HengistPod

Limelight, by Rush. Not because it's particularly difficult, but the change in rhythm when it gets to the solo and then when the vocal comes back in, stumped us when played in a band situation. We could all play it fine individually, but when we did it together it fell apart every time. There seems to be an extra bar in there that doesn't seem natural when you're playing the song. But when you look at the music, there's no extra bar at all. Gah!

[... my original love was the 80s sleaze scene.] (Sorry, proper quoting thingy not working) I lived in Nottingham in the late 80s. There was a semi-legendary local band called "Sleeze Patrol" on the go at the time, with a singer named Punky Wayne. The band were fairly atrocious, a triumph of image over substance. Wayne was often to be seen strutting and sleazing around town with his paunch leaking out of a rising sun T shirt, back-combed jet black hair and eyeliner inexpertly applied, affecting a reasonable impression of excess Jack Daniels intake. A proper character, and utterly hopeless musician.

Screaming Jets (Aussie band. Their tune "Better" was a big hit in Oz - works every time for us, though no-one here's ever heard it before) Saigon Kick The Grip King's X (of course, we all know how fab they and Doug Pinnick were and are, but Joe Punter hasn't a clue.) Engine (should reform immediately and remind the world how pub rock is done properly.)

The two basses I used in my first band 30-odd years ago ... an Arbiter 4001 copy, and a dark green Burns (sure it was Burns rather than Burny) reverse Thunderbird. Can't remember why I sold them, or who to, because I'd happily have both back in the fold if I could trace them.

Up here in the frozen wilderness, we can't be picky. If anything vaguely human actually turns up for the audition, they have an 80% chance of getting the job before they play/sing a note.

As my band is finding, it can be very hard to find people. Our girly singer threw a flake and walked out at New Year, and we've been looking for a replacement since. It's not for want of people answering ads. We've had at least a dozen who sounded enthusiastic, loved the set list and thought they'd be able to fit in really quickly. Then, almost guaranteed, they pulled out the night before the "audition". One guy turned up and was absolutely awful (but funny). Another guy turned up and was totally brilliant - amazing singer, professional, owned an enormous PA. Hands were shaken, promises made, then he told us he had a few solo gigs booked so we better compare schedules. We compared schedules - he was booked every Fri and Sat until April 2018. You have to wonder why these people even reply to an ad ... though I suspect he just fancied having a blast with a band rather than backing tapes. Got a bloke coming down on Friday evening, but honestly I fully expect him to pull out today. Not that he's given any indication of that, but the law of averages and all that. So ... no, it's not easy!

Clash album cover location ... http://www.feelnumb.com/2010/10/15/the-clash-debut-album-cover-photo-location/

+1 for trouser-flapping. It was how I always described my sound when I had a 2x15 sitting horizontally on the floor with a Trace 4x10 on top of it. There's nothing like moving air.

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1485791703' post='3226703'] Introduced all songs for the second part of the gig as Guns n Roses B sides and unreleased tracks ... [/quote] Aye, we deploy this startlingly effective tactic also. Asked to play something by Tina Turner, our drummer will announce that the next song is indeed a tune by the ageing vixen, before launching into Iron Maiden's "Running Free". It seems to work every time. Running Free has also been announced as a song by Oasis, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones and the aforementioned Human League.

I film all our gigs with a regular Sony camcorder. Set it up on a tripod wherever's handy, and leave it there for a set. Move it to the other side for the second set. I now have a shedload of footage of any given song in different venues (i.e. pubs), with different guitars and from different angles. I can choose the one with the best sound, then edit together clips to make a multi-camera, multi-venue video of whatever song takes my fancy. I use Movie Edit Pro for that.

Children of The Damned. I dare you. And, if you manage with three fingers, then try it like 'Arry with two.

I bought CR from Issue 1. I eventually stopped buying it 3 or 4 months ago. I was fed up paying a fiver to read lists of things that I already knew about. It got to the stage where the "100 greatest rock guitar solos" or whatever would take up half the magazine. It became nothing but a vehicle for advertising, and I wasn't going to cough for that anymore. All things must pass, everything has its time. Kerrang used to be a must-read up til sometime in the 90s, and then CR came along and was bloody good for a while. The onset of all the Prog, Blues, etc versions is what killed it. Without material to fill a mag, LISTS appeared. I'd imagine, if they find a buyer with any sense, that the titles will be amalgamated and one good monthly read will come out the other end.

We had a gig booked at a new Greene King venue in Aberdeen for tonight. It was booked in mid-October, and they advised us that we'd need to be set up on Invapay. No problem, we thought, plenty time for that. There has followed two months of utter fannying about, with many instances of us being told that we'd receive an email "in the next two hours" to get us set up. The General Manager wasn't available, the Assistant Manager was horrified that it hadn't been done yet, the Duty Manager couldn't help, etc etc etc. This has gone on for weeks. The guy that booked us, who works as a manager at another nearby hotel, turned out to be absolutely hopeless. He's messaged the GM, he's texted the GM, he's waiting for a call back from the GM. He needs posters in JPG format. He needs the posters again in JPG format. Did he print them and put them up at the venue at least? No, but he emailed the JPG to the venue. Is he getting paid for this rank-rotten job he's doing? Yes, he's getting paid separately as a "promoter". Anyhow, it's now approaching mid-day on the day of the gig and, despite promise after promise, we're still not set up on Invapay. So the gig's getting pulled by us at the last minute - really annoying, because we had plenty other options for gigs tonight that we turned down for this one. It's beyond me why you can't just go and register on Invapay as a supplier. You need to be invited, and if the people at the other end are incompetent then you've no chance. So ... if anyone gets offered a gig at DYCE FARM in Aberdeen, or is approached by a bloke called Christopher Plant, my advice is to avoid having anything to do with them unless you're already registered on Invapay. Rant over.

We agree a fee of £75 each wherever we play. Perhaps pubs up here are a bit more willing to pay that because we're much more rural and bands have to drive further to get there. Leaving home at 6-7pm, getting home at anywhere between 2-4am, that's between £7.50 - £10 an hour for your evening's work. To say nothing of gear expenses. We don't have a gig that's local to all of us - so if a venue won't cough, we don't go. None of us are desperate for the cash, and we've found that venues that haggle over 50 quid usually come complete with a bad attitude and/or bad punters.

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1480939756' post='3188163']It honestly makes me wonder why some bars or pubs bother putting on bands, if it's that much of a hassle for them! [/quote] Yep, that sounds broadly similar to our one the other night. We had several big endings met with absolute silence (save for the football commentary from one of the TVs). Not much fun, is it?

Had possibly the worst gig I've ever played on Friday night. A best-remain-nameless bar in Aberdeen, a venue apparently on a slippery slope as it is (we were told that taxi drivers are telling customers it's closed down when they ask to be taken there!). There were times on Friday when there were up to 20 people in, but mostly it was 5 or 6. They eventually switched off the giant TV beside us halfway through our second set, which was nice, but left the others on. The landlord turned up drunk, glowered at us while sinking a couple of pints, then disappeared out again. Anyhow, the head barmaid was going around with a face on her like Judge Dredd. I honestly looked at her and wondered how she could get her mouth into that shape. So we played, occasionally with a few lonesome-sounding claps after a tune. It really was like a paid rehearsal. A few folks got into it, had the occasional dance or bout of fist-pumping. We finished on time, got paid, packed up and went home. Here's the best bit. When he got home, our guitarist found that the guy that books us in there (a 3rd party agent) had emailed him. It seems that the bar staff had emailed asking him to contact us and get us to turn down because we were "about 25% too loud". This is a new one on me. Why the bar staff didn't feel they could come up and speak to us between songs - as happens anywhere else - is totally beyond me. We're all in our 40s (at least) and not very scary. Fortunately, we don't have any further bookings in there. The punters are fine (when they turn up) but the management is beyond amateur. I won't miss it one little bit. First time I've ever really not enjoyed a gig ... spent most of my time counting down the setlist!

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1480263830' post='3182897'] Wireless systems on stages no bigger than the average hearth rug always make me smile .[/quote] Aye ... but ... Our guitarist recently got a wireless thingy. It means that we can get a bit of a better soundcheck, in that he can go up to the back of the pub whilst still playing and communicate instructions (invariably) that I need to turn up a bit, and then a bit more. This is actually quite perturbing, because I always assumed that I was bloody loud and it turns out that Joe Punter probably could hardly hear me. It also means that he can wander over to my side and do some Judas Priest co-ordinated guitar-swinging stuff. I'm tempted to get one myself now. P.S. Usually just the one bass, sometimes two if a short pause in the set while I re-string wouldn't be cool. Depends on venue.

Aye ... where'd you get the stripey strides? I'm too old for such things, but I don't care. I'd wear 'em.

Off to the bright lights of Aberdeen this weekend ... Glentanar bar on Holburn Street. Probably our last time in here, because the management prefer satin-shirted midi-backed crooners and rubbish young local bands who'll play for a few pints. Added to the fact that we're from out of town and therefore not part of the clique, we were always on a long-term loser here. We've always had good nights in the Glentanar though, so hopefully this will be another. So, hmm ... Classic Pro or Gibson?

"Witness points"? Must go and google that ... been playing since 1980 and that's the first time I've ever heard that term. Meantime, I make sure my strings are tight on the peg and give them a tug or three when they're on. If I'm not playing the same day, I'll leave the bass a semitone-tone tuned upwards overnight.

Excellent work, but I seem unable to locate Pete Way, Doug Pinnick or Cliff Williams ...

Everything I know about the blues, and how to get them, I learned from watching the movie Crossroads many times. So I never did know much about the blues, and I don't mind that. I can, if pushed (or paid), stand and play variations on a 12-bar for as long as you like - but I'd really rather not.

Note that there's a "Record Store Day" event for Black Friday too ... not so many things available here as in the US, but a few bits of Ltd Ed vinyl to please most folks. http://recordstoreday.co.uk/exclusive-releases/black-friday/

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1479818631' post='3179496'] And unless you actually manage to get a rehearsal or two in with them before hand, you have to trust that they have learnt all the right nuances. [/quote] This applies to cover bands too. Not many bands play all their covers note for note - or your version will grow arms and legs once you've played it for a while and it can be difficult to play it "properly" again ... Plus, in the frozen wilderness up here, there aren't many decent drummers to go round. Aberdeen folk look down their nose at us out-of-towners, and wouldn't be seen dead telling their mates they were off to do a dep gig in Strichen. Or getting off their arse to get to Strichen in the first place.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1478459929' post='3169184'] Don't forget that there is actually NO LAW against being in more than one band at the same time! [/quote] No, but there bloody should be. It's alright for the multi-band guy, but not handy when you get offered gigs and the drummer is out with his wedding band ... again.