Dr.Dave

We do a fair few beer festivals. Did a massive one in Rotherham in a high school at Easter term holidays.£15 in , 2 quid per half pint ticket and folk were queueing round the block. BUT - all that cash generated and the miserable organisers refused to pay the caretakers overtime to put the heating on. Several thousand people wearing coats , hats and gloves indoors drinking freezing cold beer. It was bitterly cold on stage - I could hardly play for shivering. That's what festival organisers think of punters - bugger them so long as they pay through the nose.

Festivals to me used to be about pushing a stolen supermarket trolley full of brown ale halfway across a county , climbing over the fence ( even when you had a ticket ) and finding some dog rough biker bird to share your sleeping bag. In other words - a bit of dropping out and rebelliousness. Healthy to be frowned upon once in a while. Now it's a family weekend where Dad sits looking up people carrier dealerships on an ipad while yummy mummys demand state of the art baby changing facilities and buy a Peruvian knitted dream catcher made of lentils for fifty five quid - and get a VAT receipt - from a middle class business man with a hyphenated name to tell their neighbours about over 'lunch' , all paid for on a credit card. Corporate , mainstream , normalised. I'm not saying the latter's any worse than the former , it's much better in many ways and suppliers only react to demand , but personally I don't have the slightest inkling to go any more. In this Starbucks world it's more nourishing to my soul to make a cup of clap cold instant in an old baked bean tin.

Hard to find info on McVie's state of health but Ms Nicks seemed very upbeat about his recovery last I read. I doubt he'll need anyone to shadow his parts but... well , I'd swim from here to California have a crack. I've grown a John McVie tribute grey beard just in case ! Fantastic , solid player. Hope to see him back at it soon

I remember the Dark Side one - Gilmour ( I think ) told how they used to come into the studio , sit side by side at the desk and 'perform' a mix like they would a gig. Also how his biggest regret was that he will never be able to sit down and listen to it fresh for the first time like a punter can. The Grateful Dead one was good too. They asked the guy what the biggest inspiration for the album was - he thought for a second and just said 'Chemicals'.

I always do the same - Impact song first , novelty song 4th in , ballad 5th , show number at the end. Any old crap in between that lot as the spirit moves - or more likely as I perceive the Williams will react. Might have been mentioned because I haven't read all through the thread but amazing to think how many running orders on old albums were dictated to by the constrictions of vinyl L Ps rather than artistic intent. My anniversary Sgt Pepper CD mentions the running order the Beatles wanted but couldn't have and suggests you program the CD player to do it as intended. Rumours too was supposed to have a superb song called Silver Springs but ended up with the only toss off on the album in 'I don't wanna know' because Silver Springs is too long. We are careful not to do anything fussy at the start of sets so we can warm our fingers up a bit and I can only do our All Fired Up/ Rebel Yell car crash of a medley near the end because it leaves my throat in rags.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1393494748' post='2380880'] Ooh yes, this is a good tip. I find that it's not so much the key to the song I need, just the note that my part starts on. Once I've played that first note I'm away. So I try to associate the first note with something about the song and keep that in my head. It was quite easy with these: 'Bohemian Like You' - starts on B for Bohemian 'Gigantic' - starts on G for 'Gigantic' Had more difficulty with Car by Gary Numan - starts on D, so I had to think of D for Daimler. Likewise Hey Joe - couldn't think of a way to remember that it starts on C. Until our guitarist suggested 'Hey Joe - you chump!' I never forget that now [/quote] Good thinking. We used to do a bit of Big Yellow Taxi so I figured Canaries are yellow , there's also a group of Islands where I like to bugger off to called the Canary Islands which translates from Spanish ( I read) into the Island of dogs...... dogs begins with a 'D' .... I rest my case !

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1393928119' post='2385815'] you could always distract them with your foot provocatively up on the wedgies [/quote] Just the one foot ???? Wimp !!

It's the octaves - I get it. We've been doing a manic version of spirit in the sky that morphs into a crazed , foul mouthed version of my coo ca choo in the middle. Octaves all over the shop and it hurts like chuff. My fretting fingers cramp up and my hands sweat like Ken Barlow when the verdict comes in. I even have to take my scabby old fingerless gloves off to do it. It's a stunt - I know - but in the middle I often take my left hand off and do any open string octaves by tapping with my right while I have a slurp of my ' Bollockthwaites XXX Awd Northern Bastard' with my left. I first did it just for the easy pose but it don't half give my fretting hand enough respite to de-cramp. My advice is my motto - when in doubt , cheat !

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1393789762' post='2384405'] Well not really because the energy goes, the pace lessens and the anger fades. It becomes a reminisce rather than a meaning. This really only applies in the 'rock' world of course. The travelling wilburys where the epitome of everything I dislike about the 'going back to your roots' thing. Horrid stuff. You can see in fast paced angry groups later works - they mellow as is expected then when they do the early stuff its at the same pace as the later. Doesnt work [/quote] The energy changes - it doesn't go. In the case of someone like Roger Daltrey - worldwide mega star - seen it . done it . had a flunky buy the T shirt for him , I imagine the opportunity to get on stage and just rock out is an absolute breath of fresh air to him. That's where energy comes from. I have slice of this sometimes. We walk in a strange venue and the eyebrows go up. They see a bunch of grey hairs and think they'll be getting a clapped out lounge act. When they're pinned against the back wall by a wave of aggression and attitude they change their tune. We get the young bloods in for a gloat - they usually leave thinking 'for fcuk's sake how do we top that ?' Easy - they don't ! Folk do what they want , for as long as they want. If they want to change - fine. If not , what's wrong with playing the material you're proud of , that made your name , to punters who want to hear you do it. Sorry , mate , but I look around me and see many of my pals getting older ( in mind and in body) by the day. They all seem to have one thing in common - that's a mind set closer to yours than mine. The young bull and the old bull spotted a field of cows in the distance. The young bull said 'let's charge down there and shag a few'. The old bull said 'No - let's stroll over and shag the lot'.

Doesn't matter who any country enters this year - best they can hope for is second to Ukraine.

De-humidifier will help short term. You can hire big f**k-off jobs from places like HSS or you can buy one. I think Argos stock some and - don't forget - Argos has a 16 day money back guarantee if you're not happy with the product. Some people of a low ethical , tight arsed , Northern nature might be tempted to use such a device for a fortnight and then return it but far be it from me to suggest that !! Longer term you'll need to get a professional in to give advice and a price to sort it. Get several and only pick ones with a landline number ! I look forward to hearing that Mrs B's face has returned to a placid , contended smile but in the meantime so long as you leave her some space in the house to do the dishes and push the vac about I'm sure she'll cheer up

Said it many times. Put on the actors clothes and assume the role of the most confident , able player that walks the earth. Before you know it... you won't need to act any more. No skulking at the back with your head down. Proceed to the front of the stage and make 'em have it. You will be a different person the next morning , having walked the walk , and you'll never go back. I hope it brings you the joy it's always brought me.

I'm about 80% sure it must be the Honeycombs so thanks to those of you who said that. something else buzzing ( ) around in my head though tells me it's not.

Ha! my wife said that when I whistled it to her. No - def. not that I'm thinking of.

We're not gonna take it. The first two lines of the verse , what does that melody remind me of ??? Keen to have a crack at this song but I do like to nick bits of other songs and wedge them in for a laugh. I know the ' Wo wo wo etc ' bit in the middle is 'God Save the Queen' by the Pistols so I'll stick a bit of that in but it's not being able to identify the verse that's frustrating me. Terrible thing , this middle age sh*t.

Santana's 'Say it Again' and Stevie Nicks' 'Nightbird'. Neither would be right for Dr Blue , sadly. A third would be 'Cum on Feel the Noise' but we started doing that this January. Can't believe I've never done it before. I did 'Say it Again' as a solo demo on my multi tracker just to amuse myself. I'll have to content myself with that.

I always think that if I have an amp where I'm happy with the sound when all the knob are around 12 o'clock then the amp's happy too. It's not needing extreme boosts or cuts. Same with the vol. At 12 o'clock it's neither pissing about or straining.

3 years ago we were booked into a regular gig - place we did 4 times a year - in December. Tiny bar in Wakefield but we loved playing it and the punters loved having us. It was always a midweek which is hard on our drummer because of his work and the distance but he did it without complaint. The pay was sh*t. £100. But the bar so small we recognised that they couldn't afford more. After expenses and paying our roadie a bit of a drink I might come home with a 20 spot. During that December I wanted to go to Egypt. I found the ideal flight at less than £200 but couldn't take it because of the gig. I booked at different flight a few days later at £348. I was happy to be £128 out of pocket because I like to be professional and that includes loyalty to my band mates , my punters and my temporary employers. 4 days before the gig the management cancelled it. Just like that. Saying they were getting xmas trade in and didn't need us. It completely changed my attitude after 30 years playing. I never had much respect for landlords from a musical point of view but now I'm openly hostile to the bastards and unless everything's on my terms I pack my gear and walk straight out of the door. ( we've done it 3 times) . And if they can't afford to hire us at a decent rate... tough. Get some other sucker. Fcuk the lot of 'em.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1392847788' post='2373576'] I'm trying to work out what the point of this post is. [/quote] A thoughtful member trying to be helpful by providing us with useful background information from a source that would claim to be factual but whose reliability is often linked to the popular phrase 'taken with a pinch of salt' ?? I'm guessing !

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1392820924' post='2373086'] If the function band circuit is your thing... Primary Function Vital Function Function Junction [/quote] Spell one of these with a K and it's job done , I reckon.

I did a demo thing with my mate Nicola a bit back that we dubbed ' Nicotina Diamond-White and Benny's Fit Scroungers' but my fave remains 'Dicky Hart and the Pacemakers'.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1392817839' post='2373038'] The Jazz bass was apparently designed for guitarists but the Precision? I think the Precision was pitched at upright bass players. [/quote] The book that's under my spare bed that I can't be arsed to dig out quotes Leo - or possibly Freddie Tavares (Memory fails me) - as saying one idea was a Precision could be easily played by guitarists and they could 'get a job more often'. No doubt , though , that a huge part of the Fender ethos was to produce instruments that could easily be amplified , esp.on the radio - so double bass players were certainly in mind. All this also stops the age old argument about the name of the instrument we play. It's a 'bass guitar' because it's a bass version of a guitar design. I think the Jazz was introduced to complement the Jazzmaster guitar.

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1392800369' post='2372789'] The part you're all missing here is that by 1970, Leo was completely out of the picture, and Don Randall was no longer the hands-on guy he'd been before, purely due to the way CBS ran their organisation. I doubt Leo would ever have sanctioned a fretless Precision - it would have made no sense. [/quote] I get your thinking but I'm less sure he would feel that way. Much of what I've read of him tells me his priority was to build useful instruments for working musicians in a changing - esp re. broadcasting - world and thinking of the US market in particular where you may be gigging/touring hundreds of miles from home and need to be able to call in a music shop one afternoon and buy replacement parts to fix your instrument yourself and be playing again that night. Someone already mentioned the great idea of an instrument that guitar players could play to get more jobs. I doubt , though , he was immune to seeing how the use of his products evolved - and Fender's re-design of the original Precision and introduction of the Jazz reflects the desire to feed that evolution with more versatile instruments. A guy like that would likely latch on to folk ripping the frets from their instruments in a desire to get a very different sound and wish to be a part of that movement , in my opinion anyway.

I never shut up !! Can't pass up on a chance to impose my opinionated bullshit on lesser mortals. 'Rolf is innocent' - 'Vote UKIP' etc etc. ' We've had a request , but we're staying ' usually gets a laugh.... as does 'It's always nice to come across a new face'. You can get away with reading out the sick text gags you get that you normally have to pretend not to find funny , too. More seriously , if you build up a rapport with the Williams they'll hang around waiting to see what you come out with next , they'll clap and cheer even if they're not too fussed about your brand of music and they'll laugh with you rather than at you when you cock things up. So far as I'm concerned - when my light comes on and theirs goes off I'm there to entertain whether I'm playing or not. I often walk out on bands that stand there like they're something special , often with their backs to me so I wouldn't blame the Williams for feeling the same about me. Besides - whoever bought you a pint because you ignored them ?!

One word - acceptance. How many gigs have I played I wonder? Well over a thousand. In how many did I not make a mistake. Not a one. Happily, my experience has taught me how to deal with them and that's the best we can do. My band mates are the same - we carry on like nothing happened. Will the punters know ?? Well - they will if you react to your mistakes like you just saw a ghost. Otherwise they're never the sharpest tools in the box and probably won't know. Plus there's always the old trick of repeating the mistake on purpose in the next verse - that's jazzzzzzzzzz !