Gray C

BBC4 right now, Manics are on top form, liking Nicky Wire’s Aerodyne too.

Just catching up with Chvrches, watched them evolve over the years from 2 synths and a drum machine to live drums, guitar and bass. Really polished sound right now, must be a relief to play at Glasto rather than support Coldplay every night instead.

3 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Just watching Texas’ set from yesterday on iPlayer, very professional and her voice sounds as good as it did 20 plus years ago

Totally agree with that, she worked hard through the whole set and her voice was the same as it was 30 years ago.

John Taylor of Duran Duran, that’s why my first ever bass was an Aria. Just wish I could play ‘Rio’ like him, maybe then I could give up the day job! 🤣

Often these are simplicity themselves, but are recognised everywhere, even by non bass players. I’ll  kick the ball in the air with the following…..

Under Pressure - John Deacon - Queen

Wichita Line Man - Opening run into it by the iconic Carol Kaye

The Chain - John McVie for Fleetwood Mac

Walk on the Wild Side - Herbie Flowers for Lou Reed

My Generation - John Entwistle

These are the ones that first come into my head, should be loads more I’ve missed 😝

Carol Kaye

Gail Ann Dorsey

Tony Levin

John Giblin

Guy Pratt

Not TV but Radio, check out ‘Master Tapes’ on the BBC Iplayer. Artists in the Maida Vale studios talking about a classic album they’ve made and playing the odd song from it. Listened to a few, loved the Wilko Johnson one talking about his choppy guitar style with Dr Feelgood and the Blockheads. A real treasure trove to have a dig around in if you have the time.

8 hours ago, leroydiamond said:

Watched The Eagles from 1973 earlier. Love them or hate them, they were the mutts nuts when it came to nailing harmony vocals

I watched their vocal warm up to ‘Seven Bridges Road’ backstage from 1977 on YouTube and it was spot on, just the five of them singing it in a circle with no music.

Geddy Lee for me, the man must have 3 brains to sing, play bass and do keyboards and bass foot pedals at the same time. Oh, and he makes it look easy too. 👏

On 09/07/2022 at 13:07, Marvin said:

I watched one of the My Life As A Rolling Stone episodes on iPlayer, the Keith Richards one.

 

Pretty vacuous and poorly made to be honest. Keith himself,  I love listening to anyway, was great, but they didn't focus enough on Keith telling us about his life as a Stone. I'd like to hear from the man in his own way.

Perhaps it's my age 😁

Having watched all 4 of these I have to agree Keith’s was the weakest episode. I thought Mick’s was best as he seemed to be honest in his interview without much pretence. A close second was Charlie Watts, the ‘jazz drummer in the rock n roll band’, so different from the archetypal rock star, Charlie loved his drumming but didn’t care much for the fame and hysteria being a ‘Stone’ brought to him.

7 hours ago, Linus27 said:

I think I would pick Simple Minds and probably Malcolm Foster's role. Not for his bass lines although the Real Life album is a cracker but because of Derek Forbes and John Giblin's bass lines which Malcolm got to play, especially the Street Fighting Years tours.

Great shout on Simple Minds, I had the New Gold Dream album on in the van recently and Derek Forbes’ bass lines on it are superb. Someone, Somewhere in Summertime is one of my fave songs from the 80’s, just wish I could play the bass line to it all the way through once in a while without messing it up!

Sting, early 80’s with The Police at the top of their game, but can I not fight Stewart Copeland between gigs as I think he’d kill me!

Paul McCartney is the best thing about Glastonbury so far for me. Tight band, Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen flying in from the US just to play with him. As others have said, the man’s a National Treasure. What a back catalogue, I mean how does he begin to pick out 30 or so songs to play from that body of work? He’s 80, playing for nearly 3 hours and he loves what he’s doing with energy and enthusiasm. Amazing to see the whole crowd, young and old, singing along to Beatles songs written over 50 years ago. For my money Lennon and McCartney were the greatest songwriters of all time though, by a mile, absolutely timeless.

Just discovered this thread. Here is my 32 scale Aria, bought in ‘88. It’s a Thor Sound, Aria Pro 2 TSB400. Had to replace the knobs as one of the originals sheared off when it fell over one day. Needs an overhaul and some tlc as my go to bass these days is a MIJ Fender Precision, but I wouldn’t part with as it was my first ever bass guitar.

On 05/06/2022 at 22:01, FinnDave said:

I only get nervous about getting to the venue on time (or even being able to find it). Once I'm there and setting up, I'm usually able to ignore anything outside the gig - though I can (and do) get a bit ratty with people who continue to potter about fiddling with their gear after the time we were due to start. Probably a legacy of my years in TV News where the bulletins have to start exactly on time with no excuses possible.

I always ensure that I know the material inside out, so as the original poster said 'you can't play it incorrectly' but sometimes someone else will play it incorrectly and throw me off balance for a moment (though it always feels a lot longer!).

Have to agree with getting their early for sure. Plenty of time to set up and work out what goes where, especially in a new venue.

Pottering and fiddling is an annoyance of mine too, usually guitarists tweaking pedals and stuff or endlessly noodling riffs as the audience is arriving.

knowing your material inside out is a must as you say. Biggest thing here is making sure everyone has the right set list!

Great thread this one, glad it’s been brought into the spotlight.

worst part of any gig is 10 mins before you go on in my experience, that stomach tightening feeling. Going over the songs in your head and hoping it’s not you who messes up and makes the band look unrehearsed. 
At its very worst your muscles tense up to a point where your hands think you’re wearing thick gloves and you feel like your moving in slow motion, hard to explain it properly unless you’ve experienced it.

Usually it passes after the first song and I relax into it. The level of anxiety is usually affected by the size of the gig and the audience too.

Just now, Gray C said:

I’m 5ft 5, these could be the answer to me being seen on stage 🤩

On 10/06/2022 at 12:59, dmccombe7 said:

Its the platform boots. I'd need to sit in the back seat to reach the pedals 

It does exist, but as you get older you care less about what someone is using and become more interested in why they are using it. Especially with amps, I’ve seen some ramshackle gear held together with gaffer tape and luck that sound amazing in the past.

I’ve been fired from bands and done the firing too, never a pleasant experience as no one likes to hear they don’t ‘fit in’ or aren’t a good enough musician. The more people in the band the more chance of it going wrong. Played in a five piece where everyone tried to get other band members on their side during arguments with five different points of view. The band politics has always been the downside of playing. Most of the bands round my way, going strong for years, are 3 pieces which speaks volumes really.

Had a go on drums at a few band practices and have a huge respect for drummers. The co-ordination needed for hands and feet needs incredible concentration. Couple that to keeping time and playing for hours on end and it’s an unenviable task. If a drummer lets you have a go on his kit remember to respect his snare and cymbals, those are his Crown Jewels. I still think the best drummers are naturals, born not taught. 

If you’re happy carrying it about, despite the weight, I agree, you should keep it. I had a Trace 715 in the early 90’s, fantastic bottom end and back then and all amps were heavy so no one knew any different. These days I’d opt for a separate amp and cab purely for the weight issue as I’m no longer 25! 

Sunburst for me, all day long.

Barefaced look like awesome lightweight cabs. What bass amp head do you use to power it as barefaced don’t manufacture them themselves?

On 20/11/2021 at 08:41, Bassman68 said:

The original era speakers were made by Celestion & were Kevlar impregnated, with the Trace Elliot branding on the (was rather small?) dust cap..

I’m with you on this Bassman, I had a 715 combo from the early 90s, had Celestion on the cone and Kevlar was mentioned in the paperwork too 👍🏼