How was your gig last night?

[Bluewine]

On 27/08/2025 at 03:36, Greg Edwards69 said:

We've played a number of weddings over the years - often for family members or friends of friends, so we've rarely charged big bucks.  But yes, they're usually a long day, typically around 12 hours from leaving and getting back home (even longer if we're invited as guests as well) - certainly longer than a regular day at work. I think the longest we did was 22 hours after leaving home at 6 in the morning for a wedding in Cambridgeshire for a morning set up. Didn't get home until 4 in the morning because the soundman's vehicle broke down on the motorway.

 

This does mean there's often a bit of to-and-fro when negotiating for weddings, as they don't understand that they're paying for more than just 2 hours of music.

 

Weddings have always been  disastrous for us. We're about as far from a wedding band as you can get. We've played a few as a favor to friends and family. Always small budget weddings in the basement of legion hall with card tables and folding chairs.

 

Our wedding gigs can be described with one word, " embarassing ".

 

Daryl

 

[Marvin]

Good fun last night if not a bit odd.

 

Our 5th gig and definitely our strongest one so far. None of us have been the ones who've sorted out the sound etc so it's been a steep learning curve. Last night we felt we'd turned a corner. Set up quickly and the mix and sound was much better than previously. 

 

 

It was also our strongest performance as such. 

 

It was one of those though where people told us afterwards we were great and loved the set, but didn't really get up and have a wee jig. 

We enjoyed it nonetheless 

[Burns-bass]

Played to a packed out crowd at Didmarton Bluegrass festival.

Lovely gig and people.

 

 

[ezbass]

Currently sitting and relaxing in the break. It’s going well, lots of dancing from the get go. However, the nature of the set up means I can’t hear myself particularly well  . I’m going to move for the second half and see if that helps. Gear is my usual Phil Jones rig but with my custom fretless Maruszczyk Elwood L. 

 

Footwear is the usual Adidas Samba types (it’s a mod gig after all).

[EssexBuccaneer]

Just home from a paid rehearsal, a quite well paid rehearsal, as it happens. Played to our wives and the bar staff, essentially. 
 

However, we have a few regular folk who come and see us every time we play, and they were absent tonight. When I asked the guitarist where they were - apparently last time we played this pub, the landlady made a comment about one of the chaps ethnicity. This floored me, and since we have a rebooking in December (already arranged) we’re in a quandary 
 

I think we’ll cancel the gig, and if we have to explain why then I’ll happily tell the landlady to her face.

[kiat]

Last night was a gig with a difference, I knew almost everyone in the audience, it being one of the local walking football clubs I used to play at. The event was their annual summer dinner dance, but there's usually double the number of folks and tables. Because of the personal connection, I especially wanted the band to do a good job and for me to play well. Whether it was because of the extra banter and focus on me by the band and crowd, I was distracted and definitely didn't play as well as usual. Had a good laugh though!

 

The venue is good, acoustics not bad and looking out into its golf course. Bit of a walk to get our gear round to the back door. 

 

The band wanted more folks there too obviously but the atmosphere was friendly and fun. All the gents had a lady with them.

 

Small gear error. Left home in a rush and forgot the fly lead for my bass so, the wireless dongle went direct in the jack socket.

 

We got to the venue at 7, played for nearly 3 sets with short breaks over 3 hours and away by half past midnight.

 

[YellowLedBetterBass]

Absolutely horrid experience for the first half of ours tonight.

 

Was set up in a tiny corner of a pub, using our own PA and having to lug it around tables of people sat eating dinner. Tiny stage where I could either bump my right elbow on the crash cymbal or the headstock of my bass into the singers back. Venue was completely unequipped to have bands on, even down to them not having a single plug socket anywhere near the "stage" area.

 

Still we plowed through - even with people still sat eating half way through our first set and not a single member of the "audience" (who I suspect were there for their dinner and had no idea a band was on tonight) seeming like they cared. One blast of In Bloom later and suddenly the 60+ year olds weren't so keen on eating their meat and mash.

 

I don't even know if people loved it or hated it - I think general ambivalence was the mood. The bar manager was happy though - he reckoned they'd put about £2500 more behind the bar than the average Saturday, so that's something.

 

It was very much a case of having to be professional and make the best of the situation. I'm not in any rush to play at that venue again though truth be told. I think when they said they wanted bands on, they really meant they wanted an acoustic act to play background music while people tucked into their carvery or whatever.

Edited 8 hours ago by YellowLedBetterBass

[kiat]

3 minutes ago, YellowLedBetterBass said:

Absolutely horrid experience for the first half of ours tonight.

 

Was set up in a tiny corner of a pub, using our own PA and having to lug it around tables of people sat eating dinner. Tiny stage where I could either bump my right elbow on the crash cymbal or the headstock of my bass into the singers back. Venue was completely unequipped to have bands on, even down to them not having a single plug socket anywhere near the "stage" area.

 

Still we plowed through - even with people still sat eating half way through our first set and not a single member of the "audience" (who I suspect were there for their dinner and had no idea a band was on tonight) seeming like they cared. One blast of In Bloom later and suddenly the 60+ year olds weren't so keen on eating their meat and mash.

 

I don't even know if people loved it or hated it - I think general ambivalence was the mood. The bar manager was happy though - he reckoned they'd put about £2500 more behind the bar than the average Saturday, so that's something.

 

It was very much a case of having to be professional and make the best of the situation. I'm not in any rush to play at that venue again though truth be told. I think when they said they wanted bands on, they really meant they wanted an acoustic actually to play background music while people tucked into their carvery or whatever.

I feel for you, that's cramped! And people eating at table not usually going to want loud music. Am surprised they took an extra £2.5k, that's massive.

[Stub Mandrel]

Feeling a bit out of sorts tonight. Tail end of Covid and stuff.

 

But the gig went ok, not packed but reasonable, the audience liked it. The band were new to the place but I've done several gigs there before. I put my cab upside-down* on the bench rather than on the flags to reduce boom, and I still had to brighten the eq.

 

Got caught out by a couple of arrangements that don't follow the originals, not that anyone else noticed. 

 

Tuned to drop d for the wrong song, so had to go back up to E for the next, then down to D and back up again... all by ear as without my tuner, which had fallen on the floor. Also managed to pull my lead out of my head while spinning round looking for the tuner.

 

Was to boomy to use the Squier Jazz with mutes on it, but it does look pretty. Amazing tort scratchplate for an ebay cheapy!

 

 

 

*updide down ment the ports weren't blocked and it sat on the flat top, not wobbling on three legs.

[MacDaddy]

1 hour ago, EssexBuccaneer said:

apparently last time we played this pub, the landlady made a comment about one of the chaps ethnicity

 

Don't shoot yourselves in foot on the basis of "apparently". Misunderstandings, quoting out of context etc do occur. Make sure you're sure. If you are and you cancel the gig, much respect! 👍🏻

[HeadlessBassist]

Friday was a local trio gig outdoors, which was an opportunity to stretch the legs of the Status Stealth 2 for a change. It's a little bit darker sounding than my main S2-Classic ['the wife'], but definitely has the required punch and snarl.  Lovely crowd of mainly friends, but we did a lot of off the cuff audience requests, including a lot of songs we'd never played before. It all adds more material to the 35 year old evolving set, I guess.

 

Saturday, just home from the Lark Hill Retirement Village (very posh place) in Clifton, near East Midlands Airport with the Everlys and Friends Live Tribute Show, so back to the staple Jazz Basses. Nice job, with the dance floor full all evening, so good result. Just home and heading for bed now.

 

After two nice local jobs this weekend, next weekend is going to be full on globe trotting mode again. Starting in Birmingham on Friday, Gt.Yarmouth on Saturday, Yeadon in Leeds on Sunday afternoon, and Peterborough on Sunday evening. Phew! 🤪

[Bluewine]

3 hours ago, EssexBuccaneer said:

Just home from a paid rehearsal, a quite well paid rehearsal, as it happens. Played to our wives and the bar staff, essentially. 
 

However, we have a few regular folk who come and see us every time we play, and they were absent tonight. When I asked the guitarist where they were - apparently last time we played this pub, the landlady made a comment about one of the chaps ethnicity. This floored me, and since we have a rebooking in December (already arranged) we’re in a quandary 
 

I think we’ll cancel the gig, and if we have to explain why then I’ll happily tell the landlady to her face.

 

We canceled a pub we use to play on a regular basis for something similar. 

We'll never play there again.

 

Daryl

 

[Bluewine]

2 hours ago, kiat said:

I feel for you, that's cramped! And people eating at table not usually going to want loud music. Am surprised they took an extra £2.5k, that's massive.

I hate when that happens. I really think some of these folks that are involved in booking should be required to pass a state exam. What Do You Know About Bands And Booking?

 

Daryl

[Merton]

Wet.

Up early to drive to Lancashire from Surrey to play the Wafsville Country Music Festival.

Traffic meant we arrived with 25 minutes to spare before going onstage, which was great in terms of not hanging around in a soggy field to be fair but we were slightly on edge…

The rain set in as our set progressed so the crowd noticeably thinned as they sought the cover of the bar area at the back of the field. Onstage sound was very boomy, as it was out front apparently, so we came away feeling like we hadn’t quite played our best. But on the whole it was fun, the first full-band Katy Hurt gig since mid-July and we have another (much closer to home thankfully) in 2 weeks.

 

Bass was of course the ACG, amp was the provided Ampeg SVT3 into a knackered 4x10 cab. Shoes were my brown suede Chelsea boots which now need a good drying 🤓

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Merton
Smelling pistakes

[ezbass]

2nd set follow up. I moved forwards and down, in front of the drums (there was a smallish stage), with keys and guitar, left and right. It sounded better for about 5 minutes, the drums were just drowning out my rig and I won’t turn up because that’d destroy to out front mix, which seemed fine at sound check. There is little or no enjoyment for me if I can’t hear myself and this morning has contemplating jacking it all in, although I’m sure I won’t. Crowd loved it all, so job done. Had a complete blank in one song (Itchycoo Park) and couldn’t remember how to play it, most embarrassing. We shared the night with a mod/punk disco who were louder than us by some measure and one of the monitors blew during our set, which I’m sure was down to them. I didn’t hang around because of the volume and was packed up and home by 1.

Edited 7 hours ago by ezbass

[Franticsmurf]

1 minute ago, ezbass said:

There is little or no enjoyment for me if I can’t hear myself and this morning has contemplating jacking it all in, although I’m sure I won’t.

Don't knock it on the head because of one bad stage sound experience. From my own experience, the worst time to contemplate your future with a band is 'the morning after'. 🙂

[ezbass]

2 minutes ago, Franticsmurf said:

Don't knock it on the head because of one bad stage sound experience. From my own experience, the worst time to contemplate your future with a band is 'the morning after'. 🙂

It’s not just one though, this is the norm sadly.

[Geek99]

15 minutes ago, ezbass said:

It’s not just one though, this is the norm sadly.

I agree, if I can’t hear myself Theres no reference point and also no pleasure 

 

Edit : I like to think “I’m doing that and it sounds amazing”. I watched a phone recording of myself, an acoustic guitard and a talented female singer. I sounded loud to me, but was inaudible on the phone. She’s always telling me to turn up, maybe she’s right 

 

I get that phones don’t always capture bass well but you usually get something 

Edited 6 hours ago by Geek99

[mep]

Back at the Queens Arms in Brixham last night. Its a cosy corner for bands, and our drummer had recently bought a smaller kit consisting of 18" bass drum (down from 24"), rack & floor tom. It really helped fir us in and sounded good to. We did a tribute to Ozzy by playing War Pigs, Crazy Train & Paranoid together in the 2nd set. There was a large group seated in a corner who were really enjoying it and were in fine voice singing along. My usual rig of StingRay 2eq, RM500 & BF210. My Skechers are starting to show some signs of wear, but are comfy and I don't wear by best pairt to gigs. We played well and had a good night.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

It’s not just one though, this is the norm sadly.

 

Serious suggestion 'I couldn't turn up because the foh sound was good'.

 

Start with your onstage level noticeably higher tonight before foh levels are set. And make sure your bandmates know that you struggled lasg night and that was because you couldn't hear yourself properly. 

 

[bassbiscuits]

Depping gig at Ashby Road Sports Club in Hinckley last night.

 

Was particularly pleased to try out the bitsa P bass I’ve been working on for the last few weeks - from what I can tell it’s at least partly an oldish Squier Affinity. 
 

It sounded great. Not “vintage P bass” great but much in the same ball park and very usable indeed. I was planning to upgrade the pickups but tbh it sounds fine as it is.
 

Weirdly my IEM sound was terrible - everything was just distortion which was so distracting I took them out after a couple of songs.
 

Half time I swapped the lead, the batteries and the headphone amp itself, and reduced the volume of the mix coming into my monitor channel.

 

But it still sounded awful - I suspect I may have blown something in my IEMs! 
 

So ended up playing without any monitors and just using the onstage sound, just like the old days. 
 

Good gig tho. 

[kiat]

3 hours ago, ezbass said:

There is little or no enjoyment for me if I can’t hear myself and this morning has contemplating jacking it all in, although I’m sure I won’t.

Have you tried hearing more of your bass via IEMs @ezbass?  It can be a very simple and inexpensive setup to be effective. Take the Behringer MA400 headphone amp with passthrough which is about £15. Get your bass into it, connect your IEMs (£5-£20).

 

On stage vary your bass to taste, whilst still hearing the band ambiently.

 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

And make sure your bandmates know that you struggled lasg night and that was because you couldn't hear yourself properly. 

Oh, they know, I have made it abundantly clear.

 

11 minutes ago, kiat said:

Have you tried hearing more of your bass via IEMs

I have not, but I don't want more gear TBH. Also, I think IEMs are a great idea for a quiet stage, but when you have a tub thumper and a normal guitar amp (not loud by any means) on stage, I think it kind of negates them and I'd rather go for protection over monitoring. I have considered this option in the past, however.

[Woodinblack]

4 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I have not, but I don't want more gear TBH. Also, I think IEMs are a great idea for a quiet stage, but when you have a tub thumper and a normal guitar amp (not loud by any means) on stage, I think it kind of negates them and I'd rather go for protection over monitoring. I have considered this option in the past, however.

 

IEMs are great for that too - we have a normal guitar amp and a normal drum kit, I have in ears which does both the protection and the monitoring. I hear them (they are in the mix too), but I hear me louder. It is so good to be able to hear the nuances of what you are playing one the bass (although scary when you first start) loud and clearly.

[mcnach]

13 hours ago, EssexBuccaneer said:

I think we’ll cancel the gig, and if we have to explain why then I’ll happily tell the landlady to her face.

 

If you do so, make sure you KNOW what was being said and not rely on 'apparentlies'