Mickeyboro

And another five star experience! 👍

Looking at these as one pic, I thought someone had spiked my cornflakes!😮

Two lunch time shows on consecutive days that couldn’t have been different. A show in a church… which garnered a lot of interest. Our new singer impressed a whole lot of fans, which was great. All is well once more, after a period of uncertainty about our new direction. Sandberg VM4 through Elf and Barefaced One10. Sandals. And a festival gig which didn’t! By showtime (12 noon) it was pouring, the guitarist and drummer hadn’t shown and we looked sunk. Half an hours grace saw the guitarist show up (he thought it was at 1pm) and the drummer pulled out (he thought it was this evening). We soldiered through as a trio and miraculously got our full fee! 😄 Flea Jazz through Elf and Barefaced Two10 (nicely visible, I am sheltering from the storm). Wet loafers.

Phil bought a book from me in a flawless transaction. 🙏

Rod bought another book from me - flawless transaction as ever. 🙏

He made a hell of a life and career out of unpromising beginnings. I take my hat off to him.

Don’t bring pugs into it… let’s concentrate on diminutive humanoids!😂

Tell me you don’t miss playing in a proper ground. If Fulham left Craven Cottage that would be the end for me. PS Saw the Doobies twice in 74. As with Springsteen I don’t dare go again, it couldn’t be the same…

An absolute gent, Richard. Sold me a book, prompt delivery and well packaged. Deal with confidence!

Thanks, HB. The problem would be less of a problem if I had commitment from the singer… but then if we decided to revert (to a bloke) then no problem since she has her own band and is strictly speaking a dep. Stick, twist… lord knows! Is blokiness part of our USP? Thanks @casapete too!

Many of you kindly contributed to my recent thread about motivating dep musicians. This is related, but a wee bit different. We have just done our first ever gig with a female singer - our fifth front person in three years, the others all blokes. We gave her maybe 65 per cent of the songs to sing: I did the rest. It went down well on the night. (Caveat: she has her own band and has not committed to us for any specific period.) Just had a call from the promoter of our next gig to advise me that he and a number of people there were not taken by the new female-fronted line-up. When pressed, he admitted he’d liked our ‘blokey’ image better. (Including a singer who could barely hold a tune compared to our new one!) My wife tactfully suggests we are now sounding ‘more commercial’, but will that win us enough new fans to make up for the stick in-the muds? Have any of you had to overcome resistance to change?

Have a checklist pinned to the door of your gear cupboard. Use it!

Seems to be symptoms of a Parkinson-like disease. Had to sit for the last few numbers (reports said) and missed cues/seemed out of it. As I said, based on press/Facebook fan reports, I wasn’t there myself. And he is 77…

By all reports hes in a bad way - don’t think it will be rescheduled.

That’s kinda what I was interested in finding out, Len. Ta for asking! As far as I can tell, there’s really not a great deal of difference. Maybe it’s not as compressed as the Elf, but certainly loud enough for the room. The Fleas pickups drive it quite hard. What I like about the Warwick is the clearly visible controls - many’s the time the Elf’s volume has somehow turned itself down or off! Curiously, on the evidence of live recordings, the sound I like best for blues at the moment is my Sandberg VM4 with the GK MB200 through my Barefaced Two10. None of which I was using here🤔

First Otis Jay BluesBand show with our new singer Cecilia. Also my first show as a main singer, having taken on the ‘male’ songs in our repertoire. Video shows me giving C some space as she emerges from behind the keyboards. She’s only on loan to us, but if we come back without her I think we might be lynched! Played Flea Jazz through a just visible Barefaced One10 and a very efficient Warwick Gnome that arrived in the post that very morning courtesy of @spyder 87527738-02ab-49e9-9f7f-662474ad080d.mp4

Anyone had the problem I’m having - I can’t email a set list with songs attached to a colleague. It just won’t go any more. Thanks!

Hi Alan I am a fan of ‘lunchbox’ amps like TE Elf, Warwick Gnome and GK MB200. The BAM is I imagine similar, and probably adequate for your needs. Cant say I am a great fan of the brand though, so haven’t tried one.