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 …
Monday, February 21, 2005
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…
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