12stringbassist

It's been a while since I've been able to post in this topic, as our old guitarist opted out at the beginning of May. It's been cancellations, auditions and just a couple of rehearsals since then. I think we've got the right new guy. I was slightly nervous in the run up to last night's first gig, as we didn't manage to rehearse this week as our drummer has been taken into hospital for urgent surgery. He's going to be out of the game for a while. A good friend of ours is going to sit in on drums for a while when he can and I am meeting another drummer this evening, when we play another gig (and he's on drums). We're deviating from usual set to a degree, as our new guitarist has some songs he's pretty good at, so to get a set together, and to change things a bit (the old band was a bit of a museum, as we couldn't add new songs without a distinct lack of enthusiasm from one corner of the room). We've pulled the best set together of crowd pleasers that we can . There were a couple of hairy moments, but the punters didn't notice. The good news for us is that we are back doing it and enjoying it.

I'll take any instrument I own to a gig, as that's what I bought them for. I don't let people get near them unless I know them, and not always then. I will fend off people saying 'Can I have a go?' as a matter of course.

I watched Supergrass do a really good set and struggle for any reaction. What appears to be wrong with festivals like this now is that there is a mad scramble for tickets months and months before the acts are announced, because there is this huge things about being seen there and saying you've been. It's hardly about the actual music anymore and fans of the bands concerned rarely get tickets to see them. The only bands guaranteed to go down well are 'the legends' and any with suitable hype behind them.

Chase have still got the HiWatts in stock.

Sparks. Full report and videos at http://www.crazeeworld.plus.com/ian/reviews/2025.06.22.sparks.htm

Just my experience - as valid as any other. I've said how it CAN work and what the drawbacks are.

It only works when the people who run two bands can pull the others in when required and those other people are doing nothing else. As a person who prefers to have one band and nothing else, I have always found that if someone is in two bands, their availability is compromised and so is their attention span and ability to absorb and devote time to learning new material. It very rarely works and there is always going to be conflicts over which band gets first dibs on dates. It's just a nightmare. The people who elect to be in two bands (but don't run diaries) always think they can make it work. They of course, are not the ones tearing their hair out over broken gig schedules and aren't the ones going back to venues saying 'oh I'm sorry, x is suddenly not available'.

At best, they are a matter of personal taste and merely something to skim over and not take seriously. They also suffer from the critics trying to be pseudo-intellectual and nominating unlistenable obscure people to show off how hip they are in choosing these people. If I listed my top 5 guitarists, people would disagree. I rarely bite when topics about 'best' players come up. Favourites maybe... best what's the point?

The walls of Gibson and Fenders with no price tags (for legitimate price shift reasons) were off-putting to a small degree. Of course you have to have the stuff in to sell it, but then again the store has to pay for it to stock it. The major companies insistence on stores stocking whole ranges in the past has led to stores dropping the make. Going in to drool over and Elite / Deluxe megabucks P bass is all very well, but the shop had to shift them, otherwise it was just all debt and dusting. The 'starter range' gear is useful to a limited number of people and as some say, it's seemingly a decreasing market. There was so much stock that never shifted. The rise of online shopping is disappointing because there's nothing better than trying stuff then buying it. The loss of PMT means Manchester doesn't have a lot of options left for buyers.

We auditioned our new guitarist on the 2nd (playing 4 songs). Got another 6 off at the next jam night on the 9th. Rehearsed two sets worth of songs last night. Yes, we are having to go for some 'quick wins', but we are out again in July. This is one of them.

We've found our man.

My footage...

Zak says: "I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical endevours this would be a lie. I love the who and would never had quit. So I didn’t make the statement ….quitting the who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me (thank you all a million times over and more) thru the weeks of mayhem of me going ‘in an out an in an out an in an out like a bleedin squeezebox x To clarify ‘other projects’ yes I do have other projects and always have. The Who have been sporadic or minimalist in touring most years apart from a two extensive tours in 2000 and 2006/7 To be precise while I was in the who 1996-1999 I had other projects with Johnny Marr, Lightning Seeds and Mike Scott. 2000-2003 Johnny Marr and The Healers opening for oasis in Europe releasing album and 6 month world tour 2004-2008 Oasis 2 studio albums and 120live shows. 2006-2017 Pengu!Ns , Sshh touring internationally. Releasing 3 singles, Kasabian bbc proms 2007 Weller Coxon Starkey Mani. 2015 Hollywood Vampires Roxy LA shows and rock in Rio 2017-2020 Trojan Jamaica record label releasing three albums and winning Grammy for best reggae album 2020 2020 Peter Green Tribute Concert . As u see there has always been time for other projects … 2022-2025/now mantra of the cosmos with Shaun Ryder Bez Andy Bell and NG. Releasing singles but not touring cos members are so busy. None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them . The lie is or would have been that I quit the who- i didn’t. I love the who and everyone in it."