Rich

Mmmm... potato wedges...

Many of our gigs are up to an hour's drive from home. So I use the drive time to de-buzz, listen to something quiet on the radio -- the shipping forecast is wonderful for this, really soothing and evocative, and I always chuckle at the bass-fail on Sailing By** . When I get home I have a wee bite to eat and a cup of coffee (the caffeine doesn't keep me awake) and maybe a bit of quiet telly until I start nodding, which isn't long. Crawl into bed, head>pillow>zzz. ** 1:54... horrid bum note followed by two seconds of "where am I?" chart-searching silence. https://youtu.be/dFdas-kMF74

I can bring my old & battered SWR Bass Monitor 12 wedge... although how much use it'd be, I don't know Will see if I can look out a raffle prize or two. I've got a new set of D'Addarios lurking somewhere for starters.

When I grow up I'm going to be a bass player.

How about a logo with a play on words of some sort? Maybe based on your name or something? Looks blimmin marvelous by the way.

Lovely P7 👍😎 same colour/wood combo as my V7.

Good grief, that's a real horror story makes me glad they're not getting many bookings. We had grief from some of the punters too. They found it highly amusing when the hag told us to eff off, and a couple of them joined in in that special "hyuck hyuck, yeah gwarn, f'koff" way that only a cerebrally challenged sister-lover can manage.

Oh god, that mental beach. Our drummer had an argument with her over set lengths and payment, in the end she cancelled all our future bookings and told him to sex-and-travel. I roasted them alive on Farcebook next day and had lots of #metoo replies. From what i understand, they're having trouble getting bands and it's going down the toilet fast. Good. I hope it burns to the ground.

I have a friend who sustained a very embarrassing injury from the 'saddle' of his Del Var Bass Bike. It took surgeons 2 hours to remove it and now he has to wear special pants. Small print notwithstanding, I demand compensation. On his behalf, of course.

Yes! I fitted orange mains plugs to all my leads for the same reason 😄

A few of my favourite hacks: Mains IEC chassis socket mounted permanently in the side of my 4U rack case, just under the handle so it's protected from accidental bashes. This in turn feeds the mains 4-way inside the case. Makes setting up even easier. I carry a 1ft square piece of 1" foam inside the rack, which allows me to store the bag of mains/speaker/misc cables inside the rack without them rattling around damaging things. At gigs, the foam goes between the cab and the amp and stops vibrations. The cable bag itself is an old school PE kit drawstring bag. Ideal size. Kiddie's night light plugged into the rack's 4-way. Provides enough illumination inside the case to allow me to plug stuff in without fumbling around.

Yes, I've played quite a few in Melksham too. Last night was the Forester's Arms, it was rowdy but ok. At least they danced i've also played at the Pg & Whistle, which is snug but nice, and The Pilot which is a ghastly s***hole upon which I would not pee if it was on fire. Where was your fraught experience?

Gig with the ska band tonight, just got home after a horrid drive through the falling snow. Towards the end of the second set, a rather sozzled punter asked if we played any 'old skool ska'. We pointed out that we'd just played well over an hour of it. She then asked if we do any Stereophonics songs. *rolls eyes* Melksham. 'nuff said.

I remember well one particular night at a crap pub in Highbridge, at the end of the gig I counted what I thought was an 'audience' of seven... and then realised I'd included the singer's girlfriend and the bar staff. Stuff happens. Just call it a paid rehearsal.

Grown ups? Where?

Effective, true, but I find that electricity applied to the testicles first really gets the message across. I like a little bit of old-skool finesse first before galloping headlong towards the 9mm finale.

"I've has found a website where I can get bands for free!" Yes, of course he has. The bloke is a total chancer. Definitely sounds like yet another decent venue disappearing down the bonzo dog. Have you got enough other decent regular haunts to make up for it? Small consolation I know, but.

Ow. Make them stop.

Mummy, my head hurts.

Saturday night was my 4th gig with the ska band. Best yet good crowd up and dancing from the 'n' of the first note, the band were on fine form and a terrific laugh was had by all. I'm barely having to refer to my notes at all now, in a couple of gigs' time I'll be able to abandon them altogether. Evening only tempered by the fact that by the time I got home, my favourite kebab emporium was closed damn shame, I was in the mood for one of their amazing chicken/doner combos.

Please lay off the politics and religion, folks. Ta. 👍

Yup, it'll only take 70 years or so 😄