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How was your gig last night?


bassninja

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[quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1492964550' post='3284445']
The problem with white ska gigs is that most of the audience think they belong to the National Front.........they don't - they're just sad.

:)
[/quote]

The first one I played like that was in Livingston, near Edinburgh. As we approach all we could see were these scary looking guys outside... we thought we had the wrong gig (my band -a different one- was invited to play but we were not really ska, just some songs with a ska-influence... we didn't feel very comfortable and our nationalities made us a bit nervous -russian, philipino/canadian, spanish, half-turkish...- It went well... but, not my favourite crowd. To be fair, we have never had any problem whatsoever, but it's hard to really enjoy yourself when you're thinking "I want to go home".

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Not great, a private party a birthday party,however It was a decent paying gig and gladly accepted my pay.

Lot's of walkers, canes and oxygen tanks.

First time I experienced playing to an empty room.


Oh well, it happens to most of us at least once.

Blue

Edited by blue
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Lovely gig in Paignton at the Spinning Wheel (376 mile round trip!) stayed nearby so could have quite a few drinks afterwards.
The atmosphere was really friendly (big coach load down from Oxford) plus a private 40th party from upstairs, and a hen do later. We were one of 6 acts and I played with a drummer and guitarist for a 3 or 4 tune jam (I had about an hour's notice beforehand - cheers for that!)
I got some really nice comments though: the drummer for the jam was having trouble articulating but said something like "I like playing with you, you're a, um, er, proper, er, bass player, I like your note choices", and a girl said "if I was going to play the bass, I'd like to play just like you!" Aw, shucks! Nice to get some ego stroking, my bandmates never say anything much...

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Another good pub gig with the folk-punk originals band.
We were playing in the home town of most if the band, Ashbourne, but at a pub we haven't played before.
It's one of those places that has a new landlord every year or so and the latest is keen to get music going.
So, we didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be a lively night with bouncing punters and two encores from us.
The landlord was chuffed and paid up happily.
I used my Corvette 5, Barefaced Midget T and Genz Benz Shuttle. I love needing only one carry for all my gear.

Edited by Len_derby
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The Wirebirds played two gigs last night, the first was at a beer & music festival, where we played two sets, five until half seven. Went down well, the place was empty when we started and had plenty of people dancing by the time we finished. Only downside was that each band had to bring their own PA, so set up and tear down time was extended. Had several enquiries abut booking us for other functions from people there, too.

Once the cars were loaded again, we drove to a bike rally about an hour away. They were running a bit late, so we had some waiting around to do. Finally on about quarter to midnight. Good stage, excellent, professional sound and light. Played a single set of just over an hour and half. Finally home just after half two. Definitely feel it in my feet and ears today, though, but it was worth it.

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Friday: rather odd 30th party...50% bikers, not the slightest problem with that, they were great. Dance floor populated entirely by drunken women. There was the odd boob flash, and one entirely unprecedented, in my experience, example of a deliberate golden shower....
Today: audition at 2!

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Wretched. Low audience turnout. Bad acoustics. Bad sound all round. Monitoring was a mess (= unhappy singer), FOH had way too much Bass and Drums in it (I know, because I recorded it). Guitar and organ just seemed to vanish from the mix somehow. I wanted to be somewhere else for the middle third of it at least. Zero vibe and everyone really cheesed off. It was the kind of evening that makes me wonder whether playing original material is worth the effort at all. The only thing that saved my desperation was that the quite decent, upbeat and well rehearsed covers band who followed us got no applause either, so it wasn't [i]just[/i] us. Everyone had a s****y night.

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[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1493552432' post='3289048']
Wretched. Low audience turnout. Bad acoustics. Bad sound all round. Monitoring was a mess (= unhappy singer), FOH had way too much Bass and Drums in it (I know, because I recorded it). Guitar and organ just seemed to vanish from the mix somehow. I wanted to be somewhere else for the middle third of it at least. Zero vibe and everyone really cheesed off. It was the kind of evening that makes me wonder whether playing original material is worth the effort at all. The only thing that saved my desperation was that the quite decent, upbeat and well rehearsed covers band who followed us got no applause either, so it wasn't [i]just[/i] us. Everyone had a s****y night.
[/quote]
we had a really poor turnout last night as well, due in part to the boxing methinks

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Traveled up to Kirremuir yesterday to headline the evenings events in the town hall at Bonfest with my ac/dc band. We were due to play from 4 till 6 but as is the norm with these events, it was running about 45 mins late. This was a problem as our drummer was playing a ska wedding gig later that night in Perth.

Had a chat with the lovely woman in charge and she cut the times of the band on before us (ta guys) and we played from 4.40 till 6.10. Fair sized room but we noticed right away that they were only using a vocal pa, the backline and drums were not miked up :unsure:

Played through a Orange 500 watt head and 4x10 cab but as you can guess, the amps were turned up really loud. Thank god for ear plugs!

We went down really well, with lots of positive comments from the crowd and it sounded really good out front. All in all a good gig if slightly loud.

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Had a great gig at Baldock beer fest we are an original reggae band and prefer to use our own soundman
but this can often put the in house team's noses out of joint ,the fellas in this case [ who are very good ] were cool with it and
we had loads of very positive feedback ...Grantchester Cambridge tonight for another beer fest then another tomorrow in Buntingford...
shame i'm always driving !

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[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1493553853' post='3289062']

we had a really poor turnout last night as well, due in part to the boxing methinks
[/quote]

Something in that I think. I wasn't gigging last night but I did turn out to see Led Zep tribute band Zeppelin 3 (who were excellent by the way) and the crowd was surprisingly small. Once we got to about 11pm though town suddenly livened up.

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[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1493552432' post='3289048']
Wretched. Low audience turnout. Bad acoustics. Bad sound all round. Monitoring was a mess (= unhappy singer), FOH had way too much Bass and Drums in it (I know, because I recorded it). Guitar and organ just seemed to vanish from the mix somehow. I wanted to be somewhere else for the middle third of it at least. Zero vibe and everyone really cheesed off. It was the kind of evening that makes me wonder whether playing original material is worth the effort at all. The only thing that saved my desperation was that the quite decent, upbeat and well rehearsed covers band who followed us got no applause either, so it wasn't [i]just[/i] us. Everyone had a s****y night.
[/quote]

Happens to all of us. Most of the time the next gig will be fantastic.

Blue

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Someone has just posted a couple of videos from our second gig on Saturday night, I think it shows how knackered we were at one pm after several hours of playing plus a one hour drive between gigs!

Rather cliched songs, not our regular fare, but the guitarist read the audience well and these went down a treat.
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNOfEyZQvTE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNOfEyZQvTE[/url]
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPXoZK_Qruc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPXoZK_Qruc[/url]

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[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1493657722' post='3289790']
Someone has just posted a couple of videos from our second gig on Saturday night, I think it shows how knackered we were at one pm after several hours of playing plus a one hour drive between gigs!

Rather cliched songs, not our regular fare, but the guitarist read the audience well and these went down a treat.
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNOfEyZQvTE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNOfEyZQvTE[/url]
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPXoZK_Qruc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPXoZK_Qruc[/url]
[/quote]

Nice!

Blue

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Ay Up Me Duck festival on Sunday. A nice little affair. Not sure about numbers. I was a bit wrecked from a bender in Champagne over the weekend - only landed a couple of hours before the gig. Still, it was great! Loads of people there singing our songs back at us. There must have been 50 people I didn't recognise wearing our T-Shirts! That's always cool. It would have been good to hang around as there was an ace ska band on after us, but I was too knackered

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Bit mad....

Four songs in a gang of "Do-what-you-likee's" burst in and start raiding the audience. My Go Pro was on a ledge of a column halfway into the audience, I assumed that was the last I'd ever see of that... it got knocked off in a tussle between security and a young scallywag, but a helpful stranger rescued it. I gave him a T-shirt after the show.

Oh, we didn't miss a beat BTW...

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We were back at The Swan in our hometown of Banbury last night. It's always a good crowd in there and last night was no exception. It was the penultimate gig (and the last hometown gig) for our guitarist Dan, who is retiring due to health issues, so we had lots of friends in. It was busy in town, with four other local bands playing the town centre pubs, but a few of them popped in to wish Dan well, which was really nice.
We played really well, great hot and sweaty atmosphere from an up for it crowd, and lots of smiles, singing and dancing. It's nights like that that are why I do what I do.

Here's a few photos, if anybody gives a damn 😉

https://www.facebook.com/bmoyce/posts/10154354218631644

Next stop for us is The Bell in Bicester on 20th May.

Edited by PaulGibsonBass
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Two 3h gigs (three sets with a small break each) at a very nice bar in beautiful Mallaig just off the Isle of Skye. The weather was amazing, and I got a room to myself with great views included in the deal, which was great as I brought my girlfriend with me (the location, weather, and full weekend business made it a really attractive option).

Saturday night was indoors, Sunday afternoon was outside in the beer garden. I love outdoor gigs. Everything sounded great :) This is a band I joined last summer and well known in this place. Apparently I'm not as handsome as the previous bass player, but I'm more exotic :lol:

A pair of small TKS S112 cabs and the Markbass LM3 with the Stingray. I wasn't sure it would have the 'oomph' for the outdoors gig, but it worked really well (it wasn't extremely loud, it wasn't a festival, but a place where it could be loud enough for people to dance close to the 'stage' but not so loud that people on tables farther away could not have a conversation).

Lucky I had my hat. It's not often this sunny here, but when it is, it bites!

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[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1494200742' post='3293999']
Two 3h gigs (three sets with a small break each) at a very nice bar in beautiful Mallaig just off the Isle of Skye. The weather was amazing, and I got a room to myself with great views included in the deal, which was great as I brought my girlfriend with me (the location, weather, and full weekend business made it a really attractive option).

Saturday night was indoors, Sunday afternoon was outside in the beer garden. I love outdoor gigs. Everything sounded great :) This is a band I joined last summer and well known in this place. Apparently I'm not as handsome as the previous bass player, but I'm more exotic :lol:

A pair of small TKS S112 cabs and the Markbass LM3 with the Stingray. I wasn't sure it would have the 'oomph' for the outdoors gig, but it worked really well (it wasn't extremely loud, it wasn't a festival, but a place where it could be loud enough for people to dance close to the 'stage' but not so loud that people on tables farther away could not have a conversation).

Lucky I had my hat. It's not often this sunny here, but when it is, it bites!
[/quote]

An outdoor gig in Mallaig, now I've heard everything. They're hardy folk up there.

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Did a 3-7 biker bar gig. We play this huge bar every 4 months or so.

Great room,thin crowd but that changed about half way through the first set. So cool to see our fans especially those that drove over an hour to see us.

Our sound was respectable and we were loud as hell. Lot's of mistakes but lots of high points as well.

Business

They did great bar business and the new owner was there. She loved us. She owns another club, so hopefully it will mean new business for us. Relationships are so important.

A great way to spend Sunday afternoon.

Blue

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[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1494203486' post='3294000']
An outdoor gig in Mallaig, now I've heard everything. They're hardy folk up there.
[/quote]

The weather was amazing yesterday :) It would have moved inside if the weather were not good enough.
We were very lucky. And they're indeed hardy people there. On Saturday night one of the guys was dancing barefoot (at a ska gig?) I suspect he had enough alcohol in him not no notice when his toes were stomped on. I saw no blood on the ground afterwards so maybe he was ok. It got rowdy by the end of the night, but in the best possible way. Great people, I loved it there.

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Two gigs as part of a "double headline tour" with a cool band called Under A Banner.

Friday night at Sound Control in Manchester. I loved the venue, and the sound was ace. Not a big crowd though. It seems to me we should have booked a smaller venue - neither band has a "name" in manchester. Anyway, I don't get involved in that, I just play the drums

Saturday night at Newhampton Arts Centre which is an ace venue near Wolverhampton. This was a hometown gig for Under A Banner so there was a good crowd. Their bassist has a Shucker P bass that sounds awesome - very aggressive tone.

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