How was your gig last night?

[Desbass]

27 minutes ago, bigthumb said:

That was one gig to forget and move on! 

 

A regular venue where we've had some really good gigs in the past. Always a good crowd and decent sound, but not tonight. 

They have made a stage area which dose look smart but it's buggered up the sound good 'n proper. Bass sounded horrible just boom and more boom. Spent the gig fiddling with EQs and repositioning the cab but it made little difference. I used the Sandberg in the second set which sounded better but still not brilliant.

Not so many in tonight which added to the pain. Some were enjoying it but it seemed a long hard slog with plenty of mistakes thrown in as well. It's only the second time we've played with our new (and old) guitarist. He left the band earlier in the year but agreed to come back when his replacement has other music commitments. It's all a long and complicated story! So mistakes were to be expected as the set has changed quite a lot since his departure. 

 

So overall a pretty crap gig but we know what songs to practice and focus on the next gig in a couple of weeks time. 

 

Here's a pic of two basses, an amp and a cab. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Norris]

Gig 2 of 3 this weekend. This one was at the White Hart in Ashby de la Zouch. It can be a bit hit and miss sometimes. It was pretty much empty when we arrived, but before too long more and more people came in and we had the whole place jumping.

 

I'm not sure if bands really do drum solos any more (?) Moby Dick went down an absolute storm! Ideal time for me to grab a quick photo. Note the security staff and the local pastor team at the window.

 

 

You can also see my "stingish" Sub5 and Fender Rumble there. The bass has been promoted to the better gig bag - the one with the band cards in it 😁

 

So anyway, the really strange bit. We play "dad rock" - pop, rock and prog rooted firmly in the 70s. We usually attract old blokes to our gigs. Ashby is a bit different - it's a really buzzing town on a Saturday night, lots of pubs, lots of transient crowd. So there's more of a wider mix of people than normal and we're getting them to linger - all good stuff. Half way through the night four stunningly gorgeous young ladies came in, dressed in their underwear by the look of it. They grabbed themselves a pint of Guinness each and then started dancing right in front of the band singing along loudly to pretty much everything we played. Not only that, but after we'd played Oh Well they asked for another early Fleetwood Mac song - Albatross! - Then danced along to it. There were a few people in the crowd that found it quite amusing watching us trying not to stare at the gyrating ladies, although we did make a few more mistakes than usual.

 

What a great night. I love it when the room is in full swing.

 

Most important though...

...the purple suede Gazelles

[Desbass]

Hey BigThumb. Sometimes ,despite everything we as performers do to ensure a good sound at our gigs , the world of construction materials and reflective surfaces make it an un-winnable fight. Don’t be so hard on yourself. All these factors add to the stress of having new/returning members and new songs and therefore impact on the performance. Your next gig should be based on things that you can control and not things that you can’t. Upwards and onwards (or is that Buzz Lightyear’s saying?). DLTBGYD!

Edited 12 hours ago by Desbass

[Marvin]

We played our first full gig last night (we did a short set at a charity event few weeks ago)

 

We couldn't of hoped for better. The venue is outside but part covered... it's a bit different which makes a great place to play. We were all worried that we'd have problems with the mixer like at rehearsal, but all was good. There was a decent sized crowd with added benefit a hen do were there (big tick for target demographic there).

It was our singer's first ever full gig and she was fantastic. She was insanely nervous to begin with, but after a couple of songs she was loving it. 

The manager told us it was the best attended night so far this summer and we'll get booked again, definitely.  Also a guy from another band said he'd drop our name to a really good venue with good rates.

 

A 10 out of 10 night.

[Bilbo]

Little Jazz duo gig in Essex (guitar and electric bass) - second gig in three years. Blew up my Acoustic Image Clarus and ended up playing through a Fender practice amp but just about got away with it. Couldn't have been bad as we got booked for another gig somewhere else on the back of it. 

[Cat Burrito]

7 hours ago, Desbass said:

I listened to the acoustic version first then the electric one. The electric version is fantastic and such a cracking video! I listened to it a few times and the re-visited the acoustic version. My mind started filing in the drums and other parts from the electric version and it seemed to make the acoustic version go to a different level. Excellent song and well played. Loved it! 

Thank you for taking the time - pleased it paid off 🙏

[Geek99]

7 hours ago, Norris said:

 

 

linger - all good stuff. Half way through the night four stunningly gorgeous young ladies came in, dressed in their underwear by the look of it. They grabbed themselves a pint of Guinness each and then started dancing right in front of the band singing along loudly to pretty much everything we played.

...

That’s Ashby ….

[dmccombe7]

7 hours ago, Norris said:

Gig 2 of 3 this weekend. This one was at the White Hart in Ashby de la Zouch. It can be a bit hit and miss sometimes. It was pretty much empty when we arrived, but before too long more and more people came in and we had the whole place jumping.

 

I'm not sure if bands really do drum solos any more (?) Moby Dick went down an absolute storm! Ideal time for me to grab a quick photo. Note the security staff and the local pastor team at the window.

 

 

You can also see my "stingish" Sub5 and Fender Rumble there. The bass has been promoted to the better gig bag - the one with the band cards in it 😁

 

So anyway, the really strange bit. We play "dad rock" - pop, rock and prog rooted firmly in the 70s. We usually attract old blokes to our gigs. Ashby is a bit different - it's a really buzzing town on a Saturday night, lots of pubs, lots of transient crowd. So there's more of a wider mix of people than normal and we're getting them to linger - all good stuff. Half way through the night four stunningly gorgeous young ladies came in, dressed in their underwear by the look of it. They grabbed themselves a pint of Guinness each and then started dancing right in front of the band singing along loudly to pretty much everything we played. Not only that, but after we'd played Oh Well they asked for another early Fleetwood Mac song - Albatross! - Then danced along to it. There were a few people in the crowd that found it quite amusing watching us trying not to stare at the gyrating ladies, although we did make a few more mistakes than usual.

 

What a great night. I love it when the room is in full swing.

 

Most important though...

...the purple suede Gazelles

Sorry but without pics of the  4 young ladies in underwear then it never happened and you were dreaming while playing as we all do. 😂

Dave

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Marvin said:

We played our first full gig last night (we did a short set at a charity event few weeks ago)

 

We couldn't of hoped for better. The venue is outside but part covered... it's a bit different which makes a great place to play. We were all worried that we'd have problems with the mixer like at rehearsal, but all was good. There was a decent sized crowd with added benefit a hen do were there (big tick for target demographic there).

It was our singer's first ever full gig and she was fantastic. She was insanely nervous to begin with, but after a couple of songs she was loving it. 

The manager told us it was the best attended night so far this summer and we'll get booked again, definitely.  Also a guy from another band said he'd drop our name to a really good venue with good rates.

 

A 10 out of 10 night.

Well done the new singer at her first full gig.

We're also seeing numbers down in various venues and owners telling us they've put on free bands but still not busy. At least you guys had a decent audience so that's all good news.

Think folks simply don't have the money to go out as much at moment.

Dave

[zbd1960]

A rather more staid event as it was the first concert given by the two new community choirs (same MD for both). So, the more sedate environs of the local Methodist church. Rep was essentially a mix of music form shows, American Song Book etc. As we're new groups, we don't have enough rep to fill a full concert so some 'filler' provided by a couple of precocious youngsters aged around 8 or 9. Whilst both were extremely good (the young pianist was scarily good) I could have done with that tbh.  One of the stalwarts of the local music scene provided some very different stuff with a mix of folk/jazz improv type stuff - duets on various combinations of piano, flute, violin, tin whistle, and later on a small Gamelan set-up... And the issue is when you have 'guests' they tend to do too much....

 

However, the two choirs did well.

 

[dmccombe7]

Last night with Blockbustarz was in Camelon Juniors FC. First time in this venue and it was full. 

Small stage so both singers had to stand on floor in front of stage. Like most clubs folks want in early to get "their seat". People coming in 45mins before doors open which hindered us getting set up and doing a proper sound check but all was fine with it.

You know you've had a great night when the bar staff shut the bar to get out on the dance floor for Shang-a-Lang near the end.

Dancing from the start last night too and floor was relatively busy all night..

Feed back was incredible from so many people including the owner and the team that booked us and want us back again. 

Club shut the pool room to give us a decent sized changing room plus storage for all the cases and back up gear if required.

Used the Sandberg VM4 into Shure wireless, Keeley bassist comp, Handbox WB-100 and Barefaced 212 cab and even tho i was standing close to the bass rig i could clearly hear the bass behind me. The Barefaced cab has surpassed my expectations.

Few wee minor mistakes by us but only picked up by us. Mine was Ballroom Blitz where i just could not get that bass part in middle as if my plucking fingers couldn't move fast enough to keep  up with drums. Not even a fast song but my head just wasn't working. That was 1st song second set so hopefully i'm fine next gig in 2 weeks.

One huge bonus was that i adjusted my garage and put the Harley bike along the back wall allowing me to put the car straight in the garage after the gig and will empty it today. That will be how i do things from now on as it made life so much easier after a gig.

Dave

[Chimike]

Bit of Fun, last week, playing with the youngsters !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Geek99]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Sorry but without pics of the  4 young ladies in underwear then it never happened and you were dreaming while playing as we all do. 😂

Dave

I’ve been to Ashby and I’ll believe him without pics 

[Burns-bass]

I played a lovely pub in Cornwall. Was offered our pick of the food menu, free drinks and £100 each for the gig.

 

Was a busy night elsewhere and only 5 people turned up. Guess it happens!

 

Second gig this afternoon outdoors. Having a walk and coffee…

 

 

[AlexDelores]

Another cracking weekend of weddings for us just gone. All complimented by a daytime and early set yesterday which meant I was home by 9.30pm

 

Only downside is some idiot decided to try and balance a pint on a speaker on Friday nights Which of course didn’t end well. Seemed to continue to work for the remainder of the night. But we didn’t need both yesterday so I’ll dig it out this week and check it over before next weekend.
 

People. 

 

[Staggering on]

A bit of a time warp gig last night, an old fashioned dinner/dance evening with a "Gatsby to Casablanca" theme, just perfect for our 7 piece swing/Dixie band with a guest vocalist. It was a dress up affair with costumes from 20's flappers to gangster outfits and the crowd of just under 50 were up for a good time. As you can imagine most were older but there were some much younger folks there as well. We were scheduled to play 4 sets from 7-11  and figured we would end early but we started early when the meal ended and went right to 11, not too many dancers still there but it went surprisingly well although the horns didn't have much lip left when we finished with a blistering version of the Stray Cats Rock This Town. 

We started the night with Let's Dance to set the tone and followed that with Five Foot Two from the 20's where I switch to tenor banjo. To get people dancing I gave a quick Charleston dance lesson to about 25 folk and from there on it was a great evening, one of the best the band has played. Our band has a few stony faced musicians but last night they all got into the mood and actually smiled and interacted with each other and the audience, first time that has really happened in 8 years. The vocalist is the conductor of the local symphony but is a good entertainer and has good voice for the type of music we played , almost all standards and big band hits from the 20's through the 40's and we threw in some latin dances and even a waltz medley 

As front man I worked hard to keep things moving and the band and crowd responded so it was satisfying night for me, the band and the crowd, that doesn't happen too often and we all went home tired but happy. 

No pics this time but I used my trusty Shen SB 100 into our Bose PA and my Baldwin Ode tenor banjo acoustically, it's plenty loud without a mic. We were in suits so no interesting shoes to report just black dress shoes.😊

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I’ve been to Ashby and I’ll believe him without pics 

We need evidence.

Dave