bassninja

Regular monthly gig at a country pub miles from anywhere. We junked our usual pool of stuff and winged loads of things we haven't played for at least 5 years. Great fun, esp. since I didn't do BVs back then, so a bit of a fun challenge. Funny how songs I was bored of playing back then are now fun again...

Bit late but...Monday's gig was great. A trio I now play in only occasionally had a residency at an acoustic music club for about 13-14 years every Monday. I met some fabulous musos - many pretty famous, made a lot of lifelong friends and got my chops together in a variety of styles from country to bebop and all (well OK, most) points in between. We were sad when the club closed, and have all drifted off to find other things to scratch the itch, as it were. Anyway, Monday was a one-off 'reunion'. Arrived to find the car park stuffed to the gills, standing room only and loads of slaps on the back on the way in. Set up my wee Laney practice combo (plenty for the room, honest) and[i] twannngggg, brannngggg [/i]tuned up in front of an expectant throng with people coming up to shake hands and "Hi how have you been" type stuff. We were joined by our 'fifth Beatle' and old mate Jon Wigg on fiddle, and it took off from the first note really. The roar that met the end of the first number was fantastic, and we got an encore after the [i]first [/i]set. I sat in with anyone who felt the need for some bass, as ever, and got to play with an 80 year old accordion player too! Smiles all round, encore with everyone who could play anything- a bit like the end of The Last Waltz (!) great vibe and lots of "when are you going to do it again?". A really valuable gig that will see me through many chav-laden pub gigs in the months to come.

Finally! Back to the forum after an unexpectedly extended hiatus while Bassninja Towers was rewired, necessitating our moving out. Apparently bakelite fittings and valves are considered 'unsafe' these days (its political correctness gone mad...) So... a number of gigs; mainly fairly uneventful but one in particular stands out as worthy of a quick mention. Dep gig at a caravan park in Somerset for a 'Country Music Festival'. Not my usual cup o' tea but the kids have to eat. Several of the holidays parks in the area, it seems, had banded together for the 10 day event, including quick-draw pistol competitions and other western type diversions. We did an hour's spot at Sunday lunchtime to about 500-600 hardcore country fans, including many Confederate re-enactment enthusiasts. Great attention to detail in the uniforms and firearms ([i]yes: Firearms!!![/i]) and obviously very sincere in what they do. I was not prepared, however, when they all stood tearfully to attention, hats off and hands on heart, at the end when the multi-instrumentalist in the band played 'Dixie' on a fife. I should have been ready for the first sight that greeted us on arrival after a horribly early start. A man in a stetson hat, suede chaps and spurs with a gun belt and pistol riding down the road on one of those electric buggies that are so helpful to our more elderly friends and neighbours. Myself and the soundguy almost choked when, as we pulled out to overtake him, we noticed a stuffed horses head stuck on his handlebars. Tip o' the hat to the support band 'Dog Gone' who travelled from Essex for a one hour set, and put in a really decent show, including some fairly athletic dog-house bass playing.

Hobbs Farm Festival, West Sussex. Cool Good sound from the off, asked to play an extra 30 mins due to the 'next band' being stuck in the mayhem that is currently the A27. Made a change from the usual 'we're running over a bit, could you lose two numbers?' [smug]I was the only band member without a hangover[/smug]. Lots of people hanging out and the vibe was good, nice solos, good interplay with everyone listening well. An improbably tall drummer introduced himself to us afterwards (independently recommended by people who know), and it looks like we'll hook up for a jam at some point. Might be interesting...

John (or Jon) Lester was great when I saw him at Larmertree a couple of years ago. Solo electric and upright, with decent songs, too.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='279499' date='Sep 8 2008, 09:31 AM']I wandered down an alley at one point and came back with a chimney for my boat - result![/quote] ...

[quote name='Josh' post='275122' date='Sep 2 2008, 12:30 AM']May I present, Brian Fox:[/quote] From his MySpace: "[i]I used to have the 2nd longest hair in LA![/i]"

Thursday night, a pub in the middle of LA (Little 'ampton) Pretty decent turnout for a Thursday, with lots of players in evidence. This was one of the handful of gigs each year we now manage with the electric band that used to be my main gig. Must have been OK, since the locals bought us beers for the night. All happy with playing and sound, and lots of nice dynamic jams. We even convinced the drummer to sing one... I think I'll strip down my pedalboard to just my DI/preamp, I hardly ever use the other stuff Had to miss last nights acoustic gig, having broken down miles away from the gig, and RAC not able to get me back in time Fortunately, my other two oppos could cover it as a duo. It will have been rubbish, of course

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='269316' date='Aug 25 2008, 09:37 AM']We played a marquee in Amberley Castle, near Arundel.[/quote] Not far from the Ninjadome, Kiwi. Classy gaff. We did an early slot at the Nyodema Festival on the coast. Pretty good playing. Guitarist fighting the monitors a bit and broke a string, so we finished one number early, which everyone was cool about. Good soundman who knows us well, and usually gets a good sound up in a fairly short time. This time, though, he had new monitor cabs and could only squeeze an unpleasant upper-middly tinniness from them. No harm done, however and we schmoozed our way out of it fine.

'Tennessee Plates' by John Hiatt, Live at Austin City Limits. Oh hang on... now its 'The Country Life' by The Watersons.

Last night, a country pub where we've played loads over several years. Not bad but not great either. Good to catch up with some of the locals who we've come to know since we started playing there. Drunk Scots guy asking for 'Time in a bottle' on several occasions was amusing, and we noticed young ladies going into the loos in suspiciously large groups. I wonder what's in there? They certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves after they came out again. Hmmm. I bet they smuggled a flask of tea in or something..

Coach & Horses, Chichester. Good crowd, I was happy with my sound and I think we all played pretty well. One bandmate not too happy with everyone else's sound, though. I'm considering either IEMs for him, or a bloody isolation booth, possibly in the car park. [rant mode] How can you be surprised if the cool piece of kit you've just bought doesn't sound [i]immaculate[/i] as soon as you switch it on without even trying it first? Repeat this over the course of a year with about four pieces of kit that he believes will render all others obsolete and it gets a bit tedious[/rant mode]. Its a good job I know him well enough to say so (fairly diplomatically) without it getting all testy and handbags-at-ten-paces. I'll try once more: [i]" Ok fellas, we really need a PA rehearsal"[/i]

I hear Aberystwyth is very pleasant this time of year too...

A gig for an annual 'dinner & dance' of the Natural Childbirth Trust, at a Wildfowl Conservation Centre in rural West Sussex, sometime in the mid 80s. We'd been booked for our whimsical folkiness, as a result of one of the band knowing one of the people on t'committee, you know the score... But they booked a comic/compere through an [i]'agency'[/i] unseen. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, they were charging a fortune, so it must be OK, eh? After we'd set up and gone away for a glass of wheat grass juice and placenta or something, we met the comic trembling in the dressing toilet. His agent had given him; a blue comedian from the northern club circuit, a gig for a bunch of cheesecloth wearing, muesli-eating composting fanatics. His schtick involved a Les Dawson/Bernard Manning type gag-based routine with some parts dependent on a pre-cued backing track, which he operated. He asked our guitarist to hit 'play' on his backing tape on a given signal, at which he then appeared with much pizazz from behind a curtain playing something or other on a trombone, as I remember. He 'worked the room' to this tape (does anyone remember George Chisholm?), and sauntered over to the deck so he could stop it, ready to be cued up for the next part of the routine. Only he hit 'fast forward' instead... The next forty minutes was agony to watch as this blue comic frantically tried to find his place on the cassette while trying to do his routine, largely over his shoulder, in such a way as to be as inoffensive as possible, becoming more and more flustered with every silence that greeted the latest gag about his mother in law, and 'Don't cook fish for tea Mother, because Dad's coming home with the crabs...' We felt his pain. But Schadenfreude is a guilty pleasure

Arundel folk club. Not the kind of gig I do much anymore, but I seem to have had a couple of late. Always nice to have a receptive, listening audience. Isn't it annoying when you leave the expensive, bells-and-whistles gear at home and get a fantastic sound with your ropey old practice amp? If only I could get about 300w of it... Joined by a mate to play nice Jerry Douglas type dobro on a couple of numbers. Superb light show, courtesy of a very welcome thunder storm outside.

The Crown, LA (Little 'ampton). Charity get together for a local music project, we had a 30 minute spot among other local bands. Sonically a bit of a struggle using the house Behringer set up (hmm...) and amazingly loud middly monitors to begin with. Played a skiffle-y set with our 'retired' band who get together every couple of months when other projects allow. Good fun, and lot of folks in attendance, including Silverfoxnik and WalMan with whom (grammar) I had a good old basscentic chinwag after. Thanks for coming down fellas we'll have to do it again.

Sounds a bit tedious, really. Love 'em all individually, but a Three Bass Hit... I'm not so sure. Hats off to you, Sir, for using the word 'vespiary', though.

Good show old boy...

A folk club in a theatre somewhere on the South Coast. Everyone happy with their playing again in spite of a couple of dodgy PA moments (out of our hands). All OK, if a little uninspiring. Best pint on offer is Boddingtons (pah!) Guitarist's mother performing in Guys & Dolls at the same venue by chance, so they both went out for a post-gig bevvy afterwards, cool.

Thursday & Sunday, Larmertree Festival. Great vibe as ever, all nice & relaxed. We played our set to a good number of enthusiastic people in great weather at the start of the festival. Everyone, for once, was happy with their sound and performance at the same time. Unexpectedly whisked away immediately after by 'artist liaison' (?) to a CD signing: felt a berk. Our Sunday set was in the Acoustic Roots Cafe to a bunch of lazing revellers, lovely aromas in the air, as it were All a bit rushed beforehand, but a nice version of Wes Montgomery's 'Four on six' seemed to fit the vibe nicely, among other stuff suited to the laid back atmos. Home now with the post-festival blues. BTW Saw a great band from Bristol called Bizali: superb bass & drums with acoustic guitar/loops and stuff. Worth a look... Also, the Park Bench Social Club were triffic.

Disastro! Gig at the Fountain, Chichester. I discover that my Trace kit (just back from the repairer) still has the same terminal problem it went in with. My 'spare' combo (Peavey Databass) is still in the van from last night's gig somewhere in Sussex, custodian out of reach of phone. Only the 35w Laney 10" practice combo available. This gig is with a flailing drummer and enthusiastic punters playing Little Feat/Allman Brothers/Grateful Dead type stuff. A couple of calls later, managed to convince a reluctant band to use one of my other bands' 1K HK rig (sub & stereo tops) with the wee Laney on a windowsill as monitor, DI into the rig from my Sansamp, and persuaded the guitarist to use a small valve combo with an SM57 on it. Much harrumphing and complaining from embarrassed old me, and many *tsks* from the fellas but the show must go on... Surprise, all went really well and a lower on stage sound with more room was a real pleasure to deal with, such that the other guys suggested we try the setup more often. Another one for my 'Anticipated crap gigs that actually turn out really well' hypothesis (two in a week? I must have moved into the Twilight Zone). Now much relieved and settled down with a bottle of Hoegaarden and crap telly.

A 'country' gig at Borders in Oxford Street, CD launch for an album I did about a year ago. Not my regular gig, but I know the material and the other players well, so hey ho... There's some narration on the album; a story from the American Civil War. Who should turn up to do the spoken parts but Peter Donaldson, voice of Radio 4. I tried to get him to quote some classic selections from the shipping forecast, but he declined gracefully. I'm glad to report, however, that he [i]did[/i] wear a dinner suit and bow tie. Various media types about too, with talk of doing a documentary at some point. Also in attendance were some folks from an American Civil War reenactment group in full regalia with flags and the like. Not my cup o' tea really, but it all added to the vibe. There will be a few more of them over the next few months, but I've made my excuses (study, other band commitments etc) and there's a good dep on standby. Festival gig next week, so fingers crossed that the rain will indeed stay mainly on the plain. Preferably in Spain.

[quote name='artisan' post='236063' date='Jul 9 2008, 08:51 PM']our singer has just told me he can't practice with us as he's too busy with his scout group[/quote] Tea drinkers and hell raisers! Good luck with the new projects, geez

Town pub in Bognor Regis. A bit apprehensive on arrival as the AC/DC and Van Halen were audible from some distance from the jukebox and we're an acoustic three piece (no drums) doing more or less the complete opposite. Anyhow, they turned out to be a really friendly bunch and we got paid before the first note, didn't have to buy a drink all evening and got a string of return gigs throughout the rest of the year! We've only played together for about an hour in the last month, so it was great to get back in the saddle and jam. It was a bit random to have a swarthy geezer with Harley tattoos and abundant ear-hair say "I F***in' [i]love[/i] Django Reinhart, do some more.." WTF? It all feeds into my "Gigs you look forward to turn out rubbish, gigs you dread turn out great" general hypothesis. Still gassing for a Jazz V, though...

Friday night in a remote country pub again. Great fun, tiny rig- just my little Laney practice amp and one Mackie cab. All singing and dancing with great banter. Guitarist in other acoustic trio due back from Thailand on Tuesday, into scurrying rehearsals for impending festival gig.