Raymondo

Just about to set off for the weekend. Hope to catch up with you guys. Jack, that pint is a promise mate. I loved the band last year,the songs were so infectious and full of fun.

It was '85/86 when we played there. The band is called SYZ and still gigs today. there have been many many lineup changes and sadly the Dumpys gig was my last with them. They went on to release a single "Rock and Roll Children" which never troubled the charts but is quite a collectors piece now. They are listed in a book about the NWOBHM and have fans all over the world. I've met a few that travelled from Scandinavia to meet up with a few members of the band in Nottingham, it was a humbling experience ,lovely people dedicated to rock music. I never made a penny playing with them but loved every minute. The band leader is a mate from college and we had started a band together in 1974.

At the risk of turning this into a Dumpy's Rusty Nuts love fest... When my band supported them in the mid Eighties, at The Mardi Gras rock club in Nottingham we were allowed to use their p.a. Their gear filled the trailer of an artic but their roadies unloaded and set up in record time. Heaven knows how many thousands of Watts the thing gave out ( maybe should post this in the volume killing venues thread😉) but it was fabulous. They gave us a proper sound check, their engineer mixed for us and were generally lovely supportive people. A brilliant gig ...sorry ..back to your horror stories.😀

Something that I have complained about for years....bands seem to balance the instruments and then try to get the vocals to cut through...never works! I have been in bands where I have complained about this and eventually got my way....Vocals first then bring everything else up to just under their level....the other members then enjoy the gig more because everyone can hear what is happening. I hate pub gigs where everything is too loud drowning out the vocals.

Having spent many a year playing the "social clubs" I have heard many of the classics.. "play summat we know" was a regular in the Yorkshire clubs, followed with "play summat ya know" of course. " can you play over the hills and far away" was quite clever. At a club in Leicester they had the habit of placing written request on the edge of the stage. One night a quite pleasant looking young lady handed a request to our ,rather fabulous female singer...she really was very good indeed....... Her face paled when she read it and she went rather quiet for a while. At the break she showed us the note it read..." Can you flip off you are stinky poo!" ( I realise that the profanity filter will play havoc with that but you'll get the drift).😉 We were enjoying quite a joyous response with calls for a third encore at a club in one south Yorkshire town ( forget which) with the compare asking if they should let us play on some more an unusually packed crowd were all shouting yes when, in a lull, a loud very Yorkshire voice shouted out... "Don't forget we have the last house of Bingo to play!" We did the encore, with very little enthusiasm and walked straight off at the end despite shouts for further songs....Support to the Bingo, highlight of my life.😎

Jack ...I saw you at the Star last year ...I am the guy that bought you all a pint!🍺

I am Staying at the Swan all weekend ...The Star was my favourite pub last year ...I'll see you both there!

I went last year and was amazed at the standard of all the bands I managed to see. A fabulous weekend. http://www.wottonbluesfest.org/

They played the contemporary a couple of months ago Kev...the gig that I thought was amazing ,there was a full choir for the last three songs too! They have played a couple of festivals during the summer, in Europe but I don't think that they are actually "on tour".

Is the tag line this lot used to sell tickets to the last gig I went to....one of the best gigs I have ever seen!.... It's fabulous to see a mate doing well. Bill, the guitarist, was a (brilliant) drummer in a band I was in a few years back...The Steve Mcgill band. I hope some of you enjoy it!

I'm not averse to a bit of the old Tom Robinson band ….life was simpler then🙂 I saw the man ,on his own, when he played what is now called the Splendour festival ( I think it was then the plain old Heineken Music festival ) in Nottingham a few years back. His solo rendition of "War Baby" was mightily impressive.😎

Hmmmm Nice! ….spoken in a Whispering Bob Harris style😎

I always loved The Barony bar...particularly gigs by Bedford Falls .. .has jazz on now according to their Facebook page but I think that they still have bands on . The standard was always very high. http://whatpub.com/pubs/EDN/23/barony-bar-edinburgh

Mine has to be a favourite place I used to play as I don't gig anymore..... Rock City Nottingham... Iconic Rock venue, just about every famous Band you can mention has played there at some point. The Stereophonics tribute band I was in has played the main stage there 5 times. It was an all day charity event ( I'm far from famous 😉) but the crowd loved us. it was always a sell out (2450 capacity) raising thousands of pounds for the relevant charity but the best bit was the on stage sound. There was a front of house soundman AND at the side of the stage, a sound man that just gave you a monitor mix ...he was BRILLIANT ….anything you wanted in your monitor at sound check was delivered in seconds. I know the combination of Tribute band and Charity gig is an anathema to many on here but they were the gigs of my life and I would do them again, at the drop of a hat , If only I was well enough.

I get the impression that Prowla quite likes Rics and their copies.😉