dmccombe7

When i started back up again with bands at age 50 i went thru same sort of things. I've been in so many bands in the past 10-12 yrs i've lost track of them but i enjoyed most of them musically but the people is what failed for me until my 2 current bands. Glam band is now 5 yrs old and the punk band i joined 2 yrs ago now. Same drummer and female singer in both bands so that makes life a lot easier. The Glam band was good to start with but our new guitarist joined over a year ago and its transformed the full band experience. He's just a better fit and a happier person that has fitted right in Never give up if you really want to play gigs. At some point you'll meet the right people for you and WOW what a difference it makes. Dave

Sounds like a little lack of communication between you all. Once you've explained your situation i'm sure it will make things a lot easier. Might be worth a band meeting at someone's house or even a coffee shop to discuss. Somewhere away from the band / rehearsal situation that might cause a distraction from talking about things. Dave

And he wears a mask of some kind.

The show must go on is a nice myth. Under certain circumstances it needs to be cancelled. I'm not sure i would go ahead with this one if you have a heart procedure scheduled for Tues. That's a bit irresponsible from a health point of view. Its not just you or the band you need to think about. Our guitarist's girlfriend suffers from ME and if he catches Covid and passes it on to her she can become seriously ill. I'm lucky that covid hasn't affected me at all even tho i've had it. As a band if any one of us catch it now we would probably cancel the gig but its a difficult one for any band. Our singers wife caught it few weeks back and he confined her to upstairs bedroom and he slept downstairs and they literally lived apart for 10 days until she got the all clear and he never caught it at all. Wish you all the best on Tues and take care. Dave

Well done. Dave

I'd put my cards on the table with the guys and just explain where you are and what your concerns are and just explain what you've explained here. Give them a chance to remedy the situation rather than just walking away from what appears to be a good viable band option for you. Don't make it sound like a threat but more of an explanation and say how you feel and if as a band they can't adapt and make a few changes it might be better for you to leave and let them get someone in that's more suited to their way of working. You may find a couple of things happen. 1. they've just been used to other bassists not pulling their weight and they've had to continually push to get songs done and its now habit. 2. they've struggled to get a competent player and will back off a bit to accommodate your concerns 3. they might decide you aren't suited to what they want. No point carrying on with issues that annoy you so much you need to have a wee "rant" on BC. Just kidding its why we are all here and we all have our wee moments. Hopefully it all works out in a good way and you all agree on the best way forward. All the very best Dave

40 yrs anniversary is impressive for any band. Is it still all the original members or is it a bit of Triggers brush scenario. 😂 Dave

Same thing happened to me in 80's where the venue DJ had a smoke machine and i had one but neither of us knew the other had one. As we stepped on stage i immediately fired up ours at same time DJ decided to do same. Audience told us they couldn't see the band for the first 3 songs until the smoke cleared. In those days it was oil based smoke machines and the smoke tended to hang about longer than with the modern water based units. Some folks said it was a bonus not seeing the band We were a rock / prog covers band back then. Not many local bands used a smoke machine so it was quite a novelty for most venues. No smoke alarms back then either The ones i have use either a wireless remote or footswitch so you can fire it up with the wireless switch pre-getting on stage to create a bit of atmosphere and once plugged in use the manual footswitch as the wireless switch interfered with my old Mesa head. Dave

We've stopped sing my smoke machines as most venues won't allow them nowadays. Dave

At the moment i'm pretty happy with my 2 Sandbergs. Dave

Our singer wants us to cover that song for next years gigs and i'm really looking forward to learning it. Any tips welcome Dave

Explains the large piano in the pic. That must be a great band as i love doing Elton songs in our Glam covers band. So many great basslines in his songs with some amazing players over the years. Dave

What an amazing pic. Looks like a very interesting venue. Dave

Had a Dingwall NG2 5 stringer for a couple of yrs mainly for a Prog project i was working on but i prefer 4 strings. It was a terrific bass tho and i would buy another 4 string Dingwall. Dave

Yep i remember us discussing this very issue about being dependant V's playing for fun. We talked about bands under-selling themselves or playing for nothing and how it affects the market and other musicians who rely on income from gigs. My views and opinions have changed since that discussion and now totally agree on the value of pricing our gigs accordingly to keep the market healthy for musicians and bands. We now have an agreed minimum fee with both my bands. Dave

Its funny plus a turnaround for me. When i restarted playing in bands it was solely just for fun and never for the money but now that i'm gigging a fair bit i'm finding the extra cash very very handy. So far this year we've re-furnished our main living room I'ts also allowed me to buy a fair amount of new gear to satisfy my GAS. Its even funnier that with the Glam band i find myself not wanting to play for less than our usual fee even charity gigs i expect the full fee. I'm becoming greedy i jest of course. Dave

Over the many years i've been playing i've given up at different levels ie playing in bands, playing at all, even at home, but always having my Warwick Thumb NT89 as i love that bass and would never sell it. I got back into bands when i turned 50 after 15yrs off and never really looked back. I'm busier now than i ever was but its still just a hobby for me. I really enjoy playing in bands now that i've retired at 56 yrs old the pressure is off and i have the time to put the effort in that a band requires. I've always maintained that if it starts to feel more like a job i'll walk away but for now its all just good fun in both bands. Maybe its just good luck that both bands have great people in them and that makes life a whole lot easier. For those thinking of giving it all up i'd say take a full break from it and see how you feel in 6mths to a year. If after that time you decide to walk away i would recommend keeping the minimum amount of gear to gig and practice at home with just in case you change your mind again. Dave

Think i prefer the Fender. It has a bit more warmth and depth when flat but once the EQ is brought in they sound quite similar. Dave

I've only tried the older models and found the same thing with the woolly tone but wasn't aware the button was different from other amps. I also didn't have enough time to fiddle about with it. Lot of great players use them and have a fantastic tone. I considered the new version 600 before buying the Handbox WB-100 but its wider than my cabs and that put me off. Dave

That is a thing of beauty. Always fancied one. I'm away to have a youtube listen now. Dave

Best :- Ampeg SVT7 Pro. Just loving the tone from it plus its reasonably light and portable. Shure GLXD Wireless (pedal version) which has been so easy to set up and use and has never let me down or had any issues over the year. Elixir nickel strings now on some basses since May and still sounding nice. Designacable cables that i originally got for my wireless transmitter with an angled jack. Since then all my cables have been bought from them. Worst :- various strings i've tried that haven't lasted or the got lost in the mix for some weird reason. Markbass, D'addario XT's to mention a few but now on Elixir nickels which are doing exceptionally well. Dave

Yep spare bass to every gig and never used. I used to play the spare first set but preferred my main Sandberg basses and now just stick with them VM4 for Glam band and MarloweDK for the punk band. Dave

Basses probably aren't the most important things in your life and family will always come before basses. Its a difficult position to be in and i can't begin to understand how it feels to be in that position. I can only offer my best thoughts and wishes for a better 2024 for anyone in the same situation as @bubinga5.Here's hoping it finally picks up for you soon. Dave

Few pics have appeared from last nights Glam gig.

This was posted on our FB page last night by a local band reviewer for the Dreadnought in Bathgate. Very humbled by it. No pics or vids have appeared as yet. Dave This year I've had some good nights, some really good nights, some great nights and some exceptional nights in the Dreadnought.. Tonight's gig was on another scale completely... For ny on THREE HOURS the packed Dread was treated to a Christmas Party of epic proportions courtesy of the phenomenal glam rock covers band Blockbustarz... Mike, David, Colin, Lynn and Barry were tinselled up, hairdoed up (Barry had a hat on), silver suited up, glam rock booted up and face painted up to the max.. The crowd were suitably attired as well, with Elton John style glasses, glitter covered hats, Christmas jumpers, flashing light necklaces and tinsel on show.... Appearing on stage to Rock and Roll Part 2, they were straight into the classics, Ballroom Blitz, 21st Century Boy, All of Me Loves All of You and Dance Dance Dance for starters. It was clear from the onset that the crowd were 'up for it'.... It was party central 'doon the front', led off by a lady wearing a white Christmas jumper and Santa Hat (who I was informed was touching 70!), who never stopped 'glamming' for 2 and a half hours before she had to leave for her bus Tremendous...... Some of us 1970's punters knew all of the words, but the younger audience members just boogied along.. The Cat Crept In, Hey Rock n Roll and Glass of Champagne kept the crowd dancing... Can the Can was followed by a Sweet song... As Lynn intoduced it as "This is Mikes song!", I immediately thought it was Hellraiser... Unfortunately for Mike it was Little Willy... (too much info from the Green Room). Virginia Plain, Get it On, and Let it Snow (which had the crowd singing along) kept the pace up. The white Christmas jumper wearing woman was still going 'aff her heid' and enjoying every minute. Coo Ca Choo , Dynamite and Rebel, Rebel saw no let up in the pace, with Mike and Lynn on vocals giving it welly, as was Barry Bazza Haywood on drums (what an incredible glam rock drummer he is), and more than ably assisted by Colin on guitar and David on bass. The stage was a mass of glittery covered suits and strange shaped guitars.. Saturday Night, Schools Out, Crazy Horses and Hellraiser took us and the band to a very well deserved break.. Phenomenal first half.. Waterloo and Teenage Rampage started off the second half before the call of "Where's Hastie?" went up.... It could only be Tell Him from Hello, the best punk/glam/ rock song ever! ... As sure as night follows day and apples fall from trees, I always migrate towards the front.. Now it was game on between me and the santa hat wearer.. Tell Him was followed by, I Love Rock n Roll, Under the Moon of Love and Children of the Revolution before the first Christmas song Lonely This Christmas was played... CLASSIC.... Next up was Rocket and The Jean Genie before we had a stage malfunction....During Let's Stick Together one big lad went down like a giant redwood... backwards. Before you could shout "Timber", a monitor was crushed and Lynn got banjoed on the eye by a mic... ROCK AND ROLL..! As Lynns shiner was appearing the lad was helped up and staggered away... I Love to Boogie and Fox on the Run led us into Merry Christmas Everybody.. MAGNIFICENT.... Come on Feel the Noise, Devil Gate Drive and Wig Wam Bam had me and the 'doon the fronters' giving it 'laldy'... Hot Love, Spirit in the Sky and the Time Warp took us up to Tiger Feet or as Johnstone 'Swagger Panther' Bowes was singing "Panther Feet"..... The big stage diver was back, but was cajoled around the floor and was still enjoying his night. Blockbuster, I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday and a rousing Loch Lomondy version of Shang a Lang ended the proceedings.... 100 out of 100 for all concerned tonight.. The bar staff, Pete on sound, floor security. (), door staff, the up for it crowd, the main man Douglas Croft and not forgetting of course the tremendous band... That's what you call a Christmas Night... ..... That's me and my reviews of the music scene over for this year. I hope next year's is just as good.... As Noddy Holder once said.... "Merry Christmas Everybody!" .... Ps.. I heard Lynn is auditioning for the 'Black Eyed Peas"' .... Big Hastie over and out from his big chair where I'm recovering from my 'pogo' off with the Santa hat wearer.... Rock On Folks..