EssexBuccaneer

Great time tonight, we nailed the Beastie Boys ‘Fight for your right’ and Nirvana ‘Lithium’ at their first rehearsal, so we’ll throw them both into Friday and Saturday’s sets this week 😀

Was a hot one though! A huge fan was barely enough to get us through! 

We’re learning Black Hole Sun - we’re playing a wedding and the bride is an enormous Grunge/Seattle scene fan.

I’m legitimately concerned about blubbing when I play it. Chris Cornell is such an idol of mine. Going to try to convince our singist to let me have the line ‘No One Sings Like You Anymore’ 😛

1 minute ago, MacDaddy said:

Not sure if it's there anymore, but in Southampton there was a pub called The Hobbit, which had a mini pyramid stage outside at the back. I always thought that would have been a great place to play. I only ever saw bands play inside.

We played there last year, albeit inside (was a cold night!)

I played the Ruskin Arms in my last gig for my originals band, in 2002. As one of the places associated with Iron Maiden, it was an honour to take to that (smaller than expected) stage. Good memories.

22 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Strats are the guitars that I play best. I far prefer the sound of Gibson Les Pauls but I just don’t play them very well. I get on fine with SGs and Teles but the Strat just works better for me. Has to have a humbucker at the bridge tho.

Same. I have a cheapo strat that I’ve tinkered with extensively, the humbucker addition transformed it. 
 

I did consider a fender neck, but the *cost* 😮

It’s a fine line - yes you’re there to entertain, but is there really much fun in playing identikit copy/paste set-lists to every other band? 
 

Our setlist is a mix of very well known (zombie, Enter Sandman, Seven Nation Army) and some lesser-spotted bangers like Longview, Self Esteem, Higher). And that’s how we like it.

I genuinely don’t get inter-band squabbles about ownership contracts and all that nonsense. You have to trust each other and accept that some expenses are lost as soon as they’re paid out - or you don’t have a band. 

We have a simple system. We as a four-piece all own our own gear. The PA belongs to the band, as does the lighting rig. They’re sunk costs. Money from gigs goes into a band kitty/account, and will be used to buy any merch, plus strings, drum skins, sticks etc. 
 

If anyone leaves, they owe the band nothing. The band owes them nothing except 25% of the kitty as their share.

This stuff should be kept simple, and friendly - no good comes from arguing about what percentage of equipment you ‘own’ as an individual.

Had a great time yesterday in Ipswich at Rock Against Leukaemia, held annually at the Steamboat Tavern. Unfortunately our slot was 17:00 and apparently there was some sort of football match on at the same time 🤔

It was only a 45 min set so was over in the blink of an eye but the punters enjoyed it, and we were tight. 
 

Because the backline was provided I only took two basses and my pedalboard, so felt underdressed and worried all morning that I’d forgotten something 😆

I use ultimate guitar for their pro-tabs, and often YouTube play-along tabs/lessons. If a piece is too challenging then I’ll simplify it and build up to the ‘proper’ version.

I have learned some stuff by ear, starting with root notes and adding my own frills around them. 
 

it works for me.

Here’s one I like taken by my Guitarist’s missus at a recent gig. Playing my Fender pupped Chinese tat/custom thing. 

A bit late here, but on Saturday we played a cancellation at The Chadwell Arms in Grays. A slow night, but we played well and added a couple of new songs to the setlist which went down well. The landlord/lady had a good chat with us after and told us how much they love having us down. They’re increasingly frustrated with the low numbers (was relieved to hear that it’s not an ‘us’ thing 😀).

Despite the turnout, the punters had a good time, and wanted an encore to our encore, so we were pleased with our night’s work.

First rehearsal with our very own PA tonight, went smoothly. First run through of Cars and You Shook me all night long as well, both immediately gig-ready so well pleased with our night’s work.

On 07/06/2024 at 22:19, Newfoundfreedom said:

I'd rather have one cheap Harley Benton and lots of beer. 

This is a double win, because with enough beer the HB will sound just as good as anything else 😊

I like to tinker, and I wouldn’t get that pleasure from a high end bass, not to mention being terrified to gig with it because of the inevitable punishment it would take.

I like low/mid range basses that I’m not afraid to upgrade and play around with. Just ordered a Seymour Duncan pup for my HB five-string and I’ll take great pleasure from gigging with it.

22 minutes ago, WalMan said:

After a difficult week when we lost my mother unexpectedly - saw her Saturday and Sunday morning, leaving her with a cheery “see you next week”, to 9 Sunday evening in A&E talking DNR’s with the doctors 😢 - last night it was a blessed relief to get out to a gig with a great crowd singing and dancing.

 

Sound seemed pretty good though one of the guitarist’s boost setting for solos could probably have done with a bit more.

 

Drummer’s stool broke halfway through a song in the set and he had to finish the night on one of the pub’s chairs as the stool was not repairable.

 

I clearly dug in too hard even with the IEM’s as I have a big old blister on my index finger.

 

https://fb.watch/shD9Bhs2So/?

 

 

Am so sorry for your loss.

On 20/05/2024 at 00:05, Bluewine said:

This is huge discussion really. We dropped a ton of what I call " stinkers".

 

I think some bands get into trouble when the set list is heavy on songs band members like and like to play. More often than not the crowd doesn't like what band members like.

 

You have to play what t g e crowd wants not what we want.

 

Daryl

 

 

To an extent, yes. You have to keep the crowd happy. But also you have to enjoy what you play. One of the things I looked for in my current band is that the setlist isn’t a carbon copy of every other covers band’s setlist. 
 

Yeah we play Guns N Roses, but not sweet child o’ mine. Yeah we play Green Day but not Basket Case.

The band has to be interested and invested in the songs they play - not simply acing as a playlist chosen by the punters. 

Just back from rehearsal. Targeted a few songs that are nearly there rather than running through our set. Are You Gonna Go My Way (for some reason we couldn’t nail the timing coming out of the solo) and You Could Be Mine (GnR) are now gig-ready.

Numan ‘Cars’ and AC/DC ‘You Shook me all night long’ are homework for next rehearsal.

Every band I’ve been in has rehearsed weekly or fortnightly, regardless of gigging schedule. 
 

Are you guys telling me that isn’t the norm? 🤔

2 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Seems to me this demographic is the hardest to be in.

Middle aged straight men are hardly a demonised demographic. I say that as a middle aged straight man.

I watched it this year as I do every year, because Mrs Buccaneer loves it. It’s trash, we all know it’s trash, so we have a drink and laugh at how appalling it all is.  
 

And yes, the U.K. entry was laughably bad. I’m surprised it received any points at all from the judges. Pathetically bad but also lacking the charm that some other horrendously rubbish entries have historically used to their own advantage.

A mixed bag tonight at the Chadwell Arms in Essex. Set 1 was riddled with issues, which we realised was down to the singist’s radio mic interfering with my wireless. It’s happened before when we’ve rehearsed in a smaller room and the pub was pretty intimate tonight.
 

I wired up for set 2 and it was a million times better. The small crowd loved us, the pay was good and we’ve got a few adds on social media and some pledges to come see us at other local gigs. 

I was reminded why I seldom read these lists after hunting twice for Nicko McBrain (assuming that I must have missed him first time around)

Hi all, some advice would be appreciated.

When being paid for gigs, we don’t take a share each, but the money is ‘the Bands’ for use on a PA, lighting, consumables etc. 

Our gigs have so far been cash-in-hand with the guitarist looking after the money in his safe at home. However we’re playing a gig soon who will pay us electronically via concur - as such we’re thinking about setting up a band bank account. Has anyone experience with this? Does one person control the account and act as treasurer? Are you all signatories to the account? Are there fees for a multiple person account? Anything else we need to know?

Just back from tonight’s rehearsal. Whiskey In The Jar (Metallica version) went faultlessly so it’s slotting straight in the set. Played some stuff we’ve not touched for a while, but it all came together right away. All ready for our first gig of the year next week. It’s been a slog having 4 months without playing to an audience but such is life for a new band, I guess.

1 hour ago, TimR said:

 

No idea. I played with a drummer for several years who couldn't up the tempo gradually because it doesn't work like that. The drummer is human. 

 

I refer you to @dclaassen above. 

The drummer is indeed human. I’ve yet to find a human capable of keeping perfect time, 100% of the time.

The drummer is basically an unreliable metronome. And the rest of the band follow it.