dmccombe7

Audience probably think that about me anyways 😂 Our singers and drummer use IEM's but they seem to have some sort of issues at every gig. Probably cheap IEM systems but its kind of put me off a wee bit but i like the idea of no bass cabs to humph around at gigs. Dave

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

Blue Murder band had so much potential. Shame it never came to more. First class musicianship. Dave

I'm not sure whether that's good or bad news @Lozz196 😂 Looking forward to hearing your review on it if i'm still around by then. 😂 Dave

I'd forgotten all about this song with Kate Bush. That's an incredible version of my fav KB song. Tony's playing is absolutely superb and suits this song way better than the original bass line. Even the drums sound far better on this version. Dave

Sometimes its hard when someone isnt well but at least you still did the gig rather than cancel. We played a very busy venue once where our female singer was so unwell she had to leave stage to vomit in the band toilet next to stage area. She carried on until the end and we sent her home right away. We could have played the gig with just the one singer but she insisted she wanted to play it as its her local rock venue. Fortunately the audience were aware she wasn't well and were very appreciative that the band continued as normal. Its not an easy decision to cancel a gig so for me i think maybe a little praise for your singer that they didn't cancel and take it as a positive rather than a negative. Dave

Saw him play with The Firm at Glasgow Apollo many moons ago. I was very impressed by him. He was using a fretless Jaydee bass at that time. Have a listen to his Blue Murder album with John Sykes on guitar and vocals and Carmine Appice on drums. Here's the single from it. Dave

Last night the guitarist agreed it was his mistake and he somehow missed it. Probably because we don't put it in the set very often. Dave

That's quite interesting. I can see how that would work. Dave

Rehearsal on Mon night with Blockbustarz Glam band to run thru a few new songs for this Sat show at Dreadnought Rock venue in Bathgate. Also ran thru some songs we've not played for a while. Found a discrepancy in one song where guitar and bass was slightly out of sync. When i mentioned it and found guitarist was missing one note in a sequence he maintained that he's "playing it correctly because that's how the song is." and was adamant he was not at fault. Tried listening on a mobile but couldn't hear it clearly enough. Rather than make things worse i agreed to play it his way. Got home and following day it was annoying me so i checked my notes from 6 yrs ago and sure enough i was correct. I checked a bass tab and again my version was correct. I raised it with him again on messenger and hey ho he finally admitted he was wrong. That's what rehearsals are for but it was just the adamant "I'm right, your wrong" attitude with no compromise that took me aback. I'm one of those bassists that learn a song by ear and then looking for a bass tab or transcript to verify it and if a difficult part i'll use Youtube clips. Once i have it i write it all out myself for future reference. I rarely get it wrong because i spend the time researching it first. The original band members have always been aware of that fact and if i raise an issue they will stand by what i say but in 3 yrs the guitarist and myself have never had a difference in what was played. I think he'll listen to me if it happens again. Other than that we sorted out set list for Sat night as its a different type of venue to playing the clubs. More rock than dance songs. Drummer also brought some outfits that his mate from Glitter Band days had made and were not sold yet to see if we wanted any of them. We get a reduced rate. All bought from the guy. Rehearsal turned into a fashion show. 😂 Dave

Thanks Rob. This level is beyond what i did at lessons back in 70's and some of the terminology i've either not heard before or wasn't sure what it meant. Dave

Or they don't like each other. 😂 Dave

Nice one. All the best with it. Dave

I'm guessing the drummers at the bar getting the drinks in or is he asleep on a table somewhere ? 😂 Dave

I was hoping you'd tell me what it was 😂 Dave

Not seen much from you recent months @martthebass All well i hope. Is your singer also a leftie guitarist. Must be a Glam thing. Ours too. Dave

Yep our singer and guitarist tried using their wireless systems and had problems. Singer went for Sennheiser mic wireless system and guitarist / singer went Shure. No more issues. Dave

Brilliant, wonder if we should try that next time it happens. Dave

I think i follow what you mean Pete. I've heard bassists talk about playing from chord charts and just wondered whether or not it was something different to what i expected. Dave

When you guys talk about charts and heads what exactly is that. Its not something i do in bands and only read at home. Just curious if they are different from the transcripts you post Rob. Could you post one on here to let me see what you are talking about or even a PM. Dave

Its my pet hate at gigs. Dave

That's a good idea with the stage extenders. Are they supplied by the venue or the bands ? Dave

That's a nice looking bass. Dave

Aye that's what its all about. I assumed @neepheid was offering to buy it for me. 🤩 Dave

The Dingwalls are cracking basses for the money but i'm not spending a lot on any more gigging basses after my VM4 was knocked off its stand by a drunken bum while sitting on stage and i was getting changed after the gig. If i can and have the space i take my bass into changing area when not on stage but not all changing rooms have that amount of space. Dave