EssexBuccaneer

We played a 30th birthday private event on Saturday. Our first ‘function’ as opposed to a pub or charity gig. Strange experience, especially before the crowd were suitably lubricated with booze. Lots of people standing around chatting and ignoring us, kids playing with balloons and running around. Quite disheartening in the early part of the evening, for sure. Some songs ended with barely a smattering of applause The second half was much better, with punters singing and dancing and plenty of raucous applause and cheers. Ultimately we got paid and a few pats on the back afterwards, and back home for midnight.

Iron Maiden want a word….

Well I discovered rock music through seeing guns n roses on MTV around 91 - I would have been 10-11 years old. I got one of those ‘everything you need’ electric guitar sets from Argos for Christmas that year, and I became a very mediocre rhythm guitarist over the years that followed. I wanted desperately to be a widdly, flashy lead player but lacked the willpower to consistently practice. I was a good enough rhythm player to join a metal band at 15-16 writing our own material and playing locally. At 17 we weee established on the local scene and our mates band’s bass player left. I got on well with them and they asked if I could stand in on bass until they found a replacement. I’d never played bass before but figured it’d be ok if I stuck to root notes and learned as I went along. It was a total revelation, and I never really went back to guitar. I vowed never to play covers because that was an admission of giving up on the dream. Except a couple of years later I received a great job offer which meant I had to quit playing live (shift work and regular rehearsals don’t match) After 17 years climbing the ranks, the shifts ended as I moved into management and the first thing I wanted to do was start playing live again - and at 42 (at the time) playing covers in pubs sounded a lot of fun - and guess what?! It is! What I enjoy about playing covers, is that it’s made me a better player. I used to write basslines for my own ability - so I progressed very little as I was never challenged. Learning ‘professional’ basslines has made me better at what I do - so now I’m just marginally above ‘barely competent’

I’m a bass player with a lead guitarist’s ego. Our guitarist hangs back like a bass player. We’re a strange lot, tbf

Interesting, since my peeve is cables! High quality wireless systems are so affordable I can’t think why anyone wouldn’t have one 😆

Just back from Ipswich, where we played Rock Against Leukaemia - it’s ninth year now and they’re doing amazing work. It’s always a fun show, this one had us getting ‘glitter beards’ at the request of our singer’s little girl. (The things you do to keep kids laughing!) We played a truncated set well, plenty of dancers, and it was an opportunity to play a heavier than normal set, with Metallica, Fall Out Boy, Sabbath, Nirvana, Lit and a few others. Great night and can’t wait for next year’s 10th birthday for RAL! edit, I supposed I’d better show off said glitter beard, eh?

I couldn’t play that. The band would be running round trying to find me trying all the chilli products

DM’d

My mic was too low, you can’t hear my ‘black tie’ - the highlight of the song!

It really is bizarre, in a great way. Hangers aren’t really designed for optimal sound, are they? 🤣

Just been sent this from the guitarist’s Mrs. HAD to share! 362f7dfd-4677-4d30-a584-2f38199e1aba.mov

We played the Vulcan restoration trust beer festival again this year. Firstly it’s the coolest venue - a hanger with a Vulcan bomber front and centre, nice size stage. The crowd are sat around tables and are a bit reticent to leave them to have a dance, but we did lure a few up, at least! The sound on stage was terrible to the point that I didn’t enjoy the gig at all, and Mrs Buccaneer said my face was displaying subtitles that demonstrated my displeasure. However watching the videos back we sounded ok out front, so I’m far happier now. We ran short on time and had to cut the set a tad, but that meant we finished with Paranoid - and in our first gig since Ozzy’s death, that felt apt. Rock against Leukaemia in Ipswich next week!

I can’t speak for this organisation, but when a fire alarm sounds you should evacuate and not re-enter the building until it’s confirmed safe to do so. I’m not going to take instructions on resetting a sounding alarm from a guy on the telephone.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this mate, but be open and honest, and do what’s right for you

Man. Where do I start? I wasn’t always the biggest fan of Ozzy or sabbath. My gateway to metal ran through Guns n roses, Bon Jovi - hard rock acts. From there I fell into Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. I was aware of Sabbath and Ozzy of course but I wasn’t a particularly huge fan. I respected them for what they created, but there were louder, faster, darker acts out there by the time I was discovering metal in the early 90’s. However the shadow of Sabbath and Ozzy loomed over everything. Pantera did sabbath covers. Anyone who was anyone in metal attributed their passion to the Birmingham quartet and their lunatic frontman. Still not a ‘fan’, they were impossible to avoid, from compilation CD’s, to articles in Metal Hammer. You learned by Ozmosis (sorry!). War Pigs, paranoid, the Wizard. Crazy Train, Mr Crowley. All became ingrained in my psyche, and I still wasn’t a fan. I told people ‘oh yeah they’re vital, but I don’t really like them that much’ i got older, I got wiser. I paid more attention. Iommi, Butler and Ward were the engine of sabbath, they made it work. But Ozzy was the paint job that screamed ‘look at me!’. He was the heart and soul of Sabbath. They were a good band without him - Dio’s sabbath were incredible, except they weren’t Sabbath. Ozzy made them iconic. He made them ‘them’. i realised that I’d been lying for years. Telling people I wasn’t a fan. Telling people I respected their influence, but never loved their music. I realised too late that I was always a fan. Probably since I first heard them on one of those compilation CD’s. Since Tuesday night all I’ve done is blast Sabbath and Ozzy. We’re gonna put paranoid in our set next week and close the show with it. Our little tribute to the Prince of darkness. I hope he’s looking down right now, shaking his head and wondering what all the fuss is about. Probably shouting for ‘SHARRROOON’ to explain why gen-x is being so quiet right now.

So my anagram was meant to be here anytime from today to Monday. Except my order has been updated and now expected IN SEPTEMBER 🤨

Looks like a rehearsal at the height of COVID

Same 😀

Phew! That was tough one at the South Benfleet Social club. Intensely hot, even massive fans and iced water could only do so much. The audience were appreciative but I think the heat was wearing on them too! Lots of applause but very little dancing. We’re back there on August 16th and a few people said they’re coming back to see us again, so that’s always nice to hear. We played well, some of my regular mistakes were ironed out, so pleased overall. Best part of the night was a cool shower when I got home!

We had a try out of Electric Six ‘Gay Bar’ tonight - nailed first time as you’d expect from such a simple ditty. We’re planning on putting it in as a cheeky little encore on Saturday.

According to reports, all 11 stores and online have gone. Stock has been sold to Gear4Music

I bought my Anagram a few days ago, it’ll be with me in the first week of July 😮. I’m certain it’ll be worth the wait though, we’re looking at going ampless in the next year, and this looks perfect for my needs.

We have one song that uses all our elements and also doesn’t appear in our regular set (that’s key to the soundcheck). It has vox, backing, all instruments and the drummer’s FX pad. We tell the audience we’re gonna have a quick sound check, play the intro, a verse, a chorus then end it. Then tell the audience we’ll be back in ‘x’ mins. I have a wander out front while we’re playing the verse to gauge everything then nip back on stage for BV in the chorus.

This has been an interesting read. My covers (pub) band won’t play for free except for a couple of regular charities we play annually. We want to arrange a gig in Reading sharing the bill with a guy from work’s band, but we’re in Essex and Reading is obviously quite a trot for us. The first venue we spoke to said ‘we don’t pay bands, but can give you beer and sandwiches all night’ 🤐

We use some backing for synths/samples etc. For some songs it’s essential - born in the USA is an example. We’re have one guitarist, one bass, one drummer, and a singest. Don’t like the things we do? You’re free to leave the pub 😊