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Del Amitri… non-bassists should not play bass!


Mickeyboro

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Watched Del Amitri last night in Southampton.

 

When Justin Currie switched from bass to acoustic for the sensitive stuff, the guitarists thought they could take over. With disastrous results! Iain Harvie’s fingerstyle was horrible and distorted, while Kris Dollimore’s noodling decimated Nothing Ever Happens. 

 

What the sound mixer thought he was doing (or not doing) in not dialling them back I don’t know, but I do think six-stringers should have to take a proficiency test before strapping on a bass… 

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What a coincidence.  I watched an original band at the weekend (not local) and the guitarists alternated to bass... they were both obviously guitarists and it grated on me that neither were specifically a 'bassist'.  The bass part lacked a bassists feel/taste and was played like a 2nd guitar.  I personally thought the songs suffered because of it.

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Not to blow my own horn (metaphorically) but as a bassist who happens to play Stick, I prefer my own approach, as well as other bassists who play Stick, rather than Stickists that have come from the guitar. Stickists that have come from other instruments are ok. Drummers tend to be Monsters...

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They played Oban last weekend and I noticed that they swapped for certain songs. Can't say I noticed anything going awry. They had a really clear sound and the bass cut through clearly and well defined.

Thoroughly enjoyed the night.

The Byson family who supported were superb. They had a dep. singer as Phil Campbell is apparently in rehab but he  did the job perfectly.

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4 minutes ago, ubit said:

They played Oban last weekend and I noticed that they swapped for certain songs. Can't say I noticed anything going awry. They had a really clear sound and the bass cut through clearly and well defined.

Thoroughly enjoyed the night.

The Byson family who supported were superb. They had a dep. singer as Phil Campbell is apparently in rehab but he  did the job perfectly.

Yes, these guys made the trip worthwhile. Really enjoyed their set and bought the CD.

 

Surprised you didn't notice, it was, to my ears, a textbook example that there is so much more to playing even these simplest of lines than hitting all the right notes. 

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12 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

Watched Del Amitri last night in Southampton.

 

When Justin Currie switched from bass to acoustic for the sensitive stuff, the guitarists thought they could take over. With disastrous results! Iain Harvie’s fingerstyle was horrible and distorted, while Kris Dollimore’s noodling decimated Nothing Ever Happens. 

 

What the sound mixer thought he was doing (or not doing) in not dialling them back I don’t know, but I do think six-stringers should have to take a proficiency test before strapping on a bass… 

Well that’s Motörhead, The Jimi Hendrix experience as well as The Beatles out then …

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2 hours ago, franzbassist said:

I loved me a bit of Del Amitri back in the day.  As @Mykesbasssays, more going on in the songs than you realise at first.  I used to sing and play "The Last to Know" in a band and it always went down well - fun song to play too.

 

 

I always liked them but wasn't an uber fan. When they played one of their hits, I was like, oh, that's their big hit. Then they would play something else and I was like oh, now that's their big hit. So on the night went. I had no idea they had so many big hits. I am now a resurged fan!

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17 minutes ago, ubit said:

 

 

I always liked them but wasn't an uber fan. When they played one of their hits, I was like, oh, that's their big hit. Then they would play something else and I was like oh, now that's their big hit. So on the night went. I had no idea they had so many big hits. I am now a resurged fan!

Amusingly, I guess their big hit here is Nothing Ever Happens and in the US Roll To Me. The latter gets dashed off live at breakneck speed, as they clearly don’t care for it!

 

I once saw Procol Harum and they refused to play A Whiter Shade of Pale. Have never forgiven em!😂

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Never mind all this swapping instruments malarky - Del Amitri & its current line-up leaves me musing about what a small musical world it can be. I live just outside Edinburgh these days but I'm originally from Kent. A band I was in in the early/mid 80s supported Del Amitiri when they played locally, on what might have been their first UK tour. A bit later another band I was in gigged a few times with two bands Kris Dollimore played with at the time, and fast-forwarding a few years after I relocated to Scotland, my Glasgow-based band's guitarist knew Iain Harvie well, having played with him pre-Del Amitri, & we'd often run into him & the Dels at the old Berkley 2 rehearsal room.

 

Didn't know Kris Dollimore played with them these days.

 

Apropos of nothing. As you were.

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39 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

There are some guitar players who have contributed some beautiful bass playing. I think the problem is around this assumption that because you can play guitar, you can automatically play the bass. Clearly it's often not actually the case at all. 

Steven Stills immediately springs to mind and John Mayer has a very Pino vibe to his playing (unsurprisingly).

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1 hour ago, Cat Burrito said:

I think the problem is around this assumption that because you can play guitar, you can automatically play the bass. Clearly it's often not actually the case at all. 

Case in point being Mike & the Mechanics, where live three of them share this duty, and do it well. 

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