tonybassplayer

A few weeks ago my partner dragged me along to the Abundant Life Centre in Bradford as she said I would enjoy it and despite my initial reservations I had a brilliant evening listening ( and singing along ) to some very well crafted and brilliantly played christian rock music. Quite honestly I was staggered at the whole set up and how professional it was with huge stage and video screens, lighting, line array pa, 7 piece band plus about another 7 singers etc Yes, the message was about God and Christianity but put across in such a way as to be very accesible ( everyone including the Pastor etc in jeans and tee shirts etc ) with a wide range of ages in the audience with probably more people under thirty than over !! I have returned every week since and really enjoyed the music, message and all round experience and just wonder if anyone else has been. By the way this is not meant to start a religious thread of who or what is the best religion nor is it a marketing exercise to get people to attend. I am just curious as to who out there on the forum may be involved with this place or others as once again music seems to be the one area that brings people together to share nice times and experiences together.

Not quite made it to 50 ( four months to go ) and was in specsavers last week for reading glasses that I pick up this week ( brilliant service by the way ) and I am going to get my ears tested at the same time as I am now getting a little noise. Although I am skint I think am going to get some of the custom moulded ones as the thought of having to give up playing live is terrible so I want to keep things protected as best I can. I will keep posting at each stage.

I saw Mud live in about 73/74 at Leeds City Hall......great gig !!

We play Mama Mia and it goes down a storm everytime

I put it on, made a brew and enjoyed it reading the review.....always wanted to try busking, do you need a licence or just turn up and play ??

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='304034' date='Oct 10 2008, 04:55 PM']We're going out with Limehouse Lizzy for a few dates in and around North Yorks next year. Looking forward to that one. Can't recall the venues but I know the town hall in Masham is one of them.[/quote] Good Evening Dr Dave That sounds like a mighty fine evening of good music so please post the dates when you have them Thanks Tony

Sorry guys but this just has to stop !! I can't afford a Shuker, in fact at the moment I probably couldn't afford a second hand encore going cheap on ebay but as I type I am looking around the house thinking what can I sell because I JUST HAVE TO HAVE ONE

Yes, Limehouse Lizzy are brilliant ( Live and Dangerous played live....wow ) and also seen The Australian Pink Floyd and they were note for note Floyd with a very similar light show.

Not seem them but if they are better ( or anything like ) Livewire who I saw a few weeks ago you are in for a great night as they were awesome !!

[quote name='StevieC' post='302928' date='Oct 9 2008, 12:50 PM']You want cheese, my band does Disco inferno, Oh What a night (Late December back in '63) etc AND That's the Way I like it! They all keep the dance floor filled... All great songs for bass players, although I sometimes have a mental block about the starting run down on Disco Inferno. Steve[/quote] We also do "That's The Way I Like It " I'm beginning to wonder if we are contenders for England's Cheesiest Band !!

[quote name='Rich' post='302729' date='Oct 9 2008, 07:51 AM']Fair enough... but if you say to most people "oh we do Booker T & the MG's 'Soul Limbo'", they'll go "Nah, don't know it mate". But if you tell them "oh we do that tune off the cricket on telly", they'll go "ah right, that calypsoey one, do do-do do-dooo...". Sad fact. Had a great rehearsal last night, putting the final polish on our latest slab o' cheese... a medley of "I Want You Back" and "ABC". Bassist's dream, those two. Love it The next chunk of edam on our to-do list is "Disco Inferno" apparently...[/quote] We already do "I Want You Back" and "Disco Inferno" both go down a storm and great to play ( although I have to be honest and admit to playing them "in the spirit" of the songs rather than note for note ) More cheese required !!

[quote name='Rich' post='302343' date='Oct 8 2008, 05:02 PM']We do Walking On Sunshine too, it's a cracker... first verse is slow with just guitar and vocal, the punters are always singing along by the time it gets to the first "whoa-ohh" bit, then the band launches in and they go mental. And just for a laugh, we've got the cricket theme 'Soul Limbo' in the middle. And we do Delilah too. Cheese rools! [/quote] So thats what it's called then. Our keyboard player started playing Walking on Sunshine and I was trying to explain to the band that it sounded like the start of the cricket....might see if we can slip it in somewhere ( you can never have too much cheese when people want to dance !! )

[quote name='The Funk' post='301932' date='Oct 8 2008, 09:33 AM'][i]Billie Jean[/i] is not cheese![/quote] Yes, fair comment it's an excellent song It is probably the only song we play that the bass line can be heard on ( until our guitarist decides to play all over it of course )

Just had a brilliant three hour rehearsal learning Delilah, Walking on Sunshine, Billie Jean and Wig Wam Bam for our function set....awesome fun and can't wait to roll them out at the next gig !!

That looks stunning and I look forward to hearing it in use some day !!

Another cracking gig playing a wedding in Tong near Bradford. Great bride and groom, brilliant dancing guests, loads of encores and loads of nice compliments after. We had a mini band meeting in the break and confirmed that our dep drummer is now our permanent drummer ( he is brilliant ) and also agreed that our function set and pub set should be dramatically different ( I have emails going back two years requesting this and at long last they are listening ) so practice on Tuesday is more cheese ( raining men, walking on sunshine etc )

The Geddy is my number one at the moment as the TRB needs new strings and set up then who knows ! ! [attachment=14067:P9270001.JPG]

Cross Keys at Morley near Leeds with the added pressure of video recording the gig ( looks good this morning ) and Col from local band Mojo bringing along his 10 track recorder to record the gig ( first cut will be about a week ) A few more mistakes than normal ( all on the simple songs that I never really practice !! ) but all in all I think it will turn out good. Good atmosphere in the pub with plenty of friends along to support us and the recently installed stage was an absolute dream to play on. I even had room to put both bass's on stands rather than stacking them at the back of the drums or on a shelf. Great gig and roll on next Saturday !! [attachment=14061:P9270044.JPG] [attachment=14059:P9270001.JPG]

40th birthday party at the Stone Chair Variety club in Shelf near Halifax with yet another excellent dep drummer who once again we had not met prior to the gig !! We were asked to play our first set before the food which is always ( imho ) the wrong way round as there seems to be a physcological barrier to dancing before people have eaten. We kept it quite short as the food looked gorgeous ( and was..... I had mushy peas and naan bread !! ) Second set was much livelier and the alcohol had filtered through enough to get the dance floor full. Funniest part was our guitarist who broke a string in the first song in our four song funk medley. We kept playing but he couldn't find his spare guitar !! he had put it under a table we had put the mixer on so it was out of the way.....quite an amusing site watching him run about looking for it !! Cross Keys at Morley tonight to record ( audio and video ) the gig so bound to be more mistakes than normal !!

I have a saying in the band that "less is more" and this is a perfect example of this. Unfortunately most guitarist's seem to take the opposite view !!

First and foremost it has to be a good song with something "special" that captivates me and if it has a great bass line then that's a bonus however I do have to admit to songs "growing" on me that I previously wasn't too keen on. When I see a full dance floor loving what we are playing ie mama mia, disco inferno, I want You Back etc then I start to love the song !!

This is fascinating !! Looking forward to seeing the bass finished.

That is so sad to lose someone who was obviously loved so much and at such a young age. It really confirms that life is just too precious and everyday must be enjoyed. Sincere condolences to his family and thinking of you in this difficult time. I know it's not the same but being on this forum feels like "family"

Setting up the lights is my speciality Never appreciated by anyone but they would certainly miss them if I decided not to bother one night !!