dmccombe7

Last Christmas gig tonight with BLOCKBUSTARZ at The Dreadnought in Bathgate. Has to be THE best venue we play. Very very busy, most i've seen in there. Door money split 80/20 to us and we made about £1200 so that was good. Feedback was excellent with the venue owner and the SE saying we have been THE best act in there all year. High praise indeed as they get some very well established bands in there. SE has done our sound 3 times now and said tonight was just another level for the band, absolutely superb night. Booked for next Xmas on the Sat night before Xmas plus a date in July too. They booked us last Xmas for this one and next years. NEGATIVES. :- drunk guy fell onto the stage between the monitors knocking Lynn's mic stand into her face given her a sore mouth and blood running down from a cut above her eye. Band stopped playing until Lynn managed to stem the blood flow using my hand towel and ice. She is a qualified nurse so knows what she's doing. After the gig the singer looked at the 2 wireless units and one has a cracked casing and the other a chipped corner. One of them the display was fading in and out so may be knackered but will check it tomorrow. This weekend has been quite eventful with a*s*h***s causing damage to the band and its equipment. Singers gear is covered thru MU so he may have to claim it or we use our band kitty to cover the costs. Bouncers had to keep people away from the stage front the rest of the night and all credit did a good job after the incident. Anyways its now Christmas Eve so hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and a very Merry Christmas to you and your families. Dave

The club are trying to get away from singers with backing tracks and back to proper bands and i think we were the deciding factor that people definitely prefer a live band. The attraction of many clubs was the cheaper drinks but these days they are pretty standard prices from what i'm told. I don't really drink these days. My personal trainer plays for Glasgow Tigers American Football Team. Dave

Be very careful on what you go for. For my 50th i wanted a special bass and originally wanted a 6 string fretted but wasn't playing in any bands at the time and decided on an Overwater 6 string but thought i should push the boat out and get a fretless version. Gorgeous bass and beautiful to play and look at but now that i'm gigging again its not a practical bass for use in the bands i'm in and very rarely gets played. I'm more comfortable with a 4 string fretted and now wish i had gone for a 4 string fretted version. My point is to ask yourself what you currently play most and settle on that and that way you should get more use out of an expensive bass like a WAL. Have to admit i really do fancy another WAL myself but a 4 string fretted Mk1 or 2 for me. Gorgeous basses altho i personally think overpriced these days but once your mind is made up nothing else will do. Dave

Wee vid from last nights show. http://www.facebook.com/100079944291714/videos/25433903599533850

Checked this morning and bass is fine. Have to say its a fair size club with few different halls / rooms etc. I trust you were a local to the area. ? My wife's aunt was bar manageress back in 90's so we got the hall cheap for our wedding reception. My wife is originally from Newmains area too and used to work part time behind the bar in mid 80's. Dave

Last night was a new venue for us with our BLOCKBUSTARZ Xmas show and WOW what a fantastic night in Cambusnethan Miners Social Club in Wishaw. Its where we had our wedding reception in 1995. 200 tickets sold and a sell out. Dance floor was busy from the word go. The organiser came backstage before we started and said he was going to pay us £50 more than agreed because the tickets sold so fast without them getting a chance to advertise the gig and they were so surprised and never seen that kind of response before. At the half time break he paid us another £25 on top of that as he said the feedback was unbelievable. Everyone was talking about the band. Apparently someone said to him that this was a proper band where everything was played live with no backing tracks (i think they normally get singers in with backing tracks) They want us back next year but are fully booked on Sat nights and asked if we could do a Fri night and another Sun afternoon for same money. Lots of photos at the end too. NOW THE NEGATIVES. An a**h**e decided to go onto the stage after we finished and getting changed when we heard my wife throwing a rage and shouting at him to get off the stage so our singer was fully clothed ran thru and the guy had staggered and knocked my bass over and he dragged him off the stage by and he then fell across 2-3 tables. Committee members then grabbed him and told him to leave. Luckily my wife who is normally very very shy and quiet was ok and when i checked the bass at home there was no damage. When the committee guy came backstage to talk to us i angrily explained that particular bass is worth approx £2k and if its damaged i wont be covering the cost of repairs or replacement and he agreed and said to let him know if any damage and the club would cover all costs. I was fuming the rest of the night and struggled to get to sleep last night. Told him the guy should be barred and if we come back he better not be in or the band would pack up and leave. They are checking to see if he's a club member and if he is they will remove his membership. He had been trying to lift props off the stage thru the night and kept shouting for Gary Glitter until guitarist said over the mic that this was an Adults Only show and maybe he should be at a different show. Our guitarist is an ex Royal Marine Instructor and generally doesn't get phased by anyone for obvious reasons. Always one TW*T and the club have been very apologetic and embarrassed that they weren't aware he had been heckling the band all night. Anyways tonight is our last Xmas show at our fav venue in The Dreadnought in Bathgate. Fantastic venue, great staff, great owner and just a venue that knows what they are doing when it comes to organising bands. This is the highlight of our year as singer lives in Bathgate and its her local venue for all sorts of bands. At least PA and lights are all supplied with a great Sound guy too. Dave

I used to play GYOW in a band too and 100% on that amazing bassline. Dave

Yep some of them just look so nice while others not so much even tho they are all sunburst. Yours has it. Lovely. Is it a wide nut. ? that's what puts me off some P basses. Dave

That P bass is very nice and putting me in the mood for a decent sunburst P bass. Dave

Is he on any illegal medication ? How to kill a bands atmosphere. I even grudge stopping for a 15min break in the middle of our sets. Dave

not able to view the link i'm afraid. When i copy over from FB i remove the s from the https and then copy over Dave

Wee short vid appeared from last weekends Xmas party Dave http://www.facebook.com/Methilclub/videos/340491112038940/

Our guitarist suggested it but the vocals are very high so we decided not to try it. Dave

It goes with our band image being a 70's Glam covers band and we've been getting requests to play them since start Nov. We do a couple of others like Mud Lonely This Xmas and lesser known one by The Sweet, Let It Snow. Dave

Yep those two are the basics for a Xmas show over here. Love playing them too. Trying to remember the different chorus's is fun. All different chorus endings. Dave

2nd of our Xmas gigs last night at Methil Ex-Services Club with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers band. Another Sold Out gig for us with 170 people in. Looked like a few ladies party nights in plus people down from Dundee to see us too so that was all good fun. All went really well and thoroughly enjoyed it. Have to say its the first time i've ever seen anyone (singer) having to explain how to open a Xmas cracker. I think it was more down to the fact the young lady was well oiled. Xmas songs worked really well and some folks that have seen us a few times said we should leave them in the set thru the year. Feedback was that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves with a few encores and requests to "just keep playing" 1.5hrs drive each way so not horrendous but gusting sidewinds made it a very focused drive home. Invited back during summer again. No vids or pics yet other than singer's pic of stage after soundcheck. 2 more Xmas gigs next weekend and then a Hogmanay gig to finish. Dave

All the best @Marvin sure it will all work out in the long run. Dave

Altho i always respect great players i have to admit that those costumes for me signify a band with a good sense of humour. Dave

That looks more like a fun party silliness style band tho rather than someone wearing a cowboy hat seriously. Dave

Rubbish you're still doing ok without the hat Daryl altho it kinda suits you especially in the US. Not so much over here unless its a Country & Western style band. Dave

The Kemper does sound good but it looks like a pilots cockpit and needs a lot of fiddling about. Nathan King was talking about it on one of the Andertons bass vids and he broke it down and simplified it and it looked a lot easier to use than you would initially think. Lot of money tho. Not seen much on the Helix. Keep me posted if you go down this route as i am also kind of interested in no backline once i can persuade the drummer who owns the PA that it would be easy and fast set ups on stage. Dave

Some of you guys worry me .............. seriously worry me. Have you considered just staying at home in a downstairs only house. Dave

Have you ever just jumped to see what happens ? Best trying it from a kerb first to get a feel for it. Dave

Same viewpoint as me. At 62 i'm thinking the same way. I have other hobbies that i can do and packing up at the end of a gig and driving home isn't getting any easier especially when its me that has the large PA cabs in my car. Having to lift 40Kg cabs when i get home is tough. Dave