Bluewine

On 27/11/2022 at 08:47, Thor said:

We had a gig in Portsmouth last night, bit of a schlep in pouring rain, but thankfully the rain had stopped in time for load in, we played a working men’s club and during soundcheck their was a table of oldies sat with fingers in ears complaining that we were too loud.  
 

By the second song the oldies that were complaining were in full flow, singing and dancing and it carried on that way all night😁

 

i was using my Trace Elliot RAH600 back up amp as my DB750 started banging and popping during rehearsal last Tuesday, heard something rattling in the case so thought I’d take the lid off and found a loose capacitor!?  Guess I need to find an amp shop around Wiltshire or Bristol….☹️

Nice size crowd !

Blue

7 hours ago, neepheid said:

Must be nice to have space to have monitors in front of you to demark the stage a bit @Bluewine (sounding great btw!).  Second gig of the weekend was at Cheers in Fraserburgh on Sat night.  First half went pretty well, but the singer was beleagured with ladies cavorting in front of him (drunk, so thinking that they're being sexy when really, it's all a bit ridiculous), wanting to grab the mic and sing, getting pouty when that doesn't work etc.  Just got rid of one pest because thankfully she didn't like the song we were playing, only for her to be replaced by another pest the next song!  Ladies bouncing around in front of you when you're trying to do a job, some people might say it's a nice problem to have but it's really just an annoyance of the highest order - we're all spoken for men at the end of the day.

 

Some other lady tried to start a conversation with me while I'm playing.  I just act dumb - I cannot multitask worth a damn.  She complained later that we were too loud/heavy.  D'oh, we're a rock band - awa' hame and listen to some Ed Sheeran if it bothers you that much!

 

Oh, the joys of performing at floor level.  Towards the end of the second set the bar emptied quite noticeably, but a table of three attentive and appreciative ladies stayed until the end so that made up for it.  During Highway to Hell, I went and sat down with them at their table - I've got naff all to do for half the song anyway.  It's a bit I sometimes do - pretend to sleep, grab a chair and sit down, that sort of thing, usually gets a chuckle.  I usually get back in position when I need to play but Saturday night I just stayed at the table and played my bits there, only standing up for the end of the song.

 

All in all, an OK night, Friday was better though.  New venue for us this coming Saturday - the Black Abbot in ... Montrose!  Maybe we should play Smoke on the Water and modify the lyrics to "We all came out to Montrose / On the North Sea coastline..." but that's probably too cheesy.  I suggested learning "I Got the Fire" by Montrose (the band) but we figured folk might not get the reference...

 

Oh, and seeing as it'll be December, I guess it's time to dust off the Christmas songs again...

 

Montrose!

Blue

7 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Last night's gig was my first for two months! Played with Oxford Grateful Dead band 'Franklin's Tower' at the Tree Hotel in Oxford. We were supposed to be the final band of the three booked, but the duo before us had to pull out due to illness, so we went on a bit earlier than originally planned, and were asked to play on beyond our expected end time. This meant that the songs we had cut from the set list at last week's rehearsal were reinstated, much to the confusion of the two percussionists who managed to miss that information. 

All went well, lots of people up and dancing, some singing along.

I played the 60s Classic Jazz bass that I bought new nearly ten years ago, and used my Orange LBT and Barefaced Super Compact. No problems other than I had forgetfully left my gear in the car when I arrived and by the time we went on the bass was way out of tune and refusing to hold pitch for the first song or two. Sorted out before the second number though.

Nice!

Did you guys play Althea?

Daryl

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

Sounded good to me mate.

Cool and thanks again.

I'll use the clip to practice to , hopefully come up with some cool fills.

Blue

56 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Sounding great there Blue.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

Blue

1 hour ago, Simon C said:

Last night was my first gig since just before Covid (I've played loads in church during that time).  I was depping in an originals and covers band (Hurly Burly).  We did about 15 songs - 3 or 4 originals and the rest covers (Rolling Stones, Housemartins, Beatles, The Clash type people pleasers).  It wasn't a big crowd, but they were in party mood, so there was plenty of dancing and singing going on.  I really enjoyed it. We even got fed😀.

 

I can hopefully get hold of some decent footage of it.

Sounds like a nice gig.👍

Blue

18 hours ago, martthebass said:

Very nice Daryl

Really?

Thanks Mart

Blue

Some video from Wednesday night.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=704796184315362&id=100000222668845&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=RUbZ1f

Blue

7 hours ago, Paul S said:

I love learning new stuff at home, rehearsing, gigging - all aspects of the process of making music.  We are lucky in that our drummer, Joe, is a farmer and there is the most amazing 11th century thatched barn on his farm that we use for rehearsals.  The family used to hire it out for weddings etc but decided it was too much hassle, so it is pretty much ours to do what we like with.  The acoustics are great   We rehearse sometimes just for the fun of it as we all love making the music but generally there is a plan - a new song or a different arrangement.  Here last week, you can see half the barn, we were running through a new song for us - Jesus Just Left Chicago - take 1.  Alan had polished the vocal a bit by the time we played on Friday.

 

https://www.facebook.com/Octaneblues/videos/1092408504761471

 

Test driving our new lights, too.

How do I share a Facebook page to bass chat ? I have some video from Thanksgiving Eve.

Blue

8 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

We always have a rehearsal plan. It might be just a set run thru or it might be specific songs we have some issues or concerns. Recently we had a rehearsal to go over the 3 Xmas songs we've selected. 

I dont consider our band professional or competent enough to learn the songs on the night kind of thing. As it turns out we turned up at rehearsal, ran thru the 3 songs and hey ho first time was spot on. We ran thru them again and all good. Having booked the studio we just ran thru some songs that anyone had concerns about. We have a new guitarist that learned the set (35-40 songs) in 3 weeks before gigging but he's perfecting the guitar parts now that he's settling in nicely.

I've been in bands that had no idea what they were doing, no plan, no suggested songs with the hope a jam session might produce something good. I didn't stay long with those kind of bands and wont audition for bands that dont have a basic plan on what they want to do. 

If its a start up band i want an agreed set list started before the first rehearsal.

Dave

I was in a band once where the guitarist thought rehearsal was merely an opportunity to get away from his wife for a few hours and get drunk.

I quit after the 2nd rehearsal.

Blue

7 hours ago, Paul S said:

I love learning new stuff at home, rehearsing, gigging - all aspects of the process of making music.  We are lucky in that our drummer, Joe, is a farmer and there is the most amazing 11th century thatched barn on his farm that we use for rehearsals.  The family used to hire it out for weddings etc but decided it was too much hassle, so it is pretty much ours to do what we like with.  The acoustics are great   We rehearse sometimes just for the fun of it as we all love making the music but generally there is a plan - a new song or a different arrangement.  Here last week, you can see half the barn, we were running through a new song for us - Jesus Just Left Chicago - take 1.  Alan had polished the vocal a bit by the time we played on Friday.

 

https://www.facebook.com/Octaneblues/videos/1092408504761471

 

Test driving our new lights, too.

Great looking space, sounds great too.

Blue

4 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

Cues. 

Those too.😊

Blue

4 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

See here ...

Got it. Thanks

Blue

On 25/11/2022 at 11:52, leroydiamond said:

Agreed. I often think of the top class acts that I have seen over the years. The vast majority of those gigs were note perfect from start to finish. Zero mistakes and that for me is what separates the great from the good. This can only be achieved by proper focused rehearsals, where any cracks are ironed out and dealt with, rather than covered over when performing.

Agreed and you make a good point.

Here's my thought. Pro Signed touring bands know how to rehearse when to rehearse and what to rehearse. Amateurs don't.

My band would be considered amateur.

Blue

13 hours ago, TimR said:

 

Definitely. 

 

If you have an MD with charts, you practice, and maybe rehearse, but otherwise you turn up to the gig and play the charts and follow his directions. If you're at that level of musicianship you know what you're doing. 

 

If you're in a dodgy hobby band you can spend months just practicing and getting an arrangement started, that's before you're in a position to rehearse them.

 

Sure you need to put on a good performance, but you need to be realistic as to what level your band need to rehearse depending on the skills and experience of the members of that band and where you're playing. 

 

*We don't rehearse. But for those that do isn't it a good idea to have an agenda and know what you can realistically accomplish in a couple of hours ? I've been to these rehearsals in the past where there was no plan or structure in place.

Blue  

* We don't rehearse, however I practice a few hours a day at home.

7 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Nothing wrong with the Veyron. They're absolutely stonking amps. 

 

And the triangle is a perfectly respectable instrument. 

 

TING!

Stonking ?

Blue

18 hours ago, neepheid said:

Well that was bloody great.  First gig in a few months due to folk on holiday etc.  I'm always a little nervous after that much downtime - will I remember the songs?  Turns out the human memory is a little more resilient than I gave it credit for.  Had an amazing gig at the Butchers Arms in Inverurie last night.  Slow start but crowd streadily built up during the first half and thankfully didn't bog off during the break.  This may have had something to do with after the last song of the first half.  After we finished the last song of the first half, the singer was telling everyone we were going to have a break and I absent mindedly started noodling the riff to "Groove is in the Heart"/"Bring Down the Birds".  The crowd cottoned on to what I was doing, the drummer joined in and then we had someone rapping to it - they were really good!  I have no idea what she was saying, but she was in time and had good rhythm!

 

Second half went fantastic, lots of dancers, and only one minus when a pished wifie came in, tried to steal the mic from the singer a few times, got into a fight with a bloke who came across to stop her and finally she got kicked out by the door staff.  Some annoying other pished wifie was indignant that we didn't know any Fleetwood Mac.  Here's 40-odd other songs you seemed to enjoy, but no, the whole thing's effed because we don't know Fleetwood Mac.  OK then, off you pop

 

Cobwebs well and truly blasted out.  What a great night!

I can never really tell what we sound like or the details of our musicianship onstage until I see a video on Facebook. 

When I'm onstage I'm focused on my personal performance and making sure I catch all the cues from our band leader/ front person.

Blue

13 hours ago, Paul S said:

My blues rock trio Toredown played at our 'regular' pub in Ipswich, The Shamrock, last night.  I arrived a bit later than usual, found a rare parking spot virtually outside.  We didn't get to fully set up until after the footie as our space was occupied by viewers but as the place wasn't busy we could get kit assembled by the side - in the event we kicked off at around 9.15ish, so not too bad.  We have played better, all of us made mistakes but nobody noticed or, if they did, cared.  By the time we were a short way into the first set all our regulars had turned up and the place was packed.  Security had to turn people away at some point.  Really good atmosphere, we went down really well, got paid more than we asked, no road closures on the A12 homeward bound so 60 mins to my door.  Wonderful.   Nice to see @Dazm66 who plays with our drummer Joe in another band.

 

Next gig is supporting Dr Feelgood on 15th Dec  

Nice, very cool gig story.

Blue

On 21/11/2022 at 12:02, wateroftyne said:

First gig in a while with my semi-regular dep, doing songs from the golden age of American music. Nice old-school social club - great-sounding room, lovely people, cheap beer.

 

Second chance to use my new Handbox valve amp, and sounded lovely.

 

Here's a clip.

 

 

 

Agreed, lovely. Very warm.

Blue

7 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Regarding rehearsals, what about fun? Meeting your mates having a play, then going for a beer?

I think the reason my band has stayed together for over 15 years is because we distance ourselves from each other. We rarely see each other outside of gigs.

I also think it's the reason all our gigs are fun.

Blue

6 hours ago, itu said:

People maybe 40 something, age around the same. They had been having some educational thing the whole day. They really expected something like a slightly advanced trio, and we were 10. We actually played pretty well today and the audience was dancing. A lot. Good vibes from the start.

Nice 

Blue

I love gigging. I need the money and the attention.

A friend asked me why I still gig at 69 years old? 

My response,

" The gardner doesn't applaud " 

Blue

8 hours ago, TimR said:

 

They're professionals and I doubt very much they rehearse week in week out for one gig a month or less. 

 

From the professional dancers I know, they'll be called in the morning for a show that evening. They'll block through the dances in a few hours, rehearse and get on stage. It's what they do for a living, they're professionals and they get on with it.

 

If I was in a band that met a couple of weeks before a tour, spent a week or so in the studio and then hit the stage, that would be great. I suspect once the tour is going, there are no more rehearsals unless a change happens. 

 

My brothers band is full of professionals. They don't rehearse between gigs. There's no money for it and they know what they're doing. 

 

I find going through the motions at rehearsals just introduces silly errors that then get disected to find out who played what wrong. Waste of time.

 

 

Agreed, we've been doing the same show for the past 5 years and we gig at least once a week. No need for rehearsals.

Blue

On 23/11/2022 at 02:59, Bluewine said:

Spend Thanksgiving Eve with Maple Road

@The Barley Pop
Germantown WI
11/23
7:30-10:30

 

Thanksgiving Eve is a big gigging night in the States.

 

We have had success with our New Year's Eve gig at The Barley Pop.This is the first time we've played there on Thanksgiving Eve.

 

I don't know what to expect. I'll let you know how it goes. 

 

Blue

Ok, here's the story.

Very well attended. It was a good gig even though I thought some songs were sluggish and I wasn't particularly happy with my playing.

I walked out with *$140.00 bucks.

Blue

* If I was making big money I'd never post what I make. Since it's not allot of money I post it merely as a reference to what guys make in this local lane.

Blue

27 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

It goes quiet for a few weeks then picks up again.

 

I can't remember what I've contributed. 

 

One band I was in it seemed that the lead guitarist had no intention of ever gigging. Unless it was very local and to his friends. 

 

Which meant we spent a lot of time rehearsing between the 4 gigs a year we did. He then played really badly due to lack of stage experience and what I think was stage fright. 

 

Really he was just someone who owned some very expensive guitars. 

 

When the drummer left, I took the opportunity to give them the chance to find a new bass player. 

 

 

 

 

I've been there. Played with this front guy/ guitarist and song writer. This guy lived in a  huge expensive home. I found out too late , all the guy wanted to do was play 

" rock star" in his basement.

Blue