casapete

I'm still fairly good with songs, even at my advancing years. In my acoustic duo we play 100's of tunes, and most I can remember although for some strange reason it's the keys that often catch me out! Once I've got the key then the song just falls into place for me, and this is quite handy when we decide to drop the key for any reason - we call them 'sitting down' or 'lunchtime ' gigs, where we may be feeling a little rough and the vocals will be too much of a stretch! I guess I must subconsciously learn songs in a way that easily translates to other key signatures. The other stumbling block for us is lyrics - we can both usually remember the tune / chords etc but the words don't come to mind so readily. For those occasions we have an Ipad Pro running the Forscore app with song lyrics to help prompt us. Didn't like using this at first, but it's certainly better than freezing halfway through a number etc. Also most big touring bands (of a certain age anyway) seem to use those large monitor screens with the lyrics scrolling along, so hey ho.

One of those songs that when you hear the original you realise it still sounds amazing, especially as it’s now around 50 years old. Great drum sound, and Andy Fraser’s bass part is sublime. Annoys the sh*t out of me when you hear covers bands killing it though, with the usual errors - wrong guitar riff, bassist playing through the verses / worst of all not playing the pedal root notes in the choruses. And relax.....

We been asked for it a number of times in my country band, and also occasionally in my acoustic duo. Always seems to go down well whenever we’ve played it too. I think it’s popularity in recent years was something to do with it being adopted by the England rugby team and their fans, giving it a new audience.

To be fair, they had given us prior warning of the Mexican theme. La Bamba did feature (naturally) along with a few other traditional tunes, and we did use some artistic licence to include some ...err..related stuff such as Loco In Acapulco, El Paso, Santana tunes and then some Tex Mex stuff like Tequila etc. ( With apologies to any Mexican BC members)

My acoustic duo did a gig last summer in a country house rented for a weekend by the booker in West Yorkshire. It was a birthday celebration, and we played in a corner of a dining room for the whole evening, right next to a table with a total of 15 seated guests. First and second sets were whilst they were eating, and then we played a last set of uptempo stuff during which a few pushed back their chairs and got up to dance in the rather limited space available. Really nice people though, who just politely asked for requests every now and then. ( It was easier than the last gig for them , where we’d been asked to play Mexican stuff all night to go with their party theme! )

Just had to check something in my last year's diary so had a quick look at gigs done - 130. These mainly consisted of theatre gigs with the ELO tribute band and acoustic duo gigs ( private parties / pubs / cafes etc), along with some dep gigs and function / event stuff. Think this is probably roughly around the same amount as in 2018 too, so happy to still be here (or anywhere really...).

We did our first gig of the new decade last night in our hometown of Hull. It’s always a bit of pressure on everyone after the December lay off, in front of some 1200 people who have followed us since we started out over 12 years ago. To add to this it was the first big gig with our new keyboard player too, so everyone very wired as we went on. Needn’t have worried though, despite a few ‘moments’ we managed to do pretty well, and the audience were so up for it and supportive which made it fly by. We had the PA stacks positioned differently from previous years, which meant there was more sound leaking on stage so I had to turn my amp up a bit more than usual. Made me realise that it’s always handy to have that extra headroom available. My GK 1001 / Neo 410 still didn’t break into a sweat though, so happy days.

Having tried them, for me Elixirs are not ideal. Mainly because I don't get through uncoated strings that quickly to begin with, being fortunate enough not to have sweaty hands! I can make a regular set of D'Addarios last a long time, even though I replace them way before they're getting tired. I also found Elixirs didn't sound that bright from new, although to be fair they did maintain the same tone for a long time - it's just that I like that 'new string' thing which they didn't give me. Also they feel a bit different too, which maybe clouds my judgement. Price wise they probably do make sense I guess, being approx. double the price of my usual set but lasting maybe 3 times longer or more. My guitar playing mate in my acoustic duo won't use anything else but Elixirs , but he can kill a regular set of strings on one gig!

Was going to mention this too. Metal parts on straps will nearly always at some point do some damage to the instrument. ( I know this from bitter experience many years ago.) Also I’ve seen many straps where the damned buckle seems to be on the player’s shoulder area too, not great. I now avoid these and go for the type not liked by the OP.

Just got in from my gig. Quite a good crowd, most of them up dancing all evening so job done I think. Am now enjoying some cheese & biscuits with olives and a glass of Punk IPA, marvellous. ( My sleep may be threatened by this Silvia, but as it’s the end of my run of seasonal gigs I’m risking it!) Happy New Year!

Nail / head.

At £39 they are still a great buy. Do it!

At the risk of repeating myself, I’ve been banging on about mine for ages! Must have had it 6 or 7 years now, and it’s still looking like I just bought it. Used it in my main band doing up to 100 gigs each year, and it travels everywhere with me - in and out of our splitter van and always into my room when we’re staying over somewhere. Okay, it doesn’t get chucked around by road crew but it’s seen some use. These cases are strong and protect the bass really well along with being light and extremely easy to carry. Mine is the shaped version which I’d recommend over the oblong one. TBH for £35 it really is the definition of ‘no brainer’. Loved mine so much I bought another as a spare which is still awaiting use.

Great clip, forgotten how good Rory was TBH. Saw him in Hull in the early 70’s and he was fantastic. Such a great tone from his Strat too.

Complete with authentic grammar too......😅

Blimey, didn't see that. Looks like a great deal.

I have a Rumble 100 and can't praise it enough. Bought it to use on acoustic duo gigs with my EAB, but have done some hotel gigs with it over this festive period and it has coped brilliantly. Guitar / bass / loud keyboard player line up with no probs. I also love the tone and especially the portability - the combo is even lighter (a shade under 10kgs) than my BF Compact cab which I've previously used with a class D head for these type of gigs. You see them going s/h for less than £200, and the new prices appear to have dropped a bit recently too, around the £250 /£260 mark.

When my band used to do such gigs, I was always amazed how many top London hotels had poor access to their function suites & ballrooms. As well as Claridges I remember The Waldorf and The Savoy as being a bit 'challenging'. I remember doing a gig on Park Lane (think it was at The Dorchester) where timings for the get in and out were timed like a military operation and needed to be silent so as not to disturb the owner's (Sultan of Brunei) wife who lived in an adjoining apartment. And don't even mention the parking.....

Dinner dance function for me, at a hotel 15 mins away. Done it the last few years and it’s not the most exciting gig, although the fee is. Think it may be the last one though, so will see what transpires for next year - 2020 may even be my first NYE off in over 30 years.

Took my daughter to see Brian Wilson and his band in Liverpool a few years ago, and they opened their set with this great song, in June!! Go figure.

Anyone done the Pavilion Theatre in Cromer? Situated on the end of the pier, you had to park the van at the beach end, then load all the gear onto a vintage cart (like the type you used to see on railway station platforms in the 60’s) and push it down the wooden pier to the theatre on the end, next to the lifeboat station! Took many trips to complete the load in , which wasn’t fun when the weather was kicking off. Then after the gig, the same thing but in the dark, with the North Sea raging around you, whilst trying to dodge the many night fishermen who used to be scattered along the pier. Cracking little theatre though, run by some great people.

Blimey, some serious reductions there.

Agreed. For a long time now, the whole 'singles chart' thing has been a completely different world from what it was originally. Most mainstream acts usually had single releases, even those considered primarily album bands (OK, Zep and Floyd may have been some of the exceptions! ). The thinking was that singles led to album sales and also increased awareness of those acts. This was in a time (60's /70's) when pop music was still relatively young. Nowadays many singles enter the charts quickly (without mega sales required) and also leave at the same rate. Those bands that are still liked by the older music fans rely on album sales and touring to earn their keep. Singles are no longer needed to acquire new fans, as they have a massive following from over their long history that faithfully still buy their stuff and keep them going (I should know, I'm one of them!) Even bands like The Stereophonics are now approaching 30 years old so hit singles aren't a priority for them, apart from getting some Radio 2 airplay maybe in order to plug the new album or tour.

Weight is the deal breaker for me when looking at buying a bass. Since an accident left me with a shoulder with lots of metal in, I've always had to use the lightest bass that's practical, especially as a lot of my gigs involve long sets. I have three Fender Precision Lytes, all around the 7lbs mark. I can gig them without worrying about discomfort and pain, and don't see me changing to anything else soon really unless a nice Maruszczyk comes up around the same weight. My Danelectro Longhorn is probably 6lbs tops, plays and sounds great although unfortunately it's not that suitable for a lot of my gigs. Agree with Paul S above - some headless basses like the Hohner stuff are very manageable weight wise too, and come in 4 and 5 string versions.

Not a problem Dave - think it's his voice I can't get past TBH, but hey, each to their own! Merry Christmas, Pete.