How was your gig last night?

[radiophonic]

We played the opening night of a 'new' (read: very old, reopening) venue in Nottingham. The Square Centre. It was a Monday night and it seemed more like a dry run for testing out the live sound rig, live recording and logistics but due to the proprietor owning a very large array of big old amps, I got to play through an old Ampeg Fridge, which was completely awesome. In fact - just in case the various bass players wanted different stage positions - he had two of them. One each side of the drums. The other bands both commented on how good the bass sounded out front - and being a post-rock type of evening, it was a pretty bass player oriented. I couldn't comment because all the other players opted to use their own rigs for some reason. No actual stage, just a floor area in what I think used to be studio live room, but a good room to play in. A bit odd for us since we rehearse there and felt like a play through with other people present. A bunch of technical problems with both guitarists caused a few squeaky moments (hitting the drive pedal = no sound at all, possible creeping death of power tubes - that kind of thing). Not much of a crowd either (Monday night, so not unexpected) but a nice vibe all the same. I hope it takes off because I'd definitely play there again. Very different feel to the usual rock club / pub. 

[cheddatom]

On 25/09/2018 at 09:07, radiophonic said:

We played the opening night of a 'new' (read: very old, reopening) venue in Nottingham. The Square Centre. It was a Monday night and it seemed more like a dry run for testing out the live sound rig, live recording and logistics but due to the proprietor owning a very large array of big old amps, I got to play through an old Ampeg Fridge, which was completely awesome. In fact - just in case the various bass players wanted different stage positions - he had two of them. One each side of the drums. The other bands both commented on how good the bass sounded out front - and being a post-rock type of evening, it was a pretty bass player oriented. I couldn't comment because all the other players opted to use their own rigs for some reason. No actual stage, just a floor area in what I think used to be studio live room, but a good room to play in. A bit odd for us since we rehearse there and felt like a play through with other people present. A bunch of technical problems with both guitarists caused a few squeaky moments (hitting the drive pedal = no sound at all, possible creeping death of power tubes - that kind of thing). Not much of a crowd either (Monday night, so not unexpected) but a nice vibe all the same. I hope it takes off because I'd definitely play there again. Very different feel to the usual rock club / pub. 

That sounds cool! I'd have gone stereo into both Fridge's!

[Bluewine]

On 24/09/2018 at 04:11, casapete said:

I feel your pain. We play a weekly residency in a pub, and we have a policy of not playing if the TV's are on. Just don't get the need to have lots of different things going on at the same time which seems to be the vogue these days. If there's a big sports event on (like the recent world cup) then we are happy to plan our sets around it if we possibly can. As we are a fairly quiet acoustic duo, battling TV's / background music / people watching loud stuff on their phones / noisy fruit machines etc is too much like hard work.

We just changed the hours on one of our Holloween gigs due to big Green Bay Packers game .

Naturally we caught the conflict, not the owners.

Blue

[12stringbassist]

Not last night, but very recent. A pub landlady texted me and asked if we could move our gig from Saturday to Friday, which worked for us, as we had been offered a better playing gig in Liverpool, which I was about to have to turn down. So our free Friday (which was due to a cancellation) was now filled and we had a much better gig on the Saturday.

All good.
Mmmm...

We played on the Friday, to a considerably smaller audience than we usually would have got there on a Saturday. Our usual crowd probably came the night after, as it was done to us at very short notice. We played to a three quarters full pub and went down really well. I reminded the landlady that she had underpaid us in January and that she had made a note of it in her diary, as the till had gone upstairs and she couldn't pay us the balance at that time. She blew up a little at this awful accusation and then stomped off to get her diary. There it was written down. She slowly calmed down. She said she would be in touch about next year's two dates (lots of bands, so only two dates). We had already been texting to and fro and she wasn't getting the diary out. I smelled a rat weeks ago.

I texted her for some return dates in 2019 and there was no reply. I then saw she had put my old band in three times. I called in, later in the week, on my way to somewhere else, seeing as I was passing. She told me that we had 'lost the crowd because of the songs we play' and she wasn't having us back.

Being too much of a gentleman to point out that she moved us to the slow night and also being slightly relieved, as I have never liked the load in and out, the beer, or some of the punters, and beamed at her and said "absolutely no problem". It was one of the venues I wanted to dump next year anyway. We played to 2000 people in the same town a couple of weeks ago and didn't lose the crowd.

Personally I am pleased to lose the venue. We've only done it because our drummer's wife is matey with the people there. That's a bit of a mess-up on their part..

Edited September 27, 2018 by 12stringbassist

[Norris]

At least half a dozen compliments on my sound and playing, from a room pretty full with muzos. Even a compliment on my dress sense - now that's going some! Cracking night, we rocked! 

[Bluewine]

2 hours ago, Norris said:

At least half a dozen compliments on my sound and playing, from a room pretty full with muzos. Even a compliment on my dress sense - now that's going some! Cracking night, we rocked! 

I've never had any punter approach me about my sound or playing and I got a lot.

blue

[Len_derby]

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

I've never had any punter approach me about my sound or playing and I got a lot.

blue

I wouldn't take that as a criticism Blue. Bass playing in a band is one of those things that, when it's done right, the average punter doesn't indentify as a separate thing.

Plus, I know Norris. You look a lot scarier 😀😀. In a good, rock way. 😉

[Norris]

58 minutes ago, Len_derby said:

I wouldn't take that as a criticism Blue. Bass playing in a band is one of those things that, when it's done right, the average punter doesn't indentify as a separate thing.

Plus, I know Norris. You look a lot scarier 😀😀. In a good, rock way. 😉

True. You post some cool photos Blue

It probably helps that I play in a trio. That way I get at least 5% of the attention

Edited September 29, 2018 by Norris

[steantval]

Night off gigging last night, so went out to see Groove Cartell playing at the Brewery Tap.

Excellent set of funk and soul, bass player top class and excellent tone through MarkBass rig and Warwick 5 string.

Edited September 29, 2018 by steantval

[Rich]

On 23/09/2018 at 22:41, Witters said:

Well, a very unexpected night tonight.  So different from last night. Usually, this venue is really quiet and it’s hard work.  They like us, we get encores etc, but it’s hard work, especially after the previous night’s stonking gig at the blues festival.

This was amazing, totally unexpected!  From the off we were in Stevie Wonderland with some ska a couple of numbers later, the usual swing blues but with lots of interplay and throwing phrases between each other - where the hell did that come from? I think it’s the addition of our keys player; finally, I have the band of my dreams, this is something else!

What a fabulous night!

Now we need to work out how the hell we market a swing, funk, jazz, rock n roll, blues band?

Sounds brilliant mate, I have GOT to catch you at some point soon. You were good before, more than good, but it sounds like the keys man has really added something. I bet Adrian's loving it

[Bluewine]

9 hours ago, Norris said:

True. You post some cool photos Blue

It probably helps that I play in a trio. That way I get at least 5% of the attention

Yeah, I agree. I don't think people are comfortable approaching me about anything at gigs.

Blue

[Witters]

11 hours ago, Rich said:

Sounds brilliant mate, I have GOT to catch you at some point soon. You were good before, more than good, but it sounds like the keys man has really added something. I bet Adrian's loving it

We all are, it’s amazing and to think it’s spontaneous, too!  Songs that were once upbeat are now slow and atmospheric, some are more funky, some have a ska influence, some are faster, it’s unpredictable in a good way, (mainly cos we can’t remember what we did last time and we fancy a change anyway), Gaz da Keyz is seriously good.  Mind you, it can get silly, too, which is fun.

Next gig is Tuesday November 20th Downend Tavern, Bristol.  That should be good, they like us there and will respond well to what we do.

[Rich]

39 minutes ago, Witters said:

Next gig is Tuesday November 20th Downend Tavern, Bristol.  That should be good, they like us there and will respond well to what we do.

Spiffing, I will try to get along for that if I can.

[Graham]

Great gig last night in Burgess Hill, place was packed as it was the bonfire procession and the pub is on the route.

Whole band was on form and lots of happy punters through the night, so can't really ask for more than that.

Met Carlos of this parish too, lovely chap but I forgot to ask his screen name, so can't tag him.

[louisthebass]

Played a Blues Festival in Woking last night - bit of  shame there weren't many punters there 

[bassbiscuits]

Mine was one of those pub gigs where nobody claps or cheers whatsoever. 

And then as you're packing down afterwards everyone comes to say how much they enjoyed it. 

[musicbassman]

Played a dep gig in Bournemouth last night - drove straight down there after the SE Bass bash.

Traditional social club - an absolute timewarp - I would guess it had hardly changed since the 1960's. How do these places still exist ???

Artificial flowers carefully arranged along the front of the stage and the obligatory picture of Her Majesty above the Bingo machine.

The raffle had various dodgy 'prizes' including a packet of Jacobs Cream Crackers, a Poundland selection of liquer chocolates and a Fray Bentos tinned steak pie.....no, honestly, I'm not making this up.

A friendly band and appreciative audience made it a pleasant evening though, and I drove home rather pleased that somehow these little clubs manage to keep going.

[Woodinblack]

Played a small village pub yesterday. They don't pay much but they are handy when there is nothing else around and the audience are always very interactive (often way too interactive). It also has the advantage that once you get 20 people in it it seems busy. And there were a lot more than 20.

Its also one of those pubs that you start playing for 2 people and a dog, and by the time you get to song 3, the pub is full, either nothing or everything.

We spent quite a bit of time setting the sound set up, as it was small and echo'y, going microphone at a time, and instrument at a time getting everything balanced, and it really paid off - the drummers mother, (who often comes to our gigs) said the sound was perfect. That might not sound that impressive but she is our fiercest critic, she normally tells us how bad it sounded, so that is a high praise indeed.

Gig went really well, but what is it with people who are leaving who fist bump the singer, and then come past me and hold there fist out for the same - some part of me playing this instrument that says I have a free hand?

[cheddatom]

I played bass with Dante's Dog and drums with CreepJoint on Saturday at my favourite local venue The Rigger. There were a lot of people there, way more than I was expecting, loads that I didn't know, and both bands went down really well. I got a lot of compliments afterwards. Just gutted I forgot to turn on the GoPro!

[Salt on your Bass?]

Two gigs over the weekend, one of which was probably my (and the bands) biggest gig to date on the Saturday at Doom vs Stoner in Sheffield. Second stage, but the sound and monitoring was great and the Eden 610 on the backline thundered. Really impressed with it. Really engaged crowd as well which is pretty good for doom  

[Bluewine]

Played a private event at The Rustic Manor in Heartland yesterday.

40 minute commute, great room a very well appointed converted barn. We closed for 2 other bands.

Again all great stuff but the people we're not live music people and had only marginal interest in the bands. It's just the way it is with these private events. The host is a big fan of the bands and his guests aren't 

We had a good time great pay, only a 1.5 hour set and easy load in.

 

Blue

 

Edited October 2, 2018 by Bluewine
Duplicate

[bassbiscuits]

On 01/10/2018 at 10:11, cheddatom said:

I played bass with Dante's Dog and drums with CreepJoint on Saturday at my favourite local venue The Rigger. There were a lot of people there, way more than I was expecting, loads that I didn't know, and both bands went down really well. I got a lot of compliments afterwards. Just gutted I forgot to turn on the GoPro!

Is that the Rigger in Newcastle Under Lyme? My old singer dug out some photos of us playing there in 1992. Hair was bigger, shirts floweryier and headstocks definitely pointier back then.

[cheddatom]

1 minute ago, bassbiscuits said:

Is that the Rigger in Newcastle Under Lyme? My old singer dug out some photos of us playing there in 1992. Hair was bigger, shirts floweryier and headstocks definitely pointier back then.

That's the one, ace venue, and more often than not @VTypeV4 is the expert on the sound-desk. It's probably a bit cleaner than when you last visited

[VTypeV4]

Glad it went well @cheddatom I'm sure Liam did you proud in my absence.. 😀

[cheddatom]

54 minutes ago, VTypeV4 said:

Glad it went well @cheddatom I'm sure Liam did you proud in my absence.. 😀

Yeh he was great actually, got a lot of compliments on the sound afterwards, I told them all to thank Liam!