How was your gig last night?

[dmccombe7]

8 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Dave, I probably should have said bad performances. We're very selective about what gigs we take and have no problem saying " no ".

 

Daryl

I see what you mean Daryl. We spent a long time rehearsing before we started gigging with the Glam band.

I think its helped us be consistent with our gigs.

Dave  

[cheddatom]

I've been slacking again due to the venue we've just opened. I'll do a thread on that when I get time. 

 

On Saturday night we played the Lexington in Islington. Coming from Stoke we had to pickup a guitar that was left behind a few weeks before in Chessington. A total of 6 hours crammed into Vantanamo (named because I don't fit into the van, and so have to spend hours in twisted positions) had me pretty grumpy. Load in up a huge fire escape almost finished me off. The headliner was old friends Abdoujaparov, and I managed to relax while they sound-checked. The venue is very cool, classic old London venue. The set went very well, we won over some new fans, and I left the stage soaked in sweat. Ace gig! Then I had the pleasure of sampling the bourbon bar downstairs. Four Roses and Buffalo Trace were delicious. Here's a photo

 

 

The next morning we were up bright and early to travel up to Katie Fitzgerald's in Stourbridge where we played a matinee show. Load-in time was 1pm. We arrived at 1:10pm. The owner who actually lives there let us in at 1:30pm 🤷‍♂️

 

The place was full of our fans singing at the top of their lungs and we loved every second of it.

[asingardenof]

On 03/11/2025 at 08:19, MichaelDean said:

He runs on "Cornish time"

 

Dreckly!

[MichaelDean]

1 minute ago, asingardenof said:

Dreckly!

Yes, that was the term! Otherwise known as late/slow/unprofessional! 😂

[Jackroadkill]

2 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

Dreckly!

 

Sounds a bit like Welsh time - "I'll be there now, in a  minute".

[Bluewine]

I'm looking forward to this Saturday.  I'll get a chance to hang out with a bunch of our local musicians.  I'm glad we're going on first. It's a beautiful room on the marina in Port Washington. 

 

Daryl

[Norris]

 

The Black Horse in Whitwick was the first gig in a few weeks and a good job too - we've all had man-flu during the downtime. Luckily I am just about over mine now, but it was pretty grim at the start and then spent ages slowly trailing off. Anyway nothing that a bit of performance adrenaline can't fix.

 

Although I'd created events on Facebook the guitarist/vocalist didn't do any further plugging with a day or two to go like normal, because he wasn't certain we'd be able to play. So it was satisfying that we managed to fill the place on a dark, wet and gloomy Friday night. We played quite a few songs that we don't do often so that made a nice change too.

 

The Stingish bass is becoming a mainstay now - it's just so lovely to play. Boss GT-6B multi-fx into the Big Muff that I'm still playing with (more fuzz, more fuzz!) and thence into the fabulous Rumble v3 500 combo. Some nice compliments too to round off the night.

 

I think we only have one weekend kept free for the rest of the year now - the long run towards NYE has started

[Chienmortbb]

On 05/11/2025 at 15:46, Bluewine said:

I'm looking forward to this Saturday.  I'll get a chance to hang out with a bunch of our local musicians.  I'm glad we're going on first. It's a beautiful room on the marina in Port Washington. 

 

Daryl

What is that instrument that you are playing in that picture Daryl?

[Bluewine]

3 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

What is that instrument that you are playing in that picture Daryl?

 

 

I think I was merely standing there. No instrument. 

 

Daryl

[Chienmortbb]

30 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

I think I was merely standing there. No instrument. 

 

Daryl

That’s what my guitarist thinks I do.

[dmccombe7]

7 hours ago, Norris said:

 

The Black Horse in Whitwick was the first gig in a few weeks and a good job too - we've all had man-flu during the downtime. Luckily I am just about over mine now, but it was pretty grim at the start and then spent ages slowly trailing off. Anyway nothing that a bit of performance adrenaline can't fix.

 

Although I'd created events on Facebook the guitarist/vocalist didn't do any further plugging with a day or two to go like normal, because he wasn't certain we'd be able to play. So it was satisfying that we managed to fill the place on a dark, wet and gloomy Friday night. We played quite a few songs that we don't do often so that made a nice change too.

 

The Stingish bass is becoming a mainstay now - it's just so lovely to play. Boss GT-6B multi-fx into the Big Muff that I'm still playing with (more fuzz, more fuzz!) and thence into the fabulous Rumble v3 500 combo. Some nice compliments too to round off the night.

 

I think we only have one weekend kept free for the rest of the year now - the long run towards NYE has started

And to think you were ready to give up a while back if i remember right ?

Great how things can change so quickly.

Good to see you guys are busy to the end of the year. 

Much the same here. One weekend off from now to early Jan.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

I think I was merely standing there. No instrument. 

 

Daryl

Its a shortscale water-bottle with flats on it i reckon Daryl. 🤣

Dave

[Norris]

25 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

And to think you were ready to give up a while back if i remember right ?

Nope, must be someone else you're thinking of 😀. I like a weekend off now and again when the guitarist is off on tour but never considered stopping.

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Norris said:

Nope, must be someone else you're thinking of 😀. I like a weekend off now and again when the guitarist is off on tour but never considered stopping.

Apologies there.

Dave

[Franticsmurf]

The Hulla band played last night  at a hoedown in the village hall where we rehearse, to raise funds to repair and maintain the building. Country and Western isn't my thing so I wasn't enthused by the setlist, and much of it was new to the band so the run up to the gig was a trail of rearranged songs, last minute set list changes and, frustratingly, a key change with 24hrs to go that meant I had to relearn a tricky bassline using open strings instead of the all fretted version. I always struggle with including open strings in a riff for some reason. 

 

All in all a good night. Well attended (we sold just under 90 tickets which meant the hall was comfortably full) the bar was popular and the bangers, mash 'n' beans went down very well indeed. From a bass perspective, most of the songs were quite simple but I have developed a liking for Johnny Cash as a result of learning three of his tunes. We tried to include as many line dancing type songs as we'd heard that a large contingent of the audience had been practicing their line dancing for the night. Sure enough, there were about 20 regular dancers for anything vaguely line danceable. Our backdrop was a series of old black and white cowboy movies on a projection screen and there were the inevitable cowboy hats. 

 

 

 

 

I used my Squier PJ into a Laney Digbeth preamp on the valve setting, with a touch of drive to add warmth. That went straight into the desk and I monitored using a Behringer P16 and wireless system with earpieces. I've changed the gain structure on the IEM system I use and it has resulted in a much clearer sound in my ears at a much lower level. For a couple of songs I played up the neck using the edge of the neck where it joins the body as a thumb rest. It gave me a nice thick tone for 'These Boots'. Highlight of the night for me was 'Rhinestone Cowboy', which I'd made the effort to learn the full bass part for and it gave me a new respect for the musicians playing on those kinds of songs. Footwear was a pair of ordinary black boots, cowboy boots not being available. Hat was by Amazon. Checked shirt courtesy of a local BHF charity shop. 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 11:01 by Franticsmurf

[Woodinblack]

Well, no pictures (was I even there?) - we played in a local pub last night, it wasn't our gig, it was the drummers other bands gig, but their singer got a cold and she didn't want to sing -  there maybe more to it then that, but not my issue. Anyway we could all do it so we took it over to not leave the pub without a band (and it is the pub we practice at). Easy enough setup, cramped but we have done it before so know our place, would be easier if the rest of the band didn't stand in the way chatting while I was setting up

I thought I would mix things up - so I took the new rickenbacker, which shockingly only has 4 strings (at the moment), the XVive A58 and the XS-1 octave pedal, so testing everything I got recently.

The XVive, perfect, no noise, no having to work around the noise the lekato that I had, absolute winner.

The ric. Well, its ok, it wasn't cutting through that much, and obviously thee is the lack of string thing. I didn't realise how much I relied on the 5th string, so a few mistakes were made, quite a few on one song, but at least with brick in the wall, I played the whole thing an octave up with the XS-1 an octave down and it sounded pretty spot on.

Some of the rest of the gig I played with an octave up, and mix down to give a bit of bite and it worked well.

The second hand I went back to the Maruszczyk and it felt more comfortable and easier to get a good sound, I think maybe because the output is higher everything is set up for that, so the ric wasn't cutting it much. Still, it was nice to play, but I may leave it for the other group, where i can use it as a drop D bass, I think the loss of the 5th string is something that adds a complication gigging. 

Anyway, second half there were more people, more dancing, and everything went more or less ok, so pretty good, and actually ran out of time without realising it.

Not a bad night, and we have another gig tonight, might try the same things, and see if I get the same result - maybe increase the input gain of the pedal.

[scrumpymike]

My band played one of our two annual freebie gigs at the Globe in Somerton. We do these in return for them letting us use their functions room whenever we need to rehearse. Last night we were in the main pub area and as usual it got pleasantly crowded. Although all 4 of us are gig-hardened, the band is relatively new and it was good to feel that our improvement trend continues. The steps are small now but still satisfying.

 

This turned out to be one of those rare gigs where you leave with such a buzz that you don't care whether you get paid or not. Everyone was up dancing - including the staff in between serving - and the whole place was bouncing. The sound of live music was pulling passers-by in off the street and the place was so full early into the second set that some folks who couldn't get in ended up dancing on the pavement looking in through the window (see pic).

 

This was my first chance to gig my recently-acquired short-scale Wilcock Mullarkey and it delivered everything I had hoped for. Up there with the best in terms of playability, it sits perfectly in our 4-piece mix running through my Ampeg SVT-7 Pro head and LFSys Monaco FR/FR cab, even managing to cut through the powerful lows that our guitarist's new Strat puts out.

 

Another important bit of kit in delivering this 'heft with definition' is the Always On HPF I recently got from Broughton Audio in Canada. My amp delivers 600w into my 600w-rated cab and I got the HPF to protect the driver from potentially damaging low frequencies. Much to my surprise, I find that this tiny box of tricks does as much for my tone-shaping as my bass and amp controls. Shame they don't sell in Europe but luckily I was able to get mine via a contact living in Canada.

 

Fitting in musically and socially with the band, making good equipment choices, learning new stuff, connecting with the punters, improving my own performance level ... there's so much to being a gigging bass-player. I found it intoxicating when I started playing 50 years ago and I still do.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I'm in one of those dep musicians groups on FB.

About a week ago and for the first time ever, I responded to a post asking for a bass player for very local gig at a venue I know.

The guitarist sent me a list of 80 songs and I picked about 40 that I knew I could play without having to learn anything new.

I turned up at the gig and we rattled through them like we'd played together for years.

A not massive, but pleasantly entertaining pub crowd and we went down well.

A weirdly liberating experience. Hopefully a gig or two more will come my way as a result.

There was a really drunk guy in the audience who kept singing Naive by The Kooks at the top of his voice.

It's not a bad song actually. Might have to learn that one.

[Norris]

The Horse and Trumpet in Wigston has a really low ceiling. That makes it seem really loud. I had to back off the lows a bit, but once more the Rumble and Stingish bass sounded great.

 

 

It was hot! I've put my fan up in the loft for the winter but might have to fetch it back down if it's going to be like that. We had people up dancing from the first song which was great. Lots of great comments too, my favourite being someone who told us that they keep coming to see us because we don't play Oasis, Dakota, Brightside, etc. Hooray!

[dmccombe7]

Last night with Blockbustarz Glam covers band in Eastmuir Masonic Club, Glasgow. 

From the word go the organiser was brilliant, then the other staff came in as we were setting up and once again they couldn't have been more helpful. 

Venue was a good size with quite a high stage and just big enough to fit all 5 of us. Quite long with a tall curve ceiling which allowed for amazing acoustics. Sound wise stage was hollow wooden and created quite a boom on stage and i forgot my Gramma pad. Meant i couldn't really hear the definition from the bass and it sounded like more of a drone. Ramped up the mids and dropped the bass EQ slightly and that helped without affecting FOH. (bass and guitars don't go thru PA). Guitarist was having same issue.

Playing wise we were good with very few minor things that only the band would notice.

Not as busy as they expected but enough to make it a great night with many dressing for the 70's Glam night. Apparently a group of 40 that had said they would be going never showed and the organiser wasn't happy about that. From what we were told they went to another Masonic in Glasgow all dressed for a Glam night and were wondering why no one else was dressed up. So that made us laugh. 

Everyone was happy with the show with so many great comments afterwards. 

Have to mention this one because it was so sweet. One "mature" guy of 80 yrs old with his wife of 86 who were both dancing on quite a few songs caught up with us as we were loading the cars and laughing he told us that when Mikey our singer encouraged the dancers he was thinking and i quote "all very well for you youngsters but i was 30 when those songs came out and i was dancing back then but at 80 and 86 i struggle just to walk so dancing isn't as easy as it used to be but we loved it" and thanked us so much for a great night of memories. We all thought that was so nice and very touching.

Usual gear Sandberg VM4, Shure wireless, Keeley comp, Handbox WB-100 into BF 212 cab. 

Something i've not mentioned in my gear because i forgot was the sound effects we use :- Jamman sampler into a GK MB200 just for the pre-amp and DI'd to PA.

40 min drive for me and mostly motorway so that was brilliant.

They have told us we will be back but just need to confirm it with a few others. There is a possibility that a few other Masonic's in Glasgow will also be interested too. All good news.

Few vids have appeared on FB 

Dave

http://www.facebook.com/alan.duthie.3/videos/1347271517121402?idorvanity=559305587911326

 

http://www.facebook.com/alan.duthie.3/videos/1896444287937931?idorvanity=559305587911326

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by dmccombe7

[WalMan]

Dreadful 🙁

 

Horrible sound. Mistakes. Punters down the road at a firework party, so a virtually empty pub. 
 

First set was mush and struggled with or without IEM’s. I needed to apologise for letting it get to me and being out of sorts. Second set a bit better, but all in all a night to forget.

 

i feel a major debrief incoming at rehearsal tomorrow night.

[martthebass]

A nice local club gig last night. We’ve just had our annual lay off so this was the first gig in 4 weeks so expected a few cobwebs needed to be blown away. A decent crowd, wasn’t expecting miracles as the club has a patchy attendance for gigs. 
Was knackered at the end of the night as I’d flown back from Tenerife and not got in till turned 2am….had a well deserved Isle of Jura and the first mince pie of the season when I got in after the gig.

Normal MarkBass rig, EBMM shorty Stingray and silver Converse.
 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1A1h4MPtZ5/?mibextid=UalRPS

Edited 3 hours ago by martthebass

[Woodinblack]

Travelled far and wide yesterday (or at least half an hour away which is the furthest we have been in a while). Sports and social club but sadly very empty. Easy setup, even if it is a long jog with the stuff from the car, but we had been there before so I took a trolley. 

 

Really quite empty but for some reason seemed an OK gig. Still didn't feel great but got through it fine. Same equipment as yesterday, but I guess I was a bit more used to it and I dind't make many mistakes (apart from strangely moondance, just used to the 5) and the sound was a lot better, probably why I enjoyed it more.

So there weren't many people but of the people there were, they danced, and they came up and thanked us, and we got a private party for january, so must have done ok!

I actually did most of the gig with the XS-1 one octave up and 20% on, and it just gives more bite and an edge on the distortion - more a harmonic boost I guess.

 

 

[Norris]

27 minutes ago, martthebass said:

had a well deserved Isle of Jura and the first mince pie of the season when I got in after the gig.

The whisky 👍

The other is just irresponsible! It's early November man - get a grip!

[dmccombe7]

53 minutes ago, martthebass said:

A nice local club gig last night. We’ve just had our annual lay off so this was the first gig in 4 weeks so expected a few cobwebs needed to be blown away. A decent crowd, wasn’t expecting miracles as the club has a patchy attendance for gigs. 
Was knackered at the end of the night as I’d flown back from Tenerife and not got in till turned 2am….had a well deserved Isle of Jura and the first mince pie of the season when I got in after the gig.

Normal MarkBass rig, EBMM shorty Stingray and silver Converse.
 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1A1h4MPtZ5/?mibextid=UalRPS

If you ever get the chance to try it have a Jura Duerachs Own 16yr old. Now very rare to find. So easy to drink.

Nice bass tone. Is that just backline or PA too ?

Dave