ubit

Quite novel.....ready, steady.....go!

We did that many years ago. This guy who is sadly no longer with us was in the audience and we always finished with Allright now. He asked if he could sing it. We agreed and when it came to the end we just kept playing the chorus over and over. He was singing Allright now over and over and over. We were wetting ourselves because he kept singing and looking at us waiting for his cue to stop.

There will soon be old folks homes where the residents listen to Slipknot and the like. There's a thought.

Yeah but they would be selected from the top 40

Yup, I still remember Motorhead being on and AC/DC. Few and far between moments.

Not necessarily. I have heard of artists who get sick of songs they have written and get annoyed when fans keep asking for these songs as they maybe want to showcase their new material. And look what came up on Facebook https://planetradio.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/bryan-adams-summer-of-69-interview/?fbclid=IwAR0OIaA_a-oeO0jEP9-G-UGvnn5vdeO3gNwZCVH--nCiDHXvsMf6ahBR1d0

The charts ceased to matter to me about 15 years ago when I left my old job. We had a radio on all of the time in the workshop which was always tuned to Radio 1. That is the last time I listened to Radio 1 and the last time I heard any songs that had anything to do with the charts. Much as I hate most chart type music when you are hearing it all day some tracks do grow on you whilst others grate. It's usually the ones that grate that get played the most, or maybe that's just my mind torturing me. I am not averse to new music just not the type that is so called mainstream chart type music. My only exposure to this is accidental when you are in a waiting room or some other place that has a radio playing.

I think it depends on where you are too. Some peoples experience of audiences can be vastly different from someone else's depending on location. Round here most classic rock fans just don't go out that much any more. If you play traditional music in this part of the world you go down a storm with the young ones. That seems to be the fashion just now.

That can be taken a number of ways. You could be playing at a party/wedding where you literally get people up dancing. Or you could be playing in a pub where you get people waving their arms and tapping their feet. You could be playing at a larger venue where you get people cheering and waving their arms. you don't have to actually dance to show appreciation of a band. for the record I will dance unashamedly if a decent sound is coming from a pa.

If you look at a Les Paul without the strings it looks like the neck is on squint. Once everything is buttoned up it looks perfect.

Well maybe that's why he got rid of it.

I Have played songs I don't like and as long as people were dancing and enjoying themselves I enjoyed it too. The fact that they were dancing proving that we were playing the song/songs well.

Listen to this and tell me you hate banjos

Back in the 90's we played at a party. We were very popular on the scene at the time and this is why the girl booked us. There were about 40 people at this party including about a dozen little kids. The whole gig was these little kids sliding across on the wooden floor of this hall that we were playing in. The girl was very slow in paying us and I later found out she said we didn't do enough to get people up dancing.

Every pub would have live music still if they didn't have to pay the band. If the band were handing round a hat for their only income pubs would be falling over themselves to allow you to play. It's the fact that pubs are expected to pay that means they won't hire bands. They just think it's not worth it and if they are making a decent amount in bar meals alls good.

As said, if the gig went well it was great but there were too many occasions when you had an apathetic audience who didn't give a toss about the band and would only possibly shout out for ones they know. A typical gig on a Saturday night when we were still gigging. Go down to the pub at 8.45 and have a look in. People are still eating and the stage area has tables on it. Have a pint and wait. About 9-9.30 they would finish and the staff would clear the tables. The pub would start to fill at this point. We would man handle all of our gear in through and around the ones who insisted on standing near the door. About 10.15 we would be ready to start. Another pint before starting just to see if it got a bit busier. 10.30 first number. Usually would get a cheer or a clap. This first set would be our best of the night. This is the point when people are actively listening. Half way through this set a bunch of girls would ask for a particular song as they wanted to hear it and were going somewhere else. One we had already done or were saving for the second set when we needed a lift. 11.00 take a break. 11.20 second set. By this time the pub is heaving and very few people are taking any notice of the band. All cheering and clapping has ceased part from a couple of drunken bawls if they recognised something. A song we had banked on going down a treat would end to the sound of loud shouting as we realised they hadn't even noticed it. 12.00 we would take another break. 12.15 last set. By this time the pub was getting quieter as most had left for the club. 1.00 start repeating songs as they don't notice anyway. 1.30 finish. Not an example of every gig as some nights were much better but this gig certainly happened many times over the years. Do I miss it? After having not played for a few years now, yes but I know that if we started it all over again I would get sick of it in no time. I find, certainly around these parts, that live music moves in cycles. Way back in the early 80's before we started playing in the pubs full bands were all the rage. Once we started this was not so popular anymore and we couldn't get gigs. We re invented our selves and myself and the guitarist went out as a two piece with a drum machine. We made a fortune and were so busy in the early to mid 90's. Late 90's, early 2000's live bands were again starting to get attention so we got a drummer and we had our second happy time. This went on up until 2015 or so when the live scene just took a nose dive. Pubs closed, live music budgets were cut, gigs dried up. This is around when my job changed and I couldn't plan any time off as I get called away at short notice. I have kept a close eye on the live scene however and pubs that used to be busy as hell on a Saturday night are happy to have a busy spell at tea time with bar meals. Pubs that used to have live bands just have a disco now. It has changed again. People just don't have the money to go out as much as they used to in '96. Maybe its different where you guys play but certainly around here the live scene is poor just now.

Speaking of this. We had a gig once where we were booked for a load of students who were up. The landlord made a massive pot of chilli for them and we struggled to bring our gear in around them as they drunkenly staggered into us. As soon as we were finished and ready to start they all suddenly up and left. We played the whole night to half a dozen bored locals.

I guess if you have been in a covers band doing the pub circuit or even an originals band who is struggling to make it then everyone of us knows what the o.p. means. I know there were many gigs where I thought what's the point? But it's like golf. You hit loads of rubbish shots and then all of a sudden you hit a beauty and you think, I could get good at this. foolishly. We used to get one gig every so often that just hit the spot and made it worth while. I realise right enough that most of these wonder gigs were back on a scene many years ago. Round here certainly, the live scene is rank these days. Hardly any places to play and the ones that do put on music have the wrong clientele frequenting them. We don't gig any more because of my job but I think even if I landed a job that allowed me to rehearse and gig, I'm not sure I could be bothered these days.

I remember once someone in the audience shouted out 1,2,3,4 to us at a pub gig and we all started right on cue. It got a good laugh.

Et moi, s'il vous plait.

When playing to an audience of Alcoholics Anonymous don't think they can't see you sipping from your bottle of beer secreted behind your amp.

My biggest confession is I was given, yes given, an American Std. P bass from an admirer in the States. I exchanged e mails with her for a while many years ago. I thought it was harmless fun but she started getting a bit serious. I never met her in person but she insisted on buying me this bass. I got a bit uncomfortable with this whole thing and offered to pay for it but she insisted that it was a gift and wouldn't hear of any such thing. I finally found my chance when her husband emailed me and accused me of everything. I cut all ties and escaped with my favourite bass safely in my hands. I don't feel good about accepting such an expensive gift but she absolutely insisted. I had no idea she was married either. I suppose I should at least feel guilty for stringing her along as I had no intentions of taking it further but in my defence it was all just friendly from my side.

Out guitarist used to "by" rounds when we gigged. It used to drive us round the bend.

It’s sad how people can be shoddily treated when they join bands. Politics mean that money can’t be shared equally. You see it all the time with credits when someone you see all of the time isn’t mentioned

I hated punk when it first came out. I was a rocker and no mistake and to me it was guys who were not so good on their instruments trying to make songs. Obviously as I got older my attitude changed and I realised that there were so many great punk bands out there who could in fact play their instruments and could write great songs. As is the case with many songs from my youth that I disliked at the time I find myself hearing now and going that's a great song, I remember it well. The likes of the Clash, I had no idea about their albums but when I hear their old songs I love them. Guns of Brixton? Class.