SteveXFR

Spotify and Ticketmaster have destroyed music between them. Now musicians can't make money from recording, touring or even merch sales on tour. They're only good for a tiny minority of bands at the very top of the industry. I use Tidal for streaming but buy records I like and I'll only go to independent venues now and to be honest, I'm seeing far more interesting bands

Depends very much what you're playing really. Some metal and rock songs will use that lowest note a lot, almost like a drone and for that, it's much easier to have that lowest note an open string. When playing a 5 string, muting is really important, that low B string just wants to ring out all the time. If you're going to tune up to C then make sure you fit lighter strings otherwise you'll be putting a lot of load on the neck. I used to play a 5 string in my band because I played most riffs off the open B string but for most stuff, I preferred a low tuned 4 string.

At this point, I think Pat Finnerty (look him up on youtube) might be more serious than Beato.

I'm having a go at The Decline by NOFX. A prog song by a punk band! The first riff is a killer. Slightly easier now I know Fat Mike always starts with an up pick

If they were a metal band they'd be Headless Torso Bleeding from the Excrement Filled Neck Hole

I think most death metal bands make the genre clear with their names. You know Cattle Decapitation, Priest Crippler and Municipal Waste aren't going to be playing smooth jazz.

No tort for me yet. I'm still a couple decades off that age.

Scott has never been one for overdoing it. He'd never jam in 25 notes where one would be better

Can she hold down the low end? She'll be doing smug face jazz noodling in a beanie hat with a ridiculous ott relic'd brand new bass in no time. Being serious for a moment. I hope she has fun with it

Yacht rock seems like a particularly appropriate description for the ultra bland and inoffensive rock like Journey and Train etc. I'm a fan of punk. I wouldn't be offended if it was referred to as dumpster rock or sewer rock or tramp rock.

We gave my daughter a new Fender Jazz MIM Player series. I gave myself a used MIM Precision standard. The precision looks beautiful but needs some setting up. The Jazz looks and plays beautifully. Both came with white pick guards but black is more betterer

Julie Christmas's Reduculous And Full Of Blood album was my highlight of the year. Just absolutely brilliant. Her performance at Arctangent Festival was also my live highlight. She just takes the audience to another world. Another highlight was seeing my daughters band play to audiences of a few hundred multiple times and then finish the year with their first headline show and fill the local live music venue, a proud dad moment for sure as well as a night of great music.

I sold all my gear earlier this year. Does that count as a bad purchase? I did pick up a new MIM Fender Jazz bass for £475. I think that counts as a good purchase even if it was for the daughter

Handsome Dan's clothing. Four weeks and my jacket still hasn't turned up. They're not replying to emails or messages and they have no phone number. I'm getting chilly here. I'd put a jacket on if I had one.

Yeah, really good. I've seen UK Subs before with Bad Religion so it was great to see a full headline set. It reminded what nice people punks are. Everyone was so friendly. Great to see teenagers and 70 year olds all having a great night together.

UK Subs with Chelsea and GBH last night in Frome. All three bands were excellent. GBH still go hard for a bunch of old blokes. The mosh pit moves a bit slower when the average age in the pit is 50.

Ruiner - Nine Inch Nails

Wreck of the SS Needle - Cult Of Luna / Julie Christmas

Deconstructing Towers - ISIS

Some Kind Of Monster Following Metallica through the recording of an album. Cringe a minute car crash viewing. I don't understand why they decided to release it, they all come out of it looking terrible. Grab a beer and some popcorn

Black hole sun - Soundgarden

Albatross - Corrosion Of Conformity

Slow and Low - Beastie Boys

In Death Is Death - Meshuggah

When I was gigging with a band, we used to quite often miss entire verses. We got good at it though, me and the drummer could pick up pretty quickly when the singer/guitarist went to the wrong section. We all missed notes or played the wrong part occasionally. No one in the audience ever notices. It's all good. I've seen some of the biggest rock and metal bands in the world completely screw up songs and have to start again. They make a joke about it, make fun of the person who messed up and its all fine. Perfection is boring anyway