MoJoKe

Agree wholeheartedly. Apart from the lack of strict enforcement (suited venue staff, without sound meters cannot enforce anything), sadly the usual culprit is the ad hoc "on stand demo" or jam, and anyone then trying to hear what they sound like is completely compromised unless you resort to volume. So, the exhibitors aren't usually the problem and are more generally there riding the volume knob, because we don't want to be deafened either...! For that reason this year we intentionally did not have any on stand performances or loud jamming... Some exhibitors did, and that's usually when it went up overall, but, as said, rarely into the +100db range whatever....

That's a little harsh! Frustrated yes aggressive definitely not!

I don't actually disagree with this, but the main and consistent premise continues to be "too noisy", so 1. OK if you don't like noise don't go to a show which is probably GOING to be noisy. If you don't like loud bangs you probably won't enjoy a firework display... It doesn't then follow that the display was rubbish and all other firework displays are rubbish except the ones with no bangs. 2. People who went have already said noise wasn't as bad as in the past... 3. This thread is titled "review", which implies an opinion based on first hand experience, not a potentially non-reason for not going in the first place! So, I would think this thread might be more useful for the organisers and everyone else who paid good money to visit or exhibit to hear the views of those who actually went. I'm just tired of negativity and moaning. rather than constructive and helpful.

You were there. It wasn't too noisy, but the show was a disappointment... Valid, and good to hear balanced opinion.

Have you the first idea how much it cost for them (and many other music shops) to do this in their own retail premises? I do, and there's no practical or cost effective way it could be done for every "loud" stand at a temporary guitar show, even assuming "loud" equals "too loud"...

So, were you there or not? If yes, then we should accept you have a valid opinion. If not, you cannot be qualified to comment on the noise levels at THIS show, which seems to be your only point, so your opinion is invalid. Noise levels were not excessive, maybe loud, maybe even uncomfortable at times... (I bloody love The Cat Empire, but I found the last gig of theirs I went to was too loud... It happens) but, I was there all weekend, measured it, and it was not excessive. Apologies, you did have another point... There WERE people selling used gear, but it was a guitar show, not a table sale, so, as you say, maybe not a show for you. What we're you saying about constructive?

Eric is an absolute legend and a great guy. Cody joined him on stage, and rarely do you see such intuitive and masterful improvisation and connection between musicians... It was amazing to see. Cody toured with Eric a while back, so you could see they work well together. Eric has Byron Carter in the EGB now, who has a completely different vibe to Cody, I'd say has big fat bootsy gospel tone at his roots... I love both their playing... and Eric is quite good too! 🤣

Totally agree. I wouldn't use the "W" word above, but the problem is, considerable amounts of passion/energy, hard work (I was also working all the previous weekend, building our stand elements, in addition to doing 2 gigs... and I have a day job) and vast amounts of money go into attending this show for exhibitors (logistics, travel, hotels, graphics/artwork, wages, depreciation on demo stock, the time it all takes to plan out of regular business activities, etc, etc before you even start to consider the cost of the floor space). Exhibitors are not all massive corporates - most of them are definitely not, and it really isn't at all helpful for people to constantly post negativity without any of Joel's balance, and certainly not from people who weren't even there. As said I don't work for, but work alongside MSL, and I'm proud of my involvement with the Markbass presence at the show (you guys don't get to see/experience what happens at 4.30pm on Sunday once the show closes. It is bedlam and exhausting, and thats before my 3 hour drive home. I was physically broken on Monday!). Big respect to all the others who, I know, put in the same effort to try and make the show work for us all. ...and the show will only work if the organisers get it right, the exhibitors continue to feel it is a worthwhile sales/marketing exercise, and it is helped to grow through positive feedback. And, for heavens sake, bass shows are noisy and some people do slap......

There was plenty of room inside, and, as @Frank Blank said, you may well have missed something for you. The weather was great for a walk though...

Oh my god, and some!!! AND he plays drums as well as most drummers.... I've not seen yet, but I'm pretty sure he'll play bass better than most of us too... Check this out... Eric Gales and Joe Bonamassa

Interestingly none of the burly bouncer types were even equipped with sound meters, so were completely unqualified to enforce anything...

Can I just throw something into the noise debate, because I'm finding this all a bit tiring... I do some work for Markbass/MSL (as a pro musician, not employee), and was on the Markbass stand all weekend. Interestingly in the Exhibitor Manual for the show, there is no specified noise level, just a reference to noisy/quiet times. I took my brand new and freshly certified calibrated db meter with me to the show (not a £25 ebay chinese jobby, a proper one... and before say you did the same with your phone, no mobile phone app can measure accurately over 90db, because of the limitations of the phone's microphone), and I left it logging for some long periods. The noise levels measured at our stand rarely exceeded 97db, even when someone was slapping away (its a thing... get over it). That's nowhere near a standard concert volume, but is about as loud as a band should ever need to be at a wedding/function, but across the day the levels tended to average at between 70-88db. Thats about the same volume as the vehicle noise standing at the traffic lights down the road at Pentonville Road. OK, the frequency of the noise and sometimes percussive nature of it will contribute to ear fatigue, but I didn't feel the need to resort to my ACS moulds (thank you #hearformusicians) at any point during the weekend. We also discouraged any jamming this year, and didn't have any ad-hoc performances on the stand. Yeah sure it got louder than 100db at times, but that was very rare, and usually due to an ad-hoc performance at someones stand, and the coincidence of half a dozen or so people trying something out at the same time and resorting to the volume knob to try and hear themselves... Everybody contributing, no single guilty party, and generally initiated by the visitors, not the guys manning the stands. Regarding the show itself, I am beginning to struggle with what sort of show you actually want or expect? There were definitely some other bigger brands missing, but they were either never, or rarely, there even when the show was at Olympia anyway. There were fewer smaller builders there, but they'll have their own reasons for that, and make no mistake, if people don't turn up and actually buy stuff it can be hard to justify, because believe it or not, directly or indirectly thats the only point of exhibiting! ...Who knew? Personally, I prefer the room, but didn't appreciate the extra 1 hour across London slog in the van before and after the show, but apart from exhibitor issues, those are my only thoughts on the weekend. On another point, can I also say, if you didn't even go, why on earth are you posting negative comments here? Thats not contributing to the debate in any way. ...and those of you who missed Cody Wright playing with Eric Gales to close the show performances (you probably didn't go because Eric is a guitarist not a bass player, and you just wanted a bass show...), you missed an absolute treat of the tightest improvisation and very best musicianship...

Did anyone else get to see Cody Wright playing with Eric Gales at the end of the show? Quite something...

Google is your friend... http://www.thelexington.co.uk/event.php?id=918

really? Worse I would have thought.... more like a battlefield!

Given that Joe Bonamassa has just declared Eric Gales is “BEST GUITARIST IN BLUES-ROCK RIGHT NOW”, I am planning to go and see him on Sunday. He brought the house down at Nell's a couple of months ago... amazing show!

I wonder whether Cody will also sit in with Eric Gales session, given that he toured with him last year...?

Its certainly not an "out of the box, straight onto the stage", head like a Little Mark 3, it is definitely more sophisticated, but not nearly as complicated as a full on conventional modelling pedal/head (Kemper at al), it definitely needs a little time to familiarise at gig volume before use. It does have "interesting" (the blurb says "authentic" I seem to remember!) gain staging on some of the amp models, which does need getting used to, but it certainly doesn't lack power. Each channel has its own gain and output level, and there is a master output level. In addition, if you have the foot switch, you can also engage "boost" then, holy crap, things can get loud! Have you has the chance to fully play with the parameters in the editor? I've not played much with the reverb, but the other 5 effects are great. Good to have a Markbass head with a built in compressor (in fact you can put one, foot switchable on/off, with different settings, on each channel)... In threads where people have previously commented on what they'd most like to see on forthcoming heads, built-in compression is always up there, followed by a mute switch... The EVO1 has both.

OK, this little moan has been going on waaay too long. Nothing personal, but lets get something straight here. THE SHOW WILL BE NOISY. It always is, it always has been, and it always will be. Its the nature of the beast. No single person has a volume control. Not one organiser, exhibitor, or visitor. We all play a part. The noise level of an average rock concert is 100-120db (usually the higher end of this), and while the rumbling frequencies at a bass show are often unpleasant, it rarely if ever gets consistently that loud. I think the guys monitoring the volume try to keep it at 95db or below, which is pretty sensible (and for the new venue may need to be even quieter), but it WILL be abused by someone (probably by everyone at least once over the weekend). So, bring some ear plugs, as you should for a concert (and if you are a pro musician, tech or an industry professional, you definitely should have taken advantage of "Hear for Musicians" by now, to get proper assessment and protection for £30 for MU members, £40 if you are not MU. The scheme is still running... no excuses!). If you're coming, play your part in avoiding the whole thing sounding like skeletons with a big sound system, partying in a biscuit tin, be aware that you also have a mutual responsibility here. If you're not coming, then please accept that we all know by now it will be noisy, and don't keep posting that here, its getting kinda dull!!! ...and btw, given that with the usual background music, ambient conversation volume will already be around 80-85db in most public venues, next time you play in a pub/club or function, stick a properly calibrated db meter (not an app on a phone, phone mics are not capable of accurately measuring anything above 90db) about 1m away from your bass amp while the band is in full swing, capture the log for a few minutes and post the results to prove you are staying below 95db. You are excused this test if you only play acoustically, but the drummer will still mess up your own readings!