cheddatom

Hah, sorry! Same thing though innit 😛 It really did sound fantastic

Hope & Anchor last night. I'd been on a bit of a bender in London with my brothers and the booze combined with the heat was really getting to me. It turns out all I needed to do was play a sweaty gig to sort myself out! Great to bump into @NancyJohnson . I really enjoyed your set! Great sound from that Warwick (despite the tiny combo). The bottle of red from your singer was very generous! When we got there to load in at 1:30, we were told we had to wait upstairs until the sound engineer arrives. The guy blamed the "corporate knobheads at Green King". Fair enough but the load-in time was agreed. The soundman turned up at 2:40 and doors were supposed to be 3pm. There was a house kit on stage, even though we'd said we'd be bringing drums and agreed kit share with the promoter. The soundman says "oh, you're not using the house kit? But we're already running so late!". Obviously I wanted to say "yeh, isn't that your fault?" but I smiled and nodded, moved the house kit to the side, set up my kit, and watched as he was still slowly lifting mic boxes out of his store room. I guess the house kit wouldn't have saved any time after all Our 3 guys at the front always take their own mics, it's a hygiene thing, and it's on the tech spec that goes to every gig. For some reason it's 50/50 whether the sound engineers will be happy or whizzed off about it. I don't get it. This guy was in the latter camp. Honestly, the speed he was moving and his general demeanour had me judging him to be the stereotypical horrible soundman and I was expecting a nightmare of a gig. Anyway, it might have taken 3 times as long as usual and delayed the whole gig, but it sounded absolutely fantastic! We played well to a very small crowd. It looked like 15 people to me, maybe a couple more, but in a small venue like that when everyone's having fun, it really doesn't matter. Flat tyre on the van delayed our departure by almost an hour. Back to bed in Stoke by 1:30 so not too bad. Photo from a fan on facebook

Yep, the same guy once got a great sound out of a marshall mg100, one of the most derided amps ever! Some people have a prejudice against modellers but I can only assume they've just failed to understand how to get the sound they want

Our guitarist used an original POD for years, now he's using a Nux modeller, always straight into the PA He always sounds amazing!

Thursday supporting Terrorvision at HMV Empire in Coventry. The van said 30°C when we got to the load in. There's an ancient lift to take the gear up, but people have to walk the 48 stairs up to back stage. I reckon I went up and down at least 10 times during the course of the evening and my legs are still feeling it 4 days later! Ace venue, good sound on stage, and a great reception despite the fact most of the people there had no idea who we (Headsticks) are

Here for the music festival in Devon on Friday night. Only 45 minutes on drums but I've never sweated that much in my life! I must have drank 5 litres of water and still got dehydrated!

We just played Quake at lunchtime. So rebellious!

When I was a kid we got a hash of the school's network admin password and cracked it in just over 3 days with a computer running constantly at home. That would have been 1999 ish

Under The Castle festival near Bolsover. We were the "headline" for Friday night but that just meant we were on at 10:30pm and everyone was too drunk, tired and cold. Apparently this festival was SOLD OUT but I reckon we played to 100ish people. Still, worth doing and I had fun. The highlight was a fan who's been coming to see us for years. He grabbed me early on, way before our set, and insisted on introducing me to his friends. He was ranting on about how he first saw us playing tiny little gigs and now we're "massive". Very amusing as I looked around the festival counting the number of punters

Our guy had ordered a few different ones, each time he returned it underwhelmed (helix was one, some sort of Hotone was another) until he go the Nux. I imagine they're all capable of the same thing it's just he found the Nux more intuitive. Anyway, point is you can order online and trial it pretty much risk free as lonng as you return within a couple of weeks.

Our guitarist uses a NUX MG30. No in-ears or amp, he just uses whatever monitors are provided at the gigs. It works really well for us and has done for at least 100 gigs

When lock down happened and all the gigs were taken away, I used the time to get good at the drums. Where I used to concentrate, I'm now totally relaxed. I think this in combination with the sheer joy of being able to play live again has given me a permanently grinning gig face. People regularly stop me after gigs to tell me I'm the "smiliest drummer ever". Some started calling me "smiley Tom". It's a bit embarrassing but it's just genuine happiness, and people seem to like it

Ey Up Mi Duck festival near Doncaster on Friday night (late, I know). We were last on and the tent was absolutely packed. I'd guess around 800 people or so. We played an hour and 15 minutes and they went absolutely mad for it. Ace gig. Here's a photo of the rest of the band as it's all I could find. Credit to Martin Borrett Photography https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087496146690

I don't want to give the lad too much stick, I really felt for him as he was obviously way out of his comfort zone. However, we take our own mics, and make it clear it's for hygiene purposes, but the sound guy rushed on to the stage and started shouting down our mics to see if they were working - not very cool. Also, even though 8 channels isn't a lot to remember, I reckon it would have been a good idea to write down which instrument/mic is going into which channel.

I gig a fair bit, and of all the cities/areas Nottingham consistently delivers. There's always an audience for us, and walking around at night, the place really feels alive. I assume other bands do just as well in Nottingham but maybe not!

Cool! I'm on drums, say hello if we're on again!

Bit late sorry... Friday night supporting China Crisis in Nuneaton. Why would they put us (Headsticks) on with China Crisis? Anyway, I love the venue, sound was ace, and we went down well with the 80 or so people there Saturday night supporting Terrrorvision at The Sugarmill in Hanley which is the local big venue. It was totally sold out and it's such a pleasure to play here when it's full. Unfortunately there wasn't room for a drum kit at the back of the stage so we were in a line right at the front. Our bassist played to the bar staff and communication with the guitarist was near impossible. Still, we smashed the 30 minute set and definitely won over some new fans Sunday night in Derby - Doors were supposed to open at 4pm, but that's when the promoter arrived with a curry. The lad on sound hadn't got a clue how to use the ancient behringer PA head. He'd never been to this venue before and was used to pro theatre gear. The stage box was 4 x XLR 4 x Jack (WTF?) and he couldn't remember what he'd plugged into which channel. Thank F for ear plugs as it was just random feedback every few minutes - that's the soundcheck AND the gig. At the end of our sound check we'd got a usable sound, so I took a photo of the head and sent it to the sound guy, but that seemed to have no effect. I got a little frustrated which lead to an over the top rimshot which lead to serious pain in my left wrist for the remaining hour and 10 minutes of our set! Ouch! Here's the PA as I didn't get any other photos

Yeh, indeed, which if we were saying "F the Tories" or the like, you could understand, but we're just saying "Isn't it sad there are so many homeless people in the UK in 2023" and the like - hardly radical socialism

People say my band Headsticks are "too political" or "too left wing" but if you read the lyrics, they're really not. They're generally about compassion and equality* It's happened a few times though - someone's clearly watched the entire set, and enjoyed themselves, then they come up to us after and say "I'd be a fan if you weren't so political" 🤷‍♀️ *I have something to say about why those basic human qualities might be considered "left wing" these days, but it'd probably break the rules

You don't usually play open chords on a bass, which is the main reason for a capo. I used to play a song with an old band that had a fast riff which bounced off open E and A, but the guitarist played it a tone higher (we were actually down tuned). I couldn't play the riff in that key without a capo, so I used one for that song!

I have in the past, yeh, they're fine

only just seen this, also happy to help if you still need it doing If someone sent me stems and there was something wrong with the bass, I'd go back to the client and ask them to fix it. I might offer to play it for them, but I definitely wouldn't MIDI it

Friday night, Salty Dog in Northwich. I'm sure it's been fuller for us before but the boss says not. You may recall me talking about a sound engineer who had to be shouted back to his station because he'd muted the acoustic guitar? Same guy. This time he stayed at his station, but he was so glued to his phone he didn't realise we were waiting on stage, ready to play, at the allotted time. At one point it sounded like he'd undone all of his bass boosting EQ and stopped the almost constant feedback. That lasted for about 20 seconds before he managed to f*ck it up again and get back to his phone. Fair enough if you don't like our music, or maybe you don't like us as people, or whatever, but if you're being paid to do a job, and a pub full of people are relying on you to do the job, it'd seem to be to be the right thing to do to either learn how to do it, put the effort in, or quit and give someone who wants the job a go Anyway, there was a dog running around while we played. I'd been speaking to the owner before the set and she explained that the dog doesn't like loud noises, which was quite confusing as she'd brought her to a gig! I've never owned a dog but I couldn't shake the thought of causing this dog distress as I played. We've had a lot of positive feedback about the gig, and several people have complimented the presence of the dog too (her name was Melon) so, I'll let the audience be the judge, and they were happy. I guess the fact I had to drive home later, and this pub has the best beer on our circuit, also put a damper on my mood.

For back problems I would suggest core muscle exercises, yoga etc. but good on you for compromising! I personally have a problem with my left wrist that can't be mediated. I expect it to get worse over time, and it already has. I used to play 6 string basses, then I could only play 4, now I can only play short scale. I used to play acoustic guitar every day, now I can't play for more than 10 minutes. I used to play drums with big fat heavy sticks, now I have to use light sticks. Lots of compromise and all of it quite depressing. I'll probably sell some basses soon, and I guess at some point I'll sell my acoustic guitars. I haven't dared try my old yamaha 12 string for example. All the best Lozz!

Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield on Friday night. We've never been here before but it's a cool venue, you'd probably get 200ish in the room, great stage, PA etc. Crazy Arm were on first, not heard of them before but they were all exceptional players. We (Headsticks) went on 2nd and absolutely smashed it. People were going crazy from the off. 40 minutes of non stop drumming and I was soaked. We have a song called "Naked" and it's about the emperor's new clothes and being lied to by politicians, but for some reason, sometimes people strip off to it. Friday night a regular fan of ours apparently stripped totally naked, went mad in the mosh pit, banged his head, and got kicked out by security. I didn't see any of this but a few people confirmed it after the set. Can't wait to see him at a gig soon Shanghai Treason were on after us, who were great at sound check, and I feel terrible 'cos they're all lovely people, but I spent their set catching up with a good friend who lives in Sheffield and I never get to see him. I hope that's not earned me a black mark!