How was your gig last night?

[12stringbassist]

On Saturday we rocked up bright and early and set up at one of our favourite venues in Bolton. Our dep drummer walked in just after 8 with his phone to his ear and a stunned expression. He said his elderly mum had had a fall and was on the flooring her kitchen and he had to go sort her out with an ambulance. He said he'd be back asap. 

 

A bit of a shock, but we decided that our only way forward was to play the two sets acoustically, instead of the 4-5 we were going to start with.

 

Our dep drummer didn't reappear as he was in A&E at Wythenshawe hospital and his mum was only seen at 2am. I felt so sorry for the dreadful situation with his mum. He sent us an awful photo of her bruised face. He did exactly the right thing.

 

Fortunately it went down very well and we even threw in some songs we'd never played together before.

 

It's such a pleasure to have my new guitarist in the band. There's enthusiasm now, as opposed to the 'getting through it' that we had before.

 

Edited Tuesday at 00:20 by 12stringbassist

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, 12stringbassist said:

On Saturday we rocked up bright and early and set up at one of our favourite venues in Bolton. Our dep drummer walked in just after 8 with his phone to his ear and a stunned expression. He said his elderly mum had had a fall and was on the flooring her kitchen and he had to go sort her out with an ambulance. He said he'd be back asap. 

 

A bit of a shock, but we decided that our only way forward was to play the two sets acoustically, instead of the 4-5 we were going to start with.

 

Our dep drummer didn't reappear as he was in A&E at Wythenshawe hospital and his mum was only seen at 2am. I felt so sorry for the dreadful situation with his mum. He sent us an awful photo of her bruised face. He did exactly the right thing.

 

Fortunately it went down very well and we even threw in some songs we'd never played together before.

 

It's such a pleasure to have my new guitarist in the band. There's enthusiasm now, as opposed to the 'getting through it' that we had before.

 

Superb.

Obviously hope the guys Mum is ok which is the main thing here but well done for carrying on as an acoustic duo.

Dave

[12stringbassist]

 

[MacDaddy]

Royal Blues at The Troubadour, Earls Court, that London.

4 bands, though not remotely similar. Pretty much a capacity crowd, not bad for a Thursday night. We were up for it, lots of friends and family in the (paying) audience. Played two new songs, which went down well.

The house bass rig was an Orange 4 stroke bass head and Orange cab. I set everything flat with the compressor half way. It sounded glorious. 

Ibanez UB804 -> Airbridge wireless -> Orange 4 stroke bass amp -> Orange cab.

Footwear -> Maroon brothel creepers.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by MacDaddy
Corrected the wireless brand.

[basexperience]

Last night was the Victoria pub jam in Wokingham, which I think has been running on Thursdays for more than a decade. An enthusiastic group of core musicians - which is expanding - maintains house band duties and rotates, which means it feels fresh, and it's starting to attract - gasp - Gen Z (!!) - I know, I can't believe it either, until fairly recently all the jam nights I went to were pretty much my age (I can still pogo at 55!), but there's teens and twenty somethings taking the stage, and I'll tell you - some of them are excellent. Reading has a pretty active prog rock thing going on, and they're all young as anything!

 

Anyway - I got pulled into 3 bands for the night, which is damn good, some great tracks. Highlight as ever was Let's Dance by Bowie - I LOVE the bass on that track.

 

Bass was the Maruszczyk 5-string, and it absolutely nailed it, sounding amazing after the truss rod replacement earlier this year - this thing is now perfect!

Effects was a cheap little AnnBlackBox from M-VAVE with the chocolate 4-button wireless controller - and you know what? It worked pretty well, especially as a quick setup system. Total cost of that system? A stripped down version of the Stomp HX for £75 all in including the 4-button switch, all running on batteries so no need to hunt for a PSU or use a full sized board. I'm warming to it for jam nights!

 

Weirdest track I played was "the stealer" by free - check this bassline out, it's bonkers:

 

The landlord has invested properly in live music - the pub's had a new PA this year, new bigger desk and speakers mounted on the walls which saves a lot of space. The venue also owns good kit for bass, guitar and drums. I think that makes a huge difference to the musicians running the event.

Edited 8 hours ago by basexperience

[Stub Mandrel]

55 minutes ago, basexperience said:

Highlight as ever was Let's Dance by Bowie - I LOVE the bass on that track.

 

👍