wateroftyne

Aye.. he's a great drummer, too. So tasteful.

Here now, but nothing to do 'till 10am. So.. time for a cuppa and bacon stottie. The songs are proper eclectic mix. Yesterday was interesting 'cos a couple of the songs really spotlight the bass, which isn't really my thing. I'm quite enjoying it to be honest... even if I need a lie down afterwards. A couple of the guests are pretty particular about arrangements - for the right reasons - so we've had to go into microscope mode. It all feels comfortable in the hall now. The show's going to be amazing, but the opening sequence and closing sequence (of the show in general) are absolute bangers. Here's a vid of my route onto the stage...

Right.. more pics from yesterday. MD Alan Clark. Drummer Ray Laidlaw Ray & Pete Accordionerist Shona Newey The video team The gallery - Geoff Wonfor & Chris Cowie's domain...

Cheers, man! I’ve just crawled into bed after being at the Arena since 4pm. Running through stuff again mainly for camera placements. A few of the tunes have specific bass bits, so - for once - I have to make sure I’m in the right place at the right time. There’s been a few (good) surprises today production-wise The stops have really been pulled out... Now to try and sleep. 9am band call...

Bump, 'cos I'm in a pickle 🙂

Hey gang! If anyone can help me with a really simple query on this bit of kit, can you PM me please? Thank you 🙂

It's the box at the top with 'Search' written in it. Or if you're on a mobile, it's the spyglass icon at the top.

BC has a search function.

Yep, it's on DVD 🙂 After a few delays, it's nice to finally play the set in the hall. It was all pretty relaxed, and we had time to iron out a lot of the bumps. We finally got to see the lighting today too, even if it was just ticking over. It's going to be insane. Apologies for the photofest. This is my shout mic button. I can press this at any time and discreetly ask the nice chaps on monitors to turn the guitars down 😄 Amp. Yum. (Box on top is LR Baggs Venue DI) Guitar corner.. Rhythm section... centre of the stage where we should be 🙂 FOH More cameras The video department. The lights are on... The sirens of Scotswood... they sing like angels. Chris Cowie (Assistant Director) and Geoff Wonfor (Director). Between them they've done The Beatles Anthology, Top of the Pops.. all sorts.

Some of the cameras have arrived. We’re using over 20 in total, I think...

Thank you 🙂 The WB-100 was always just a loaner / demo, on the understanding that it would have to go to someone else at any time. Had I had it, I would have used it but the R-400 is wonderful too. I'm happy with either. (I've got the Maruszczyk Bass Tank head under the stage as a spare, which is actually a rebadged Handbox)

It’s Ray Laidlaw.

It’s gorgeous. And that fat humbucker is going to get a hiding during one of the songs...

Bruv.

Stage wasn't cleared in time last night, so early (9am) start this morning. I've got my backline in place but we'll not be able to make a noise for a while yet. In the meantime.. bacon.

Cheers all! A little bit about the band. MD and keyboard / Hammond player Alan Clark is a Rock and Roll hall-of-famer, inducted with Dire Straits. He's also recorded with some bloke called Bob. Here he is in action: Multi-instrumentalist Peter Tickell is a new addition to the band. He sometimes tours with a bloke called Gordon. And sometimes Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon. This is him on his main instrument, violin: One of our lovely backing vocalists is Lorraine Crosby. You can hear her duet with a bloke called Marvin here: Jings.

10pm and still here... so much AV kit to go in. As soon as the stage is clear we can get set up and do line checks ready for a 10am band call tomorrow... I'll sleep tonight.

We're in the Arena this evening. There's still a bit of hanging around before we can get on the stage, though...

Yes and Steely Dan. I'm at that age, y'know...

There's actually... *counts on fingers* Four pick songs this time,. Crikey!

Forgot to post these from yesterday...

Day three... we're starting to relax a bit. ha ha. One of the songs has a particularly complicated arrangement that we've had to pore over a bit, but apart from that we've been able to play through the rest of the set mostly without incident. Only one key change surprise, which I consider to be a lucky escape. Another day in the rehearsal hall, and then we're into the arena tomorrow night...

Hi everyone A couple of interesting old Fenders turned up at today's rehearsal. #1: A 1963 Jazz, all original apart from a refret. This was used to record the ceilidh set on Mark Knopfler's Local Hero OST, and used in the performance in the film. #2: A 1972-ish Musicmaster, formerly owned by Lindisfarne's Alan Hull. Both wonderful to play. It was nice to spend a bit of time with them.

Cracking on today.. I’ve been distracted by this ‘63 that’s landed. It’s not mine, but I’m allowed to play it...

Right... day one done. 9:30am-6pm. Knackered. We got a decent balance, ran about half the set, sorted a few endings, and ironed out a few bumps, and identified something we're all going to have to work on for tomorrow. Every time we run a tune, we can ask for monitor tweaks and they'll all be stored individually for each tune. That way, everything should be optimal for when we move into the arena. One weight off my mind is we've run the song which is the hardest work from a bass POV, and all the swotting paid off... it's going to be fine. Thank goodness. Tomorrow we'll be joined by our lovely backing vocalists, and the brass lads. Looking forward to it.