at the Felton Club in Peterborough depping with Stevie Daniels. Nice club, good stage, fun and engaged crowd. Played well with a couple of minor goofs. Pedulla MPV fiver through elf head and Genzyme Benz 1x12’s. Justin boots.

Hurtsfall played the Nottingham Craft Beer Festival in Sneinton Market on Saturday. If you are not playing covers these events can be a bit hit-or-miss and on top of that we were the last band playing that day, so we didn't really know what to expect. Sneinton Market is currently the "happening" area in Nottingham where all the interesting independent shops are situated in units in the old market buildings. On arrival we discovered that the beer festival had taken up the whole of the Avenues area and was entry by ticket only. However to allow people to still use the shops you could get in but didn't get a wristband which was required in order to buy beer. As performers we all got wristbands but I don't recall being asked to show mine before being served. There were two stages - one outdoors where unfortunately the performers seemed to be mostly ignored and also had to compete with all the other music - there appeared to be at least one DJ set up on every avenue, and the other in The Grove where we were playing. Probably the most convoluted load-in so far this year. There was only one entrance and some of the avenues were blocked off half way along the length meaning that getting all the gear to the venue involved not only negotiating all the beer festival attendees but also doubling back on yourself to get around all the blockages. Certainly not as easy as the last time we played at The Grove when it was possible to park directly outside the venue. Thirty minute turnaround between performers, whilst someone played on the other stage. No time for a proper sound check, set up, just one verse to make sure we could hear everything in the monitors and a couple of minutes to get changed and then we were on. Luckily there was nothing "miss" about this event. The venue was packed (that's not that difficult as it is really tiny) and it appeared that quite a few people had come specifically to see us play. Cue dancing, singing along to the songs and cheering in between. We even got our first proper encore. I'm a firm believer in both bands and the audience have to deserve an encore. None of this coming back on stage just because a couple of your mates have shouted "more". We were technically past the live music curfew but the sound engineer said do one more and so we did. Even sold some merch afterwards although at this sort of event you don't really expect to. Load out was much easier as the festival was over by the time we had everything packed up and we were able to leave by a much more direct route. As usual here's a couple of photos: Next gigs are on 10th July Supporting Miranda Sex Garden at Rough Trade in Nottingham, followed by Goths On A Field festival on Saturday 12th.

I’ve had 4 gigs this week so been quite busy… Last Sunday afternoon I was playing with the blues band at a pub in N.Lincolnshire. It appeared that very little had been done by them to publicise it so we played to a small audience ( and a dog! ) Finished bang on 7pm, and was back home by 7.30 - one of those rare times for me when I just wanted to take the money and run. Tuesday was a gig with the acoustic duo for a birthday party. Played in a nice garden, and managed to set up in the shade thank goodness, it was a hot one. Took along my little Ibanez PNB14 very short scale, and it suited the gig perfectly. The low tension strings were a welcome rest for my fingers, and the gig went really well, with a couple of enquiries for similar events. Wednesday was my weekly gig at the rock n roll club. Took along my large stage fan which helped with the heat. A good crowd of dancers in as usual, and we did more slow stuff than usual as they were getting a bit sweaty. Used my recently acquired Hartke head into the 4x10, am getting used to this now. Friday saw the blues band playing an early evening slot at Farmyard 2025, a large bikers festival on a country estate in Helmsley , North Yorks. A very well attended and organised event, with great staff and tech crew. Days before the gig I realised I no longer have a ‘big’ bass rig, and so took my (nearly vintage!) Barefaced Compact cab to use along with my Rumble 500 combo. Although the combo would have been sufficient, when the Compact was added it gave it massive clout so I ended up using them both. We did an hour set, which went very quickly. Nice to play on a big stage again, and I really enjoyed it. Also got to meet @peteb who was playing with his band ‘The Gentlemen Rogues’ immediately after our set ( see pics). Was knackered yesterday, but just getting ready for another gig today with the duo - a party in a local village pub starting around 4pm. Definitely taking my fan for this one, so hot today.

Shit journey to Sheffield - 2 hours on the M25 and then 4 on the M1. Great gig though, lovely crowd again, probably the best we’ve played on this tour. The drummer and I were very much enjoying our groove on many of the tunes. As always we are getting well into the groove as a band and the tour is nearly over! Shoes were Soul Cal & Co Converse lo top rip offs. Cheap and comfy and not too hot in this heat 🤓

Im overwhelmed and lost for words! You wonderful people have been a light in some of the darkest days of my life. The money is a huge help and allieviates some worry, all the lovely comments and advice have shown me i have people in my life that care. Ill withdraw my MIJ 75RI and ill take it to a gig on sunday, and lay down some funk in your honour 😊 @AndyTravis has been a rock and im very glad you're all my people. My sincere and humble thanks to you all.

Last night with Blockbustarz was in Camelon Juniors FC. First time in this venue and it was full. Small stage so both singers had to stand on floor in front of stage. Like most clubs folks want in early to get "their seat". People coming in 45mins before doors open which hindered us getting set up and doing a proper sound check but all was fine with it. You know you've had a great night when the bar staff shut the bar to get out on the dance floor for Shang-a-Lang near the end. Dancing from the start last night too and floor was relatively busy all night.. Feed back was incredible from so many people including the owner and the team that booked us and want us back again. Club shut the pool room to give us a decent sized changing room plus storage for all the cases and back up gear if required. Used the Sandberg VM4 into Shure wireless, Keeley bassist comp, Handbox WB-100 and Barefaced 212 cab and even tho i was standing close to the bass rig i could clearly hear the bass behind me. The Barefaced cab has surpassed my expectations. Few wee minor mistakes by us but only picked up by us. Mine was Ballroom Blitz where i just could not get that bass part in middle as if my plucking fingers couldn't move fast enough to keep up with drums. Not even a fast song but my head just wasn't working. That was 1st song second set so hopefully i'm fine next gig in 2 weeks. One huge bonus was that i adjusted my garage and put the Harley bike along the back wall allowing me to put the car straight in the garage after the gig and will empty it today. That will be how i do things from now on as it made life so much easier after a gig. Dave

Little Jazz duo gig in Essex (guitar and electric bass) - second gig in three years. Blew up my Acoustic Image Clarus and ended up playing through a Fender practice amp but just about got away with it. Couldn't have been bad as we got booked for another gig somewhere else on the back of it.

We played our first full gig last night (we did a short set at a charity event few weeks ago) We couldn't of hoped for better. The venue is outside but part covered... it's a bit different which makes a great place to play. We were all worried that we'd have problems with the mixer like at rehearsal, but all was good. There was a decent sized crowd with added benefit a hen do were there (big tick for target demographic there). It was our singer's first ever full gig and she was fantastic. She was insanely nervous to begin with, but after a couple of songs she was loving it. The manager told us it was the best attended night so far this summer and we'll get booked again, definitely. Also a guy from another band said he'd drop our name to a really good venue with good rates. A 10 out of 10 night.

Saturday Night party gig in New Wellington Newmarket. Rock Covers Trio - apart from drunks knocking the boom of the mic stand into the singer/guitarist mouth and teeth several times, overall a very good night, 50+ people, great crowd couldn't ask for better. I'd decided to go back to a P bass (reverse, no tone pot) after stints using my Dingwall ABZ and G&L Trib M2000, turns out simple is best for me, also went back to the Keeley Bassist compressor after using a UAFX 1176 and struggling with all the extra knobs and choices! Raised the crossover (Sine Effects X24) point for my drive from 680hz to 800hz ish and I was very pleased sound wise, my P has the D'addario EXL160BT 120-50 strings tuned to Eb, still plenty of tension and plenty of "heft" through the Tecamp Puma 900 + BF Super Twin set up. Still getting used to filling out the mix since going down to a trio line up.

Saturday, at the annual Folk in the Woods. It’s the inaugural event of the week-long Ripley Music Festival. It takes place at the Waingroves Community Woodland, a lovely area reclaimed from a coal mining site and managed by local volunteers. My covers band, Top Deck, finished off the day playing 7pm - 8pm. Back line supplied, so I was able to travel by bus with just my Mustang and a few bits. Any money raised goes to the upkeep of the woodlands, so no fees for anyone. However, it was free drinks and food for performers. I got a little bit confused by the paths walking back through the woods to the main road and bus stop. 🤪🍺

How was my gig last night? One word, sweaty! Played our local Billy Bootleggers with our acoustic trio, supplemented for this gig by good friend and multi-talented percussion, harmonica, and vocalist Mr Les Young. We were on straight after a local Dolly Parton impersonator who was entertaining a ‘bottomless brunch’ crowd who migrated off to other venues in and around the Ouseburn delta before we struck a chord. This gig is one with a mainly passing trade, but we did our usual trick of getting folk to stay so we had built up a medium sized appreciative crowd by the end of our second set. Lilly, my 1960’s Boosey Hawkes Excelsior coped really well with the heat and despite my fears, remained in tune for the whole gig, which is better than what I managed 😂 Picture may be used to keep small children away from open fires etc.

Gig 1 of 3 this weekend. We don't normally do 3 in a weekend but tonight's gig got moved from next week. Last time we played here we decided it was such a small, noisy area to set up in that we would do it "acoustically" because of the smaller footprint and lower volume. Of course none of us remembered that, so we shoehorned in the full kit again. The pub was rather quiet though with not many in. That lead us to a bit of musical silliness, which always helps a slower night go faster, plus engages the people that are there. So it ended up a good, if hot (I remembered the fan!) night. Best of all only 15 minutes away from my house and home by half past midnight. Cheap "stingish" bass into the usual Rumble. Converse feet.

Just sitting at a car charger outside Cardiff (before my onward journey back to Surrey…) following a lovely little Katy Hurt gig at Acapella Studios. What a lovely venue! First gig of the tour where we’ve had Cris join us on lap steel, guitar and mandolin, and Basschat royalty @Rich in attendance. We had a blast (common theme on this run of shows I’m pleased to say!) and made a lot of new friends I think. I still can’t sing in tune for more than about 3 notes. Shoes were black leather Chelsea boots today, v comfy but a bit slippy on the stage carpet 😀