Silvia Bluejay

GAS!! I was already a victim before I joined this forum. Then someone (step forward Mr H!) pointed me to a Warwick lefty fretless 5 going cheap which I was absolutely sure I'd play a only couple of times. Some two months and a set of D'Addario Chromes later, it's my main instrument, and I'm a happy woman GAS immediately continued with a new upright 5 and a new acoustic... hey, we only live once, right? And - as a Tuscan saying goes - Death needs to find us alive

Unfortunately, this is how FB works. Even band competitions [b]on different websites[/b] end up being linked to FB apps. I have had to turn down voting for some friends' band in a comp exactly because FB required me to give it access to my innermost secrets (friends list, personal data, you name it). For that reason - and because I'm a lefty, durrr - I'm not entering (ebaying it etc. in the unlikely event that I should win would be too much hassle!). However, I personally don't see a problem with Warwick pointing us to competition links. Of course it's advertsing, and we are "paying" with our data, but nobody forces us to take part if we don't like that.

AAALL right - I went there, admittedly long before rush hour, but there appeared to be rather enough space, and hopefully the situation will be similar on Saturday around noon. So, for anyone who may be coming from outside London and not be sure where exactly we are meeting up, the place is this (up the staircase): Nearest tube stations Embankment on the north bank and Waterloo on the south bank. Now, you guys tell me where you'd like us to pitch our tents, so to speak, so that I know where to park myself when I arrive there. This is the grassy area to the left of the entrance: And this is the decked seating area (there's more at the bottom of the garden, on the left): (yes, the "vase" in the foreground on the left [b]is [/b]a toilet bowl...) There is an area with small wrought iron tables and chairs too: I think we should be able to stay in the garden, and bring some of our own drinks, as long as we also buy a few drinks from their bar. Anyone know otherwise? I decided not to ask

I plan to be on time too, and grab a nice spot for us at the garden, if possible.

Yup, I noticed a lot of activity last Saturday, as well as a lot of art - of which I obviously took pictures! I should be out there again today in a couple of hours' time, and I'll take another look at the situation, just in case.

The Met Office is forecasting a max temp of 22 degrees and a sunny, windy day. We should be all right.

Ras, I hope you can make it on Saturday, even for a short time, but if not, hopefully we'll see you at another meetup soon.

It's now the roof garden at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. I should have a little time to pop down there early this afternoon and check that everything's in order and there are no closures etc.

Hm, I remember being fascinated by the bassline on You Should Be Dancing (I was in my early teens and disco was all the rage). Took me more than 30 years to take up bass playing, and learn to play it - it's on 5 strings! - but I got there in the end

Hadn't seen this thread at all before now. Grr. All the best Shell, I agree with the general consensus, move on, either join a band if you feel comfortable with that, or place an ad, find other musicians in a similiar situation and then you, as a group, may decide to become a band to all intents and purposes in the future. You'll be absolutely fine!

Welcome Gav! That's a rather impressive CV as a session musician. Good luck with your own album too, keep us posted about it.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1337614820' post='1662822'] Flamin' norah.... they'll be bringing in soft furnishings any day now... [/quote] Only in black with optional skull decoration and studs, in this thrasher's case.

I have a couple of late-ish meetings with a client in town in the next few days, which I'm afraid probably means I'll only be able to let myself loose on the South Bank in the early afternoon, before going to their office. But if anything changes and I can be there late instead, I'll let you know.

I agree. Nothing is cheap in the area, as it's so tourist-y! OK then, will amend my initial post on this thread and repeat it in a few days' time. Meanwhile, I'll pop down to the south Bank again (love the place!) to have another detailed look, and make sure we all know exactly where to meet up.

Fantastic!

Hey, the weather seems set to improve in the next few days! However, point taken about Waterloo station and the South Bank being really handy for most of us. I'm fine with us meeting there in any case, whether it's sunny or rainy, as it offers the choice of outdoors and indoors spaces. If that's all right by everybody, we can simply decide on the exact spot where to meet there, and skip the park for this time. Ras, I haven't got a smartphone so I can't post live updates, but I'm happy to give my number to those of you who would like to text me on the day to check if we're still there, where we are etc.

LOL like that Go on, give us some more "edited" logos...

It lasted around an hour this afternoon. Maybe they were making changes to some settings at the hosts' end.

Hope it's not another DoS attack...

It feels sluggish when I'm on it, takes ages to display when I get to it from another page, and I occasionally get this message: [b] 502 Bad Gateway[/b] Anyone else in the same predicament? More likely to be my ISP, or something on this site? All other websites I visit seem fine.

Yup, I agree, the RFH is an excellent idea in case of rain, better than the Galleria, as there is seating available. I'll go back there to spot a suitable place next time I'm in town during the week, as well as popping down to Regents Park. Then we'll watch the weather forecast and pick the most suitable solution. Roll on summer! (Please.) Edit: I have amended my intial post on this thread accordingly.

I went on a reccie mission to More London Riverside yesterday. The place is beautiful. (I hadn't ventured beyond crossing Tower Bridge from the north bank since City Hall was still half way through being built.) However, considered from the point of view of 10-15 people meeting there on a rainy day, I'm not sure how well More London would work. The only places we could take refuge in in case of downpour appeared to be restaurants, such a Strada and Gaucho, and a couple of small cafes. In the immediate riverside area there are no pubs or gastros or similar places where a reasonably large group could sit and just chat and have a drink. There are plenty of really nice outdoors areas, such as the Scoop, all the gardens around the buidings, and Potters Field Park, through which I walked to get from the foot of Tower Bridge to the riverside. The only large covered area I saw was a few minutes' walk along the river to the West, and that's the Hays Galleria. There is also what looks like a "proper" pub in the vicinity of the Galleria, as well as the other usual bars/restaurants/cafes. In short, the place would be lovely on a dry day, but if it was rainy or threatening to rain, I think we'd have to meet up in the Galleria. What are everybody's opinions on the above? I'm going to go on another reccie mission, in Regents Park this time, one of these days, so that I can check if there's an easily recognisable spot for us too meet up in case the weather behaves and we can actually have that picnic instead.

Hm, I suppose I must have pestered them in a more annoying way than you did, so that they wanted to get me off their backs quickly, and accepted all my requests I would still recommend talking to them on the phone as opposed to emailing (except for confirmations). Seems to work better. Let us know how it goes with the replacement. Good luck.

When I sent back my scratched bass I asked them (on the phone) for a courier to collect it from my door, as i haven't got a car, and they obliged. You may still be in time to change the arrangement if you call them?