KevB

Didn't know you did a bit of 6 string Paul, PM me your set and if you need a fill in on bass I'll try to learn a few if Spondon can't cover it. Might be an excuse to get my rarely played cheapo semi acoustic bass out if it still stays in tune.

It was looking a bit slow initially but it's picking up now. We haven't done much in Jan as 2 band members were away on holiday but we've fitted 3 in. Feb looks OK with 5 bookings and we have another 5 or 6 in March. I have other interests so a few less gigs this year is no problem for me at all.

Good to hear. Saw the original IB supporting Robert Plant then at their own gig on what turned out to be the last tour before FD left. Couldnt believe it when they launched into Vampires as it was a single b-side but a cracking track. Tight as a gnat's chuff.

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1485180437' post='3221813'] Worth checking out a great track by them called Dancing Madly Backwards. Like a proto Queens of the Stone Age. [/quote] Yes, I have all 3 studio albums (though Rod Evans is only on first 2). It was really a vehical for 2 ex members of Iron Butterfly so shares some similarity with them too

45-105 nearly always, though I have a jazz which is currently always downtuned a full tone on all strings and for that I got some balanced tension strings which were a bit heavier guage.

Lots of women in the audience at Tyketto's gig I was at last night. But then I almost fancy Danny Vaughan myself and I'm straight.

Cheers for the Family Snapshot info folks, as he's on the 'Plays Live' album I just assumed it was him on the studio track too. So to redress this let's hear him... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHviPKJDEs4

Me too, I was gigging the same night he played closest venue to me unfortunately...ah well, one day.

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1485165407' post='3221590'] I know what you mean. Although after a couple more listens, you realise it's an amazing vocal. The jury's still out with me on this one. [/quote] Yup, great singer. I don't mind it at all, far worse covers out there. They also did a good cover of Genesis' Land Of Confusion.

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1485113588' post='3221231'] Nick Simper, first bassist with Deep Purple became a male nurse I think. [/quote] Not quite. Nick Simper carried on in music and is still playing. The guy you are thinking of is original singer Rod Evans. He had some brief success post DP with a band called Captain Beyond (which wasnt that bad actually) but then dropped out and apparently was a nurse for a while. He really blotted his copy book in about 1980 when he looked to cash in on the lack of a real DP and got a band together calling it 'Deep Purple' and booking shows doing DP material he was never on in the first place, somewhat duping fans in the process (this was all pre internet of course). Purple's management got wind of it and a court order was swiftly brought putting a stop to it. Evans disappeared again and I'm not sure anyone now knows where he is or what he's doing.

Seen him play a couple of times before so I might give it a miss this time, the album's not bad though so should be a good show. If it had been the original package with Living Colour I might have gone but I've listened to some Stone Broken and they are a bit so-so for me. Good gig last night at Rescue Rooms btw, Tyketto on good form.

Always liked the bass on this, comes in after about 1 min http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFDgBSk1ghM

I'm assuming with that pre amp pedalboard that you could then match it up with suitably 'transparent' (tonally) lightweight power amp and cabs from othe rmanufacturers and get a rig that sounded fairly authentic TE but without the weight, or am I being a bit naieve here?

I noticed Copeland's book 'strange things happen' was available in [b]Poundland[/b] the other day. Didn't pick up a copy though.

Considering we play 80s/90s classic rock it's usually not too bad. The guitarist goes through the PA so his onstage vol is pretty quiet, in fact if he's not present high enough in the monitor mix I sometime struggle to hear him clearly over the other stuff. We sometimes mic the kick drum sometimes not it depends on the venue. If its a really big room we will have an overhead on the drums too but notroutinely. The drummer is probably the biggest issue as far as keeping onstage vols is concerned. I can be a bit loud onstage but only because i tend not to be put through PA. If its a general pub gig then i can usually come to a sensible level that fits FOH mix but isn't silly onstage either. We don't get asked to turn down very often.

Some that have already been mentioned, but one that hasn't - ELO's Eldorado album.

So far I have a gig on the 12th May but not 13th yet so maybe doable, will confirm closer to the time. Went to first one but missed last 2.

As stated before it really depends how important the image is to the overrall product. Most of us would be a bit surprised at seeing something like a BC Rich Warlock in a funk disco band. It gets more important when you go into the serious tribute market I guess. Eyebrows would be raised at seeing 'Paul' in a Beatles trib hefting a T-Bird etc.

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1484000555' post='3211923'] Some big name bands will often play warm up gigs at small venues under another name prior to a bigger event. I believe Metallica played a couple of club gigs under the name Trapped Under Ice as a warm up for their Donnington Monsters Of Rock headline slot in '95. [/quote] This sort of thing has happened in the past with a few bands at Rock City in Nottingham as it's reasonably local to Donington. I think more and more headliners these days just swan in on the day, do the set and bugger off again though. I heard a year or 2 ago most of Black Star Riders turned up to a pub blues jam in Nottm as they had either played Rock City night before or were due to play the night after and had a spare evening. It would have been funny seeing people do a double take seeing Scott Gorham knocking out old blues standards.

They probably missed hauling the lights

His brothers had some success too - Eden Kane was actually a Sarstedt brother and Robin had that hit 'My Resistence Is Low'. RIP Peter.

As I pointed out in my earlier post there are 2 sides to this. I can just about juggle a day job and playing in a band fairly regularly. What my day job doesn't allow for is buggering off abroad for 3 or 4 weeks at a time. Hence if I'm fit enough (and can afford) for travel when I retire and free up that time I'm not just going to be doing more of what I'm already doing but doing the things that time constarints of the job currently don't permit.

There are of course plenty of ageing rockers going out there and doing their best, not singing to a backing track, and it's perfectly obvious that they can't quite get the notes any more. At least they are being honest and not overly precious about it. When they decide they just can't hack it any more they retire with at least some credibility. It probably says as much about us as a society that we can't let artists age and have to get new arrangements of songs done to accommodate that natural process as it does about the artists themselves.

If I can still afford to retire a bit early I'd like to do more travelling if I'm physically up to it which won't be condusive to being in a regular band so I'll probably have to quit for a while. It's then going to be down to how interested I am in what might be on offer once I'm in a position to commit the amount of time required to do it properly again. I could well be mid sixties by then and if there's nothing that gets me excited musically I will just spend more time doing the other things I have too little time for at present.

The busiest pubs I see routinely are Wetherspoons who not only don't put bands on, they don't even do background muzak. Obviously their strategy is to sell drinks at low prices and it works for them but I think it's also symptomatic that pub culture is generally changeing. There will always be some specific music oriented venues but the days of every street boozer corner having a turn on every Saturday is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. I wouldn't particularly look to the next generation to change that either. Half of them spend more on fancy coffees looking at their phones than they do beer and socialising with real people. But I'm just a middle aged out of touch git.