On Sunday afternoon The Negotiators played a return gig at Buff’s Bar in Port Adelaide. In case you’ve looked but can’t find, it’s in the fantastic old wreck of a building on the main corner just before you get to the Port Markets. Apparently there’s restrictions on what the publican can put up for publicity (ie nothing). It’s also just up the road from Cash Converters (plenty of ugly signage there), but more on that later.
We were booked to play from 3 – 7 pm. It’s been a while since we played a daylight gig. We usually reherse on a Sunday arvo (when we reherse), in my mind at least there was some of the relaxed informality of our show that goes with weekly practice (which we have been known to do in the ‘off season’). Which was good because, for me at least, quite a few things went wrong and it would sometimes be quite a battle to remain focused on the show. Being in the less-self-conscious mode that goes with practice certainly helped. More of those things-that-went-wrong later as well.
A good thing about playing Sunday arvo in summer time is that it doesn’t get dark while we play so we don’t need to set up the light show. The front of stage looks barely defined without all the lighting cables. Conversely, one of the sad things about daylight gigs is that there’s no light show (nothing like coloured lights to make you know you’re a rock star). Still, less time to set up and take down, less gear to cart back and forth.
Nancy and I got there around 2 pm. We were half an hour late, which isn’t as bad as the group of ‘fans’ who’d walked from Hendon the night before, thinking we were playing then. The publican was pretty impressed, said they stayed all night. Apparently they’d seen us play here last time and liked us. Quite an honour.
Terry had already brought in most of the gear from his van (as had sox and steve). We were all set up and ready to do a sound check with about 10 minutes to go. There were around a dozen people there already (I didn’t know any, I think Sox knew at least one). With five minutes to go, we’re out the front getting some fresh air, greeting some fresh arrivals we knew. What does Terry do? Wonders off to have a look in the pawn shop (no more free advertising), comes out without having bought anything, and we’re playing a couple minutes later! Almost surreal. And very Terry.
From my point of view, the gig was interesting. I broke my record of breaking strings, busting 2 B strings and a D on my guitar, and a D on Steve’s. I think I busted one at the end of the first set, two in the third (beginning and near the end, on stage change while Nancy first sang solo and then the band started ‘I’ll make you happy’). I broke the last in the final set. Normally busting one string can rattle a guitarist, let alone breaking four! I was moderately impressed with the way I changed the one on stage and joined the song in the first chorus during the third set. Perhaps the unprofessionalism revealed by the breaks was countered with the way we dealt with it. Perhaps I need a new guitar (I’ve never had a new guitar before).
The other thing of note for me was that it took a while for my ear to sort out my guitar from the general mix where I stood. We have a fair bit of room in this venue, and when I stood stage left (near my amp) I could hardly hear myself to start with. My ear started zoning in after I’d played while standing near the drums at stage centre several times. I sorted out my sound better as the gig progressed, even though I think Steve was turning up behind me (at least, I was hearing him as ‘louder’ as the show progressed). I know I consciously had to resist the temptation to turn up. I could hear Terry pretty clear all along, Sox and Nancy also.
Nancy put in a ripper gig, despite the fact it was an afternoon she gave a great performance. She nailed a few songs we’ve not quite nailed before. That was satisfying. Our interaction on stage was coming along nicely too, I think that some in the audience would have enjoyed the looks on stage. Hard to describe, but a communicative exchange of expressions in a song can add to the song for observant viewers. A friend of ours brought along a video camera and filmed a couple songs. Not planned, but it will be interesting if he caught some of the interaction.
The audience was an interesting cross section. We had around a dozen friends and family rock up. They range from one year old to somewhere in the seventies. There were around a dozen ‘classic’ port types – working class men and women of varied age, gender and shape. Had three members of an outlaw motorcycle club there for most of the show (lots of tats there), several ‘old digger’ types, and a handful of passerby that stayed. At least six times I saw someone on their way home from the market poke their heads in, surprised to see a band and, I suspect, that there was a pub in the building. I caught several people dancing outside out of the corner of my eye.
And we had an honoured guest, Santa, pass through. We welcomed him at the christmas pageant, and now he turned up for a few songs at a gig of ours. We must be doing something right!
At most, we had around forty there. At the end, around fifteen. Not bad for the trade I suspect.
We now have a few weeks off to enjoy the festive season. We play Buff’s again on the night of 13 January, a Friday, starting around 7 pm. On 11 Feb we play the Glynde (start around 9). On February 25 we expect to be playing Buff’s again (this gig to be confirmed). We then have bookings for 1 and 29 April, venue to be announced. Those, anyway, are the gigs I know of so far for 2006. Please note, however, that this is rock’n’roll and thus subject to change.
If I don’t post on this blog in meantime, I wish all my regular readers a safe and fun festive season! I hope to see you at The Negotiators next gig!
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Mastering the Music
Last week’s recording session produced 17 tracks, of which 15 are good enough that I would willingly put my hand up for them, warts and all. It’s a fairly neutral mix, perhaps a bit heavy on the drums. Makes me think of Nesta setting up the drum mikes while saying how he’d been “getting into” drums a fair bit in the recent past, having just “discovered” them (after 20 years in the business). Overall, satisfactory effort in getting what we sound like down on disc.
My guitar is ‘out’ on several of the tracks, though I sometimes manage to play around the deficiency. For example, although the guitar in Bobby McGee starts with an arpeggio where the bass note is ‘off’ to something else (and hence Terry’s bass in the background also sounds ‘off’, much to his disgust), within four measures I have transferred to playing in the higher registers of the chord. And then I stay there for the whole piece. Which removes the worst of the problem with the key, but leaves my sound a bit saw toothed. And it doesn’t help the fact that the track starts wonky. Never the less, it leaves a pleasant aftertaste.
Benefits for The Negotiators include the shared experience of the day and the fact that we have the raw material for a demo (the stated purpose for the day). For each of us, our fans, friends and family, there is now a permanent record to replay. Hopefully, we did the music justice. Finally, for me personally, there was the additional benefit in seeing how the whole process fitted together, and seeing Nesta at work in the studio proper once we had laid down the tracks. This last allowed me, at last, to see how the mechanics of working through a wave editor interact with the process of engineering the sound (indeed, how one actually approached these aspects of production). I’ve had various wave editors for over a year, but never managed to get ‘into’ the packages. After last Saturday, however, it all made sense. I had finally got the big, if still blurry, picture of studio work.
In the last week I have been playing around a lot with Nero Wave Editor. It’s probably not the most modern or even the simplest of the software I have access to, but the interface makes sense to me. I have been learning by playing and trying things out and listening lots and going back again and again to try new variations. The trend has been to do less each time I tackle a piece. It is, however, still the case that the more I listen the more feel that I’m still doing too much. Of course, the less I do, the longer it takes.
Learning by experiment is a heuristic process with lots of redundant experience built in, yet it helps create a synthetic understanding of the whole as technique develops. It leads to refinement through time. I hope…
What I’m doing (putting the recording mix (thanks Nesta) into shape for release on CD – when it will need to be able to sound okay on any reasonably conceivable sound system. It is also when ‘buff and polish’ can be added to the individual tracks, levels harmonised, etc. Compression and volume normalisation also contribute to welding whatever the chosen tracks will be into a unified sound of experiences. The whole of the CD is greater than than sum of tracks it contains.
The one thing I have continuously read about record production is that ‘mastering’ is an arcane art, the domain of the experienced professional sound engineer (and access to their professional studios). There’s a lot of truth in this. But, this is (only) a demo, so I’ll take my crash course on the understanding that the labour involved will only be used if the end result is an improvement on the original mix. Which, after, about 20 hours and serious attempts at six different songs, is only true of one track so far.
But the method of what I do is now becoming more visible, allowing for efficiencies in time used in future attempts. Which allows more space for the creative spirit to work the subtle magic that I think is required.
My guitar is ‘out’ on several of the tracks, though I sometimes manage to play around the deficiency. For example, although the guitar in Bobby McGee starts with an arpeggio where the bass note is ‘off’ to something else (and hence Terry’s bass in the background also sounds ‘off’, much to his disgust), within four measures I have transferred to playing in the higher registers of the chord. And then I stay there for the whole piece. Which removes the worst of the problem with the key, but leaves my sound a bit saw toothed. And it doesn’t help the fact that the track starts wonky. Never the less, it leaves a pleasant aftertaste.
Benefits for The Negotiators include the shared experience of the day and the fact that we have the raw material for a demo (the stated purpose for the day). For each of us, our fans, friends and family, there is now a permanent record to replay. Hopefully, we did the music justice. Finally, for me personally, there was the additional benefit in seeing how the whole process fitted together, and seeing Nesta at work in the studio proper once we had laid down the tracks. This last allowed me, at last, to see how the mechanics of working through a wave editor interact with the process of engineering the sound (indeed, how one actually approached these aspects of production). I’ve had various wave editors for over a year, but never managed to get ‘into’ the packages. After last Saturday, however, it all made sense. I had finally got the big, if still blurry, picture of studio work.
In the last week I have been playing around a lot with Nero Wave Editor. It’s probably not the most modern or even the simplest of the software I have access to, but the interface makes sense to me. I have been learning by playing and trying things out and listening lots and going back again and again to try new variations. The trend has been to do less each time I tackle a piece. It is, however, still the case that the more I listen the more feel that I’m still doing too much. Of course, the less I do, the longer it takes.
Learning by experiment is a heuristic process with lots of redundant experience built in, yet it helps create a synthetic understanding of the whole as technique develops. It leads to refinement through time. I hope…
What I’m doing (putting the recording mix (thanks Nesta) into shape for release on CD – when it will need to be able to sound okay on any reasonably conceivable sound system. It is also when ‘buff and polish’ can be added to the individual tracks, levels harmonised, etc. Compression and volume normalisation also contribute to welding whatever the chosen tracks will be into a unified sound of experiences. The whole of the CD is greater than than sum of tracks it contains.
The one thing I have continuously read about record production is that ‘mastering’ is an arcane art, the domain of the experienced professional sound engineer (and access to their professional studios). There’s a lot of truth in this. But, this is (only) a demo, so I’ll take my crash course on the understanding that the labour involved will only be used if the end result is an improvement on the original mix. Which, after, about 20 hours and serious attempts at six different songs, is only true of one track so far.
But the method of what I do is now becoming more visible, allowing for efficiencies in time used in future attempts. Which allows more space for the creative spirit to work the subtle magic that I think is required.
Fish Shop R & R Studio - 26 Nov '05
Last Saturday The Negotiators recorded a demo CD at the Fish Shop R & R Studios in Port Adelaide. Neat little set up, with Nesta, a most pleasant techie, running the show. We were there for eight hours, and managed to get down 16 tracks plus ‘Mercedes Benz’ (with Nancy singing solo). At least, that’s what I hope happened as I had to leave over an hour early for parental duties. I left when we were entering the ‘mix down’ phase. Or, as Nestor said, “just when the real fun begins”.
It was a bit over an hour between arrival and having set up. It was nice to not have to lug around mixing desks, speakers, scores of metres of cables, etc. We would have been ready even sooner had not Terry gotten his days mixed up. Nancy called him at 10.15 and just caught him before he left for his day’s business. We took this minor hiccup in our stride, no angst. A good omen.
Then we got going. We firstly laid each track down in one hit as a band. Nancy was in a booth on her own (glass walled, so she could see us). Terry, Steve and I were in the largest of the spaces. Sox was in a booth with open ends and glass walls, in the same large room that us guitarists were. I think everyone else could see everyone else, I had a pillar between myself and Nancy (couldn’t do much about moving too far as I was limited by a baffle and the length of the headphone lead). The keyboard was DI’d (Direct Input), as were all vocals and the harmonica in Dumb Things. Each of our amps was set as normal, with a mike down its throat. The drums were miked up with similar to what we do with them these days on stage (I think). We had baffles (chest high, thick partitions) in front of the guitar amps to stop them splashing around the room.
I don’t know what sort of rig Nesta was driving in the control studio, but it looked quite visual and complex, with a triplet of VDUs providing the visuals from the computer and the mix desk (both a virtual and actual type appeared to be in use).
The technical equipment problems were all mine to deal with. To start, both my pedals failed to pass a signal across from input to output jacks. Very strange. Both worked last time I tried to use them, both have fresh batteries, there’s been no obvious damage to them, I tried various combinations of four different leads to make sure leads weren’t the problem. Eventually I plugged straight into my amp and adjusted it accordingly. I bet the pedals’ll work fine next time I try (after blogging this).
The other problem I had was more fundamental, my guitar kept losing tune. I haven’t suffered this to this extent before (or, for years at least). Either it’s been knocked around that I don’t know about, the G string is fading, or the atmospherics were just enough to stuff it up. We persisted for four songs, me retuning each time, and then I changed to Steve’s Les Paul (after lengthening the strap). Fustrating. I guess I’ll have to take Fernandez to a guitar doctor.
Anyway, we put down a basic mix as a band for each of the songs. This took about four hours (including listening to the final takes). After we’d played a piece, we took a concensus of what people reckoned. It’s usually majority rules, but only because, usually, the minority concedes. We don’t analyse how we make artistic decisions as a group, we just do it. It has a lot to do with respect for each other and not taking ourselves too seriously. Doing a demo isn’t a perfect science, there’s a lot of room to compromise. Ideal for The Negotiators!
Ended up we played most songs twice, and we played a couple three times. I think there are clangers in most of the final versions. Luckily, there’s usually no more than one falling down per song and it is most often at the very end (can usually be dealt with by fading the mix, and won’t be heard by our principle targets, venue booking managers who will tend to only listen to the first half a minute of each track). There were a couple songs (Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and another (?)) where we seriously diverged from the usual way of piecing out the texture between instruments – but we managed to hold onto even the wierdest improvisation in a manner that will hopefully be interesting to listen to. I think the way we do this is a function of our amassing public ‘flying hours’, as well as the raw fact of having made music together for over two years (some of us, six years).
Once we had agreed all the first takes as minimally acceptable, we overdubbed backup vocals. To do this, Steve and I each had a mike in the main room, and Nancy was back in her booth. We therefore skipped over those phases in the recording ritual where, ususally, at least the vocalist and often the lead guitar (if not the whole band) overdubs their own parts until they are ideally ‘perfect’. Nancy didn’t overdub any of her main vocals (she has a strong voice, doesn’t need it for present purposes). And it isn’t economical for the rest of us to do it, considering the purpose of the exercise (a demo CD).
I think Steve and I, alone with two mikes in a quiet main room, found it alien to begin with, but were getting into it properly by the eight track (we put backing vocals onto eight tracks – all of them over ‘chorus’ sections only). Neither of us is much of a singer though, so we’ll be mostly right in the background. This took less than an hour, with Nesta rapidly taking us from one chorus to the next.
The next stage is the one that I left shortly after it began, the Mixing Down. This is really interesting, as you can get to hear just your own instrument, or hear it relative to one or more other sound inputs (eg the vocal). The idea is to adjust the relative levels of the various inputs to what is appropriate to each song and, if necessary, parts of each song. This can encompass adding effects. For example, a touch of reverb on the vocal, a bit of ‘fattening’ on the guitar. Thus, we could bring the keyboard solo out more in ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, and the level up generally through the whole piece.
It was really interesting to listen to some of my guitaring in isolation, the little bit I heard Nesta separate for whatever reason was actually pretty good – a lot of variety with a steady pulse, and I know I can repeat the patterns if and when required. This despite my rarely learning specific ‘riffs’ for general rhythmic work. Maybe that’s the flamenco in me – pick up a basic riff and then run with it within the confines of the form and piece, ideally combining with my emotion of the moment.
So, that’s where I’ll leave this. When I get to hear the final mix, I’ll report on it. By the way, I am starting a new webpage at ‘negotiatorsnews.uk.geocities.com’. As I learn more about http it will develop. I’ll keep you posted.
It was a bit over an hour between arrival and having set up. It was nice to not have to lug around mixing desks, speakers, scores of metres of cables, etc. We would have been ready even sooner had not Terry gotten his days mixed up. Nancy called him at 10.15 and just caught him before he left for his day’s business. We took this minor hiccup in our stride, no angst. A good omen.
Then we got going. We firstly laid each track down in one hit as a band. Nancy was in a booth on her own (glass walled, so she could see us). Terry, Steve and I were in the largest of the spaces. Sox was in a booth with open ends and glass walls, in the same large room that us guitarists were. I think everyone else could see everyone else, I had a pillar between myself and Nancy (couldn’t do much about moving too far as I was limited by a baffle and the length of the headphone lead). The keyboard was DI’d (Direct Input), as were all vocals and the harmonica in Dumb Things. Each of our amps was set as normal, with a mike down its throat. The drums were miked up with similar to what we do with them these days on stage (I think). We had baffles (chest high, thick partitions) in front of the guitar amps to stop them splashing around the room.
I don’t know what sort of rig Nesta was driving in the control studio, but it looked quite visual and complex, with a triplet of VDUs providing the visuals from the computer and the mix desk (both a virtual and actual type appeared to be in use).
The technical equipment problems were all mine to deal with. To start, both my pedals failed to pass a signal across from input to output jacks. Very strange. Both worked last time I tried to use them, both have fresh batteries, there’s been no obvious damage to them, I tried various combinations of four different leads to make sure leads weren’t the problem. Eventually I plugged straight into my amp and adjusted it accordingly. I bet the pedals’ll work fine next time I try (after blogging this).
The other problem I had was more fundamental, my guitar kept losing tune. I haven’t suffered this to this extent before (or, for years at least). Either it’s been knocked around that I don’t know about, the G string is fading, or the atmospherics were just enough to stuff it up. We persisted for four songs, me retuning each time, and then I changed to Steve’s Les Paul (after lengthening the strap). Fustrating. I guess I’ll have to take Fernandez to a guitar doctor.
Anyway, we put down a basic mix as a band for each of the songs. This took about four hours (including listening to the final takes). After we’d played a piece, we took a concensus of what people reckoned. It’s usually majority rules, but only because, usually, the minority concedes. We don’t analyse how we make artistic decisions as a group, we just do it. It has a lot to do with respect for each other and not taking ourselves too seriously. Doing a demo isn’t a perfect science, there’s a lot of room to compromise. Ideal for The Negotiators!
Ended up we played most songs twice, and we played a couple three times. I think there are clangers in most of the final versions. Luckily, there’s usually no more than one falling down per song and it is most often at the very end (can usually be dealt with by fading the mix, and won’t be heard by our principle targets, venue booking managers who will tend to only listen to the first half a minute of each track). There were a couple songs (Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and another (?)) where we seriously diverged from the usual way of piecing out the texture between instruments – but we managed to hold onto even the wierdest improvisation in a manner that will hopefully be interesting to listen to. I think the way we do this is a function of our amassing public ‘flying hours’, as well as the raw fact of having made music together for over two years (some of us, six years).
Once we had agreed all the first takes as minimally acceptable, we overdubbed backup vocals. To do this, Steve and I each had a mike in the main room, and Nancy was back in her booth. We therefore skipped over those phases in the recording ritual where, ususally, at least the vocalist and often the lead guitar (if not the whole band) overdubs their own parts until they are ideally ‘perfect’. Nancy didn’t overdub any of her main vocals (she has a strong voice, doesn’t need it for present purposes). And it isn’t economical for the rest of us to do it, considering the purpose of the exercise (a demo CD).
I think Steve and I, alone with two mikes in a quiet main room, found it alien to begin with, but were getting into it properly by the eight track (we put backing vocals onto eight tracks – all of them over ‘chorus’ sections only). Neither of us is much of a singer though, so we’ll be mostly right in the background. This took less than an hour, with Nesta rapidly taking us from one chorus to the next.
The next stage is the one that I left shortly after it began, the Mixing Down. This is really interesting, as you can get to hear just your own instrument, or hear it relative to one or more other sound inputs (eg the vocal). The idea is to adjust the relative levels of the various inputs to what is appropriate to each song and, if necessary, parts of each song. This can encompass adding effects. For example, a touch of reverb on the vocal, a bit of ‘fattening’ on the guitar. Thus, we could bring the keyboard solo out more in ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, and the level up generally through the whole piece.
It was really interesting to listen to some of my guitaring in isolation, the little bit I heard Nesta separate for whatever reason was actually pretty good – a lot of variety with a steady pulse, and I know I can repeat the patterns if and when required. This despite my rarely learning specific ‘riffs’ for general rhythmic work. Maybe that’s the flamenco in me – pick up a basic riff and then run with it within the confines of the form and piece, ideally combining with my emotion of the moment.
So, that’s where I’ll leave this. When I get to hear the final mix, I’ll report on it. By the way, I am starting a new webpage at ‘negotiatorsnews.uk.geocities.com’. As I learn more about http it will develop. I’ll keep you posted.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Bush's Bar 19 Nov '05
Last night The Negotiators played at Bush’s Bar from 7-11 pm. Bush’s Bar has only recently opened up in the site of one of Port Adelaide’s landmarks, Black Diamond Corner. It is a vast rambling ornate two story edifice, mainly run down, of which the present bar is only a small part of the structure. The publican is working on renevating the rest. The locals are right behind him. Good luck to them.
We played at the conclusion of the Port Adelaide Christmas Parade. Maybe ten thousand people were lining the streets that the parade passed down, and there would have been close to a hundred different community groups which each put their own float or marching group together. Brilliant. They passed by right out front of the pub so we got a great view of Santa.
Again, we set up at floor level in a corner in the front bar. Used less space than the last couple of shows, but it was much cleaner on stage (not having cables etc crowding the stage space). We must be getting better. Sound check before 6 pm. Had Steve and Sox in the back row, with my amp under the keyboard (and thus accessable to me in front of it). I, at least, could hear everyone (including myself!).
We had between 50 and 60 people in there when we started, between 40 and 50 for second and third sets. Maybe 30 left when we stopped playing after a long fourth set and encores. On top of this, perhaps a dozen kids aging from 1 – 15, some of them to the end. The kids loved it, often had three or four dancing away. Particularly our youngest grandson kicking on was cool to watch. The teenagers all got up at some stage to dance together.
Opened the first set with “Stuck in the Middle” for a change, aim being to get straight into lively music and warm everyone up at the same time. Worked fine, drew quite a few in as they were leaving the official festivities down the road. This seemed to be the way of it, we would only have known around a dozen of the audience and the rest were drawn in. I noticed that there were quite a few who stuck their heads in, but had to go because of their kids. Also saw several people dancing on the footpath outside on several occasions, either waiting for a bus at the bus stop or walking past. Haven’t seen that since we played ‘The Federal’ a couple summers ago.
Four notable members of the audience for the first set were some clowns that came in. They were having a ball. Quite surreal to see clowns rock’n’rolling to ‘Waterloo’, even stranger to see them headbanging to ‘Smoke on the Water’. We finished the set with ‘Ring of Fire’, one of our better harmonised performances of it this year.
As if four clowns weren’t enough, we had ‘Tweety Bird’ and ‘Slyvester’ come in for the second and third sets. The kids loved Sylvester in particular, especially as he stalked and played with them in front of stage. ‘Tweety Bird’ got up on stage with Nancy during ‘Eagle Rock’. Weird.
Sound was pretty good throughout. No need for drum mikes in this venue (narrow, high, deep room with pillars and vinyl flooring). I noticed Terry adjusting Steve’s amp in the final break. Added sparkle to his guitar in the last set, but the volume was a touch too loud in my opinion. Although we played several pieces a bit quick, it was only marginal. Some of the music got a bit muddy in the final set, not sure why. It was disjointed parts, even though we were all coming down on the same beat notes. Will have to work out why.
All in all, again a good gig. Better performance than last week, rolled from one song to the next without long breaks. Instrument changes very smooth, even me picking up Steve’s spare guitar when I broke a string (haven’t done that for ages – will have to get clear of D’ario strings). So we’ve pulled off three weeks in a row of good gigs. We know we can do it with the covers. Next challenge, bring in the originals.
By the way, we played two encores. Well done.
Next Saturday we are off to a studio recording a demo disk of covers, hopefully to help get us more work. Will fill you in on the joys of recording once it has happened.
We played at the conclusion of the Port Adelaide Christmas Parade. Maybe ten thousand people were lining the streets that the parade passed down, and there would have been close to a hundred different community groups which each put their own float or marching group together. Brilliant. They passed by right out front of the pub so we got a great view of Santa.
Again, we set up at floor level in a corner in the front bar. Used less space than the last couple of shows, but it was much cleaner on stage (not having cables etc crowding the stage space). We must be getting better. Sound check before 6 pm. Had Steve and Sox in the back row, with my amp under the keyboard (and thus accessable to me in front of it). I, at least, could hear everyone (including myself!).
We had between 50 and 60 people in there when we started, between 40 and 50 for second and third sets. Maybe 30 left when we stopped playing after a long fourth set and encores. On top of this, perhaps a dozen kids aging from 1 – 15, some of them to the end. The kids loved it, often had three or four dancing away. Particularly our youngest grandson kicking on was cool to watch. The teenagers all got up at some stage to dance together.
Opened the first set with “Stuck in the Middle” for a change, aim being to get straight into lively music and warm everyone up at the same time. Worked fine, drew quite a few in as they were leaving the official festivities down the road. This seemed to be the way of it, we would only have known around a dozen of the audience and the rest were drawn in. I noticed that there were quite a few who stuck their heads in, but had to go because of their kids. Also saw several people dancing on the footpath outside on several occasions, either waiting for a bus at the bus stop or walking past. Haven’t seen that since we played ‘The Federal’ a couple summers ago.
Four notable members of the audience for the first set were some clowns that came in. They were having a ball. Quite surreal to see clowns rock’n’rolling to ‘Waterloo’, even stranger to see them headbanging to ‘Smoke on the Water’. We finished the set with ‘Ring of Fire’, one of our better harmonised performances of it this year.
As if four clowns weren’t enough, we had ‘Tweety Bird’ and ‘Slyvester’ come in for the second and third sets. The kids loved Sylvester in particular, especially as he stalked and played with them in front of stage. ‘Tweety Bird’ got up on stage with Nancy during ‘Eagle Rock’. Weird.
Sound was pretty good throughout. No need for drum mikes in this venue (narrow, high, deep room with pillars and vinyl flooring). I noticed Terry adjusting Steve’s amp in the final break. Added sparkle to his guitar in the last set, but the volume was a touch too loud in my opinion. Although we played several pieces a bit quick, it was only marginal. Some of the music got a bit muddy in the final set, not sure why. It was disjointed parts, even though we were all coming down on the same beat notes. Will have to work out why.
All in all, again a good gig. Better performance than last week, rolled from one song to the next without long breaks. Instrument changes very smooth, even me picking up Steve’s spare guitar when I broke a string (haven’t done that for ages – will have to get clear of D’ario strings). So we’ve pulled off three weeks in a row of good gigs. We know we can do it with the covers. Next challenge, bring in the originals.
By the way, we played two encores. Well done.
Next Saturday we are off to a studio recording a demo disk of covers, hopefully to help get us more work. Will fill you in on the joys of recording once it has happened.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Glynde Hotel - 12 Nov '05
Last night we played the Glynde Hotel for the second time. Again, good gig. Relatively large audience greatly enjoyed performance. The Negotiators played within their limits, extending themselves twice over periods of four or five songs into what we appear to have the potential of becoming. No major falling downs (except for one in the audience).
We’d met to set up by 7.30 pm. We learnt from our last show here (when we had competed on a cold wet night with a ‘Showdown’ footy game), by setting up at a bit of an angle, effectively utilising our space better. Big advantage was a bit more ‘focus’ of the amps at stage rear, I think allowing each of us to hear each other better. Biggest disadvantage to me was my distance from my amp controls, I had to wonder right around Steve to get to them. So, if I couldn’t hear myself properly and I couldn’t correct it from my spot on stage, I was stuck with the fact until either the problem removed itself as the music mix changed or I found/made time to dart around and make the change myself. Not a major issue …
We played until a few minutes after 1 am. Played four sets, with around 13 songs in each. First set again was definitely more steady and stately music, again starting with Stand by Me and ending with Ring of Fire. Lost about three people that I know of (they came back later). Sets two and three were the most lively, both in terms of audience participation and band dynamics. Definitely created a high. Final set fell back a abit, perhaps partly due fatigue, definitely affected by inappropriate settings on amps. Ended with a chopped up and distorted Little Aeroplane. Failure to take up the audience on their request for encore (which upsets me a little, in future we need be more respectful of our audience for who they are and what they want).
Had around seventy to eighty people in the room at peak. Maybe thirty odd left at the end. Publican was happy. Although there was no advertisement in the paper there were some great posters up, and we had spread the word that we were celebrating Nancy’s birthday. About half of the crowd made a point of coming for that reason (nearly all of these folk have seen us before, some of them many times, so it’s not quite ‘rent a crowd’). Also, there was someone (‘Adrian’) there for his 25th birthday, with around a dozen mates. So it was a fairly unusual crowd for a public gig, but that’s Rock’n’Roll. The teenagers who were there seemed to enjoy it, always something special to us.
As I had to control my sound a lot more from front of stage (not with the amp itself), I readjusted my pedals and guitar settings (I use Boss Distortion and Chorus pedals with a generic ‘Fernandez’ guitar) a lot more than usual. This will probably have good consequences long term, but detracted from my ability to immerse myself in the music on the night. I think I did alright at it, but found myself using the overdrive in places where I shouldn’t and had to compensate in strum. It’s nice to know I’m up to recognising and responding to the challenge on this level. It will be nicer to master it. Rest of the band kept pretty tight. Only criticism would be that the bottom heavy chunk of Steve’s guitar was a bit overwhelming at times. The levels overall, however, were pretty good. I think this important aspect of the band was much better than the week before at the Lockleys.
I borrowed a digital camera that day, getting the owner to take a few snaps during the third set. I should get them back soon. If any are up to what I imagine a Rock Photo should look like, I’ll post them on the web somewhere and tell you. I saw the ‘proofs’ on the camera and liked what I saw.
I know that overall the audience enjoyed the performance. You just had to look and listen to know that. I know that there were a couple of stretches when we were really grooving along as a band for several songs in a row (that we had it happen twice in a gig, and were able to prolong the experience is a good sign). Despite the ‘heaviness’ of the last set being inappropriate at times, I think we’ve got the distorted Nutbush et al up to the level we were trying for a year ago. We played a song (Voodoo Child) together for the first time, for the first time in a gig, and pulled it off! Audience loved it. Not enough originals (we need to start writing again).
We play again next Saturday down the Port, as part of the Port Adelaide Pageant celebrations, at Buff’s Bar (corner St Vincent St and Commercial Road) 7 – 11 pm. Third gig in a row. Busy season already.
We’d met to set up by 7.30 pm. We learnt from our last show here (when we had competed on a cold wet night with a ‘Showdown’ footy game), by setting up at a bit of an angle, effectively utilising our space better. Big advantage was a bit more ‘focus’ of the amps at stage rear, I think allowing each of us to hear each other better. Biggest disadvantage to me was my distance from my amp controls, I had to wonder right around Steve to get to them. So, if I couldn’t hear myself properly and I couldn’t correct it from my spot on stage, I was stuck with the fact until either the problem removed itself as the music mix changed or I found/made time to dart around and make the change myself. Not a major issue …
We played until a few minutes after 1 am. Played four sets, with around 13 songs in each. First set again was definitely more steady and stately music, again starting with Stand by Me and ending with Ring of Fire. Lost about three people that I know of (they came back later). Sets two and three were the most lively, both in terms of audience participation and band dynamics. Definitely created a high. Final set fell back a abit, perhaps partly due fatigue, definitely affected by inappropriate settings on amps. Ended with a chopped up and distorted Little Aeroplane. Failure to take up the audience on their request for encore (which upsets me a little, in future we need be more respectful of our audience for who they are and what they want).
Had around seventy to eighty people in the room at peak. Maybe thirty odd left at the end. Publican was happy. Although there was no advertisement in the paper there were some great posters up, and we had spread the word that we were celebrating Nancy’s birthday. About half of the crowd made a point of coming for that reason (nearly all of these folk have seen us before, some of them many times, so it’s not quite ‘rent a crowd’). Also, there was someone (‘Adrian’) there for his 25th birthday, with around a dozen mates. So it was a fairly unusual crowd for a public gig, but that’s Rock’n’Roll. The teenagers who were there seemed to enjoy it, always something special to us.
As I had to control my sound a lot more from front of stage (not with the amp itself), I readjusted my pedals and guitar settings (I use Boss Distortion and Chorus pedals with a generic ‘Fernandez’ guitar) a lot more than usual. This will probably have good consequences long term, but detracted from my ability to immerse myself in the music on the night. I think I did alright at it, but found myself using the overdrive in places where I shouldn’t and had to compensate in strum. It’s nice to know I’m up to recognising and responding to the challenge on this level. It will be nicer to master it. Rest of the band kept pretty tight. Only criticism would be that the bottom heavy chunk of Steve’s guitar was a bit overwhelming at times. The levels overall, however, were pretty good. I think this important aspect of the band was much better than the week before at the Lockleys.
I borrowed a digital camera that day, getting the owner to take a few snaps during the third set. I should get them back soon. If any are up to what I imagine a Rock Photo should look like, I’ll post them on the web somewhere and tell you. I saw the ‘proofs’ on the camera and liked what I saw.
I know that overall the audience enjoyed the performance. You just had to look and listen to know that. I know that there were a couple of stretches when we were really grooving along as a band for several songs in a row (that we had it happen twice in a gig, and were able to prolong the experience is a good sign). Despite the ‘heaviness’ of the last set being inappropriate at times, I think we’ve got the distorted Nutbush et al up to the level we were trying for a year ago. We played a song (Voodoo Child) together for the first time, for the first time in a gig, and pulled it off! Audience loved it. Not enough originals (we need to start writing again).
We play again next Saturday down the Port, as part of the Port Adelaide Pageant celebrations, at Buff’s Bar (corner St Vincent St and Commercial Road) 7 – 11 pm. Third gig in a row. Busy season already.
(Photo, courtesy of Wayne)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Gig at the Lockleys - 4 Nov '05
Gig at The Lockleys – 4 Nov ‘05
The Negotiators played at the Lockleys Hotel for the first time on Saturday night. ‘Twas one of our ‘private’ shows, this time for Steve’s friend Phil on his 50th. Over a hundred people when we started, probably 60 still there 5 sets, 56 songs and 4 ½ hours later. They were rocking from the start of the second set until the end of the last.
We set up by 6 pm, having a sound check then. I guess, in retrospect, we’re kidding ourselves when we think of these checks as ‘level’ checks, the acoustics change totally once people are present. Still necessary however, because at least we know everything is working. And, Nancy reckons, it’s good to just blow the nerves away a bit, make the stage space our own before the show. Nancy and I went to a friend’s place nearby and had a bbq before returning to start at 8.30 pm.
First set, at the request of the pub, was meant to be ‘quiet’. How does a rockband be ‘quiet’? We don’t have an answer to this, but keep trying. The way it comes out is very middle of the road, and the volume of hubbub in the room usually makes it hard for us to track each other musically, particularly as the songs we play in ‘quiet’ sets tend to be songs we haven’t played a lot recently. I remember looking out and seeing a few cynical looks on some of the audience – probably wondering if they’d have to listen to fairly low energy covers for the rest of the night.
The rest of the night went well. They were up and dancing from the start of the second set. The first of my favorite moments came at the end of the second set. We were playing ‘Ring of Fire’. As always, when we start people tend to be sceptical. At the end of it, we have their attention (the way we play it is loosely based on Eric Burdon’s version). It has a crescendo climax. This time, I did one of the classic guitar hero jumps into the air, coming down with the emphatic final crashing chord to coincide with the last beat of the drum. Sox noticed it. Funny experience, you just know to do and do. If you’d think about it, you’d miss the moment and just look silly. Very liberating, as all great moves are, I guess.
Second favorite moment was in ‘500 Miles’, the whole pub was moving, including bar staff and strangers at the rear of the dining area. There was a huge fellow (one of the initial cynics) possessed in the middle of the dance floor by the dance god, and cooking up a storm somewhere between a psychotic head hunting mantra and scottish fling. Lightening to the soul to watch a big fellow move with such speed, purpose and grace.
Third favorite moment for me was second last song of the evening, our cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black”. For the first time in years I more or less kept the lead riff going throughout the piece, reverting to the triplet down strokes in the last verse vaguely like the original. I was very much into keeping my mind on my fingers and just expanded my sense of occasion to feel what others felt. And they loved it. I think the crowd went wild (not because of my riffs, they were still experimental and fell apart occasionally, but Nancy belting it out). I put the gain on the pedal up to about 2/3 (very rare for me) for it, and was swinging with the melodic rhythm. A new step forward on my path as guitarist, realising the wide and open territory for the non-lead guitarist to explore.
As a band, once we got through the first set (which wasn’t bad), adjusting minorly both our ears, amps and playing styles, we settled into a good fun night of hard rock. We work well as a unit. The proof was each of the first set cynics coming up to me at some stage of the evening and complimenting/thanking us. Must have been something to do with both the eye contact we’d had, and their appreciation.
Looking forward to next week at the Glynde. Start at 9pm. Expecting a biggish crowd to show, should surprise the management a bit I suspect. Hope to see you there…
The Negotiators played at the Lockleys Hotel for the first time on Saturday night. ‘Twas one of our ‘private’ shows, this time for Steve’s friend Phil on his 50th. Over a hundred people when we started, probably 60 still there 5 sets, 56 songs and 4 ½ hours later. They were rocking from the start of the second set until the end of the last.
We set up by 6 pm, having a sound check then. I guess, in retrospect, we’re kidding ourselves when we think of these checks as ‘level’ checks, the acoustics change totally once people are present. Still necessary however, because at least we know everything is working. And, Nancy reckons, it’s good to just blow the nerves away a bit, make the stage space our own before the show. Nancy and I went to a friend’s place nearby and had a bbq before returning to start at 8.30 pm.
First set, at the request of the pub, was meant to be ‘quiet’. How does a rockband be ‘quiet’? We don’t have an answer to this, but keep trying. The way it comes out is very middle of the road, and the volume of hubbub in the room usually makes it hard for us to track each other musically, particularly as the songs we play in ‘quiet’ sets tend to be songs we haven’t played a lot recently. I remember looking out and seeing a few cynical looks on some of the audience – probably wondering if they’d have to listen to fairly low energy covers for the rest of the night.
The rest of the night went well. They were up and dancing from the start of the second set. The first of my favorite moments came at the end of the second set. We were playing ‘Ring of Fire’. As always, when we start people tend to be sceptical. At the end of it, we have their attention (the way we play it is loosely based on Eric Burdon’s version). It has a crescendo climax. This time, I did one of the classic guitar hero jumps into the air, coming down with the emphatic final crashing chord to coincide with the last beat of the drum. Sox noticed it. Funny experience, you just know to do and do. If you’d think about it, you’d miss the moment and just look silly. Very liberating, as all great moves are, I guess.
Second favorite moment was in ‘500 Miles’, the whole pub was moving, including bar staff and strangers at the rear of the dining area. There was a huge fellow (one of the initial cynics) possessed in the middle of the dance floor by the dance god, and cooking up a storm somewhere between a psychotic head hunting mantra and scottish fling. Lightening to the soul to watch a big fellow move with such speed, purpose and grace.
Third favorite moment for me was second last song of the evening, our cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black”. For the first time in years I more or less kept the lead riff going throughout the piece, reverting to the triplet down strokes in the last verse vaguely like the original. I was very much into keeping my mind on my fingers and just expanded my sense of occasion to feel what others felt. And they loved it. I think the crowd went wild (not because of my riffs, they were still experimental and fell apart occasionally, but Nancy belting it out). I put the gain on the pedal up to about 2/3 (very rare for me) for it, and was swinging with the melodic rhythm. A new step forward on my path as guitarist, realising the wide and open territory for the non-lead guitarist to explore.
As a band, once we got through the first set (which wasn’t bad), adjusting minorly both our ears, amps and playing styles, we settled into a good fun night of hard rock. We work well as a unit. The proof was each of the first set cynics coming up to me at some stage of the evening and complimenting/thanking us. Must have been something to do with both the eye contact we’d had, and their appreciation.
Looking forward to next week at the Glynde. Start at 9pm. Expecting a biggish crowd to show, should surprise the management a bit I suspect. Hope to see you there…
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Big Netball Gig 7 Oct
The Negotiators played at the Marleston Leageball Centre on the night of 7 October. The Combined Australian Netball Associations had just concluded their annual weeklong carnival, attended by over 700 netballers aged 7-21 and a large number of family and supporters from around Australia. Despite inclement weather towards the end of the week, around 400 were present for closing ceremony and the party that followed. We had volunteered to provide entertainment for this, and played 7–11pm. In terms of numbers it was the biggest gig since Peterborough, and at least as big a buzz!
We knew it was going to be an interesting night when we arrived to see about 300 netballers and a couple hundred associates in the hall we were to play in. It was filled to capacity and spilled several layers around the building’s wall-long windows. Somehow and without drama, room was made to let us get our gear in (although we couldn’t set up until the multitude decided to conduct their presentations outside between rain showers). By good fortune, experience and organisation, we were set up by 7 pm, when the award ceremony had concluded and people began lining up for food (a huge bbq and salad).
The organisers said we could start when we wanted, so we started. Even before we’d begun, there were around twenty teenage girls clustering around the front of our ‘stage’ (we played at floor level). They were obviously quite excited.
They didn’t let us down. We had the whole place rocking into the first set. It didn’t stop until the last song. Over the evening, it was funny to watch the dancing/foot tapping contagion spread from the dancers in front of stage (who were pretty good), through the queue of people waiting to eat and those serving them, to those that were sitting in ‘quiet’ spots at the back and, finally, even to those outside.
Highlights of the evening were varied. Some of the ‘dancing circles’ of netballers were amazing to watch, fun beautiful interactive. My favorites were the Tasmanians at the start and, towards the end, the Queensland/South Aussie remnants that kept going to the last song. Lots of parents, coaches and associates particpated at various times also. At one point all the lights in the hall were down, leaving only the coloured stage lights. Looking out, I couldn’t see the back of the hall because there was a solid wall of people as far as I could see (most of whom were taller than me!), arms up and singing along. Not every pub/party band gets this experience! I was pretty busy, but was able to think ‘wow’!
The band enjoyed ourselves, no problems at all with the fact that this was our ‘charity show’ for this year (we usually fit at least one in). ‘Twas interesting to see that most of the girls knew most of the songs in our repertoire, even if we didn’t know the songs they probably most thought they’d like to hear. I think it disproves the theory that we need ‘modern’ songs if we are to keep the attention of teenagers. Again, as at Milang F.C., ‘Decisions’ went down a treat (the only original we played on the night).
Musically, we did okay over four sets without a sound check. I don’t think we’d played together since the Glynde, but we held it together fairly well and had no major crashes. Steve was fluid on the guitar, didn’t sound forced at all (he’s been gigging independently a bit). Sox and Terry did their usual solid backing. Nancy engaged well with this audience, and brought a young fellow up for a couple of songs (Old Time Rock’n’Roll and ‘500 Miles’) which his friends loved. We also had a group of older netballers up to help with Eagle Rock, which was fun. I didn’t hear my guitar in the full ensemble until I turned up in the second, but the mix sounded okay from there. I kept it simple, reflecting the fact that I’ve played less in the last month than I should have (mainly because of the demands of my ‘day job’).
My favorite moment: between songs near the end of the second set, an aged lady (75+) came up to the side of stage on her way out and said that she’d really enjoyed it. She said her husband (“gone twenty years”) had been a drummer and would have loved it. I thanked her, and said I hoped he’d enjoyed it. She smiled and left. You can’t buy moments like that…
Next Gig, a fiftieth at the Lockleys, and then we play the Glynde again on November 12. Should be big.
We knew it was going to be an interesting night when we arrived to see about 300 netballers and a couple hundred associates in the hall we were to play in. It was filled to capacity and spilled several layers around the building’s wall-long windows. Somehow and without drama, room was made to let us get our gear in (although we couldn’t set up until the multitude decided to conduct their presentations outside between rain showers). By good fortune, experience and organisation, we were set up by 7 pm, when the award ceremony had concluded and people began lining up for food (a huge bbq and salad).
The organisers said we could start when we wanted, so we started. Even before we’d begun, there were around twenty teenage girls clustering around the front of our ‘stage’ (we played at floor level). They were obviously quite excited.
They didn’t let us down. We had the whole place rocking into the first set. It didn’t stop until the last song. Over the evening, it was funny to watch the dancing/foot tapping contagion spread from the dancers in front of stage (who were pretty good), through the queue of people waiting to eat and those serving them, to those that were sitting in ‘quiet’ spots at the back and, finally, even to those outside.
Highlights of the evening were varied. Some of the ‘dancing circles’ of netballers were amazing to watch, fun beautiful interactive. My favorites were the Tasmanians at the start and, towards the end, the Queensland/South Aussie remnants that kept going to the last song. Lots of parents, coaches and associates particpated at various times also. At one point all the lights in the hall were down, leaving only the coloured stage lights. Looking out, I couldn’t see the back of the hall because there was a solid wall of people as far as I could see (most of whom were taller than me!), arms up and singing along. Not every pub/party band gets this experience! I was pretty busy, but was able to think ‘wow’!
The band enjoyed ourselves, no problems at all with the fact that this was our ‘charity show’ for this year (we usually fit at least one in). ‘Twas interesting to see that most of the girls knew most of the songs in our repertoire, even if we didn’t know the songs they probably most thought they’d like to hear. I think it disproves the theory that we need ‘modern’ songs if we are to keep the attention of teenagers. Again, as at Milang F.C., ‘Decisions’ went down a treat (the only original we played on the night).
Musically, we did okay over four sets without a sound check. I don’t think we’d played together since the Glynde, but we held it together fairly well and had no major crashes. Steve was fluid on the guitar, didn’t sound forced at all (he’s been gigging independently a bit). Sox and Terry did their usual solid backing. Nancy engaged well with this audience, and brought a young fellow up for a couple of songs (Old Time Rock’n’Roll and ‘500 Miles’) which his friends loved. We also had a group of older netballers up to help with Eagle Rock, which was fun. I didn’t hear my guitar in the full ensemble until I turned up in the second, but the mix sounded okay from there. I kept it simple, reflecting the fact that I’ve played less in the last month than I should have (mainly because of the demands of my ‘day job’).
My favorite moment: between songs near the end of the second set, an aged lady (75+) came up to the side of stage on her way out and said that she’d really enjoyed it. She said her husband (“gone twenty years”) had been a drummer and would have loved it. I thanked her, and said I hoped he’d enjoyed it. She smiled and left. You can’t buy moments like that…
Next Gig, a fiftieth at the Lockleys, and then we play the Glynde again on November 12. Should be big.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Glynde Hotel 10 Sept 2005
This was our first gig at the Glynde. Sox did the organising with the venue, I think he used a form letter we have to kick off negotiations on behalf of The Negotiators. Set up was pretty straightforward, we being at ground level in a corner in the main bar, in front of the bingo and shooting game machines. The room was fairly large and open, making a pleasant change from the Glandville ‘play past the pillars’ style of audience interaction. Carpeted, low ceilinged with styrofoam tiles, no unbaffled panes of glass, and a heavy drape covering part of one side of the room (shielding the TAB section of the pub – otherwise would have played to a ‘L’ shaped room) together combined to create a different acoustic environment to what we were used to. Hard to find a balance between grungy-muffled and harsh-choppy.
We also had to do things a bit different in terms of stage space, with my amp going onto the back wall between Steve’s gear and Sox on the drums. I must ask Sox if it was a help or a hinderance. We had to do it this way because it was a narrowish corner and we were already projecting a fair way out into the room (we can take up a lot of space). Sox and Steve were backrow, Me and Terry in front of them, Nancy up front. Seemed to work okay in terms of dynamics. It took a bit for me to get used to having my amp out of easy reach, however, and to be so far forward from it. I think it gave me a better understanding of the mix of the guitars and keyboard.
In brief, the gig was okay. First set was too quick in tempo to play comfortably, just enough that it felt forced. Second set we had Rob on his sax up with us (he played with us at the Glanville first time there also). Between him searching for the right key and Steve (I think) off tune with some of the vocals (and loud, at least through the foldback), I didn’t think it was that good, despite the music pumping along. Several of the audience, however, swore to me afterwards that they thought it was the best set.
Third set cranked up nicely. We opened it with a couple of our own songs (Never Wanted You and Fucked Decisions), so that set a solid platform. ACDC in fact sounded a bit dull after the later piece, but we got it on track by the first chorus. Final set was a bit different as we didn’t know how long the publican would let us keep playing. Started with Killer in a Frock (haven’t played for ages, me on the lead). Was told it was ‘haunting’ later. Closed with ‘Little Aeroplane’ at 1.30 am, probably best we’ve played that for a while (all played riffs right through). Only played around half of the new batch of songs.
Audience was okay for the evening, had between twenty five and thirty people in audience half way through the first set. Knew most of them (in fact, were almost the same mobs that had come on the first Friday we played at the Glanville). This number didn’t go down until near the end of the third, still nearly twenty when we stopped. Not bad, considering it was Crows playing Port in town in a televised knockout hometown semi final for the Australian Football League, the pub up the road (The Alma) being a centre for celebrations for the Crows victory, the 5th Test was on the telly as Australia struggles to retain the ashes, and it was a windy and wet night on top of that. The publican and a handful of locals seemed happy, especially with Johnny Cash. He (the publican, not Johnny Cash) offered us another gig as soon as we could fit it in, straight after the show.
Terry Sox and Nancy each put in solid performances. I think Steve was a bit fast to start with and, because of his volume, that pushed all of us. Into the third set though, was keeping the momentum up neatly through the songs. Once he got rid of the muffled sound on his amp was when things improved. As for me, for the first set and a half I was in a reactive mode, just trying to fill the gaps and keep to the beat. Then I decided to turn up a bit, and used the pick up lever and volume on the guitar itself to modify sound to keep a relatively constant level from where I was standing out front. I kept good focus on my sound and tried to ease it in and out around the various leads (vocal, bass, Steve), picking simple riffs to further add another element to the rythmic passages I was doing. Also used the distortion pedal more than usual, mainly to boost my sound with the gain when I was emphasising individual strings and runs. Through the third and fourth sets I was pretty happy, although it was still pretty experimental. I am, however, starting to critically approach the task of placing arpegios and simple runs in as part of the sonic palette that I see it being the job of the rhythm guitarist to maintain and vary.
In other words, the Negotiators came out of the night ahead, and looking forward to the next two private shows (a netball club function and a fiftieth). Then we’re back at the Glynde for Nancy’s birthday.
We also had to do things a bit different in terms of stage space, with my amp going onto the back wall between Steve’s gear and Sox on the drums. I must ask Sox if it was a help or a hinderance. We had to do it this way because it was a narrowish corner and we were already projecting a fair way out into the room (we can take up a lot of space). Sox and Steve were backrow, Me and Terry in front of them, Nancy up front. Seemed to work okay in terms of dynamics. It took a bit for me to get used to having my amp out of easy reach, however, and to be so far forward from it. I think it gave me a better understanding of the mix of the guitars and keyboard.
In brief, the gig was okay. First set was too quick in tempo to play comfortably, just enough that it felt forced. Second set we had Rob on his sax up with us (he played with us at the Glanville first time there also). Between him searching for the right key and Steve (I think) off tune with some of the vocals (and loud, at least through the foldback), I didn’t think it was that good, despite the music pumping along. Several of the audience, however, swore to me afterwards that they thought it was the best set.
Third set cranked up nicely. We opened it with a couple of our own songs (Never Wanted You and Fucked Decisions), so that set a solid platform. ACDC in fact sounded a bit dull after the later piece, but we got it on track by the first chorus. Final set was a bit different as we didn’t know how long the publican would let us keep playing. Started with Killer in a Frock (haven’t played for ages, me on the lead). Was told it was ‘haunting’ later. Closed with ‘Little Aeroplane’ at 1.30 am, probably best we’ve played that for a while (all played riffs right through). Only played around half of the new batch of songs.
Audience was okay for the evening, had between twenty five and thirty people in audience half way through the first set. Knew most of them (in fact, were almost the same mobs that had come on the first Friday we played at the Glanville). This number didn’t go down until near the end of the third, still nearly twenty when we stopped. Not bad, considering it was Crows playing Port in town in a televised knockout hometown semi final for the Australian Football League, the pub up the road (The Alma) being a centre for celebrations for the Crows victory, the 5th Test was on the telly as Australia struggles to retain the ashes, and it was a windy and wet night on top of that. The publican and a handful of locals seemed happy, especially with Johnny Cash. He (the publican, not Johnny Cash) offered us another gig as soon as we could fit it in, straight after the show.
Terry Sox and Nancy each put in solid performances. I think Steve was a bit fast to start with and, because of his volume, that pushed all of us. Into the third set though, was keeping the momentum up neatly through the songs. Once he got rid of the muffled sound on his amp was when things improved. As for me, for the first set and a half I was in a reactive mode, just trying to fill the gaps and keep to the beat. Then I decided to turn up a bit, and used the pick up lever and volume on the guitar itself to modify sound to keep a relatively constant level from where I was standing out front. I kept good focus on my sound and tried to ease it in and out around the various leads (vocal, bass, Steve), picking simple riffs to further add another element to the rythmic passages I was doing. Also used the distortion pedal more than usual, mainly to boost my sound with the gain when I was emphasising individual strings and runs. Through the third and fourth sets I was pretty happy, although it was still pretty experimental. I am, however, starting to critically approach the task of placing arpegios and simple runs in as part of the sonic palette that I see it being the job of the rhythm guitarist to maintain and vary.
In other words, the Negotiators came out of the night ahead, and looking forward to the next two private shows (a netball club function and a fiftieth). Then we’re back at the Glynde for Nancy’s birthday.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Last Gig at Glanville? (26 Aug 2005)
The publican at the Glanville has sold his license and new owner was soon to take over. All future bookings at this pub were off. We didn't know what the new owners planned. This was thus possibly our last gig at this place, which we have played good gigs at for awhile now. On the trip there, this realisation made the coming night all the more 'real', the vibe was good.
Only about three people in our part of the pub when we started at 8.30, sox's friends I believe. Maybe about a dozen at the end of the first set. Double that at the end of the second. Peaked at thirty to forty in the third set. Still over twenty when we finished at 20 to 1. Only familiar faces were Sox's friends (first time these women had come, I think) and, after nine, the hard core of our Peterborough comrades (Jo and her manfriend and Natalie). Everyone else who was there wondered in. Of those that wandered in, all stayed at least a while.
We had a ball! Steve is relaxing more often into his lead guitar role, and when it happens it's pretty good. Sox just develops week after week still, or so it seems, always solid and pushing his boundries. Terry is always inventing further and playing games in the bass. Nancy continues to develop a capacity to give herself to the music. All came to the fore on this night.
And me? Working in large variations to the role and sound I assign my guitar, very little lead but now actively searching out patterns in the music deeper and less cereberal than the beat and the count. Hopefully never losing these in the process, of course.
In other words, it got a bit psychedelic at times on stage, and the sound we generated was hypnotic music on occasion. I haven't before heard this happen for more than mere moments (with the memorable exception of one of our Gaslight shows) in a show. It was what I always used to search for when we was into seeing bands a lot, and here we managed to play it for extended periods to a small and appreciative audience in a pub that we always seem to sound alright at anyway! Magic, in a very real sense. And none of the band even frowned when I described it as psychedelic at times. I think we all knew that we sounded good - particularly in the second set.
We introduced quite a few new songs also - The Wild One, She's so Fine, Shout, Summer of '69, Waterloo, and Speak to the Sky, and all of the previous six we've learnt (first time at the Glanville) Good Golly Miss Molly, Travelling Band, Oobey Doobey, Da Doo Ron Ron, Rock'n'Roll is King, and On the Prowl. The newest ones fell a bit flat, but that was mainly that it still felt all a bit discrete and mechanical. This is common until we 'internalise' a piece - and that is as much a function of time as practice.
It was a wonderful gig at the Glanville, a great Requiem.
On September 10 we play at The Glynde Hotel, our first foray into the NorthEast since playing at Athelston Footy Club a couple years ago (as 'Requiem').
The name seems to have taken, by the way.
Only about three people in our part of the pub when we started at 8.30, sox's friends I believe. Maybe about a dozen at the end of the first set. Double that at the end of the second. Peaked at thirty to forty in the third set. Still over twenty when we finished at 20 to 1. Only familiar faces were Sox's friends (first time these women had come, I think) and, after nine, the hard core of our Peterborough comrades (Jo and her manfriend and Natalie). Everyone else who was there wondered in. Of those that wandered in, all stayed at least a while.
We had a ball! Steve is relaxing more often into his lead guitar role, and when it happens it's pretty good. Sox just develops week after week still, or so it seems, always solid and pushing his boundries. Terry is always inventing further and playing games in the bass. Nancy continues to develop a capacity to give herself to the music. All came to the fore on this night.
And me? Working in large variations to the role and sound I assign my guitar, very little lead but now actively searching out patterns in the music deeper and less cereberal than the beat and the count. Hopefully never losing these in the process, of course.
In other words, it got a bit psychedelic at times on stage, and the sound we generated was hypnotic music on occasion. I haven't before heard this happen for more than mere moments (with the memorable exception of one of our Gaslight shows) in a show. It was what I always used to search for when we was into seeing bands a lot, and here we managed to play it for extended periods to a small and appreciative audience in a pub that we always seem to sound alright at anyway! Magic, in a very real sense. And none of the band even frowned when I described it as psychedelic at times. I think we all knew that we sounded good - particularly in the second set.
We introduced quite a few new songs also - The Wild One, She's so Fine, Shout, Summer of '69, Waterloo, and Speak to the Sky, and all of the previous six we've learnt (first time at the Glanville) Good Golly Miss Molly, Travelling Band, Oobey Doobey, Da Doo Ron Ron, Rock'n'Roll is King, and On the Prowl. The newest ones fell a bit flat, but that was mainly that it still felt all a bit discrete and mechanical. This is common until we 'internalise' a piece - and that is as much a function of time as practice.
It was a wonderful gig at the Glanville, a great Requiem.
On September 10 we play at The Glynde Hotel, our first foray into the NorthEast since playing at Athelston Footy Club a couple years ago (as 'Requiem').
The name seems to have taken, by the way.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Hilton RSL - 2 July 05
This was our first gig as The Negotiators and our first at an RSL. It was a fiftieth for a fellow called Wayne who Steve knew from his swim club. He had first seen us at a show we had played for the club about 1 ½ years ago under a marquee in a back yard.
Playing an RSL was great. These are generally licensed facilities composed of bars and decent catering facilities, usually with a large sized hall a part of the set up. They are the physical infrastructure of Australia’s fraternity of Returned Sevice men and woman, the veteran community. They are as much a part of the australian landscape as Anzac Day (our national day of remembrance) and the egalitarian myth of the people. As such, they exist in most towns and suburbs as part of the social landscape connecting this country with its important and proud military heritage. They are also people’s organisations, and have thus been a part of the australian mucic scene. A lot of great aussie bands have played the local RSL on the road to professionaldom. Not that The Negotiators intend to become professional, but I did enjoy joining the tradition of playing an RSL.
Wayne had over a hundred people at his party, and a lot of them stayed through the night. We had upto 20 people dancing several times, and there was almost always someone up. The waltz kept showing itself, sometimes to the strangest musical accompaniment!
My favorite moments were having a Cloe (10 years) almost reverantly checking our gear out as we set up, and later accompanying Nancy on the vocals for ‘Not Pretty Enough’ and ‘Nutbush’, and Steves winding riff through ‘Satisfaction’. The audience seemed to all enjoy us, with most either obviously enjoying by the grins, claps and dancing, or the surreptitious toe tapping that is almost always a give away. In the corner, the most sceptical of the audience was a table of veterans in their fifties. But they stayed all night, and they seemed to like our balls (having a go at some pretty hardcore rock, and pulling it off both energetically and passionately). I thought, if we can win those blokes over, we can win anybody! Of course, it may have had something to do with the time of the evening?
Onwards and upwards…
Playing an RSL was great. These are generally licensed facilities composed of bars and decent catering facilities, usually with a large sized hall a part of the set up. They are the physical infrastructure of Australia’s fraternity of Returned Sevice men and woman, the veteran community. They are as much a part of the australian landscape as Anzac Day (our national day of remembrance) and the egalitarian myth of the people. As such, they exist in most towns and suburbs as part of the social landscape connecting this country with its important and proud military heritage. They are also people’s organisations, and have thus been a part of the australian mucic scene. A lot of great aussie bands have played the local RSL on the road to professionaldom. Not that The Negotiators intend to become professional, but I did enjoy joining the tradition of playing an RSL.
Wayne had over a hundred people at his party, and a lot of them stayed through the night. We had upto 20 people dancing several times, and there was almost always someone up. The waltz kept showing itself, sometimes to the strangest musical accompaniment!
My favorite moments were having a Cloe (10 years) almost reverantly checking our gear out as we set up, and later accompanying Nancy on the vocals for ‘Not Pretty Enough’ and ‘Nutbush’, and Steves winding riff through ‘Satisfaction’. The audience seemed to all enjoy us, with most either obviously enjoying by the grins, claps and dancing, or the surreptitious toe tapping that is almost always a give away. In the corner, the most sceptical of the audience was a table of veterans in their fifties. But they stayed all night, and they seemed to like our balls (having a go at some pretty hardcore rock, and pulling it off both energetically and passionately). I thought, if we can win those blokes over, we can win anybody! Of course, it may have had something to do with the time of the evening?
Onwards and upwards…
Requiem for Requiem - The Negotiators emerge!
Those who have been following this blog for a while will remember that we have already tried to change our band name. The marking point for the start of this blog was when we agreed to call ourselves The Odd Sox.
That change of name was doomed from the start. The first publican we mentioned it to refused to book us under the name and insisted we retain ‘Requiem’ for her gig. I’m not sure why she did this, but it was an omen. Our followers were sceptical, and kept calling us Requiem. We produced no posters with the name, and kept playing as Requiem. The name change had even stopped being a vaguely funny in joke within a couple of weeks. Perhaps this blog IS the only permanent trace of this period of our band.
Anyway, since then we’ve had someone float proposed band names past us at every practice (which is pretty often when you add them up). The most persistent suggester was Nancy, but sadly no – one’s ideas seemed to grab everyone’s imagination at the same time, and Requiem remained our name by default. Without Nancy’s persistence in keeping the issue alive, Requiem we would remain until today. Now that that’s not the case, others have told me what Requiem evoked (wedding, funeral, serious music). I am glad Nancy kept plugging away.
Then, I was talking to my sister in Melbourne about my nephew, who’s nickname is ‘The Negotiator”, when the idea of “The Negotiators” as a possible band name struck. I tried it out on Nancy and a few friends, everyone had a positive reaction. It seemed an evocative, indefinably humerous name that drew a response from all. It seemed to ‘mean’ something without putting us in a box, and it sounds cool. The band all liked it when suggested at the next practice. No-one else was using it as a band name that we could work out from our internet searches.
So we became The Negotiators!
That change of name was doomed from the start. The first publican we mentioned it to refused to book us under the name and insisted we retain ‘Requiem’ for her gig. I’m not sure why she did this, but it was an omen. Our followers were sceptical, and kept calling us Requiem. We produced no posters with the name, and kept playing as Requiem. The name change had even stopped being a vaguely funny in joke within a couple of weeks. Perhaps this blog IS the only permanent trace of this period of our band.
Anyway, since then we’ve had someone float proposed band names past us at every practice (which is pretty often when you add them up). The most persistent suggester was Nancy, but sadly no – one’s ideas seemed to grab everyone’s imagination at the same time, and Requiem remained our name by default. Without Nancy’s persistence in keeping the issue alive, Requiem we would remain until today. Now that that’s not the case, others have told me what Requiem evoked (wedding, funeral, serious music). I am glad Nancy kept plugging away.
Then, I was talking to my sister in Melbourne about my nephew, who’s nickname is ‘The Negotiator”, when the idea of “The Negotiators” as a possible band name struck. I tried it out on Nancy and a few friends, everyone had a positive reaction. It seemed an evocative, indefinably humerous name that drew a response from all. It seemed to ‘mean’ something without putting us in a box, and it sounds cool. The band all liked it when suggested at the next practice. No-one else was using it as a band name that we could work out from our internet searches.
So we became The Negotiators!
Glanville Wharf, 3 June 05
This Friday night gig was a ripper. The audience came from about five separate social cirles, plus those who came because of their link to the pub rather than us. Had between 30 and 50 people through the evening, with the peak being the middle two of four sets.
Although it’d been a while since we played, a few things are memorable.
Firstly - The audience, besides being decent in size and demeanor, was noteable because it wasn’t dominated by any one particular social group. There was a nice mix which we knew had come to see us by various paths and connections. To be there of an evening, however, one would have noticed the 'diverse homogeneity' of our audience. Their age was thirty plus, the males were not somewhere on this side of the tracks, the women were all dressed up. They all seemed comfortable in each other’s presence. The only one who looked like he didn’t was the man from cambridge.
Secondly - Steve came into his own as a lead guitarist. The band as a whole was a bit disjointed in the first set, competent but not flowing. We were all aware of it, and those who've seen us before would have, but not too many of these there in the first set. We knew that things were only going to get better off an already solid base. The second and third brackets were amongst the best we’ve played.
And this was due in no small part to Steve’s work on the guitar. His leads were on time and in tune, and busy enough figurations that were at the same time solid because simple worked their way into much of what we played. I’ve always felt rock music needs a driving guitar, and we most certainly had it. Best of all, I think Steve was aware of the fact that he had passed a bend in the road.
Thirdly – we had a few very cool ‘dance’ moments from the audience. We had people up dancing from the second or third song, for a start, which is always good. We had the floor full of dancers at some point in each of the sets, and solidly so through the third and fourth. It was great when we played ‘500 Miles’ towards the end of the third. This always draws out the scots and party animals, and they tend to stalk stomp and sing their way through the song with the band. The display was exhuberantly passionate on this night – great fun.
The most memorable moment, however, was during ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, at the end of the Third. Steve was grinding away on lead, Nancy was totally lost in the hypnotic rhythms of the vocal refrains. And in the audience was one of our Stompers, a fellow who’d only been up for ‘500 Miles’ to this point. It was like the dance demon got him, and he started driving himself in a dhervish jumping light footed dance. There was energetic feedback between him and the band, one of those alchemical moments when the dancer drives the band drives the dancer and everyone has their eyes shut. I didn’t, and could watch what was happening and ride the wave that the moment graced us with.
Although it’d been a while since we played, a few things are memorable.
Firstly - The audience, besides being decent in size and demeanor, was noteable because it wasn’t dominated by any one particular social group. There was a nice mix which we knew had come to see us by various paths and connections. To be there of an evening, however, one would have noticed the 'diverse homogeneity' of our audience. Their age was thirty plus, the males were not somewhere on this side of the tracks, the women were all dressed up. They all seemed comfortable in each other’s presence. The only one who looked like he didn’t was the man from cambridge.
Secondly - Steve came into his own as a lead guitarist. The band as a whole was a bit disjointed in the first set, competent but not flowing. We were all aware of it, and those who've seen us before would have, but not too many of these there in the first set. We knew that things were only going to get better off an already solid base. The second and third brackets were amongst the best we’ve played.
And this was due in no small part to Steve’s work on the guitar. His leads were on time and in tune, and busy enough figurations that were at the same time solid because simple worked their way into much of what we played. I’ve always felt rock music needs a driving guitar, and we most certainly had it. Best of all, I think Steve was aware of the fact that he had passed a bend in the road.
Thirdly – we had a few very cool ‘dance’ moments from the audience. We had people up dancing from the second or third song, for a start, which is always good. We had the floor full of dancers at some point in each of the sets, and solidly so through the third and fourth. It was great when we played ‘500 Miles’ towards the end of the third. This always draws out the scots and party animals, and they tend to stalk stomp and sing their way through the song with the band. The display was exhuberantly passionate on this night – great fun.
The most memorable moment, however, was during ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, at the end of the Third. Steve was grinding away on lead, Nancy was totally lost in the hypnotic rhythms of the vocal refrains. And in the audience was one of our Stompers, a fellow who’d only been up for ‘500 Miles’ to this point. It was like the dance demon got him, and he started driving himself in a dhervish jumping light footed dance. There was energetic feedback between him and the band, one of those alchemical moments when the dancer drives the band drives the dancer and everyone has their eyes shut. I didn’t, and could watch what was happening and ride the wave that the moment graced us with.
Easter Sunday - Cumberland Gig
On Easter Sunday, March 2005, we played at the Cumberland Hotel in the afternoon. The day was quite okay as gigs go, pretty well attended with an audience that stayed basically until we were done. There were quite a few young bucks that were initially sceptical as they rocked up, but nearly all of them were at least singing along with us, if not dancing, by the final sets.
Competent, but not brilliant, is how I’d measure our performance. Though, once again, I’d say that the audience who had not seen how good we can be were not too upset at what they saw. I guess our performance is more dynamic than that of a lot of bands, and this is always a bonus in live gigs.
This was the last show we played at this venue with its wooden floors. I have heard that where the bands play now has a concrete floor. This should be good, as we have always had a bit of a challenge to keep the bottom end vibration under control with the floor set up.
Competent, but not brilliant, is how I’d measure our performance. Though, once again, I’d say that the audience who had not seen how good we can be were not too upset at what they saw. I guess our performance is more dynamic than that of a lot of bands, and this is always a bonus in live gigs.
This was the last show we played at this venue with its wooden floors. I have heard that where the bands play now has a concrete floor. This should be good, as we have always had a bit of a challenge to keep the bottom end vibration under control with the floor set up.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Glanville Wharf - 18 Mar O5
Glanville Wharf Gig – 180305
Requiem played at the Glanville on Friday night, show started at 8.30 pm and went to about 12.45 am. We played four sets, plus a couple songs tacked onto the end. Had about 3 dozen people present from midway through the first set ‘til after the last song. Everyone was happy with the performance, audience seemed very excited. Got another gig booked at the same place for the afternoon of the Sunday after Easter.
This is the third show we’ve played here, and all have been good or better. I know that for some reason I feel quite comfortable playing at this place, both in myself and as a member of the band. Which is strange because, ‘objectively’ speaking, as a venue, it has no outstanding positive features, and quite a few negatives. There’s something to ponder about here…
We had a bit of a scattered arrival time, and Sox was the last to turn up which is unusual. Playing on a Friday night could have contributed to this, as we all have occupations that keep us busy during week days. Perhaps Sox was last to arrive because he had furthest to travel (work – home – gig)? In our stage layout we reverted to having me front left/centre and Steve rear left. That worked fine. Apparently the sound was evenly mixed through the pub, and I know the beat was strong and steady.
We didn’t have any set lists drawn up fifteen minutes before the show. Instead, we (Nancy) put them together in the breaks and wrote out copies of each list for the band. It worked well, but would be too exhausting to do every gig as it means that some of us don’t actually have a break during the ‘breaks’. Gigs are hard enough to get through as is (just learnt from a TV show where a sports physician speaks of ONE song in front of a big crowd putting a singer through physical stresses (respiration and heartrate) equivalent to an endurance runner on a five km run).
Our truest fans were already there, eating, when I arrived. God bless them, they always stay as long as they can (usually till after we’ve packed up), drink lots and thoroughly enjoy themselves. They also listen closely and give us feedback if we want to listen. Including band members, we brought in a dozen meal orders for the pub.
First set was unusual in that, of eleven songs, over half we haven’t played publicly for at least six months, and about half were first made famous by Austalians. Although there weren’t many punters there yet, it was good to dish these songs up to those who have seen us rotate a fairly steady song list for six months. People were rocking up through the first set - a handful of locals, around a dozen people connected through Adelaide University, or through the women who had come up to Peterborough. There were even a couple fellows from the Mid North! Great crowd, most of them stayed all night and those that left did so because they had a long way to travel. Fair enough, was good to see them.
Second set was different in that we had a sax player who Steve knows join us. I’ve never played with brass before. I liked it, but it certainly is easier to fit five on stage than six (for a couple years we were a six piece). The sax player’s name was Rob, he hadn’t much experience with bands before. He loved doing it. Hope we see him again.
The rest of the night was cool. Everything went smoothly with a high energy level. We all raised quite a sweat (necessary, this, for a good gig – don’t know why). Tempos, leads, rhythms and memory all worked well, and audience got right into it. Had dancers for much of it (including a very martial scotts dance to ‘500 Miles’). The best thing about this good gig was that there was no ‘vibe’ that night except that which we brought on, it was due to us playing great rather than us playing on a great night. If you know what I mean.
Next Sunday we’re at the Cumberland again, and then return to the Glanville the Sunday following.
Requiem played at the Glanville on Friday night, show started at 8.30 pm and went to about 12.45 am. We played four sets, plus a couple songs tacked onto the end. Had about 3 dozen people present from midway through the first set ‘til after the last song. Everyone was happy with the performance, audience seemed very excited. Got another gig booked at the same place for the afternoon of the Sunday after Easter.
This is the third show we’ve played here, and all have been good or better. I know that for some reason I feel quite comfortable playing at this place, both in myself and as a member of the band. Which is strange because, ‘objectively’ speaking, as a venue, it has no outstanding positive features, and quite a few negatives. There’s something to ponder about here…
We had a bit of a scattered arrival time, and Sox was the last to turn up which is unusual. Playing on a Friday night could have contributed to this, as we all have occupations that keep us busy during week days. Perhaps Sox was last to arrive because he had furthest to travel (work – home – gig)? In our stage layout we reverted to having me front left/centre and Steve rear left. That worked fine. Apparently the sound was evenly mixed through the pub, and I know the beat was strong and steady.
We didn’t have any set lists drawn up fifteen minutes before the show. Instead, we (Nancy) put them together in the breaks and wrote out copies of each list for the band. It worked well, but would be too exhausting to do every gig as it means that some of us don’t actually have a break during the ‘breaks’. Gigs are hard enough to get through as is (just learnt from a TV show where a sports physician speaks of ONE song in front of a big crowd putting a singer through physical stresses (respiration and heartrate) equivalent to an endurance runner on a five km run).
Our truest fans were already there, eating, when I arrived. God bless them, they always stay as long as they can (usually till after we’ve packed up), drink lots and thoroughly enjoy themselves. They also listen closely and give us feedback if we want to listen. Including band members, we brought in a dozen meal orders for the pub.
First set was unusual in that, of eleven songs, over half we haven’t played publicly for at least six months, and about half were first made famous by Austalians. Although there weren’t many punters there yet, it was good to dish these songs up to those who have seen us rotate a fairly steady song list for six months. People were rocking up through the first set - a handful of locals, around a dozen people connected through Adelaide University, or through the women who had come up to Peterborough. There were even a couple fellows from the Mid North! Great crowd, most of them stayed all night and those that left did so because they had a long way to travel. Fair enough, was good to see them.
Second set was different in that we had a sax player who Steve knows join us. I’ve never played with brass before. I liked it, but it certainly is easier to fit five on stage than six (for a couple years we were a six piece). The sax player’s name was Rob, he hadn’t much experience with bands before. He loved doing it. Hope we see him again.
The rest of the night was cool. Everything went smoothly with a high energy level. We all raised quite a sweat (necessary, this, for a good gig – don’t know why). Tempos, leads, rhythms and memory all worked well, and audience got right into it. Had dancers for much of it (including a very martial scotts dance to ‘500 Miles’). The best thing about this good gig was that there was no ‘vibe’ that night except that which we brought on, it was due to us playing great rather than us playing on a great night. If you know what I mean.
Next Sunday we’re at the Cumberland again, and then return to the Glanville the Sunday following.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Gaslight Gigs, Feb - Mar 05
On Thursday Requiem rocked up at the Gaslight Jam, a weekly jam session at the Gaslight Tavern in the suburb of Brompton. The format for these evenings has basically remained unchanged over several years. There’s a ‘house band’ which has all its gear on stage, and plays music to warm up the crowd. The band at the moment has been there a year or two, a fairly tight rock combo with a steady diet of seventies music. They’re pretty good, though they do tend to play the same songs from week to week. They’ll play a set, and then introduce the next batch of musicians. This might be a ready made band (like us), or a thrown together band composed of musicians that are present. Unless there’s a special need (such as occasionally a keyboard) the jammers will plug their instruments into the amplifiers on stage. These ad hoc combos can be pretty damn good. There’ll be from three to six songs (depending upon how many are waiting to get up and how the audience likes the music). Then the next jammers get up. This goes on until 1 am, interspersed with the house band if there’s a gap between jammers.
It all depends upon how many musicians rock up for how the night will go.
We played around 11 pm, all covers. Tight, loud, professional. Maybe too much so, as the audience didn’t cheer like they usually do when someone’s cooking on stage. That would be a bit worrying, if I didn’t see that they were watching us very intently. Adelaide audiences can be a fickle thing. I think the audience was ‘judging’ us, as most of those people hadn’t seen us as a band, but had seen Nancy sing in lots of adhoc combos over the years as she often goes to jam nights on her own. I think they like her, and were judging her band, to see if ‘they’ll’ look after her. I guess they think we’re okay because they were fairly friendly to us afterwards.
The following Saturday night we played there in a regular gig. It’s been about nine months since we last played a real gig at the Gaslight. Was nice to be back again.
The dissapointing thing was the crowd, about a dozen through the evening. I don’t think the night would have paid for the publican. I spoke to her afterwards, she thought that there were quite a few other things on which drew her regular crowd away for the night. “That’s rock’n’roll,” seemed to be her attitude and I appreciated that. As always, there were also about half a dozen of our own followers who rocked up and stayed. As always, this was inspiring to us.
Musically, it didn’t seem to work as well as it has in past. Might be because, foolishly, we put steve back centre and me front left. Wrong move, as putting Sox and Steve together seems to disrupt the flow. We did it for various reasons that seemed good enough at the time (to Steve’s doubt). We should have left it the way Steve had it. Anyway, live and learn.
I broke strings on two guitars in the evening. Made a change of strings in the third break. We were tight, but there was a lot of work holding it together. I think Nancy had a sore throat and this restricted what she could do. Still, it was a pretty neat gig.
Next Friday night we play at the Glanville Wharf hotel, and on Easter Sunday at the Cumberland (Glanville). Both of these gigs look like being well attended. We have one practice session before then, so we hope to work out a few bugs in the meantime.
It all depends upon how many musicians rock up for how the night will go.
We played around 11 pm, all covers. Tight, loud, professional. Maybe too much so, as the audience didn’t cheer like they usually do when someone’s cooking on stage. That would be a bit worrying, if I didn’t see that they were watching us very intently. Adelaide audiences can be a fickle thing. I think the audience was ‘judging’ us, as most of those people hadn’t seen us as a band, but had seen Nancy sing in lots of adhoc combos over the years as she often goes to jam nights on her own. I think they like her, and were judging her band, to see if ‘they’ll’ look after her. I guess they think we’re okay because they were fairly friendly to us afterwards.
The following Saturday night we played there in a regular gig. It’s been about nine months since we last played a real gig at the Gaslight. Was nice to be back again.
The dissapointing thing was the crowd, about a dozen through the evening. I don’t think the night would have paid for the publican. I spoke to her afterwards, she thought that there were quite a few other things on which drew her regular crowd away for the night. “That’s rock’n’roll,” seemed to be her attitude and I appreciated that. As always, there were also about half a dozen of our own followers who rocked up and stayed. As always, this was inspiring to us.
Musically, it didn’t seem to work as well as it has in past. Might be because, foolishly, we put steve back centre and me front left. Wrong move, as putting Sox and Steve together seems to disrupt the flow. We did it for various reasons that seemed good enough at the time (to Steve’s doubt). We should have left it the way Steve had it. Anyway, live and learn.
I broke strings on two guitars in the evening. Made a change of strings in the third break. We were tight, but there was a lot of work holding it together. I think Nancy had a sore throat and this restricted what she could do. Still, it was a pretty neat gig.
Next Friday night we play at the Glanville Wharf hotel, and on Easter Sunday at the Cumberland (Glanville). Both of these gigs look like being well attended. We have one practice session before then, so we hope to work out a few bugs in the meantime.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Cumberland Hotel, Glanville, 20/2/05
On Sunday afternoon Requiem played our first gig at the Cumberland Hotel, just down the road from the Glanville Wharf (where we played the previous Sunday). Good gig. It was several weeks ago that Steve dropped into the pub and organised the booking. At the time I was really glad about it (I still am), as I remembered the pub fondly from a few years ago as a friendly and comfortable pub (it still is). The woman who handled the booking has maybe either heard us, or heard of us, because she booked us for Easter Sunday also. I suspect that will be a good show.
Terry and Steve were there first and had done the bulk of the setting up by the time Nancy and I arrived around 3 pm. When we arrived the barmaid welcomed us with a beaming smile, very nice. Sox was running a bit late for him, but we were all ready to go by 4 pm. Unlike the previous week, we were all fighting fit.
With ten minutes to go we were asked to start with a quieter set as there was still quite a few punters having a bet on the TAB in the bar and they’d want to hear the final races. This was no problem for us, but did entail reorganising the set lists, which Nancy had spent quite a while putting together. She’d intended to start with a bang, so there was a bit of shuffling around to do. If you don’t know, creating set lists is an artform in itself.
We played four sets, progressively heavier as the evening drew in. We kept the breaks to 15 min (except the last, 20 min). No complaints from anyone there. It was almost dark when we finished.
The pub seemed to draw a fair Sunday crowd under its own steam. We had forty to fifty people there throughout the show, with up to ten of them dancing on several occasions. I think we would have had a few more there except that Port Adelaide was playing footy that evening against the other local team in the national league (Adelaide Crows). The song that drew the most dancers was ‘Midnight Special’. There was some really good rock’n’roll dancing from the older members in the audience, the most shining example of the day when a barmaid danced with the publican (?) and the others left the dance floor to them for a song they were that good. I applauded them at the end of that song (can’t recall which song it was). Audience sang along most lustily to Mustang Sally and Can’t Always Get What You Want. My favorite audience participation song was ‘500 Miles’, as we had a ‘scottish circle’ kicking up their heels on the floor as we played.
The Requiem crew this show included a handful of Steve’s friends, Tracy & Wayne, and Jo with two of her cowgirl friends. As always, wonderful to see them, and even more wonderful to see them getting right into the music (rather than just turning up out of politeness). Tracy and Wayne brought our grandkids, Jack brought his toy guitar and spent about a set imitating and studying the poses of guitarists. Very cute. Blake in his pram just burbled away for the couple sets they were there. Beautiful to see Nancy dancing with Blake in one of the breaks. Great family show.
As for our performance, not as tight as the week before but a better gig all round. Maybe half a dozen times we screwed up, but each time managed to pick up the pieces and improvise our way back on track. Not a problem, audience enjoyed. The grandest screw up was one of our originals (Internet Blues), which we hadn’t played together for half a year. The band started playing in different keys, and Nancy started singing in yet a third key. Sounded very weird but coordinated by half way through first verse. What capped it off was that Nancy was able to repeat the key changes in the remaining verses, thus making a whole new way to play the piece. I think we all actually liked the way it turned out.
Only technical problems were that the venue had a vibrating floor, making the bottom end of our sound quite dominant, and that I broke a string during ‘Rising Sun.’. I kept up the vocals, and changed guitars between verses. Quite professional.
We next play on Friday next at our old haunt, the Gaslight Tavern in Brompton. Looking forward to it …
Terry and Steve were there first and had done the bulk of the setting up by the time Nancy and I arrived around 3 pm. When we arrived the barmaid welcomed us with a beaming smile, very nice. Sox was running a bit late for him, but we were all ready to go by 4 pm. Unlike the previous week, we were all fighting fit.
With ten minutes to go we were asked to start with a quieter set as there was still quite a few punters having a bet on the TAB in the bar and they’d want to hear the final races. This was no problem for us, but did entail reorganising the set lists, which Nancy had spent quite a while putting together. She’d intended to start with a bang, so there was a bit of shuffling around to do. If you don’t know, creating set lists is an artform in itself.
We played four sets, progressively heavier as the evening drew in. We kept the breaks to 15 min (except the last, 20 min). No complaints from anyone there. It was almost dark when we finished.
The pub seemed to draw a fair Sunday crowd under its own steam. We had forty to fifty people there throughout the show, with up to ten of them dancing on several occasions. I think we would have had a few more there except that Port Adelaide was playing footy that evening against the other local team in the national league (Adelaide Crows). The song that drew the most dancers was ‘Midnight Special’. There was some really good rock’n’roll dancing from the older members in the audience, the most shining example of the day when a barmaid danced with the publican (?) and the others left the dance floor to them for a song they were that good. I applauded them at the end of that song (can’t recall which song it was). Audience sang along most lustily to Mustang Sally and Can’t Always Get What You Want. My favorite audience participation song was ‘500 Miles’, as we had a ‘scottish circle’ kicking up their heels on the floor as we played.
The Requiem crew this show included a handful of Steve’s friends, Tracy & Wayne, and Jo with two of her cowgirl friends. As always, wonderful to see them, and even more wonderful to see them getting right into the music (rather than just turning up out of politeness). Tracy and Wayne brought our grandkids, Jack brought his toy guitar and spent about a set imitating and studying the poses of guitarists. Very cute. Blake in his pram just burbled away for the couple sets they were there. Beautiful to see Nancy dancing with Blake in one of the breaks. Great family show.
As for our performance, not as tight as the week before but a better gig all round. Maybe half a dozen times we screwed up, but each time managed to pick up the pieces and improvise our way back on track. Not a problem, audience enjoyed. The grandest screw up was one of our originals (Internet Blues), which we hadn’t played together for half a year. The band started playing in different keys, and Nancy started singing in yet a third key. Sounded very weird but coordinated by half way through first verse. What capped it off was that Nancy was able to repeat the key changes in the remaining verses, thus making a whole new way to play the piece. I think we all actually liked the way it turned out.
Only technical problems were that the venue had a vibrating floor, making the bottom end of our sound quite dominant, and that I broke a string during ‘Rising Sun.’. I kept up the vocals, and changed guitars between verses. Quite professional.
We next play on Friday next at our old haunt, the Gaslight Tavern in Brompton. Looking forward to it …
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Glanville Wharf Hotel Gig - 13/02/05
On Sunday afternoon we played 4 – 8 pm at the Glanville. This was our second gig here. Musically it was a success and there there was enough of a crowd (not bad for a Sunday) to make it worth it to the pub (two staff behind the bar at the busiest).
We had set up by about 3.30 pm, Terry had been there from maybe 2 pm. We reverted back to our ‘new’ line up, with Steve on the wing with his instruments and myself in the centre between Sox on the drums and Nancy at stage front. I managed just to fit the amp I am using (Steve’s Laney) between the drums and Steve’s keyboard. Being a daylight gig, we had no lights to worry about, cutting the amount of cabling and un/loading quite noticeably.
We were all still wiping off the red dust from Peterborough from our gear as we set up. I used the cables which proved alright the week before, and had no problem. That will teach me for using a cheapie cable with my guitar. In retrospect, I thought as we played through the first set, when I had troubles was when the band’s troubles began in the previous week. We were professional enough then to keep going. This week, we showed our professional attitude in the tightness of the sets, the enthusiasm and fun we displayed.
The audience was composed of four fairly distinct groups. Steve and Jacqui’s friends were there right through. Good on them. They seem to still enjoy it, and give us someone to keep us sharp by continually improving technically and artistically. A second group was a bunch that knew Sox. They stayed to nearly the end of the third set. They gave lots of inidicators of being quite surprised at the quality (I hope) of Sox’s band, and displayed by their dancing and toe tapping movements at the table that they enjoyed what they heard. Wayne, Tracy and their friends and kids were also there for the first two sets. This was excellent. The kids (Nancy’s (and my(!)) grandkids) burbled along until it was time for them to go. The final group was the amphorous clientele of the pub, 6-10 through the show. Included men women and children. Again, seemed to be pleasantly surprised (younger) and thoroughly enjoy it (older). The kid was transfixed and danced his way through the sets, wide eyed, until he left. Hope we have inspired him.
Encouragingly, one of Nancy’s mate Joe’s friends, who had made the cowgirl trip to Peterborough, came in during the last set. Was real good to see her all dressed up in black. We have a few people who have seen us before doing this at our gigs now. I’m not sure whether it is a conscious identification with the band (we dress black for gigs), or a combination of coincidence and personal taste. Shape of things to come?
The show was composed of four sets. Nancy had listed five sets but by the end of the third we realised that we we’d finish the fourth at about 7.40 pm, which wouldn’t leave any time for more music if we had even a short break (which we always try to limit ourselves to), so we played through ‘til eight in an extended fourth set. Again, the first and final sets were each just short of an hour, and our breaks were 15 min at the longest. Compared to a lot of bands I’ve seen, these are long sets and short breaks. The band holds up well to it to this call on their resources and therefore, as we all like being on stage making music more than sitting around, I think this is a now a permanent feature of our performances. As someone who used to see a lot of bands, I know this is a good thing.
We started with almost the same set as we did last week. It was really nice to get into ‘Alright Now’ (Free) and play to Steve’s nicely distorted lead. Doubly so considering that this was the piece during which my guitar crapped out on me in the previous week. We played four of our own songs this week (Misty Eyed Vision, Scream, Butterflies and Decisions). They went down fairly well with the audience, had their attention with the words and their feet tapping to the music.
There were no major stuffups technically, nor total clangers artistically. Steves’s guitar leads continue to develop. Tempo holding, regulated distortion, rhythmic bends, confident improvastion, a ‘brighter’ and more truly pitched sound than there once was. This is really good and justifies the band’s choice to stick with Steve rather than look for another guitarist after the departure of our previous lead.
The best points for me personally were the moments when the ‘rhythmic section’ (keyboard, drum, guitar) developed a rolling momentum of its own (these moments make music worthwhile), when Nancy cut loose on her vocals (always a favorite), and when all the backing vocals sang in key (increasingly likely).
This has turned into a long post. Before concluding I should observe that Sox was feeling unwell when we started, but played through without flagging. And Nancy had been sick in bed for almost the whole previous week, only feeling up to the show on the day we did it. Both of them came through, and they have the highest physical workload during a gig. Well done!
Final point – we play at the Cumberland Hotel (down the road from the Glanville Wharf Hotel) next Sunday afternoon (4-8pm), before returning to the Gaslight in Brompton for a Saturday night gig a couple of weeks later. We also have another Saturday night gig at the Glanville, and Easter Sunday at the Cumberland booked. See you next week …
We had set up by about 3.30 pm, Terry had been there from maybe 2 pm. We reverted back to our ‘new’ line up, with Steve on the wing with his instruments and myself in the centre between Sox on the drums and Nancy at stage front. I managed just to fit the amp I am using (Steve’s Laney) between the drums and Steve’s keyboard. Being a daylight gig, we had no lights to worry about, cutting the amount of cabling and un/loading quite noticeably.
We were all still wiping off the red dust from Peterborough from our gear as we set up. I used the cables which proved alright the week before, and had no problem. That will teach me for using a cheapie cable with my guitar. In retrospect, I thought as we played through the first set, when I had troubles was when the band’s troubles began in the previous week. We were professional enough then to keep going. This week, we showed our professional attitude in the tightness of the sets, the enthusiasm and fun we displayed.
The audience was composed of four fairly distinct groups. Steve and Jacqui’s friends were there right through. Good on them. They seem to still enjoy it, and give us someone to keep us sharp by continually improving technically and artistically. A second group was a bunch that knew Sox. They stayed to nearly the end of the third set. They gave lots of inidicators of being quite surprised at the quality (I hope) of Sox’s band, and displayed by their dancing and toe tapping movements at the table that they enjoyed what they heard. Wayne, Tracy and their friends and kids were also there for the first two sets. This was excellent. The kids (Nancy’s (and my(!)) grandkids) burbled along until it was time for them to go. The final group was the amphorous clientele of the pub, 6-10 through the show. Included men women and children. Again, seemed to be pleasantly surprised (younger) and thoroughly enjoy it (older). The kid was transfixed and danced his way through the sets, wide eyed, until he left. Hope we have inspired him.
Encouragingly, one of Nancy’s mate Joe’s friends, who had made the cowgirl trip to Peterborough, came in during the last set. Was real good to see her all dressed up in black. We have a few people who have seen us before doing this at our gigs now. I’m not sure whether it is a conscious identification with the band (we dress black for gigs), or a combination of coincidence and personal taste. Shape of things to come?
The show was composed of four sets. Nancy had listed five sets but by the end of the third we realised that we we’d finish the fourth at about 7.40 pm, which wouldn’t leave any time for more music if we had even a short break (which we always try to limit ourselves to), so we played through ‘til eight in an extended fourth set. Again, the first and final sets were each just short of an hour, and our breaks were 15 min at the longest. Compared to a lot of bands I’ve seen, these are long sets and short breaks. The band holds up well to it to this call on their resources and therefore, as we all like being on stage making music more than sitting around, I think this is a now a permanent feature of our performances. As someone who used to see a lot of bands, I know this is a good thing.
We started with almost the same set as we did last week. It was really nice to get into ‘Alright Now’ (Free) and play to Steve’s nicely distorted lead. Doubly so considering that this was the piece during which my guitar crapped out on me in the previous week. We played four of our own songs this week (Misty Eyed Vision, Scream, Butterflies and Decisions). They went down fairly well with the audience, had their attention with the words and their feet tapping to the music.
There were no major stuffups technically, nor total clangers artistically. Steves’s guitar leads continue to develop. Tempo holding, regulated distortion, rhythmic bends, confident improvastion, a ‘brighter’ and more truly pitched sound than there once was. This is really good and justifies the band’s choice to stick with Steve rather than look for another guitarist after the departure of our previous lead.
The best points for me personally were the moments when the ‘rhythmic section’ (keyboard, drum, guitar) developed a rolling momentum of its own (these moments make music worthwhile), when Nancy cut loose on her vocals (always a favorite), and when all the backing vocals sang in key (increasingly likely).
This has turned into a long post. Before concluding I should observe that Sox was feeling unwell when we started, but played through without flagging. And Nancy had been sick in bed for almost the whole previous week, only feeling up to the show on the day we did it. Both of them came through, and they have the highest physical workload during a gig. Well done!
Final point – we play at the Cumberland Hotel (down the road from the Glanville Wharf Hotel) next Sunday afternoon (4-8pm), before returning to the Gaslight in Brompton for a Saturday night gig a couple of weeks later. We also have another Saturday night gig at the Glanville, and Easter Sunday at the Cumberland booked. See you next week …
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Peterboroug Gig - 5/2/05
On Saturday night we played a big gig at the Peterborough Rodeo in South Australia’s mid-north (250 odd Kms from Adelaide). We got the show several weeks ago through an associate of a band member who had been booked to do it but found himself double booked. Was a good pick up. The previous year a solitary country singer had been the performer.
We all drove up separately, meeting up at the Railway Hotel mid arvo. We then went and argued our way in past the Ute people (a subtribe of rodeo folk) into the site. Put all our stuff on the truck under canopy they had set up. Then found out they wished to realign the truck so that we would play ‘down’ the grassed slope which bordered the arena, rather than face an (empty) arena. We then waited while the trucker was first located in a town about 50 miles away and then eventually moved his truck. Thus we only set up once the Rodeo proper was underway (from 6 pm). I gotta say, the full array of equipment on the van looked pretty imposing and professional. There was no doubt a full on rock band was going to be playing later.
We then got to enjoy the rodeo. I won’t say too much about that here except a few points and impressions. Nearly all the men and a lot of the women and children wore either a ‘cowboy’ hat or a cap (which I called a ‘tractor cap’ without anyone raising an eyebrow). Competitors and spectators came mainly from northern and mid northern South Australia, or the Northern Territory. There were maybe 2000 people present. They liked Slim Dusty, there was a Slim recording playing from about 4 pm to 11 pm. It was the same recording! It was a real country show, where everyone maintained a more formal civility towards each other than their city cousins would, no overly excited crowd actions, a deep sense of appreciation and respect. I loved the rodeo, have an immense respect for the skills and courage of entrants and organisers.
We kicked off at 11 pm. Had three sets lined up, were to finish at 2 am. Straight into it with These Boots are Made for Walking, Am I Pretty Enough, Midnight Special and Ring of Fire. We had them, and were playing well. Although we hadn’t had opportunity for more of a sound check than to make sure mikes were working (including drum mikes which we usually don’t use) I think we sounded pretty good.
It was a full outdoor show which was pretty new to us, people stretched about before us for a couple hundred meters on the grass concourse. Maybe 1200 to 1500 people stayed through the set. A lot of people, the further back from us you looked, the more evaluative they were. The closer you got to us, the more likely they were to be participating (moving, dancing, singing). There was always someone up dancing in the dance area immediately beneath us.
The first set fell apart about 45 min in when my amp stopped producing sound. Over several songs I tried to fix it, faking the guitar but singing. I eventually changed one of my leads and it was okay. Set ended. Nancy was distressed to have learnt she had locked keys in car in wide open view. Spare key in hotel room, hotel key in car. This lead to delay of 20 min in set break (as I was with a guy trying to break into car and lost track of time). Loss of momentum.
Second set, starts disastrously with House of the Rising Sun, Keyboard out of sync, drums couldn’t get it. Guitar string breaks for me. Other problems with lack of coordination between the band (strung out along truck). Once again, I was on the wing which I think breaks up our rhythm section. Audience loyally stuck through it. I think we were still playing to 600 people at 1 am. We finished this set at about 1.40 am, nearly straight into abreviated final set. Started with biggest song of the evening, ‘High Voltage’. Nutbush, Bitch, Come as You Are, Roadhouse Blues, Twist and Shout and River Deep were the other biggies.
We were given a one song warning at 2.15, and finished with Little Aeroplane. There were still maybe 200-300 people there, and maybe 40 or 50 were doing the aeroplane around the place. Pretty cool.
Special thanks here to Jo and the girls who came up from Adelaide to party on with us at the Rodeo. Hope it was worth it! It's always great to know that someone has made the effort to see us specifically. Makes us feel appreciated. You wouldn't do all this if it was only for the money...
Not our best show, don’t even know if the organisers were happy or not to learn that we didn’t play much country. Will get feedback in the next week. The audience loved us. I think we were the first full on act a fair few of the cowboys had seen. They enjoyed. Was good to give them something in return for who and what they are. I think we would have looked like a good band that wasn’t having the best gig. Nothing to be ashamed of. Afterall, for every shit piece we did we did four to which they sang and danced. And that’s what a rodeo band should be like, eh? Next few gigs are back in the city. Will fill keep you posted …
We all drove up separately, meeting up at the Railway Hotel mid arvo. We then went and argued our way in past the Ute people (a subtribe of rodeo folk) into the site. Put all our stuff on the truck under canopy they had set up. Then found out they wished to realign the truck so that we would play ‘down’ the grassed slope which bordered the arena, rather than face an (empty) arena. We then waited while the trucker was first located in a town about 50 miles away and then eventually moved his truck. Thus we only set up once the Rodeo proper was underway (from 6 pm). I gotta say, the full array of equipment on the van looked pretty imposing and professional. There was no doubt a full on rock band was going to be playing later.
We then got to enjoy the rodeo. I won’t say too much about that here except a few points and impressions. Nearly all the men and a lot of the women and children wore either a ‘cowboy’ hat or a cap (which I called a ‘tractor cap’ without anyone raising an eyebrow). Competitors and spectators came mainly from northern and mid northern South Australia, or the Northern Territory. There were maybe 2000 people present. They liked Slim Dusty, there was a Slim recording playing from about 4 pm to 11 pm. It was the same recording! It was a real country show, where everyone maintained a more formal civility towards each other than their city cousins would, no overly excited crowd actions, a deep sense of appreciation and respect. I loved the rodeo, have an immense respect for the skills and courage of entrants and organisers.
We kicked off at 11 pm. Had three sets lined up, were to finish at 2 am. Straight into it with These Boots are Made for Walking, Am I Pretty Enough, Midnight Special and Ring of Fire. We had them, and were playing well. Although we hadn’t had opportunity for more of a sound check than to make sure mikes were working (including drum mikes which we usually don’t use) I think we sounded pretty good.
It was a full outdoor show which was pretty new to us, people stretched about before us for a couple hundred meters on the grass concourse. Maybe 1200 to 1500 people stayed through the set. A lot of people, the further back from us you looked, the more evaluative they were. The closer you got to us, the more likely they were to be participating (moving, dancing, singing). There was always someone up dancing in the dance area immediately beneath us.
The first set fell apart about 45 min in when my amp stopped producing sound. Over several songs I tried to fix it, faking the guitar but singing. I eventually changed one of my leads and it was okay. Set ended. Nancy was distressed to have learnt she had locked keys in car in wide open view. Spare key in hotel room, hotel key in car. This lead to delay of 20 min in set break (as I was with a guy trying to break into car and lost track of time). Loss of momentum.
Second set, starts disastrously with House of the Rising Sun, Keyboard out of sync, drums couldn’t get it. Guitar string breaks for me. Other problems with lack of coordination between the band (strung out along truck). Once again, I was on the wing which I think breaks up our rhythm section. Audience loyally stuck through it. I think we were still playing to 600 people at 1 am. We finished this set at about 1.40 am, nearly straight into abreviated final set. Started with biggest song of the evening, ‘High Voltage’. Nutbush, Bitch, Come as You Are, Roadhouse Blues, Twist and Shout and River Deep were the other biggies.
We were given a one song warning at 2.15, and finished with Little Aeroplane. There were still maybe 200-300 people there, and maybe 40 or 50 were doing the aeroplane around the place. Pretty cool.
Special thanks here to Jo and the girls who came up from Adelaide to party on with us at the Rodeo. Hope it was worth it! It's always great to know that someone has made the effort to see us specifically. Makes us feel appreciated. You wouldn't do all this if it was only for the money...
Not our best show, don’t even know if the organisers were happy or not to learn that we didn’t play much country. Will get feedback in the next week. The audience loved us. I think we were the first full on act a fair few of the cowboys had seen. They enjoyed. Was good to give them something in return for who and what they are. I think we would have looked like a good band that wasn’t having the best gig. Nothing to be ashamed of. Afterall, for every shit piece we did we did four to which they sang and danced. And that’s what a rodeo band should be like, eh? Next few gigs are back in the city. Will fill keep you posted …
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Alford 29/1/05
Alford Gig 29/1/05
We played our third gig in Alford on Saturday night. Success, tight all the way through four longish sets and an encore of four songs. Steve comfortable and creative with his leads, has got his amp under control. Sox’s sound a seemingly endless collation of layers, able to draw a crescendo out to a satisfying climax. Terry’s fingers driving his bass around an almost melodic line. Nancy, hypnotically projecting her voice and finding inner rhthyms for us all to hear. Myself, somehow filling in the spaces with a rhythmic pulse, Steve’s old amp bucking beneath.
There was a fair bit else on in the district, so the audience was somewhere between 25 and forty adults, with around thirty being there the average in sets two and three. Bar did a busy trade. Most of the folk were locals, which was different from the last couple times. Several made a return visit, were pleased to be remembered. A local FM radio personality from Moonta was passing, stopped outside to listen (she tries to hear all the bands that pass through the area for material for her her radio show), called her mum to get on down ASAP, came in and stayed the rest of the night. May get more work here.
The pub had put up a few posters we had sent up, and ran an add in the paper for a fortnight. I think it paid off, publican said more turned up than she thought would, considering the competition.
From the first song we were tight. The wild flights into improvisation were structured and willed, extensions of songs came about due either need to draw them out, keep the dancers going, give another version of a particularly pleasing solo. The sound was loud but clear, with the instruments and voices nicely balanced. Had the floor light show, so we were probably quite a visual.
Played a few originals for the first time in ages. Very positively received. Noticed that our already powerful sound grew more powerful when we played our own songs. I think this will mean that we always play a song or two at least of our own. I know the audiences like it. As do we, I think.
The other advantage of playing our own music is that it allows us to establish our own name. For example, our mini album – ‘Origins’ - has been obtained by the radio lady, so we’ll get a bit of airplay up there. She will plug us a bit for our next gig, which is the Peterborough Rodeo. The CD and originals give her something to play. The next gig, by the way, is a biggie. Playing to between 1500 and 3000 people (!) from the back of semi trailer, from around 10 30 pm after one of the state’s major rodeos. Massive, from our point of view. Will let you know what happens…
We played our third gig in Alford on Saturday night. Success, tight all the way through four longish sets and an encore of four songs. Steve comfortable and creative with his leads, has got his amp under control. Sox’s sound a seemingly endless collation of layers, able to draw a crescendo out to a satisfying climax. Terry’s fingers driving his bass around an almost melodic line. Nancy, hypnotically projecting her voice and finding inner rhthyms for us all to hear. Myself, somehow filling in the spaces with a rhythmic pulse, Steve’s old amp bucking beneath.
There was a fair bit else on in the district, so the audience was somewhere between 25 and forty adults, with around thirty being there the average in sets two and three. Bar did a busy trade. Most of the folk were locals, which was different from the last couple times. Several made a return visit, were pleased to be remembered. A local FM radio personality from Moonta was passing, stopped outside to listen (she tries to hear all the bands that pass through the area for material for her her radio show), called her mum to get on down ASAP, came in and stayed the rest of the night. May get more work here.
The pub had put up a few posters we had sent up, and ran an add in the paper for a fortnight. I think it paid off, publican said more turned up than she thought would, considering the competition.
From the first song we were tight. The wild flights into improvisation were structured and willed, extensions of songs came about due either need to draw them out, keep the dancers going, give another version of a particularly pleasing solo. The sound was loud but clear, with the instruments and voices nicely balanced. Had the floor light show, so we were probably quite a visual.
Played a few originals for the first time in ages. Very positively received. Noticed that our already powerful sound grew more powerful when we played our own songs. I think this will mean that we always play a song or two at least of our own. I know the audiences like it. As do we, I think.
The other advantage of playing our own music is that it allows us to establish our own name. For example, our mini album – ‘Origins’ - has been obtained by the radio lady, so we’ll get a bit of airplay up there. She will plug us a bit for our next gig, which is the Peterborough Rodeo. The CD and originals give her something to play. The next gig, by the way, is a biggie. Playing to between 1500 and 3000 people (!) from the back of semi trailer, from around 10 30 pm after one of the state’s major rodeos. Massive, from our point of view. Will let you know what happens…
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Glanville Wharf Hotel Gig
Jan 14 – 2005
We hadn’t played at this pub before. Steve had noticed the fact that they have bands when he drove past every day. So, one day on a delivery job, he called in and got us a gig. In the week before the show the publican showed himself a stressball nervous nellie. We only put up posters with a week to go, this worried him. Even when Nancy got the show advertised in the various gig guides, the publican was not very nice about it. Oblivious, we determined to do a good show, and put out the word to a few friends.
We were scheduled to play from 8.30. We were set up by about 7.45. At five to eight, there were no new faces in the pub. Steve and Sox were working each other’s nervousness, thinking we’d be playing to no-one. I don’t think the worry wort publican helped. Nancy said don’t worry, they’ll be here and even if they’re not we’ll put on a good enough show for him to know it’s worth it. Me and Terry just plodded on, it’s nice to have a crowd but as long as you do a good job is the main thing.
By 8.30 there were a dozen or so in the room we played, and maybe twice this filtered in through the first set. A few more drifted in later. Very few left before the end of the night. So we played, again, to somewhere between forty and fifty people. Pretty good considering. We would have known about 1/2 of them, and some of those we knew brought friends. It was particularly pleasing to me to see Ben, our original lead guitarist from 1999, in the Audience. He was pretty impressed with what we have become and enjoyed himself. A compliment from Ben is worth ten from most. My other favorite viewers were a couple that came in at the start and stayed the whole night, after hearing us as they drove by and liking what they heard.
This pub regularly puts on live music. Judging by the flyers around the place, the standard is two middle aged men with guitars and a drum machine playing covers in a technically correct manner. We would have been a nice change.
First set was very smooth, we were smiling at its conclusion. The following three just built on this. Our set up on stage was different to usual, Sox and Nancy were back and front centre, Terry and Steve were stage right and left. That left no room for me on the wings where I normally hang, so I put myself in front of the drum, behind nancy, with my amp under Steve’s keyboard. For once I was happy to have a baby amp. In retrospect, this would have created a tighter visual focus for the audience and, by putting me in centre stage, allowed my natural enjoyment and performative nature to show itself more than usual. One of our regular viewers commented on it in our first break, he thought the ‘presentation’ was much better than the past.
Steve seemed much more relaxed and pulled off a few good leads, Sox held the speed to a constant, Terry was smiling more often than not, Nancy was rocking. I managed to lose myself in the music several times, and am working out how to work ‘rhythm’ guitar into the deep fabric of the music, whereby through different strokes and emphases the effect is almost of continual riffs in the background. Great fun.
At the end of the evening, the publican was also relaxed and pretty glad about his selection of band. He wanted to hire us regular, ‘especially if you always bring a crowd like this.’ I made sure he knew that audiences are fickle. Also seems that there is a chance of Sunday arvo gigs here. And I think that getting our nose into a pub in the region will lead to other work, as they all compete and share clientele.
Good gig, satisfying musicianship, rock n roll improvisations pulled off, covered old songs in our own unique manner. Finally, the fans are starting to push for a return of originals. Now, all we have to do is convince Steve and Sox that the fans are right!
We hadn’t played at this pub before. Steve had noticed the fact that they have bands when he drove past every day. So, one day on a delivery job, he called in and got us a gig. In the week before the show the publican showed himself a stressball nervous nellie. We only put up posters with a week to go, this worried him. Even when Nancy got the show advertised in the various gig guides, the publican was not very nice about it. Oblivious, we determined to do a good show, and put out the word to a few friends.
We were scheduled to play from 8.30. We were set up by about 7.45. At five to eight, there were no new faces in the pub. Steve and Sox were working each other’s nervousness, thinking we’d be playing to no-one. I don’t think the worry wort publican helped. Nancy said don’t worry, they’ll be here and even if they’re not we’ll put on a good enough show for him to know it’s worth it. Me and Terry just plodded on, it’s nice to have a crowd but as long as you do a good job is the main thing.
By 8.30 there were a dozen or so in the room we played, and maybe twice this filtered in through the first set. A few more drifted in later. Very few left before the end of the night. So we played, again, to somewhere between forty and fifty people. Pretty good considering. We would have known about 1/2 of them, and some of those we knew brought friends. It was particularly pleasing to me to see Ben, our original lead guitarist from 1999, in the Audience. He was pretty impressed with what we have become and enjoyed himself. A compliment from Ben is worth ten from most. My other favorite viewers were a couple that came in at the start and stayed the whole night, after hearing us as they drove by and liking what they heard.
This pub regularly puts on live music. Judging by the flyers around the place, the standard is two middle aged men with guitars and a drum machine playing covers in a technically correct manner. We would have been a nice change.
First set was very smooth, we were smiling at its conclusion. The following three just built on this. Our set up on stage was different to usual, Sox and Nancy were back and front centre, Terry and Steve were stage right and left. That left no room for me on the wings where I normally hang, so I put myself in front of the drum, behind nancy, with my amp under Steve’s keyboard. For once I was happy to have a baby amp. In retrospect, this would have created a tighter visual focus for the audience and, by putting me in centre stage, allowed my natural enjoyment and performative nature to show itself more than usual. One of our regular viewers commented on it in our first break, he thought the ‘presentation’ was much better than the past.
Steve seemed much more relaxed and pulled off a few good leads, Sox held the speed to a constant, Terry was smiling more often than not, Nancy was rocking. I managed to lose myself in the music several times, and am working out how to work ‘rhythm’ guitar into the deep fabric of the music, whereby through different strokes and emphases the effect is almost of continual riffs in the background. Great fun.
At the end of the evening, the publican was also relaxed and pretty glad about his selection of band. He wanted to hire us regular, ‘especially if you always bring a crowd like this.’ I made sure he knew that audiences are fickle. Also seems that there is a chance of Sunday arvo gigs here. And I think that getting our nose into a pub in the region will lead to other work, as they all compete and share clientele.
Good gig, satisfying musicianship, rock n roll improvisations pulled off, covered old songs in our own unique manner. Finally, the fans are starting to push for a return of originals. Now, all we have to do is convince Steve and Sox that the fans are right!
Lighthouse Gig 31/12/04
New Years Eve Gig - 2004
Ales and Sails Tavern, Port Adelaide
We played again at the Lighthouse Tavern in Port Adelaide. We were invited to play on New Years Eve following our first successful gig at the venue and, I believe, that the band originally booked dropped out several weeks earlier. Years ago, when we first started electrifying our band, it was a goal to play NYE. We finally did it!
The show was listed to start at 9 30 pm. We had set up by 7, and most of the band went to have tea at another nearby pub with some of our supporters (we have a few). When we started playing, there were only half a dozen or so in the band room, but there were around a dozen in the bar. By the end of the first set, numbers had stabilised to between thirty and forty all up, with about two thirds local. Most of them stayed for the whole evening so, considering that there a lot of things on in the local area, the publican was happy.
Of the people we drew in, two in particular stood out. A middle aged couple had had their first night out in fourteen years (kids!) and had been sitting in their car on the nearby wharf when they heard us playing. Wife had urged husband to come and check it out, and they stayed all night. There were several locals also who left to go to parties etc after the first set, but returned for the later part of the evening.
As gigs go, it wasn’t our best. Nor was it our worst. We played four sets with a lengthy encore. First set was very nervous. Second set we got into a rhythm. Third set was marked by the clock ticking over to the new year. We had been practicing Auld Lang Sine as a band for that moment, but nancy started singing it before anyone was ready. She was singing in a strange key which was not true to pitch. It took us guitars and bass about a verse to work this out. We then stopped, allowing her and the drums to continue. It sounded very scottish. We are sure that we would have pulled tears if we had been able to build the song as we had practiced. Still, we pulled it off.
The locals enjoyed our music, and most of our regulars returned for our next gig two weeks later at the Glanville Wharf Hotel. So we must have done alright. Never-the-less, the band was not too happy with the show. We made lots of silly errors and it didn’t sound as good as it had in the past. We had managed to cover our mistakes so most of the audience didn’t even know of them, but we did.
I taped the show, as I sometimes do. Listening to it later it was clear that we sounded nervous. This backed up what we had thought the case while on stage. Had a word to Steve to not worry about the audience, playing well is all that we can really give them so concentrate on that. In retrospect, the fact he had a new amplifier that he was still working out probably had something to do with his tentativeness.
Our stage presence wasn’t that good, long gaps between songs, every song starting with someone saying, “are we ready?” Half the songs preceded by someone ‘practicing’ a little riff, tuning and technical changes being made at full volume in a clash with the piped music between sets. Luckily, all easily correctable.
But what was really good was that none of the mistakes weren’t easily fixable, it was mainly a case of relaxing a bit on stage.
Ales and Sails Tavern, Port Adelaide
We played again at the Lighthouse Tavern in Port Adelaide. We were invited to play on New Years Eve following our first successful gig at the venue and, I believe, that the band originally booked dropped out several weeks earlier. Years ago, when we first started electrifying our band, it was a goal to play NYE. We finally did it!
The show was listed to start at 9 30 pm. We had set up by 7, and most of the band went to have tea at another nearby pub with some of our supporters (we have a few). When we started playing, there were only half a dozen or so in the band room, but there were around a dozen in the bar. By the end of the first set, numbers had stabilised to between thirty and forty all up, with about two thirds local. Most of them stayed for the whole evening so, considering that there a lot of things on in the local area, the publican was happy.
Of the people we drew in, two in particular stood out. A middle aged couple had had their first night out in fourteen years (kids!) and had been sitting in their car on the nearby wharf when they heard us playing. Wife had urged husband to come and check it out, and they stayed all night. There were several locals also who left to go to parties etc after the first set, but returned for the later part of the evening.
As gigs go, it wasn’t our best. Nor was it our worst. We played four sets with a lengthy encore. First set was very nervous. Second set we got into a rhythm. Third set was marked by the clock ticking over to the new year. We had been practicing Auld Lang Sine as a band for that moment, but nancy started singing it before anyone was ready. She was singing in a strange key which was not true to pitch. It took us guitars and bass about a verse to work this out. We then stopped, allowing her and the drums to continue. It sounded very scottish. We are sure that we would have pulled tears if we had been able to build the song as we had practiced. Still, we pulled it off.
The locals enjoyed our music, and most of our regulars returned for our next gig two weeks later at the Glanville Wharf Hotel. So we must have done alright. Never-the-less, the band was not too happy with the show. We made lots of silly errors and it didn’t sound as good as it had in the past. We had managed to cover our mistakes so most of the audience didn’t even know of them, but we did.
I taped the show, as I sometimes do. Listening to it later it was clear that we sounded nervous. This backed up what we had thought the case while on stage. Had a word to Steve to not worry about the audience, playing well is all that we can really give them so concentrate on that. In retrospect, the fact he had a new amplifier that he was still working out probably had something to do with his tentativeness.
Our stage presence wasn’t that good, long gaps between songs, every song starting with someone saying, “are we ready?” Half the songs preceded by someone ‘practicing’ a little riff, tuning and technical changes being made at full volume in a clash with the piped music between sets. Luckily, all easily correctable.
But what was really good was that none of the mistakes weren’t easily fixable, it was mainly a case of relaxing a bit on stage.
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