dirgefornovember

Last week, I played my first ever show on bass guitar with my new band Wooed. Background: I’ve been ‘playing’ bass for a few years (just mucking around playing my favourite bass riffs when I get the odd minute) but only started to take it seriously when Covid kicked off. In 2022, a couple of long-term friends expressed an interest in forming a band, and we all love the same music (rock/punk-‘adjacent’) so booked the local rehearsal room and muddled our way through some of our favourite covers. It’s only in the last 6/7 months that we’ve managed to write some originals. I like to think we’re a mix of Brutus and The War on Drugs – that’s the sound we’re aiming for, anyway. We were the first band on a lineup of some great up-and-coming punk/hardcore bands (Out of Love, Tripsun, Buds) at a venue called The Vaults in Portsmouth. They’ve all either toured with bands I love (Scowl, Angel Dust, Static Dress) or are playing some pretty big festivals in the coming year (Buds are playing 2000 Trees for example, and they were on straight after us). So felt pretty chuffed that our little band, with only a 4-track demo to our name, was able to open the show. The show was also free entry, so we knew there would be a decent crowd. Definitely feel very privileged in that respect, as a lot of bands’ first shows are played to a crowd of 5 people, so the whole band and I were bang up for it. That being said, it was still my very first time playing bass in front of a crowd (same with the drummer), so I was nervous as anything. We had rehearsed the set quite a few times over so wasn’t too worried about the playing itself, but more about how we sounded in front of others and whether we’d sound as tight as we do in the rehearsal room. We’re also not quite as fast-paced or as frenetic as the other three bands on the bill, so the chances of us going down well were mixed. None of the other bands wanted to soundcheck so we arrived at the venue and had to set up the drums/amps etc for our soundcheck. The backline was provided but there was an issue with the bass head, so had to DI straight to the PA. Not a great start as I’d have liked to have felt the air from the bass amp, but these things happen. Soundcheck sounded good, so we basically launched straight into the set. I was standing right next to the drums – the stage was very small so couldn’t move – so popped in the ear protectors and away we went. Straight away, I could barely hear anything through the monitors. I just assumed it was the ear protectors dampening the sound a bit, and our first song is our heaviest, so maybe I was lost in the mix a bit. Second song starts…nope it’s definitely the monitor. This carries on for the rest of the set, but didn’t hear any complaints from the crowd and no-one told me if I was quiet, so it must have sounded good out front. I should have asked for more bass in the monitor, regardless of how uncool it sounds on the mic - definite learning opportunity for me, there. We also only had 20 minutes, so we had to rocket through our 4 tracks. I think we came in about 22-23 minutes, as we have some tuning time between the 2nd and 3rd songs. The tuning was a good minute or two, and unfortunately this made some slightly uncomfortable dead time, so I wish I had a) spoke on the mic for a bit just to engage the crowd, or b) at least smashed on the reverb + delay and created some ambience for that moment. Another big learning opportunity that only presents itself when you actually play the show, so I’m kind of grateful that it happened, as I know what to do for next time. Another small thing is that I was insanely sweaty from the word go 😰 so I’m definitely packing a towel for those moments in between tracks. That being said, I enjoyed the show and we had a lot of compliments afterwards, so we’ve already reached out to a few more promoters. Really buzzing to have been on such an awesome show, and more importantly to have ripped off the first show ‘bandaid’.

Yeah that was a really frustrating part of it. With hardly any seating and no re-admission, I had to enter the venue late afternoon-ish as I can't stand up for 10 hours 3 days on the trot, so missed quite a few bands I wanted to see. Still, a banging line-up and enjoyed myself - picked up the HV top at merch too! Anyway, enjoy the shows you've got coming up and will hopefully see you in 2024 again.

If you are actually the High Vis bassist then let me just say how awesome your band is. Saw HV at Outbreak this year and were the best band of the weekend. 🫡

That's great news. Have to admit I have a soft spot for the current website and it's old school design and charm - it's basically a Geocities website that sells £5,000 basses - but it is 2023 and all sites should have some sort of ecommerce inventory checker.

PLEASE let the new website have some sort of automated inventory check. Ordered a pre-owned bass last night - and subsequently spent all night dreaming about it - but unfortunately got a refund email this morning as someone must have beaten me to it. But the page for it is still live with an Add to cart button... I'm just really bitter 😂

So this is the board currently. A lot of new pedals I haven't tried in the rehearsal room yet: the OC5, MBD2, 420 Fuzz, BF2 and DD3 (so nearly all of them then...) Had most of the Darkglass preamps (B7K, ADAM, AOU, Photon) before, then got the Bass Butler. Sold it, tried a few more (including multifx) and realised that the Bass Butler really is the sound I was looking for. Just sounds brilliant, and the extra distortion stage comes in handy. I also just like buying and trying different pedals. 😅 Had an HX Stomp and just got frustrated with the menus, didn't have the patience for it. Love the simplicity of the BB. Really looking forward to pairing it with the MBD2 and the 420. I kind of know what to expect from the BF2 and the delay, but interested to hear how the MBD2 and 420 work in a real space.

Has the Fuzzrocious been relegated to the drawer, @Ander87? I would consider buying it back off you 😅

Gassing for that MBD2, good lord.

Just checking into this thread as I am now an HX Effects owner, but also very uncreative and lazy so need some inspiration. Will be giving it a thorough read shortly!