Bluewine

What does your summer booking schedule look like? 

Is your summer schedule full, any new exciting and interesting gigs coming up?

Share info on anything that's coming up.

Daryl

On 09/04/2025 at 07:03, Rosie C said:

 

It's the first time I've been to something like this, but there was a really relaxed atmosphere about it. Some people did solo spots, but others just chose from the book. I must also admit to a bit of boredom at some folk clubs waiting 2 hours for my turn to play 2 songs when some of the performers aren't so good. 

 

" some of the performers aren't so good"

I've noticed that at a lot of the open mics in my neck of the woods .

Daryl

4 minutes ago, Staggering on said:

 

Hmmmmm...

I think I meant younger than some of you with a few approaching me, I'll be 79 in a couple of weeks! 😊

Looks like a very " posh" event 

71 here. I hope I'm still gigging at 79. That would be awesome. 

Daryl

21 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

If she is willing to dish it out, then I would not be afraid to tell her what you've shared with us. The occasional mention of her more egregious errors would do no harm, especially if delivered with meticulous politeness and respect in a supportive manner "I could see you were having a few minor issues with that passage, have you considered...?"

We never call each other out on mistakes. I think it's one of the reasons we've stayed together since 2007.

Plus, with the amount of mistakes we make we'd end up spending more time calling each other out than actual playing. Lol

Daryl

10 minutes ago, Staggering on said:

A bit of an odd one last Friday for the seven piece swing/jazz standards band. ! 100 years ago North Bay was incorporated as a city and there are many events going on to mark this and we played at the Italian club's old style dinner dance at their hall. An hour of cocktail music and then they fed us and the 160 guests and at about 8:30 we started our dance sets that included some Italian songs. The crowd was older and although we had a few dancers and others who sat around to listen to us we knew it was going to be a  earlier night than they planned. We played two sets and finished not long after 10:30. Great food(prime rib) and I had chats with some of the attendees so all in all not bad and the ten or so Italian tunes we learned went over OK and we had some compliments on our music.

As usual my weapon of choice was my Shen SB100 straight into our Bose PA. We were set up in a corner in a fairly large hall so we had no idea how it actually sounded. 

Downside is that after 7 years as a band the drummer decided to quit the next day after enduring a lot of hassles and criticism from the trumpet player. I am also a target but so far I can handle it, she is a music teacher and sometimes likes to treat us like one of her school students. She is often right but her attitude is the problem and no one ever calls her on her mistakes, very frustrating but I like the rest of the band and the music so I am hanging in. We have a good dep drummer for the next couple of gigs in May and June and BL is starting a search for another drummer, the one who quit is very good and was an asset to the band.

Life goes on.

 

" The crowd was older."

Does older mean younger than me and a few others here? Lol

Daryl

Acoustic gig this Friday at Edison Hall in Port Washington. 6-9.

Daryl

On 03/04/2025 at 03:28, Leonard Smalls said:

Rehearsal in the local church (amazing they let us, none of us attend!) with funky blues band last night...

After our chat with guitarman two weeks ago about not playing ceaselessly and without end, and perhaps putting some space in, and perhaps listening to the rest of us (it's only bass and drums ffs!), and maybe playing stuff that actually fitted with what we were doing it appears that the penny may have dropped a bit! 

He's actually listened to the Meters and Slave and Mother's Finest and Sly Stone stuff I sent him and throttled it right back with the aimless pentatonic noodling. Now we're sounding far more coherent as a band, and may have recruited a sax player (we can't find a vocalist!)... 

Cool. I love The Meters,Slave, Mother's

Finest and of course S&TFS.

Daryl 

17 hours ago, Bluewine said:

Setting up for tonight's corporate acoustic gig in Milwaukee. 8-10.

Nice room.

 

Daryl

First set had my head spinning and thinking "why didn't they hire a DJ".

Second set after the booze kicked in for the guests everyone was on the dance floor.

Very long day. I was picked up in the van at 4:00. We arrived at 5:00, started the first set at 8:00. We didn't leave until midnight. That's an 8 hour day.

The 3rd and last set was more of an encore, only 15 minutes. I was a bit wiped out by then and played from a sitting position.  I hate when I have to do that.

Daryl

On 30/03/2025 at 16:21, wateroftyne said:

Another Eagles tribute show, this time at a theatre in Stockton. An enjoyable night.

 

We're a few shows in now, so everything is less of a conscious effort. The vocal harmonies parts - of which there are a shedload, all of which are very high / falsetto - are coming more naturally, so I can kick back and enjoy the occasion.

 

It's such a strong, varied set - every song is a classic (assuming you don't hate The Eagles, of course).

 

Anyway, I had to use IEMs last night as we were using the house PA and there weren't any monitors. I doubt I'll ever love using them, but I hate them less than I used to.

 

Holy Smokes! That's  " Big Time "

I'm so jealous. 

Daryl

Setting up for tonight's corporate acoustic gig in Milwaukee. 8-10.

Nice room.

Daryl

On 27/03/2025 at 09:03, cheddatom said:

After a very long 2 months off in the hope my ribs would recover, we were finally back out last weekend. The Gifford Arms in Wolverhampton on Saturday was sold out. I was hoping for the same comedy sound guy as the last time we played there but unfortunately it was a thoroughly pleasant and competent engineer. Still, at least we sounded good but I don't have a lot to rant about!

 

Sunday was the Hope & Anchor on a lineup supporting The Vapors. We were on at 5:30 pm which seemed very early to me but it was absolutely packed in there! I was forced to use the awful house kit. Obviously the bass drum couldn't stay still which forced a couple of errors. Thankfully my bandmates were tolerant of it this time! We went down a storm and we've seen merch sales online trickling in from London since. Result!

 

It is so, so good to be back out gigging, even if it does still hurt a bit.

 

Photo of my beautiful cymbals set up above the absolutely terrible house kit at the Hope & Anchor... Mini rant then: Imagine your band leader telling you that you have to use the house bass, and the A string tuner keeps slipping. You knew it was going to be terrible, you knew you could swap for your own gear in plenty of time, and yet you're forced to go with it due to others' ignorance. The band leader, the promoter, the sound guy, the headline act... everyone thinks it's fine to force the drummer to play sh*t drums but you're never forced to use a sh*t bass are you?!

 

Nice cymbals.

I use to be very particular about backlined bass amps. At this stage of the game for me, anything that makes it easier to get in and out of a gig, I'll take it.

Daryl

On 23/03/2025 at 06:49, dmccombe7 said:

Last night with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam band in Bishopton Social Club turned out a fantastic wee night.

When we arrived we were quite taken aback by the size of the venue. It was small with only 8 tables seating around 40. It apparently holds 80. Manager said things have been slow but he was surprised at ticket sales being so poor.

Anyways it didn't look too empty so we just went for it and the audience were up for every bit of it. This was THE best audience interaction we've ever experienced. Enough so that when the singer was introducing the band he mentioned it was my birthday and the audience erupted into a "happy birthday" to me. When he mentioned its the drummers next week they did the same all in great humour. For a laugh he said the guitarists was in 2 weeks and off they went again and then Lynn's birthday was May and off they went and finally our singer Mikey even got a "Happy Birthday" too because they thought he was missing out.

The whole night was like this. Not a lot of dancing first set but when we came back 2nd set they had obviously been lubricated at the bar and were up from first song. When we joked about what song we were doing next they responded by cheers or disappointed "awe's" when we didn't do an Osmond ballad, but just a great fun night. One of the best nights i've had as far as audience participation goes.

Great positive comments at the end of the night too. Had one guy come over at the end and asked if i was the bass player and when i confirmed yes he said it was the first time he'd seen a bass player play the proper Jean Genie bassline with all  the runs and fills. He was a guitarist himself. 

Organiser told us we were the best band they'd ever had in the club and those that never showed will regret not being there, but we have been asked to come back with date to be confirmed.

We even had the honour of the amazing DJ Celebrity in Scotland Mr Tom Russell in the audience and at the end he couldn't be any more complimentary. "Band was very tight, obviously well rehearsed and compared to other Glam bands i've seen, far superior." Our Sweet covers were superb but unlike tribute bands we were covering just about every Glam band.

His mate has provisionally booked us for Jan 2026. When we asked about the venue and if PA and lights etc his reply was "i want you to replicate exactly what you have tonight" so i'm guessing he liked it 

1 hour drive home so not too bad. Was home for 2am. 

Usual gear. Sandberg VM4 into Shure wireless, Keeley comp, Mesa TT800 and Mesa SW210/115 cabs, platform boots as standard. 

Dave

Not from last night's gig but the boots can be seen.

Nice gig Dave.

I need one of those.

Do you have to lace up those boots.

Daryl

On 17/03/2025 at 19:42, Bluewine said:

Maple Road will be performing (not competing) at The Paramont Blues Challange this Saturday .

 

Were one of six bands performing.  I'm not sure how many bands are competing. 

 

It should be interesting because we're not a blues band, we just happen to play a few bluesy songs.

 

If your a blues historian Google Paramount Records Grafton WI.

 

Daryl

Nice event, however not a great gig for me. It was very loud and I couldn't hear our guitarists. I'd been practicing all week and I had a bad night.

Hopefully I'll be better next weekend. 

I've attached a few pics.

Daryl

7 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

The return of Richard Davies & the Dissidents last night at The Beehive in Swindon. Wonderfully cramped and it felt like a proper rock ‘n’ roll gig. Good to blow off a few cobwebs ahead of tonight’s sold out London show.

 

Looks like a cool gig. Any future gigs coming up for Richard Davies & The Dissidents ?

Daryl

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Bendricks Rock have a gig at the Earl Haig on Saturday.  I've played there a lot with Bluesfire and on jam nights. It's in the bar, not on the big stage, but a lot of people consider it one of their favourite places to play because of the atmosphere. Lots of regulars in a smaller space. Hopefully we match our last two gigs.

I hope you guys pack the place.

Daryl

27 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Cheers man, next gig is on Friday, another bar gig, this time in a place called Fraserburgh, a pub called The Balaclava.  Got three new songs added to the set so should be an interesting evening!

Nice, I know a few local bands struggling to get any kind of gig.

Daryl

Maple Road will be performing (not competing) at The Paramont Blues Challange this Saturday .

Were one of six bands performing.  I'm not sure how many bands are competing. 

It should be interesting because we're not a blues band, we just happen to play a few bluesy songs.

If your a blues historian Google Paramount Records Grafton WI.

Daryl

On 16/03/2025 at 09:04, neepheid said:

Last night at Wilsons, Aberdeen with Nine Lives.  Weird gig, definitely a game of two halves.  First half was rank rotten - sound in the room was awful - could barely get the vocals loud enough without feeding back, started five mins late because of all the mucking about (not Axl Rose levels of lateness, but it still bugs me).  It was passable out front, and people could clearly hear the words because I could see them mouthing along, but there was very little coming back making it hard to hear where we were in a song.  No room for monitors in this pub, we basically had to rely upon reflected sound.

 

So spooked I was that I didn't change basses at half time - I didn't want to introduce another variable to an already tenuous situation.

 

But we sorted it.  The table nearest the right PA speaker emptied at half time, so we took the opportunity to move it forward, not much - couple of feet maybe, but what a difference it made - it opened up the possibility of increasing the gain of the singer's vox without feeding back and made for a much better sounding second half.  It got busy too, and it was much more fun. Went for a couple of walkabouts in the crowd which went down well.
 

Lesson learned - kick people out of the way if you have to to get your PA far enough in front of the band.

So, it was the BB1200 for the whole night, into the usual Markbass rig.  Footwear - Vans calf hair checkerboard slipons.  Hmm, quite colour coordinated last night, just realised.

I love hearing about these gigs. What's coming up on the horizon for you?

Daryl

Maple Road hasn't rehearsed in years.

However the band leader called rehearsals on Tuesday night for the last two weeks.

The purpose was to help one of our dep drummers get up to speed.

It was just me the band leader and the dep drummer.

The rehearsals were effective and worth the time.

Daryl

On 05/02/2025 at 18:21, Acebassmusic said:

 

I think excessive volume is a common problem for many jams (and gigs). For a number of years I used to be in the house band for the local blues jam. I kept saying the volume is causing people leave. People would be sat with their fingers in their ears and then leave, it was that obvious. We had a really good sound guy who would (as requested) mic everything up......and then mute it at the desk as the stage volume was so high he couldnt do anything with it! He had a superb Nexo / Allen & Heath system at his fingertips that he could only use as a vocal PA I eventually tired of it and passed the batton to others.

In my area you can get someone to host an acoustic open mic for as little as $75.00. I've been to a few and I can't see how this brings in any business. 

Unfortunately in my area these open mics for the .most part bring out a lot of marginal local talent. 

Daryl

On 08/03/2025 at 12:19, Dan Dare said:

 

In my experience, the best people don't usually have the biggest egos. Often, it's the wannabees who do. It's one thing to reach a negotiated agreement that works for everyone and another to cave to one person's demands. If you have experience and a reputation, you have more to offer a singer than many bands and can afford to hold your line.

 

Someone good enough to fill the role is not necessarily with a band right now. They could be between bands (when I left The Smoke 3 years back, I had no band for a year or so). They may be in a band, but not happy or looking for something better. Etc, etc.

 

If you have an established style and repertoire and an audience, someone joining has to accept and be content with that, at least in the beginning. By all means be open to suggestions for new numbers, etc, but if he/she doesn't want to play your existing repertoire, he/she is the wrong person. Thank them for their interest, move on and kiss a few more frogs.

 

Glass half empty is the phrase hopeless idealists use to describe the way those of us who are realists view the world. Remember, an optimist is constantly being disappointed. A pessimist is occasionally pleasantly surprised.

I thought one of my good buddies had a chance to dep drum for us. Very good drummer great chops and he's very technical.

Turns out that while he's an above average drummer he wasn't a fit. First of all we don't need a technical drummer, second he made it clear he plays for himself not the band. " I have to change things to make it

interesting ". We'll we don't want you to make it interesting.  We want you to keep it simple and stay in the pocket.

Very set in his ways and I doubt he gets called to dep.

Daryl

Doesn't it depend on what the new prospect is looking for in a band. Whatever that is ,if you have it that's what you sell.

Daryl

22 minutes ago, cetera said:

Splendid weekend of shows with From Gold To Rio (Spandau/Duran show).

99% sold out show at the lovely St Austell Keay Theatre on Friday to start off.... great sound... and staff were fab. Audience were up for a party from the get-go too 😃👍

 

 

 

Then it was off to the beautiful Littlecote House (a Warners Hotel) for our Saturday show. A stunning (and haunted) place... with a posh venue within. Audience older and not as demonstrably enthusiastic as the night before but they seemed to enjoy it, so job done!)

That's what I call fancy. Great looking room.

Daryl

I found a clip from Sunday's gig at The Twisted Pair. It's nothing special pretty bare bones and you'll hear more than a few mistakes. 

Daryl 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1WdhHWJLv2/

On 07/03/2025 at 20:58, Bluewine said:

Maple Road, we're returning to The Twisted Pair this Sunday, 3-6.

 

Daryl

The Twisted Pair gig was very good. I didn't think we sounded all that great, but still a good gig. We're still working in a dep drummer. He's not the best drummer I've played with. However he understands the band and what we're trying to do. I arrived at 1:45 the place was packed. I couldn't find one open parking space.

The reason I say it was a good gig is solely based on the number of people that came out. Very generous tippers too.

I asked the manager if they always have a big crowd on Sunday afternoon.  He told me they had a band last Sunday and the place was dead. So I was feeling pretty "stoked".

I've attached a few pics. I bet many of you have rolled up to one of these venues sitting out in the " boon docks"

Daryl