dmccombe7

Last gig of 2025 and the first gig for 2026 with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam band last night was another SOLD OUT gig for us at Airdrie WMC. 2yrs in a row at this venue which is rare at this club. 2 sets with a stop at 11:45 to 12:15 to bring in the bells in our traditional Scottish way. Dancing from the first song showed great promise for the night and we were not wrong. The floor was packed for a lot of the songs with dancers on every song. Great atmosphere the full night with a stream of requests in first set. I think we had a total of 6 to mention those celebrating anniversaries, birthdays etc. Best dancer of the night went to a guy who seemed to be on the floor from the start and even gave us his full Alvin Stardust impersonation and was rewarded at the end of the night with one of our T shirts. After midnight we went back on for our final 3 songs and had requests for more. but the club was closing. Loaded up the car and managed to get home for 2:30am, coffee and a biccy and then beddy by bo time knackered having been at the venue from 3:30pm it was a long day. Thought i would give the Godin Shifter PJ bass a wee run out and boy did it sound amazing thru the Handbox WB-100 / BF212. Nice deep tone with the sharp mids cutting thru the mix, it was the perfect tone IMHO of course. All in all a great night of party fun. Dave

Happy New Year Daryl and all the very best for 2026. Is that a tip bucket there Daryl and i spotted a $100 bill in there. 😂 Looks like a busy wee night. Dave

Too late. It was sold on ebay last week.😂 Dave

I quite enjoy hearing new things or techniques. I like to pick out little bits and try to learn them. Would never use in a band situation but it makes playing a little bit more fun. I have seen CB playing in bands on Youtube clips and playing "normal" by his standard. He is a very talented guy who is able to adapt to whatever the band wants or needs. I'm guessing he now makes a small fortune from his vids. Also like Dave504 as he's just a nut job that plays bass but its funny. Not so keen on the other guy Danny Sapko. He can play pretty well but i just find his personality a bit irritating. Dave

Really enjoying this thread. Some interesting insights into how the bass brain works 😂 Dave

Did 26 this year but they seem to come in batches. Can go for 2-3 mths without a gig then we get a run every week for a month. Nov and especially Dec we're always busy. The punk band i was in used to fill in the gaps as we had same drummer and female singer in both so it kinda worked out quite good. Not looking to gig every weekend but averaging out 2-3 a month would be good but more evenly spaced. Its good to be playing in 2 bands with different styles as it keeps the mind busy. Never thought about advertising for an agent and i'll maybe suggest that at tomorrow nights gig. We did have one but he didn't do much at all. He never even took posters to the venues or even pushed advertising in local areas. We ended up doing it all ourselves so why pay someone a share if they aren't pulling their fair share of the workload. Think we're going to have a meeting early 2026 to see how we move forward with the band to get more gigs and look at different areas rather than mainly East Coast Scotland. Also to make it more of a show and perhaps move more towards Theatre venues. Dave

#1 More gigs for the Glam band. #2 Look at getting an Agent, tried them before but they've mostly been poor at their job and no great help. We got more gigs on our own. #3 Possibly look for another 2nd band to fill in the gaps. #4 Sell of some of my basses that aren't getting used. I have 3 in mind so far. Fender active PJ Mex, Godin Shifter, Overwater J4 (built by the team at Overwater and not a Tanglewood version) #5 Have a look at the Maruszczyk Jazzuz basses and have a try with the WAL style pick ups and pre-amp preferably. Dave

I was wondering about that too. I'm no expert on PJB rigs but i think the smaller box also has speakers facing upwards thru the grill part so i'm guessing you hear it better when its on the floor than stacked on the extension cab. Just guessing tho. Dave

Just the good ones 😎 Dave

That's the bit i don't understand with some bands. If we find a song isn't working or the audience all of a sudden sit down because we started a song then we have a discussion on whether to remove the song or put it on standby. The full band will feel when a song isn't working. What i find over here is that the Glam bands can be great party night fun but with Blues / rock then a lot of people will be watching and admiring the musicianship rather than as an overall show so its swings and roundabouts really. Its different audiences for different styles. Dave

And that's how it grabs you and then you're hooked for life. 🤩 Dave

This is one i quite fancy but new car has put a hold on any new basses for a bit altho i'm about to sell off some of mine.

Side-tracking the thread here but one last quickie question. Are modern Bonnies ok. Gonna sell the Harley next year for something a bit smaller and Bonnie was on my list. Dave

Just curious but do you all ride Bonnies ? Dave

Gorgeous looking bass. Dave

Xmas party mood Daryl, works well at this time of year when you play Glam. Dave

Its Christmas so go on, buy them all, you know you wanna. Dave

I was looking at those when i came across one fitted with WAL pick ups and a similar style pre-amp. That would be a fantastic buy. Gorgeous colour match body and neck. Well done sir. Dave

Same here Greg. Take care and keep let us know how you're doing thru the recovery process. Dave

Good to hear the Yamaha bass was positive feedback. I've never had a Yamaha bass but i love the tone from them especially the older BB2000 or 3000 versions if i remember right. Dave

Some clips from our weekend gigs. Fri night Cambusnethan Club. http://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=25683119331329350&set=pcb.2256881974820337 http://www.facebook.com/100001739064740/videos/pcb.2256881974820337/736660958963532 http://www.facebook.com/100001739064740/videos/pcb.2256881974820337/1372059424701274 Sat night at the Dreadnought. http://www.facebook.com/100000315642844/videos/pcb.2257398474768687/1614815816554452 http://www.facebook.com/100000315642844/videos/pcb.2257398474768687/4324524834499098 http://www.facebook.com/100000315642844/videos/pcb.2257398474768687/3830380380600210 Dave

Think the Glam thing just works really well at Xmas. Women seem to love the era. Dave

Last gig before Xmas for BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers band at The Dreadnought in Bathgate was another great night of party fun. 110 advanced ticket sales at £10 a pop and quite a few walk-ins took it up to approx 120. 80/20 split to us on ticket sales so a good nights work if you would even call it that. Its just great fun doing Xmas gigs. Great feedback from the audience at the end as always in this venue. Its our singers home town and her local at weekends when not gigging. Fun stories of the night :- #1. Our singer was in loo at start of the evening and a guy asked if he had seen the band before. He replied yes and that he'd seen them at every gig in this venue. The guy was none the wiser that he was talking to the singer. Wigs, make-up and outfits tends to throw them off the scent a bit. #2. My wife and singer wife were sitting at a table with very few seats remaining when 2 guys asked if they could take the 2 spare stools at the table and they both said yes and they then asked if it would be ok for them to sit at same table as it was quite busy. While sitting there they then asked if the 2 women had seen the band before and just like the previous funny story they both said yes but elaborated that one was singers wife and the other the bass players wife. We are already booked in for next year the Sat before Xmas plus a summer gig too. Fingers a bit tender from Fri nights gig but managed ok without any issues. Tiredness was creeping in during 2nd set but managed to enjoy it all right to the end. 45min drive home and home for 1:15am, coffee and biccy then bed cause i was quite knackered TBH. Next gig for us is Hogmanay which should be another busy one and then on 3rd Jan up to Dundee for what should be another great one. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas guys. Until next year all the best. Dave 🎅