Graham

I was working at the Damnation Festival in Leeds on Saturday, I saw half of Wheel, Raging Speedhorn, heard most of Mgla as I was loading in Mayhem during their set, about half of Primordial, Alcest, Mayhem and then the last 25 minutes of Opeth. It was a long, hard day and some of the bands were difficult - most were no trouble at all - but very satisfying nonetheless. Alcest and Raging Speedhorn were my highlights of the day, Wheel and Mgla were good too. I'm a big Opeth fan so I was disappointed to miss most of them but I'd seen the set list so I knew it was skewed towards their modern stuff which I like less; what I saw was very good though. Primordial were a surprise, I've never really got into them, but they were great live, will have to listen to a full album

As it's Halloween, I'm working my way through the "spooky" era of AFI, started with Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes and have just finished the All Hallows EP Maybe some Misfits later if I get through to the end of Sing The Sorrow by the of the day

Are they Nordstrand pickups on the Payson? I've loved the feel of the Dingwalls I've played, but the tone has always left me cold

That looks lovely

The new Alcest record - Spritual Instinct It's very good, which is no real surprise

Oh yeah......Somehow I forgot my main bass now is a signature model - Lakland Daryl Jones 5 I think it's because I don't know much about the player, I just love the bass as a really good jazz 5

I wasn't wild about that inlay either, it was quite in your face - no ambiguity about which model it was.

I've had two signature basses: an Ibanez K5 - the Korn model and a Lakland Duck Dunn Neither were really bought because of the connection with the named player, with the Lakland, you wouldn't have known to look at it, it just looked like a red precision, but because they were good basses. The Duck Dunn sounded superb - just like a really good Precision, but it was a) heavy and b) had a very narrow neck, which I never quite gelled with. I replaced it with a G&L SB2 The Ibanez was my second ever bass and my first five string, a pretty good bass, though the pickups and pre-amp were a bit weak, with an electronics upgrade it would have been great. I swapped this for a MIM Jazz.

I was actually 😀 How does it compare? I have a HD350 that I love and had a Fafner 1 previously, so a big fan of the brand. The 350 has an intermittent fault with the power stage that a well aimed thump to the top of the rack case normally cures, but at some point I will probably have to replace it.

Nice, have you used other EBS amps?

Yeah, you can always tell the coked up ones, they're the worst

The blessed sound of silence now the children have all gone home from daughter's 11th birthday party

Damnation Festival in Leeds next weekend - anyone else going? Opeth, Mayhem, Alcest, Primordial, Mgla, Venom Prison, Gaahl's Wyrd, Raging Speedhorn, Big Business, The Vintage Caravan, Birds In Row, Blood Red Throne, Inter Arma, A Pale Horse Named Death, Jo Quail, Imperial Triumphant, Gost, Crowhurst, Lord Dying, Carnation, Wheel, Mork, Earth Ship, The Infernal Sea, Voices, Alunah, Dawn Ray'd, God Eater

By any objective standard, Junior Dad is a truly terrible piece of music and he/they (allegedly) misunderstood the Weimar play they were referencing. I remember thinking there was one riff, I forget in which song, which I thought "that's a cool riff, sounds kinda like Isis". I then realised that as much as I like Isis, this one riff only sounded cool because it was island of okay in a sea of unrelenting, unforgivable awfulness.

I listened to that album not long ago, it's the worst thing I've ever heard

You guys have me looking at the GB price list......it's very reasonably priced.....

Quiet mid-week gig in a mid-Sussex pub last night, given that it was a Thursday and the torrential rain I thought it was going to be a waste of time on the drive over. We ended up with a small, but enthusiastic audience, and happy bar staff so worth it in the end. Just a small place, so it was nice to leave the amp in the car and just DI with in ears.

I'd like to humbly submit the below for the defence Converge - A Single Tear I was so naive Fearful of the substantive Of the greying days Of carrying endless weight And what it really meant To truly mean something To really be someone who could be loved So lost in darkness In and out of selfishness Hoarding all my dreams Was just no way to be Then you gifted me such a precious thing A chance to be someone who deserved love When I heard A single tear Your cry ring out A single tear It showed me what A single tear Real strength could be A single tear As a single teardrop fell And was swallowed by the sea You outshined the best there was Rewrote who I could be You outshined the best there was Rewrote who I could be When I held you for the first time I knew I had to survive When I held you for the first time I knew I had to survive As a single teardrop fell As a single teardrop fell As a single teardrop fell As a single teardrop fell When I heard A single tear Your cry ring out A single tear It showed me what A single tear Real strength could be A single tear A single tear A single tear A single tear A single tear

I played one of these at a SE Bass Bash and it was in the top two instruments I've ever played - really nice articulate tone and a colosally powerful pre-amp as I recall Lovely top wood on that one too

Been working my way through The Dillinger Escape Plan's discography today, currently up to Option Paralysis. One day I'll learn Panasonic Youth properly

This is just two and a half minutes of absolute brilliance - always puts a massive smile on my face

Still available 😀

I need a dep to cover me this coming weekend 5th of October in East Grinstead RH19 for a party Pretty standard covers - Mr Brightside, Sex On Fire, Alright Now, Champagne Supernova, Treasure, Get Lucky, Valerie, Sweet Child, Times Like These, Chelsea Dagger, Counting Stars, I'm A Believer, Dakota, You Give Love A Bad Name, A Little Respect, Take On Me, etc etc PM me for more details

Mr Brightside There's probably others, but distinctly this