dmccombe7

54 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

I saw them on that tour when I was 16. 

 

Max Webster were a bit too out there, but I've loved pretty much all of Kim Mitchell's solo stuff, from 'Go For Soda' to 'Rock'n'roll Duty' to 'Ain't Life Amazing'! 

 

Not heard any of his solo stuff. Will have a listen on youtube today.

Dave

6 hours ago, Franticsmurf said:

The first band I was in had Gong, Steve Hillage and Hawkwind as the headline influences. Back in the late 80s there was some interest from the student population, but not enough to sustain gigs and we reluctantly moved away toward mainstream rock. 

Oddly enough i was listening to Steve Hillage the other day. Did see him late 70's / early 80's.

I was following the history of Camel bassist Colin Bass who played with Gong back in the day.

Dave 

5 hours ago, peteb said:

 

Good luck with getting gigs with that project! 

 

 

A Max Webster tribute would be a blast! I'm definitely up for doing a Kim Mitchell tribute if anyone is thinking of putting one together...! 

 

Amazing bassist with Max Webster too. Think it was Dave Myles when i saw them support Rush in UK. Hemispheres 1979 Tour

Dave

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Max Webster?

 

 

Saw them support Rush in the early years. Great band.

Dave

2 hours ago, steantval said:

We have a band in our area dedicated to playing just prog covers, the band is made up from the cream of the crop musicians in the area, they only do a few gigs a year and they are always rammed with punters and a lot of local musicians seeing how it’s done, the musicians in the band play in mostly party/wedding bands on a regular basis.

 

 

 

Once had a great day of drinking beer and watching bands with the talented Jim Gilmour just after he joined Saga. He's a local lad from back in early 80's.

Fantastic musician and really nice guy. We kept in touch for a while on FB but haven't spoken in a while now.

Dave

1 hour ago, peteb said:

 

The problem is that this isn't mainstream covers stuff that you could play down a pub. To get any audience, you have to be able to market it, which realistically means doing a tribute to one of the bigger prog bands. 

 

yep that's what i find. There is a band up here doing this called Outside the Original and they've struggled to get a decent audience at the beginning but the more they play the more people come along and they now fill or almost fill most venues they are playing. Venues i thought they would get a decent audience were surprisingly empty at the start..

I agree there's not a big enough audience for prog these days. 

One of my first decent bands around 1980 we played Magnum, Saga, Kansas, Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore and ELP Fanfare for Common Man. We also did a few rock type songs like Van Halen, Y&T and by some obscure Canadian bands (singer was Canadian). I had only heard these bands because he played them for us. Was a great band with fairly competent musicians still under 20yrs old. We played some great gigs and had great feedback but alas illegal substances within the band killed it off for myself and guitarist who stopped playing in bands after that. Shame 

Dave 

1 minute ago, peteb said:

 

There is a niche for most genres, although you might struggle trying to get an audience for playing Bruford covers! However, there are loads of Pink Floyd tributes doing well out there and a guitarist mate of mine is in a very successful Genesis tribute, who go out for a minimum £2k a night (even though personally I can't think of a band I would least like to be in a tribute to). 

 

I occasionally get the idea that I wouldn't mind doing the odd gig playing Billy Cobham 'Spectrum' type  stuff . The trouble is that it is such a small niche where you will be up against music college kids, where merely being good isn't enough. I could play it, but would be likely to struggle with the competition in that area, even though I think that I could more than hold my own against many of them playing anything with a blues element to it! You always have to balance what you like with what you're good at, along with what audience there is for any potential project. 

 

I always fancied the idea of a Prog covers band rather than a dedicated tribute to one band.

That way i could cover songs by all my fav bands from Genesis, Floyd, Camel, Hackett, Kansas, UK etc. 

I think the Bruford level of musicianship is probably a bit of a stretch for me.

I agree that for me its best to compromise and be good at what you do.

I never thought i'd ever play in a punk covers band but its actually great fun and the stamina required is quite a stretch when you play fingerstyle.

Dave  

When i started playing bass it was Thin Lizzy, Kiss, Deep Purple and then moved onto Prog bands like Genesis and Floyd and eventually Camel and that's when i ventured into bands like Bruford, Brand X, Moraz, Mahavishnu, Gino Vannelli and a lot of other bands where the bass playing was that bit more challenging. 

I've never claimed to be a Jazz bassist but i did learn a lot from those types of bassists.

Dave

12 hours ago, leschirons said:

You have a great sound, you're seriously tight and, because you have confidence in those on stage with you, you enjoy what you're doing and, make it look easy.

I think you nailed it with this comment. This is where i am now with both bands. It does make me happy to play gigs with both bands, i feel comfortable in them. If i chased the Prog dream i may end up with musicians i just don't click with and that would, for me, be a step in the wrong direction.

I'm in this mainly for fun and enjoyment altho the money is helpful but once the fun goes i don't really see the point but that's just my personal circumstances. If i was relying on the income i'd have a completely different attitude towards playing.

Dave

23 hours ago, leschirons said:

I'm finding it difficult to meet people here with the same musical taste and mindset.  Not sure the venues exist for laid back jazzy influenced stuff, which is what I'd like to do. Seems to be Blues or pub rock all around.

I guess that's what most folks want but unfortunately not what I want to play. I also think that I'm slowly losing interest in music full stop.

Think that is a problem for many bassists. My preference is Prog or Jazz Rock but having tried over the many years i just can't find musicians that want to play the same styles.

I was in a band for a while about 5 yrs ago that were doing Doobie Bros, Greg Allman, Tony Joe White and Robert Cray material that was new to me but i really enjoyed playing it but i'm not sure there would be a big demand for it. Unfortunately the band folded because the guitarist / BL was a bit of a t*t to be honest. I left and then they just drifted away to other bands within a few mths.

I'd still love to do some prog like Genesis, Floyd, Camel maybe a wee bit of Bruford but that would be wishful thinking on my part. 

I keep going and living in hope that my punk band will have a go at Suppers Ready or Echoes. 

Dave

23 hours ago, WalMan said:

Landed back from hols at sparrow’s fart. Bit of a nap then lock and load.
 

A couple of ‘how does this go again’ moments to start but woke up and cleared ‘flight throat’ for backing vox and overall a great fun night as ever at a small but appreciative pub 🤘😁

 

I still need to get things sorted with the IEM feed as something doesn’t seem quite right. I should be getting pre-fade, but I’m not convinced that I am. I set my mix, and then it changes leading me to suspect I’m getting post.

 

i also need to get a damn sight fitter and shed a few stone!!!! New bike due I a week or so so I must get on it regularly!

Nice looking bass. What is it ? 

Dave

4 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

How very diplomatic!

Dave

Anyway not a great weekend for gigs. Sundays charity event cancelled due to a lack of interest (they didn't advertise it while the organiser was in hospital) and now tonight's gig cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

Oh well unpacked the car and get the feet up wie a nice hot coffee watching Guns of Navarone ......... again. 

Dave 

35 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

 

The question 'Does Humour belong in Music..?' has its answer here. No bullying; I can't know the status of every BC member, and I dish these out randomly (so fairly...) whenever the mood takes me, whoever has blundered. It's usually only the predictive typing at 'fault' anyway, but the poster has not read through his/her copy to spot these little things. No kittens die, the sun rises the next day with or without my tiny joke, but, as it seems to offend so many folk maybe I'll sit it out for a while.
Have fun, y'all, bunch of grumpusses that you seem to be. I'm sorry that the lighter side of Life has not come across for you as I would have hoped. Never mind...   Peace.

You've caught me with the same post and i just had to laugh. Even if i did get it wrong its' not the end of t' world:

Dave

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Both Hurtsfall and In Isolation played the Goth At The Brewery Event on the 27th as part of WGW.

 

This is a free gig at Whitby Brewery on the Saturday afternoon of the Goth Weekend organised by Dominique from the band Westenra and over the past 3 years has grown from being fairly low-key to one of the major events of the weekend, and for those who attend WGW for the music probably as important as the "main" event at the Pavilion as it showcases the current generation of Goth bands. It draws a massive audience made up of people who are there for the music rather than parading around town in their "costumes" and is now so well attended that the main doors of the room are opened to allow people outside in the courtyard to see and hear the bands too.

 

This weekend was a "Nottingham takeover" with Chaos Bleak also playing.

 

Hurtsfall were on first at 2.00pm. We probably had the best on-stage sound of the afternoon, but even so there were problems with the monitor in front of me which kept cutting out. However due to the nature of the band we are well used to playing under less than ideal conditions, so it wasn't really a problem, and everyone we spoke to afterwards (including several people whose opinions I trust) said the FoH sound was excellent. The audience appeared to enjoy it, and we sold a decent amount of merch afterwards.

 

This photo was taken at the beginning of our set just before Sam, our singer, got everyone to move forward so that more people could get into the venue. Even after that there were still almost as many people outside enjoying the gig as there were inside (and yes that is Whitby Abbey you can see in the background):

 

 

And two more general gig photos:

 

 

 

Chaos Bleak probably pulled the best crowd of the afternoon due to both their time slot and their reputation. And then at 4.00pm I was back on stage with In Isolation. By this time it appeared that all the foldback had stopped working - There wasn't anything coming out of the wedge in front of me, and unlike during Hurtsfall's set I couldn't hear anything from the other two. Still we powered through our set even though it sounded weird on stage. Again we were told afterwards that FoH the mix was excellent, but it was unnerving playing some of the songs with longish intros on the backing tack where they were barely audible on stage, so having no clue when our drummer was going to count us in! Also we discovered that playing last in the afternoon isn't the ideal spot as people tend leave before the end so they can get ready for whatever night-time event they are going to. Still there were a decent number who stayed all the way through our set, and we even had to sign CDs at the end - something which always bemuses me...

 

For some reason there are a distinct lack of photos from our set on Facebook and this one of me was the only one I could find.

 

 

 

 

You have some cracking basses. Love the red and chrome bass. Looks amazing.

Dave

Better clarify that altho most of our gigs are ticketed we get a fixed fee for most of them. The venue takes the profit from the tickets. We play a few venues that we get an 80/20% split fee on the tickets.

Dave

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Hi Dave,

 

No paid rehearsal. The organisers have officially canceled the show.

 

I'm bummed too. This was a classy room with a beautiful oversized bar.

 

I was suspicious about this gig as soon as I found out it was not apart of their outside roof top summer live music series. 

 

Is there anything to be learned here?

 

Daryl

1. Always take a deposit and that way you still get some form of payment.

2. be more careful on what gigs you accept. Do the research

Dave

Have to admit almost all of our Glam band gigs are ticketed these days with some pay at the door drop ins if all tickets haven't been bought.

I'm not so keen to accept these charity gigs tho but drummer says we should take a deposit when its a charity event and that way we get 50% payment if cancelled

Venues need to realise that when they don't advertise and a gig gets cancelled because of it then we lose the opportunity of a gig on that day and its a loss of income for us. We could have probably had another gig somewhere else.

Dave

29 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

Update:

 

I just received this text from the band leader. 

 

"If Thelma leaves it up to us, how do you guys feel about playing to a small crowd in a big venue?"

 

I'm opting to do it. I don't have anything else to do. Lol

 

Daryl

Paid rehearsal Daryl. ?

We were due to play a Ladies Day charity event on Sun afternoon but the woman who was organising has been in hospital until few days ago and when she came out she found out no-one had advertised the event and ticket sales were virtually zero. We had been advertising on our own page but not much good to the local area of the venue if they don't follow us. Now cancelled too. Shame as i was looking forward to that one. Nice big venue with a decent sized stage.

Dave

Bought 2nd hand couple yrs ago on BC for £600, Taking a bit of a loss at £575. (no idea why the price is showing £5750, probably a typing error. i'm not good with my fingers  )

Added a Fender Hi-mass bridge, set up and fitted with a nearly new set of long life Markbass nickel strings. Love the tone but couldn't get used to the P neck. Prefer Jazz necks. Comes with a soft gig bag.

Has one little ding on back of neck first fret area as shown in the pic.

COLLECTION ONLY from Biggar area in Scotland.

Dave

9 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Sometimes I get hacked off that everyone gets the same especially as I lug and set up the PA most gigs but it saves any hassle.

 

Mamy years ago I was acting as roadie, PA hire co and sound man for a local band. I also attended every rehearsal. As a result I got 1/5 share, they were a 4 piece. At some point one of the WAGS got to hear of the arrangement. 
 

The result, I was asked to do it pro-bono. Needless to say we parted company. 

I would agree with the 1/5th share if you are doing all that then you become part of "the band" as far as i'm concerned.

WAGS should be seen but not heard. So many times they kill a good band.

Dave

22 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

The rather magnificent St Luke's in Glasgow.

 

Brilliant crew, and sound, too.

Forgot all about it Steve. Sorry i didn't manage to come along. About 50miles from me so not far at all.

Hopefully next time.

Dave

6 hours ago, casapete said:

Saturday night I played at The Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, which was my final gig with

The ELO Experience. Another grand old venue which first opened in 1901, capacity just under 1400

with two large balconies , the upper one being very high and steep.

The gig went well, a good onstage sound despite a change of rig as I’ve sold my usual one!
Used my GK800RB again, this time with my old standby cab - a Loud Inc 4x10. Really enjoyed

using it, and pleased it was enough for such a big venue/stage.

It was a near sell out gig which made it great for my last one, as well as being my 800th appearance

with the band. I first played with them as a dep at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in May 2009, and then

joined permanently in 2011 - first gigs were a short tour of Northern Ireland which were very memorable.

I couldn’t have found a better bunch of people to work with, starting out as a 5 piece & then adding 2

cellists and a violinist.  It’s been an absolute pleasure throughout, and I really will miss the band and

crew (pictured below) who have become like family. I’ll still be playing with the acoustic duo though,

as well as any deps that may come my way so will hopefully be gigging more locally for many years

to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congrats on a wonderful time with the band Pete. Glad i got to see you with them. Look forward to your Duo band posts on BC.

Dave

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

Cheers. 
i have had a reply or two so it’s all good. I did message them on FB and they got back to my email. Seems they have just been a bit busy. 

Ok don't keep us in suspense Dave, what ya buying. Will we see a NBD review soon ? 

Dave

Split evenly in both my bands even tho its one person in each band that arranges all the gigs and our drummer actually owns the PA and lights but still he's fine with an even share.

If that changed i'd be looking for a new band too.

I could see the argument for someone getting more if they owned the PA and did all the sound and booked all the gigs etc but not sure how you would agree to divide the cash at the end of the night.

Dave