KevB

We decided to put off starting set 2 until after the pens had finished then played till midnight.

Found somewhere online thats doing the 12 step for £179 with free delivery, getting tempted. If I can master the little button keys with the pointy end of a boot it might be feasible, the PK-5's will take up too much stage space for some of the places we play.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1467369856' post='3083129'] Blackmore's barnet is astounding - he's 71....I reckon there's a few horses missing their manes somewhere....! [/quote] If you look at Rainbow photo's from the mid 70's then Blackmore's hair when DP reformed in 1984 it's clear there's been some serious intervention! Mind you Joe Lynn Turner wore a syrup through the whole of his Rainbow tenure and no one spotted a thing. Then - it's all going a bit 'shredded wheat' isn't it? [URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/user/KevB64/media/blackmore8_zps1efqlxwm.jpg.html][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/blackmore8_zps1efqlxwm.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Now - luxuriant thatch, sir! [URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/user/KevB64/media/RitchieBlackmore10_zpshj1yvtfv.jpg.html][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/RitchieBlackmore10_zpshj1yvtfv.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I've done midi pedals (Roland PK-5) and bvox along with bass playing in a couple of bands and they may get wheeled out in the current band at some point in the future. It's handy the OP has mentioned the 12 step as I was on the verge of either starting a new thread on them or dredging through for old threads to resurrect. The PK-5's take up a fair amount of stage space so I'm dabbling with the idea of a 12 step and the interface I'd need to my sound module. Would love to demo some to try before I took the plunge of buying, not sure if anyone near me has a set though. It is down to practice but it is also about being sensible and what you can comfortably do. Standing on one leg for whole songs does get tiring so try to figure out where keys are really needed and if you can put breaks in, do it. I've also found that in fact such backing has much more impact (if you are the only person doing any keys at all) if used on some songs rather than everything. People will soon tire, especially if you use similar patches on different songs, and it just becomes a background noise even if you are working your arse off. Organise set lists so you aren't doing pedals on too many consecutive songs if possible.

Our singer uses a Roland Ax-Synth. Someone in the audience a couple of weeks back referred to it as her 'lady organ'

Zoom MRS 1044 CD. I knew it would devalue when I got it, stuff like that is always being replaced by newer tech. Don't recall what I paid for it but it wasn't cheap. Just never had the time to fully use it, did a couple of recording projects then on eBay and got a fraction back of what I paid.

I doubt the majority of people who see the band really know what I'm doing at all musically. As long as the whole collective sound is good that's all that really matters. A bass player at an open mic once told me I was one of the most 'natural' bass players he'd seen but I didn't (still don't) really know what that meant.

Time & A Word gets overlooked, some lovely basswork on there too. RIP Chris.

Just caught a good chunk of the Adele headliner, thought she nailed it. Not an act I'd have thought would work at Festival level but it was excellent.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1467004840' post='3080299'] Mrs Ez and I had the same thought. [/quote] There are 3 keyboard players in the set up so I'm assuming one of them is adding extra strings and choir where required to augment the live strings and voices. One of the 2 backing singers doubles up with Jeff on certain parts plus the other guitarists and bass player are chipping in extra bv's too. Saw an arena gig in April, there are about 13 or 14 people on stage, it's a big sound.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1466969058' post='3080142'] Dave Pomeroy has had a haircut! He does get some top gigs. [/quote] Just to be pedantic it's Lee but yes he does - seen him with Jeff, Steve Hackett and It Bites.

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1466799203' post='3079020'] TBH Foals are mopping the floor re. sound/output (never heard of em g'vnor) BIG fan of ZZ but past prime to be mixing it with young blood. [/quote] I was doing something else in another room and had it on in the background, must have missed the announcer intro. I honestly thought it was Bloc Party until I nipped in to look at the screen.

Lasted about 3 songs before getting very bored and switched it off.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1466519997' post='3076453'] Some pubs are doing that. Sadly, the agencies they use don't seem to want to use us, despite the venues themselves loving us - I think they must have their little list of favourite bands. [/quote] I think there's a lot of this that goes on. Quite a few pubs round my way are done through agents, in fact our gig last Saturday's was done that way but fortunatey they only took 10% rather than 15 (which is more the norm now) so we still ended up with reasonable 'beer money' .

As a taster there is always the 'Strictly Commercial' compilation. This has been rebadged as 'best of' on another label and is available quite cheaply secondhand, eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00067RH3A/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

Glad to hear you are still out and about Ray

Bit of a struggle last night, I was getting over a cold (getting piss wet every day I cycled to work probably didn't help) and the singer had a bad throat which got worse as the gig progressed, had to do a bit of set shuffling in the second set and it was a def 2 x 45 and off. Booking via an agent so never quite sure if its going to be 'your' crowd and not hugely busy but enough folks in to get a bit of atmosphere going. Playing against football on TV always a bit awkward. Thanks to our very own PaulWarning for popping in for a while to see the lesser talented among us. Depending on how England/Wales results go we might get next Sat off.

Had Mute Gods for a while, as Jon says it goes a bit up and down (very Steven Wilsonesque) but is certainly worth a listen. So here ya go... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oinol5pNWY

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1466194852' post='3074115'] Anyone else notice the vocals carried on after the unfortunate incident with Meatloaf? maybe he should just call it a day. [/quote] The backing singers are just coming in on the parts they are supposed to, nothing too sinister from that footage. He's an odd sort of bloke but wish him a speedy recovery, think hes on verge of retirement anyway. As for Ian Paice it's a mini stroke and he's hoping to be back on the road next month. First gigs he's had to cancel since he joined the band in 1968!

I used to cringe doing Mr Brightside because the singer insisted on us playing it a semitone higher than the original despite this meaning there was a particular note that he failed to hit [i]every single time.[/i]

One of the reasons I bought the car I did is that it has heavily tinted rear passenger and tailgate windows. Most of my gear is black or in dark cases so when inside it is very difficult for the casual viewer to see anything of note inside. I have 2 silver alu camera cases for leads etc but they both conveniently fit into a hidden boot space and are covered with boards that the heavier 'dark' items go on top of. I don't usually stay O/N after a gig.

As a covers band I think we'd be putting a stop to it right at the '200 mile round trip for 40 minute slot' point.

Learned it as a possible tune to go in a set list a couple of years ago. The singer couldnt be arsed to get to grips with so it was never gigged. Is it still popular on the pop/functions circuit then? I wondered if it was the sort of song that might wane with that sort of audience.

Quiet pub gig, we were expecting it as it was lashing with rain right up to the time we were due on, the opening of Euro 2016 no doubt keeping a few indoors (or possibly getting drenched at Download a few miles away). We noticed a nice looking Thai restaurant a few doors away had about 2 people in it too, just a very quiet night in Burton. None of us had played the pub before and they don't pay a lot so simple 2 x 45 set enough and it wasn't a long drive for any of us. I got the impression they use Fridays to test bands for the (apparently slightly more lucrative) Sat night slots. Despite the low turn out it was encouraging for someone to shout out to the owner between two of the songs 'Bloody hell Sue get this lot on Saturday next time!' Thanks to Sue and the staff for being helpful and their enthusiasm for putting on live music even though it looks the kind of place that doesn't make a huge amount of money.

I came up with 2 potential new songs to investigate the other week. The drummer didn't want to do one but liked the other, the guitarist didn't want to do the one the drummer liked but liked the one the drummer hated. I gave up.