sharkboy

Not me, but a friend relayed this one. Soledad Brothers were playing Belfast, and this guy was working behind the bar at the venue. An American girl comes up for a drink and said bartender decides to try out his charm - "Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Meg White? Only much better looking", he tried, before smiling and adding "and probably a better drummer too!" Guess who?

Unknown to him, The Soledads were fellow Detroiters, and a bit of a pet project for Meg, having added percussion to their most recent album which Jack produced.

Ah, another chance to share my Norman anecdote... Many, many moons ago Norman was playing a small bar in Belfast in Wilko's R&B power trio. A friend and I had gone down early to make sure we got seated close to the stage. We were queueing on the stairs, waiting for the doors to open and I was waxing rhapsodic about Mr Watt-Roy's 4-string prowess. I'd just got to the part where I was explaining why Rhythm Stick had one of the best bass lines ever to grace a no.1 single, when a voice behind me said "thanks very much, mate, very kind". There was the man himself, flight cased bass in hand. We chatted for 5-10 mins before he went onstage to deliver more pure power than one man should be capable of! Still ranks as one of my favourite gigs ever

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1461486914' post='3034931']

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnqJgLYrnPA[/media]

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Mmmm...Ida Nielsen...***swoon***

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1461486869' post='3034929']
"Condition of The Heart" from Around The World In A Day
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I bloody love this song - remember hearing it for the first time and just being blown away by it. I always thought there was just a little something autobiographical in it - the "left him for a real prince from Arabia" line just sounds so heartfelt! It would definitely be on my Best Of... list, along with Sometimes It Snows in April, Sexy MF, My Name is Prince, Diamonds and Pearls - in fact most of his 80s/early 90s output! For me, Sign O The TImes is up there with The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense as one of the definitive live music movies.

Personally, I like a bit of dirt on my sound when playing some classic rock, but certainly not all the time. Something that springs to mind though - you're playing through an amp that has a built-in filter specifically created to emulate some of the warmth that comes from vintage set-ups (albeit without the distortion), so why not just play around with this instead? This and the Nate Mendell should give you loads of tonal variety for any classic rock song

I've got the MiniMark 802 which I bought mainly for practice (both alone and with a full band when practicing in the drummer's home) and it excels every time. I've also used it with a 1x12 extension cab for smaller gigs so it's running at 250W @4ohms and with the added bottom end from the bigger speaker it has no bother cutting through the mix. It's got a balanced line out too so you can send a signal straight to the desk when necessary. If you are put off by the smaller speakers, there's always the Jeff Berlin Players Model that comes with a 1x15 instead of 2x8

I really enjoy playing, and I'm sure that it shows on my face. I'm buggered, therefore, to explain why in every single photo my face looks like this:



The next time someone says "it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile" will get the Bill Hicks answer - "It takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me the f*** alone! Now why don't you walk away and see me start to really smile"

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1458230135' post='3005816']
The other one is Elgar's "Nimrod" from the Enigma Variations -- I have no idea why this chokes me up, but it just does. The crescendo at the end, gets me every time without fail.
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As beautiful as Nimrod is, it's actually another piece by Elgar that does it for me - Sospiri (op70). It is, simply put, 5 minutes of sublime beauty in aural form. Deeply moving and ultimately uplifting, you need to hear this if you haven't already: https://youtu.be/YI1I1EHSVhA

Me, I like the headstock - the 2+2 will reduce the neckdiving, the shape is still enough of a homage to the original and the turquoise detailing behind the D logo is sweet!

Gaslight Anthem wear their Springsteen obsession right on their sleeves in High Lonesome: "At nights I wake up with the sheets soaking wet/It's a pretty good song, baby, you know the rest". Bruce gets into the act himself on Thunder Road - "Roy Orbison's singing for the lonely". The Twilight Singers song Forty Dollars borrows a few lines from All You Need Is Love and She Loves You. And Arthur Conley's Sweet Soul Music was basically a role call of soul classics

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1457115087' post='2995565']
most double albums would've been a lot better as a single one, to quote the Clash, cut the crap and they should've
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And lets not mention triple albums **cough** Sandanista? **cough***...

I've always had a soft spot for The Wall, Quadrophenia and Husker Du's Zen Arcade (maybe doubles work better as concept albums? A whole other discussion, perhaps?). My favourite has to be Eels - Blinking Lights and other Revelations, though even I can accept that there are a couple of fillers on there. Other faves include Prince - Sign 'O' The Times, Led Zepp's Physical Graffiti, and NIN's The Fragile. On the other side of the fence, I'd put Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol II, Springsteen's The River. Neither of them are bad albums, but they could have been exemplary had they had the nuts to drop a few of the weaker tracks and stick to one platter

And guess what I ordered from bass direct just a few hours ago?..

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1455740068' post='2982046']
My job in my band is to play the best bass lines that compliment the songs we play, sing background vocals and maintain a certain level of stage presence.

I was not hired to critique or correct other members playing ability.

As long as our calender is filled with good gigs I keep quiet.

Blue
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A fair point, but how much longer will your calendar be filled with good gigs should you stop doing that job? A band has to be more than a collection of individuals who happen to be playing the same song at the same time. Well, the good ones, at least.

I've been through a few, but currently I'm down to two - a Pitchblack Pro in the rack and the built-in one in my TC Blacksmith. I have to say, I love the versatility of the Korg, and it makes for a damn good lightshow into the bargain

Saturday was our annual fundraiser for The Alzheimer's Society - a cause very close to our band. This is the 4th consecutive year we've held it, and the 4th consecutive sell-out of the 500-capacity Belfast Empire. An absolutely brilliant crowd made this one the best and most memorable gig yet, and while the final sums aren't yet tallied, it looks like we're on course to raise around another £6000 for the charity. This also takes us over the £20000 mark for the running total. Here's to next year!

Have you thought about Schroeder? They've a great range of lightweight compact cabs, and they've a UK distributor now as well. Everything from a 1x8 cab that'll deliver 400W up to a great range of multi-speaker cabs (the 812 or 1210 might be good options for a one-cab solution to your needs). I use their 1212 and 115 cabs and they've coped brilliantly with everything I've thrown at them. It's the older version of the 1212 with the downward firing driver, so it has pretty much the same dimensions as a 1x12 cab. Check out schroedercabinets.com for more info.

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1452789484' post='2953549']
Is there such a thing as anti-gas (I suppose that might be anti-matter in a gaseous state)? I keep looking round at all the stuff cluttering up the place that I never use and really should get rid of, but putting it up for sale seems like a big effort considering none of it is worth very much.
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Isn't that liquidity?

I think theres some confusion between a pro player and a pro session player. If your primary source of income is playing, whether in a signed band or a wedding band, you're a pro as far as I'm concerned. That is it- nothing else matters. It's not about how much that happens to be or your ability to play. Most of the advice on here fits well for a session player or someone looking to get regular gigs, but not for the (to use an earlier example) Adam Claytons of this world. Doesn't make him any less of a pro though!

I've been playing bass since I was 14, been gigging since I was 16 and turn 50 later this year. I've actively tried to listen to new music all my life - some I've hated, some have become life-long favourites. Do I have musical blind spots? Hell yeah! I've actively avoided most of the last 10 years chart music, mainly because I find that with a few exceptions it has few redeeming features. There have been some great songs, but all too often recorded by a bunch of talentless celeb wannabees. If the last 10 years have taught me anything, it's that while it may not be possible to polish a turd, some "artists" have a talent for coating a gold bullion with sh*t! Also, I just didn't get the whole poodle rock thing of the late 80s-early 90s, mostly because of the look, though the music did little for me too. Grunge was such a breath of fresh air when it arrived.

However....

We live in the information age. As someone above says, there are ways of discovering new music or clearing blindspots that the younger me could only dream of. There are forums/blogs etc where people would be only too happy to give you recommendations if you're looking for a particular style. The best thing about recognising a blindspot these days is that it's so easy to do something about it without dropping a week's wage on back catalogues. It's all out there, folks - just go looking! As for Megadeth, they were never the same after Fast Eddie Mustaine left beflre they released No Sleep til Hammertime

Drive-In Saturday, followed closely by Heroes and Life On Mars. Predictable, certainly, but classics all.

There's a lefty HB Acoustic bass in black there at the minute - £43.63

I was doing OK until I checked out the local Gumtree situation. Colour change sucks but, hey, that can be sorted. The £1200 asking price, on the other hand, means the GAS must remain unrequited

[url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/1979-pre-ernie-ball-music-man-sabre-bass/1149418316"]https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/1979-pre-ernie-ball-music-man-sabre-bass/1149418316[/url]

Had some trapped gas for a Dingwall NG-2 for some time now, but hopefully there's a good fart happening soon to relieve that trapped gas! That was all the GAS I had, until I spotted this on the local Gumtree: https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/1979-pre-ernie-ball-music-man-sabre-bass/1149418316

1979 pre-EB Sabre, seller looking £1200 but open to reasonable offfers...think this might qualify as a Deep Horizon...

I would stick with my current rig (TC Electronic Blacksmith head, Schroeder 212 and 115 cabs), but probably swap out my Ray for the Stingray5 that I used to own, but sold to get out of a financial hole.

I've a pal who, when he lived out there, used to organise punk gigs for his (and other) bands. By all accounts, there wasn't a thriving scene for this genre (not sure about rock though), and it does seem to be quite underground. It might be different for a band playing covers in the tourist hotels, but as a resident he had quite a few difficulties even getting venues to allow him to put the shows on.