Statistics for bloggers, bloggees and mathematicians.

For several months now I have used the web-based (free) sitemeter to count and measure visits to this blog. Don't worry, it doesn't identify individual computers or people, nor does it give me addresses. It counts site visits and page visits, country and domain, time and date. From all of this I know the following:

Nearly 500 visits so far, with an average visit length of just over two and a half minutes, averaging 2.2 page views per visit. These figures are a bit skewed because they include all of my own visits, for when I blog and create. My best deduction from data from site metre shows that I account for about half the visits originating from the domain which I do (try saying that in english!).

If I subtract half the visits from my domain (= 9% and shrinking as I become more efficient at blogging) from the total, I find that 52% of my visits come from Australia, with the USA as my second most common source of visitor (14%). Canada, Ireland and the UK, regularly show up. I have had runs of visitors from the Philipines. The rest of the visits are from a fairly even distribution across the continents of Asia (including the subcontinent and archipeligos), South America and Europe, with occasional visitors from Africa (and not just South Africa).

English is by far the major language the site is viewed in.

From my observations, google is the most common referring site (with my Yamaha G228 posting the most common question posed to google of which this site is deemed part of the answer). Other frequent referers, of which I am proud, are Adelaide Index and Adelaide Bands. The majority of visits are either from people hitting the 'next blog' button on a blogspot blog, or people who are bringing up the URL directly on their computer (hopefully from their 'favorites').

See you at the Cumberland (Glanville) after 3pm on Sunday, 1 October!

"Where were we on Friday night?"

Is a question some of our friends and fans might be asking, and with due reason. You see, The Negotiators didn't play Friday night, and with only a few hours notice of this there was no way to let you all know. Our most sincere apologies to The Sqluatters Arms also, for leaving them in a bit of a tight spot no doubt.

Why did we cancel the gig? Nancy has laryngitis, she is our singer and she and her voice are our greatest assets as a unit. She's also a trooper, so when she says she can't do something, you'd better believe that she's damn sure. She ain't a quitter. So when she said she couldn't, we didn't.

This is only the second gig in over seven years that we have cancelled. We have filled in for other cancelled bands about a dozen times. So we are ahead of the count. The only other time we cancelled it was due to fact that venue wanted to change the ground rules at the last moment in a manner and to a position that was unacceptable to us. This time, at least, there wasn't bad karma attached.

The best thing (besides preserving Nancy's potential) is that The Squatters Arms will have us back when we're ready. And that's real cool.

We next play again at the Cumberland on Sunday, 1 October. There's a social club gathering, and at least one footy club getting together there. Should be a great gig, as was our last one there...

Gig this Friday Night at The Squatters' Arms, Thebarton

Click here for details.

Cumberland Gig - 20 August 2006

The Negotiators played the Cumberland Hotel (Glanville) on Sunday, August 20th. It was a good gig, albeit of a different character to most of our recent shows (with the possible exception of that at the Hackney Hotel). Audience was appreciative, publican was happy, we had fun. What more could you ask for?

For me, the whole thing was a bit different from normal. Perhaps a narrative of the evening from my point of view (rather than the pseudo-objectivity of my usual ‘report format’) might convey some of the flavour.

As those of you who read my other blogs avidly may know, Nancy and I are in the throes of moving house. From Thursday night on it had been one slow motion conveyor belt from old house to new, with lots of lifting heavy shit upstairs. By Sunday morning I was digging and doing heavy lifting. Nancy was coming down with what has turned out to be laryngitis. By three o’clock I was finished what needed doing. By three thirty we got to the venue. By four o’clock we were playing.

All the gear was set up when we got there. Made it seem easy. I had to chuckle at what some of the audience must be thinking, as all the fellows do all this hard work setting up and then along comes a bearded guitarist in time to plug in for the sound check at ten minutes to go.

If they thought I was going to be the guitar hero, they must have realised that that was not the way it was to be in the first song when I broke a string. Let us hope this is not a return to the bad old days of my old Fernandez guitar. We’ll see…

Anyway, I changed to the Les Paul copy of Steve’s and got straight into the next song, ‘Stuck in the Middle’. Nancy was already into gear, and the guys were fast catching onto the spirit. We played through the set, ending with a cut down version of ‘Ring of Fire’ (due the incipient laryngitis).

The audience was classic cumberland (see various previous posts for what this means). We had a few regular fans, a few friends, and the usual sceptical but openeared regulars. We won over a few more of the locals by the end of the first set.

Sharon ran the sound again. She enjoyed herself amongst the punters, and quite looked the part of rock techie. The sound was good from stage, and I believe was a nice mix from out front, which is pretty important to how we come across to the audience. As she grows more confident, I think she’ll enjoy it even more.

The weird alien lighting rig set up a nice mood, not too distracting and fairly well balanced across the stage. It was a lot closer to us than it was in the bigger venue last week at Rosewater, Steve thought it made it noticeably hotter on stage. It’s a pretty decent light show, a couple floor lights and we’ll be laughing.

We had a few dancers more often than not, and played a fairly on-the-edge sort of gig. Highlights to me included; my first string change on my Cort guitar, making it through the third ‘Beatles’ set on the wing (having not had much chance to revisit these new songs in the last week and having misplaced my ‘memory sheets’ during the move), Barry’s crunching bass in ‘Get Back’, Nancy rocking it out to several of our instrumental sections, improvising a new backing vocal in ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, getting ‘Long Way to the Top’ just right, Chris’s pulsing cymbal rhythms, and sorting and packing all the gear in just over half an hour after we’d done.

But the greatest thing about the show was that, despite the ‘technical deficiencies’, it was still a gutsy gig, an adventure that we all enjoyed. I’m pretty sure that we all felt invigorated after four hours of playing hard rock, despite the fatigue creeping in. It was a workman like devil take the hindmost type of show to play. The newer linup, the technical help, the equipment evolution, all pulled together to make a good show out of what might once have been seen as difficult circumstances. It’s a very cool thing to be part of the evolving collective artistic entity that is a rock band. Everyone should try it some day.

Before going I should mention that Steve didn’t have his keyboard with him. This cut out a few songs from the repertoire, but I think it allowed him to just keep playing rather than think too much about coming instrument changes. It’s absence saved Sharon the hassle of having to factor in the ‘voice’ of the instrument amongst the PA mix. It also further opened up the stage, allowing us that valuable performance commodity – space. Especially combined with the fact that the mixing desk has migrated from side stage to the front since Sharon’s been along with us, it seems we have room to move on stage again – which leads to a more active ensemble.

We’ll see how we go this Friday night at The Squatters Arms Hotel in Thebarton.

Upcoming Cumberland Gig - Sunday, August 20

We will be playing this Sunday at the Cumberland Hotel, Glaville (near the Port, opposite Glanville railway station). We always play a good gig here (click here, here and here for some recent Cumberland gigs).

Playing next at The Squatter's Arms Hotel, Corner Port Road and George St Thebarton, on Friday August 25.

To read of our most recent gigs, click here and here.

Upcoming Squatters Arms Gig - Friday, Aug 25

This will be our first gig at the Squatters Arms. It would be nice to see a few familiar faces. We usually do pretty good when we first play a venue (for example, Rosewater F.C. and the Hackney Hotel gigs of this year). Would be great to see you there!

Corner of George St and Port Road, Thebarton. Near the Coke factory.

Rosewater Technical Notes

For a full report of our great evening at Rosewater Footy Club, click here.

Having Sharon be responsible for the sound, and act as a bit of a shepherd of eagre punters at the front of the dance floor was a great bonus. It allows the band confidence to keep focused even when all around is getting pretty chaotically crazy.

Only issues of sound (all corrected) were that the drums sounded muffled (notch up the treble on the desk for the kick mike), the audience to immediate stage couldn't hear much of what was coming from the opposite side of stage (angle Steve's amp, which also helped me hear him better), and a low loud system wide feedback hum in the third set (had to turn down the master volume a notch). We'll get there.

Having audience members up on stage and singing is pretty on the edge. You really have to exercise judgement and negotiate a fairly complex social task in granting their wish (or refusing it). Then you gotta hope they know what they're doing. Tends to work only in gigs where there's a vibe which will allow it, and which will ensure it only adds to the show, rather than hinders the night's momentum. At the Rosewater, we needn't have worried. The guys who got up with us were cool, and they didn't outstay their welcome.

My last observation - the amount some of our audience drank was amazing. Lots of young fit males, out for a fun night at the local footy club, some with girlfriends, and then the local audience that goes with a local venue like this, with good music and a bit to drink and lots of their friends was a recipe for a good night. Hope we get to play there again.

This Sunday, 20 August,we play at the Cumberland Hotel (Glanville) from 4:30 pm, and then we play Friday Night (August 25) at the Squatters Arms Hotel.

Rosewater F.C. - 12 August 2006

The Negotiators played the Rosewater Footy Club last night. It was a great gig. We debuted about 10 songs and the new lighting set up, playing four strong sets to a loud and woolly crowd. There were numerous highlights, of which I'll try and record a few here. Of course, you had to be there.

The day started with Steve and I moving the bulk of the gear in during the final quarter of the footy game, with a little help from a big bloke called 'Brains' who's known Steve over the years. There was a moment of almost horror when the mixing desk fell with a crash to the (carpeted floor). Luck it landed flat, it survived. All credit to Steve for not freaking out.

We were all ready to rock at 7:30. Might have been 3 dozen people there, the bulk of whom were vocally watching Port Power on the big TV. And they were very vocal Port supporters - is there any other kind? I could see maybe a dozen people at the bar, and they seemed to have a neutral/sceptical air about them. I knew High Voltage had played here last, and thought that maybe they were wondering if we were up to it. My thought was that we had to win them over. The cool thing, I saw it as a challenge rather than a chore. Thus, the importance of mindset (found out later that High Voltage had been too loud and brash and had driven a lot of the audience away).

First set was good. The crowd grew, we lost none, and more and more were giving us some of their attention for more of the time (despite their beloved Port hanging on in a close game). We played 'Money' as a soundcheck 10 min before we started, and then again for the fifth song. No problems, great song. The set was a lot more rock oriented than our first set usually is, starting with 'Stuck in the Middle' and ending with 'Ring of Fire'. Had a couple waltzing to this last, and a guy at the bar creeping around and lighting up peoples' shoelaces and trousers. Pretty funny really - especially when at least one of his targets couldn't realise why all his mates were pissing themselves laughing.

Second and third sets were rippers. Second set started with 'House of the Rising Sun'. Co-incidentally, the recorded music we'd played between sets had included this song just before we started (Animals' version - the most famous).Some nights, this would be a reason for a last minute song change. Not at Rosewater!

We proceeded to play the song probably as well as we ever have. It's a powerful song in any event, and we love it. I didn't look at the audience (unusual for me), I was so carried away with what I was doing. It wasn't long and there was that 'magic' when you know you've got the mojo happening, and it didn't go away.

Other highlights of second set included a 'boppy' version of our song, 'Internet Blues', which grabbed the attention of the young ones at the back who came just to check out the band. A mighty version of 'Paint it Black' - very solid sound. This set ended with 'Le Grange' (ZZ Top), which somehow worked its way out in a massive improvisatory lead in a manner true to the original. Steve has come a long way.

Third set was pretty groovy, starting with classic rock'n'roll (Credence, Beatles, Kiss), travelling through some old and simple songs ('Shout' and '500 Miles'), ending with Living End, Greenday and, finally, 'Hey Jude'. Wow. We had them rocking, and probably 60 people in the room. Port won their footy game when we had maybe a dozen people dancing, the next song was the Kiss classic 'Rock n Roll all Nite'. People were boogying and singing along everywhere. Couldn't have timed it better if we'd tried! Had a big footballer called Barry sing 'Prisoner of society' with Nancy. He did good. Hey Jude was a crashing crescendo. Intensely satisfying.

Final Set started with some Dylan, followed by 'The Wall' (we join Parts I, II and III, which appeals to Pink Floyd fans). The dancers stayed up right until the second last song ('Bobby McGee' - where Nancy shows she really can sing like Janis Joplin). The official 'end of the night' song was our own 'Fucked Decisions'. We lost the dancers, but had the listening attention of our working class audience (for a final song, pretty good).

For encores we played Little Aeroplane (when again we had a wanna be punk rock footy player up and singing full on - did good) and Smoke on the Water. We were already getting looks from the manager, having gone over time by nearly 20 minutes - so we couldn't keep playing (which is what the audience were after in a big way). Still around forty there. Management were pretty chuffed about that!

We were all packed up and out of there about three quarters of an hour later, with smiles on our faces and happy memories in our hearts. Well done, all!

A very special thankyou to our friend Sharon who's started doing the mixing for us. It's a bit of work to do it well, and she seems to be getting something out of it. As her ear and technical facility develops, this will add a bit of sweetness to the show. Looking forward to it. And thanks, Sharon. For some further commentary about the 'inner' side of the night, click here or check the post above.

We're next playing at the Cumberland (always have good gigs there) on the Sunday, August 20th, and then at the Squatter's Arms on Friday 25th August.

Awsome Beatles plus Weird Alien Lands

The Negotiators play at Rosewater Footy Club this Saturday, August 12, from 7.30 (click here for more details)

Awsome Beatles

Just a wee note to say that I think the Beatles were pretty awesome. When you look at the volume of music they produced, how well much of it is produced, how good so much of it is, and how they held it together for so long, it's just boggling.

Why do I say this?

At rehersal on Sunday we covered eight Beatles songs for the first time, and have them at the point where we're willing to give them a go live. That's pretty amazing, especially when you realise that they are all pretty distinct from each other. Somehow, most of them just seem to roll along once they get going, which isn't just familiarity with them, but inherent within the artform itself.

Weird Alien Lands

When I walked into rehersal room on Sunday I noticed a huge alien had landed. It was about ten feet tall and had four arms and three feet. It had lots of chords and wires, and looked metallically menacing. What was it?

It was a lighting set up Steve has acquired, complete with sequencing device, four major coloured spots and a psychedelic swirling backdrop projector. All on the one unit. Which looks like an alien. Very cool, will grab a photo of it sometime soon...