sonsman

Friday night's gig was in a pub on the edge of a new town which has sprung up near Exeter over the last couple of years. The pub is surprisingly nice for a new place with easy load in via french doors, decent sized playing area and reasonable acoustics. As you'd expect of the Friday before Xmas it was pretty lively with the local ladies netball team on their festive night out making themselves pleasantly obvious. Happy punters, happy bar staff and home by 12.30. Saturday was the after match at Exeter Chiefs following their top of the table clash with Saracens. Sound checking whilst trying to watch the big screens showing the match at the same time was interesting. We were the second band on and wondered how many people would still be around by 6.30 but with Chiefs winning handsomely the crowd were buzzing and there were still two to three hundred people bopping away. The crowd thinned out later in the evening so we stopped at ten, packed down sharpish and home by eleven. A New Year's Eve club gig is my last gig before retiring from active gigging. Having done fifty to sixty gigs a year over the last few years I decided earlier in the year to tell the band I was finishing after over ten years to spend weekends doing other things whilst I have the health and energy to do so. Little did I know that due to family circumstances it would turn out to be quite a prophetic decision. Yes I'll miss the buzz of playing live in a tight band but not the crap that sometimes goes with being the glue that holds the thing together. I'll be first call dep, so the occasional gig without the responsibility will be very pleasant. Seasons greetings to all low enders.

Like the sound of the breakfast gig too - pretty much ideal from the way you've described it.

I bet you were playing 'Wooden it be Nice' at the time.

Interesting gig last night at a pub we do a couple of times a year. There's a decent stage so you can watch the punters and whilst the first half was steady by the second set it was a packed dance floor. About half way through I spotted a male dwarf in drag dancing away - that was a definite first! There was also a female mooning which I thought was a first but our singer who I have worked with for ten years reminded me otherwise. What's the most unusual thing you've seen whilst on stage?

Last night was the first of two nights at Oktoberfest at Rougemont Castle, Exeter. Full stage rig, lights, PA and sound engineer provided so just back line to load in which was a change. Sound was good on stage and out front but one of the guitarists was having issues from a crackling radio mic on his guitar which was fixed by going back to a good old cable. Over four hundred tickets had been sold so lots of lubricated punters but went down really well. We shared with an excellent oompah band who were great fun. Overnight security meant we could leave the back line and drums in situ so in theory we should just be able to plug in and play tonight. This evening is a sell out so no doubt it will be lively!

Did a fiftieth birthday party last night in a large marquee in the grounds of a private house north of Exeter. We played there just over a couple of years ago when the weather was superb and lots of folks were in the large swimming pool! Last night was very different as it was hissing down all day and it was still damp in the evening. The upside was that the crowd stayed in the marquee and wanted to party with lots of dancing. Between our sets there was a live link up with a relative of the birthday boy in the Ukraine - that was a first!

Did a wedding in a barn on Dartmoor on Saturday. When we got there the 'stage' was a farm trailer. By the time we got it dressed and the lighting sorted it didn't look too bad. The stage was on the bouncy side which is why my Ashdown cabs are side by side rather than stacked. I didn't fancy them falling four feet off the back of the trailer! We do quite a few rural weddings in large marquees and barns in what often feels like the middle of nowhere but always find we have a good night. The next one is in a marquee on a farm in mid Devon the weekend after next - apparently we'll have a 'proper' stage!

We did try plugging in to sockets off stage but didn't make any difference. Incidentally Woodinblack, if you are in 'Bottom of Somerset', the venue was just outside Cullompton so not far from you I guess.

First experience of a decibel limiter last night at a wedding gig. We've played the venue before but over the winter they've added an extra barn with a nice stage area, dodgy acoustics and the decibel limiter. We're a six piece with a fairly loud drummer and inevitably set the limiter off during the sound check. We rolled everything back, programmed the drummer to play as lightly as possible and got through the gig with no interruptions. What was strange was that the limiter particularly did not seem to like me playing a 'C'. As several of our songs are in C that made in a bit tricky. Anyone else had a similar experience?

That reminds me of a few years ago at a pub gig in Crediton. We were well into the first set and became aware of blue flashing lights outside. Paramedics rushed in and went downstairs (where a punter had had a heart attack) just as our singer got to the line 'Doctor, doctor give me the news, got a bad case of loving you'!

Saturday night at The Wings Bar in Exmouth and first time out using my Sandberg Elektra TT instead of the usual G+L L2000 Tribute and it got a universal thumbs up. 'Awesome' from the singer after the soundcheck. Must have been the night for new instruments as one of our guitarists used his old Strat for the first time in place of his Ibanez and that sounded terrific too. Not busy, busy but steady and we enjoyed it and so did the management. Friday and Saturday gigs this coming weekend then up to Shepton Mallet on Sunday for the Classic Bike Show probably spending what I've just earned!

Nice one Don. Had my first gig since NYE on Friday, expected it to be a quiet night but turned out to be pretty busy. Had a regular dep in for one of our guitarists and went well.

Age 61, six piece band (four of us around my age and two half my age). Pub gigs at £325/350 make up around 70% of the total with the remainder private functions at between two and three times that.

This thread made me tot up the diary and it came to fifty one gigs - all with one band. I had a dep in for another seven to cover hols etc. Considering we changed drummers and one guitarist during the year that's not too bad. Been doing this level of gigs for the last few years but only working part time for the last two years works wonders for the energy levels at the weekend! Got forty eight in the diary for 2018 and with several more enquiries on the go so should see us up around the sixty mark again.

Unfortunately you don't get chance to see the game as you can only get access to get gear in/set up/ soundcheck once the game has started (H+S rules and all that) so just watched the highlights on TV.

Did two gigs last night - wasn't planned that way but due to the vagaries of TV sport scheduling that's how it turned out. My band were booked as part of the after match entertainment at Sandy Park, home of the Exeter Chiefs on December 30th but BT Sport wanted to televise it on NYE. We were already booked for NYE at one of our regular pub venues a few miles away so what to do? After a lot of working out logistics we did ninety minutes at Sandy Park finishing at 7pm, packed down and off to the pub gig (who knew the situation) and did another two and a half hours finishing around 1am. How did it go? Great to play in front of several hundred people and get a good response but just as much fun in a smaller venue with everyone in fancy dress and intent on having a good time. Only real problem for me was, as a finger style player, starting to get cramp in my right hand near the end of the second gig. A quick change to playing with a pick sorted that out. Home by 3am to a mug of tea and toast - rock 'n' roll or what?

Played Saturday evening at a pub on the edge of Exeter where they had a family festival (bouncy castles etc) from mid afternoon. By the time we went on there were plenty of well oiled folks who were up and dancing from the first song. We mixed the set list up and threw in three or four songs we hadn't done for a couple of years and our drummer and one of the guitarists hadn't played before and they all went surprisingly well. Rebooked for next year's event !

King King in Tavistock next Friday (28th)

Busy Exeter based covers band are looking for a drummer. Covering rock,pop and soul the band play 50/60 gigs a year. Versatile player with good gear, own transport and a sense of humour needed - BVs would be ideal.

East Lancs myself - Accrington