casapete

Short review of their recent Leeds gig here. Hat very much in evidence again..... http://yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/Culture-Club-Leeds-Arena

Absolutely - politeness is always the best policy. Regarding sourcing our own food, think our personal best was £25 a man, so you did well! Mind you, IIRC most of our band got a takeaway and spent the rest on beer......😋

AWB scenario then!

Cancelling 3 days before the gig and nobody contacting you is pretty poor IMO. As you say, wouldn’t have taken much effort for the ticket seller to email you and everyone else. As for the ‘logistics’ excuse, WTF?

+1. Great lines and an ace player.

Saw Little Richard years ago and he had two bass players onstage - an old guy playing all the proper low end stuff, and a younger bloke in a flash jacket doing some dance moves whilst playing the odd upper register stuff over the top of it. Very strange.

Sounds like you need to have a think about their validity then? A quick buck doing such unsuitable gigs may well mean you get a bad name for not going down well and then impact on your earnings long term. Sometimes you just have to stay at home and keep your reputation (and sanity!) intact.

We did gigs for all the Forces, and were always looked after really well. Reckon their thinking was that copious food and drink kept us onside for long evenings, and they were usually right! Our band, and in particular the brass section, could put away frightening amounts of food and drink and yet still play fine afterwards. I gradually developed this skill, but as I've got older I find that I can't hack it so much now. My current band (playing theatres) rarely get food supplied, although we did have a small buffet at a venue recently which was greatly appreciated as it meant we didn't have to go out and track down some food. ( Depending on where we are / how much time we have, this can mean the inevitable Wetherspoons etc, which quickly gets tedious ).

Ha, remember doing the same when I was in a function band. We used to quite enjoy it when the booker gave us money to go and source our own food rather than have to eat at the event. Pretty much their way of saying they didn’t want musicians being seen mingling with their guests I think! Over the years I’ve had some spectacular meals provided on gigs though, with memorable ones being a 7 course meal for band members and their partners every New Years Eve at a Gala Dance in Scarborough, as well as a great hotel room being part of the deal. Also the best steak I’ve ever eaten at a castle in Ireland whilst playing at a wedding there, and the most amazing breakfasts (including Champagne!) at a five star hotel in Majorca when performing at a corporate event there. Strangely, at the most upmarket gigs we did in London I don’t recall being that well fed. Probably thought all us Northern blokes wanted chips with everything.....😄

Sounds like they’re the gigs you need to be promoting more then Blue, assuming you want to keep them of course?

Grrrrr……………….😣

I agree, seeing your idols ( and in my case sometimes my peers...) starting to lose it with advancing years is indeed very sad. ( Anyone see Rod Stewart on Strictly?) One of the few who haven't gone this way for me is Sir Tom Jones. I reckon he's still spot on despite his 78 years.

I was going to add BB to the list, but didn't he just keep getting newer Gibsons and call them all 'Lucille'?!! Same as Chuck Berry - although using one 355 for a long time, he just used later versions as and when I believe. Probably sold them on when Gibson gave him new ones 😉

Keith Richard's 'Micawber' Telecaster. https://www.fender.com/articles/gear/iconic-mods-the-legend-of-keith-richards-micawber

Anyone see Lee on Graham Norton show last night with Take That? Sounding good as usual. All the rest of Jeff Lynne's main band playing too.

How strange - I saw them in Manchester a couple of years ago and they were very good. Wonder what’s happened?

Just slightly OT, there is a great production coming up next year about the life of Mick Ronson entitled 'Turn and face the Strange', with loads of Spiders references and songs. The band includes musicians who were involved in Hull band 'The Rats' which Mick was in, and goes on to tell the story of how he met David Bowie, along with Trevor and Woody. More details here - https://www.hulltruck.co.uk/whats-on/drama/turn-face-the-strange/?fbclid=IwAR3Yc8c5hVh5hzsbGfUE3b03YPnXBpnPfFX6k5FfNSESPnA46Z7_TZEscks Bass duties are handled ably by local legend John Bentley, ex-Squeeze. I've already seen this show twice, and it is excellent.

Nobody mention Chuck Berry yet? After leaving Johnnie Johnson's trio to go solo he went on to become a key figure in the history of rock'n'roll.

Love a bit of Nils myself, but could be argued that when he left Grin to go solo he had more success? When the offer came to join Bruce his solo career had maybe become a bit static so it was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Best thing is that he still does an occasional solo tour doing smaller venues, so best of both for him. Lovely player and a top bloke too.

Massive fan of The Faces, but it could be argued that Rod Stewart went on to greater success after they split. Others could be Justin Timberland / NSYNC, Beyoncé / Destiny’s Child, Peter Gabriel / Genesis, Lionel Richie / Commodores.

Whilst I agree with you, I guess the engineer views it as just one less thing to worry about maybe?

Here's one of the tracks I saw on the OGWT. Still sounds good to me....🙂