How was your gig last night?

[Dad3353]

28 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

I should probably share the invisible bear story for new members that haven't heard it...

 

You might prefer to keep a little mystique, no..? 

Edited Thursday at 22:18 by Dad3353

[Bluewine]

10 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

You might prefer to keep a little mystique, no..? 

 

Good idea. I'm sure there are other members that have had an experience with an invisible bear.

 

Daryl

[Dad3353]

Just now, Bluewine said:

Good idea. I'm sure there are other members that have had an experience with an invisible bear...

 

Certainly; shades of 'What goes on in Fight Club stays in Fight Club'. 

[Merton]

Just sitting at a car charger outside Cardiff (before my onward journey back to Surrey…) following a lovely little Katy Hurt gig at Acapella Studios. What a lovely venue!

First gig of the tour where we’ve had Cris join us on lap steel, guitar and mandolin, and Basschat royalty @Rich in attendance.

We had a blast (common theme on this run of shows I’m pleased to say!) and made a lot of new friends I think. I still can’t sing in tune for more than about 3 notes.

Shoes were black leather Chelsea boots today, v comfy but a bit slippy on the stage carpet 😀

[Geek99]

I went to an OM. It was totally dead. The host was nowhere in sight so I hung around for ten minutes and gave up. The landlady told me it hadn’t gone well.  As I was leaving a young lady at a table near the door said she’d wished I’d got to play (she obviously hasn’t heard me or she wouldn’t make such a ridiculous claim).
 

I said that sadly bass is not a solo instrument and other people are needed, unfortunately not the case tonight.
Her blank look at the word “bass” told me everything I needed to know about perceptions of our instrument but it was nice that she said it. 
 

someone I presumed to be the host scuttled into view at that moment and headed for the om area, he didn’t see me though he passed within a metre or so. I hope the landlady had a word about not deserting his post  

[MGB]

First of three gigs with this guy 😃.

We have a Billy Joel tribute band in Holland and we got our stamp of approval from original drummer Liberty DeVitto. He agreed on coming over from the US to do these gigs with us.

Needless to say we are over the moon with him agreeing to play with us.

Had a blast on the first and looking forward to number two and three.

 

[Rich]

15 hours ago, Merton said:

Just sitting at a car charger outside Cardiff (before my onward journey back to Surrey…) following a lovely little Katy Hurt gig at Acapella Studios. What a lovely venue!

First gig of the tour where we’ve had Cris join us on lap steel, guitar and mandolin, and Basschat royalty @Rich in attendance.

We had a blast (common theme on this run of shows I’m pleased to say!) and made a lot of new friends I think. I still can’t sing in tune for more than about 3 notes.

Shoes were black leather Chelsea boots today, v comfy but a bit slippy on the stage carpet 😀

 

You folks were in fine form. Very obvious that you were having a great time up there, and it showed in all your performances. It was particularly good to hear such a well-played pedal steel, his less is more approach was perfect. And oh my word, your ACG sounded droolworthy, especially down low. That B string is a thing of beauty. I will definitely be looking out for you lot in the future. Thanks for a great night. 

 

Apologies for the terrible photo

Edited yesterday at 14:29 by Rich

[dmccombe7]

10 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

I should probably share the invisible bear story for new members that haven't heard it.

 

Daryl

Think a reminder would be good Daryl. I've probably seen it but cant recall it.

Dave

[Merton]

1 hour ago, Rich said:

You folks were in fine form. Very obvious that you were having a great time up there, and it showed in all your performances. It was particularly good to hear such a well-played pedal steel, his less is more approach was perfect. And oh my word, your ACG sounded droolworthy, especially down low. That B string is a thing of beauty. I will definitely be looking out for you lot in the future. Thanks for a great night. 

 

Apologise for the terrible photo

❤️ It’s a great pic!

Cris’ playing is spot on, really adds a healthy dimension to the songs and lets Gab do the guitar god thing without worrying so much about how he’s orchestrating his parts around the sparser songs. 
And yes the B on this ACG is quite the thing*, in fact the whole bass is quite special. Proper good craftsmanship from @skelf
 

*(I’ve said to Alan that it’s the best B I’ve ever had on a bass - it’s so well balanced with the rest of the strings and just seems to sing better than any I’ve had before. None of the others have been *bad*, they just haven’t been *this good* 🤓

Edited yesterday at 09:36 by Merton
Smelling pistake. I got home at 3.30am and my fingers aren’t working

[MichaelDean]

Just got back from playing The Pit at McCann's in Newport. An interesting night. 

 

Soundcheck was annoying. We went to go do it and one of the guitarists decided to just go to the hotel he was staying at and have a shave. Not the best timing 🙄 never mind, we eventually got it sorted. The first band had pulled out a couple of days ago, so there was plenty of time. 

 

Probably our smallest crowd yet of about 6. That might just be what happens when you play a metal gig on the same weekend as Download Festival 🤷 We played well though and were well received by the people there. The supplied cab sounds like it's on the way out though. Really didn't have a nice high end. 

 

Usual gear of Dingwall Combustion -> GX-100 -> Bass Big Muff/Mojo Mojo in the loop -> Laney Digbeth.

 

Footwear for this evening was some Hobibear barefoot trainers. Still undecided about barefoot shoes...

 

No photos, sorry. I'll update if anything surfaces on the socials!

 

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by MichaelDean
Found a video!

[Norris]

Gig 1 of 3 this weekend. We don't normally do 3 in a weekend but tonight's gig got moved from next week.

 

Last time we played here we decided it was such a small, noisy area to set up in that we would do it "acoustically" because of the smaller footprint and lower volume. Of course none of us remembered that, so we shoehorned in the full kit again.

 

 

The pub was rather quiet though with not many in. That lead us to a bit of musical silliness, which always helps a slower night go faster, plus engages the people that are there. So it ended up a good, if hot (I remembered the fan!) night. Best of all only 15 minutes away from my house and home by half past midnight.

 

Cheap "stingish" bass into the usual Rumble. Converse feet.

[cdog]

@MichaelDean Total sidenote, but.. I'm total barefoot shoe convert for 8 years now so give it time. After trying a few brands I have settled on Altra, specifically the lone peak. They are trainers but super wide and comfy and more cushioned than vivos so less harsh on your feet. Can't see myself wearing much else from now on tbh. 

Edited 11 hours ago by cdog

[Cat Burrito]

This is from last Sunday's show. I hesitated setting this iPhone recording to live online but for a phone recording, it's reasonable and I am guilty of overthinking sometimes! It's one of the three songs in our set that I play guitar on. Nick is on the Mandocello and I think his vocal is great. 

 

 

 

 

If anyone is really keen, you can compare it to our electric original version. We love playing electric but a lot of local bookings tend to be acoustic.

 

 

[dmccombe7]

55 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

This is from last Sunday's show. I hesitated setting this iPhone recording to live online but for a phone recording, it's reasonable and I am guilty of overthinking sometimes! It's one of the three songs in our set that I play guitar on. Nick is on the Mandocello and I think his vocal is great. 

 

 

 

 

If anyone is really keen, you can compare it to our electric original version. We love playing electric but a lot of local bookings tend to be acoustic.

 

 

Think i prefer the full electric version on this one guys. Its more filling, more happening and seems to fit this particular song better but both great versions.

Dave

[Cat Burrito]

38 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Think i prefer the full electric version on this one guys. Its more filling, more happening and seems to fit this particular song better but both great versions.

Dave

I / we tend to agree. We put this version together pretty quickly as a way to sneak our own stuff in that format but I'm sure it will evolve. Most of the pubs around here tend to prefer acoustic acts, hence us developing that side of things. We usually have more mandocello / mandolin instrumentation but have added guitar to a couple recently. I'm pleased to say a fair few of the shows coming up are electric so it'll be fun to play electric live shows. I think we have 5 electric shows for 2025 coming up and 8 acoustic shows. so far. 

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

I / we tend to agree. We put this version together pretty quickly as a way to sneak our own stuff in that format but I'm sure it will evolve. Most of the pubs around here tend to prefer acoustic acts, hence us developing that side of things. We usually have more mandocello / mandolin instrumentation but have added guitar to a couple recently. I'm pleased to say a fair few of the shows coming up are electric so it'll be fun to play electric live shows. I think we have 5 electric shows for 2025 coming up and 8 acoustic shows. so far. 

Are the electric shows still a duo rather than a full band ?

Just wondering how you create that fuller effect on the songs. I'm guessing some backing tracks ?

Have to admit i do love the idea of the acoustic Goth songs. Mandocello sounds fantastic on the songs i've heard you use it.

Its just so different from the norm we hear.

Dave

[Cat Burrito]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Are the electric shows still a duo rather than a full band ?

Just wondering how you create that fuller effect on the songs. I'm guessing some backing tracks ?

Have to admit i do love the idea of the acoustic Goth songs. Mandocello sounds fantastic on the songs i've heard you use it.

Its just so different from the norm we hear.

Dave

Yeah, backing tracks of us are on an iPad for electric shows. The dual mandocello is lovely and it works well with mandolin too. And bass. We added the guitar to mix it up further, which is funny as it is usually that in reverse. Looking forward to August as we are playing acoustic shows with our original drummer from 35yrs ago. 

[Franticsmurf]

4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Think i prefer the full electric version on this one guys. Its more filling, more happening and seems to fit this particular song better but both great versions.

Dave

I'm the same and for similar reasons. The beat drives the song along and the keys add something extra and helps it build towards the end. But oh, that Mandocello in the first video. Such a gorgeous sound. 🙂

[tubbybloke68]

An unusual gig this morning at a classic car breakfast meet down in Hampshire with the new funk band and then back home to Horsham to play at kings Lea school fate this afternoon with some old musician friends. Really enjoying my GB Spitfire 5 since it came out back from a service by Bernie recently. Sounds fantastic though the puma and LFsys Monzas . Now to enjoy a nice relaxing evening ( not playing) x😊

[knirirr]

We usually get booked for the Ramsden fete, finishing the musical entertainment for the day, and this year was no exception. As is the tradition, it rained towards the end of the show. Right near the end the drummer's bass drum pedal broke and he was summoned via the event PA to move his car. I have a large blister on my middle finger after some vigorous plucking.

Despite all this, the audience clearly enjoyed it, we were asked to extend the set a bit, and we got paid. 

Edited 1 hour ago by knirirr