Thursday - Verbose day

Todays lunch was a bowl of museli and some grapes. I can’t handle any more overpriced crap food.

We’ve had incredibly varied few gigs in the last couple of days. We played to a packed pub last night and got a tremendous response. Same thing this afternoon, we had slot from 12-3pm in a pub just out of the main part of the festival so I expected it to be very quiet, but once we started the place filled up with passers by, sold $300 worth of merch and got offered more gigs for next years festival. We even got a tip – tipping just doesn’t happen in Australia. The same guy that tipped us has offered us a couple of shows in tropical north Queensland (that’s the north east tip of Oz) for an exorbitant amount of money and offered to freight all our stuff up there for nothing. Then tonight we were set to play a ticketed show organised by another musician friend – I am loathe to do ticketed shows not only because we had a bad experience last year where we had a very small turn out and barely covered the cost of the sound guy, but because there’s so much stuff going on for free. This one was even worse. There was only ONE ticket sold, and that was purchased by a friend of ours who we’ve since taken on board as our “merch-bi#ch”. The venue didn’t tell us this until half an hour before doors opened so we called it off. Nobody on the bill has a big enough name let alone a following to get away with this. It’s a classic case of egos leading to taking ridiculous chances. Still, only lost the cost of the sound guy for the hour he was there, and split 5 ways it amounts to practically nothing. Since the gig was cancelled I used the opportunity to catch some music with a friend and had a great night. And my fingers could really use a break anyway – my left hand is fine but the middle and ring fingers on my right hand are pretty raw. I play with a hybrid picking style and two 3 hour gigs in stifling heat and high humidity has really softened them up.

Have you ever had a total blow-out disaster gig? Or attended one?

No G&L question but I will ask a gear one. I’ve seen some frankly ridiculous rigs here. I’m using my Classic S, 4 pedals and a Peavey Encore (40W, 1x10" speaker) I got for $40. There was a guy in the band on after us wheeling in a Two-Rock amp, 4 guitars and a pedal board the size of a door in a flight case (why do you need a flight case for things esigned to be stepped on? ) on this tiny stage. Another guy had a massive road case with an amp head and a power conditioner and effects rack in it and a pedal board the size of the door. I find it funny is that whenever I see a pro’s rig its cheap as chips and beat to hell, yet so many amatuers have top-of-the-line, shiny stuff that IMO is totally superfluous. I like good stuff as much as the next gear nerd, but these places are, as you Americans would say, “dive bars” that hold 200 people at a push and have small stages. I know that the sound guys HATE it because they always say to us that they’re grateful we brought more venue appropriate equipment and thus could get a better sound.

This goes on… Many bands complain that coming to this festival here costs too much. There are other bands who have come from up Melbourne and each member has driven up separately so they can take their best stuff. No wonder they can’t break even! We pooled our stuff together, packed conservatively and considerately and by doing so have covered car hire and fuel costs already despite having done only two shows. By staying on a friend’s floor we have saved $1600. There are bands renting houses for this much for ONE WEEK! Its ridiculous.

What would you REALLY do - show your stuff off or take something sensible?

I’ve still not seen a single G&L except my own, but someone did ask me today if my guitar was a Tomkins (I don't think he couldn't read as he was looking right at the headstock from half a foot away). He hadn’t heard of G&L at all. I had a strong urge today to order a solid body Bluesboy with a Bigsby, and I’ve learned that I want a vibe/vibrato pedal too after using the other guitarists' one at a rehearsal.

I'll add that I've been on about 4 hours sleep each night and am beginning to think that Thatcher may have been on to something... I find this worrying

Many of those events are to sell things to artists and not much else. Not that it's bad, but just saying... If you are talented, there's no need to attend these events, but many still go to get "discovered". They end up discovering that it's expensive and well organized to promote certain artists/bands and sell merch & services like press kits and duplicating packages. Yet, they still come and it can be fun to check out the talent.

Many come to be photo-ready and bring their best gear. I can appreciate that; it's not a regular gig. It can be like show-and-tell in grade school with people bragging about their stuff. That's ok too...

I'd bring what aids you in performing your best, whatever that may be. Networking can make the trip worthwhile and sounds like it has been in your case. Well done!


Cheers,

Will

Jamie, I expect that you may have lost some weight by now. Substitute bad food with good beer!


Have you ever had a total blow-out disaster gig? Or attended one?

Not in recent years but back in 1962 we were doing a gig in a town hall near my home town in Northern Minnesota and this place was a town of about 30 people. We showed up and went inside. It was at least 25 below zero outside, the place was cold and no one was there. We decided to not even unload. No one showed up and we left, no one. Back then we had some good ones and some bad. We were young!


What would you REALLY do - show your stuff off or take something sensible?

I try to tailor the amps to the size of the gig. We usually know what we are dealing with Jamie, but in your case it would be unknown and you all traveled together so you can't bring everything. It would be a crapshoot. It sounds like you had one fantastic gig. We have thought about doing some ticketed venues but it is a risk, especially in that we are not a household name. Great reports this week. Does this thing go into the weekend?-- Darwin

Hey Jamie,

I am glad to hear you guys are doing well! (Except for tonight that is )

I don't have much time tonight but I do find myself in the same boat as you... I am really GASing for a G&L with a bigsby!

had a strong urge today to order a solid body Bluesboy with a Bigsby

I have mine picked out...( I think )


Just waiting for the right time to pull trigger

You picked a finish yet?

Scott

Scott, that is a sweet special and the Bigsbys are aweome!-- Darwin

Howdy Jamie,

Good you guys avoided disaster. With that size of a crowd, your performance would constitute no more than a rehearsal. And an expensive one at that. Been fortunate never to have experienced that. The churches when I played in the choir band were usually full; but then again, the supreme upper being doesn't charge more than one throws in the collection bowl
All the ticketed shows where I was part of the band, mainly musicals, were well attended. Whew!

Your second question I'm almost tempted to answer with '"ust bring acoustic guitars, acoustic bass, snare drum, and hi hat and make sure your tunes stand up to an all acoustic treatment". If no acoustic bass is available, bring a small amp with the electric. And if you want to 'splurge', schlepp the bass drum along. Bring your own mikes and stands if necessary but keep it small. The counter argument may be that an acoustic set would not be representative of the all electric band sound, and that is fair criticism. But if you can wow a crowd with that setup, you're doing something right. I've only done such a thing once in my teenage years and the result was surprisingly good. But maybe that makes me biased ...

- Jos

What would you REALLY do - show your stuff off or take something sensible?

Since I've done almost all of my gigging on the string bass, I get to travel light and also have the biggest rig in the place. My normal setup is the bass into a Fishman pre-amp/direct box into a GK 1x12 combo amp. If the venue is large I may bring a 1x12 extension cab. That's still enough to fill the back of my station wagon.

If I were to play out on the electric bass, the rig would be one bass through the Carl Martin compressor into the Bassman Ten. The choice of basses would depend on the venue and type of music. One of the nice things about playing the bass - especially a G&L bass - is that it doesn't need a lot of off-board tone tweaking or effects.

Ken

Not too many years ago is was a 50-watt Marshall SuperLead and a half-stack. Now its a Swart AST, 20-watts, or a TopHat Club Royale, 18-watts. Even those amps are more than enough for most places we play. For outdoor gigs or large spaces, we just mic the amps and put them through the PA.

RickT

Hey Rick. Nice to see you post. What's up? - ed

Hey Rick. Nice to see you post. What's up? - ed

I got a new boss last November and he's been keeping me real busy bringing him up to speed. In fact, we had big changes in our leadership chain on our sales side as well. Our customer is very strategic so there's been a lot of scrutiny and attention which made the new guy a bit nervous. He's very sharp and capable, its just a matter of getting him into his full stride. But, in the meantime, more meetings, more briefings, and less time to do other stuff. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel....wait...is that a train whistle I hear?

RickT

Yep. That's the train!

I hope you at least got a (well-deserved) raise..... -ed