Optimistic thoughts listening to taped gig

On listening to the tape we recorded at our recent performance the ears shuddered at some times, and at others I thought “wow!”. So here’s a little summary of the tape. Hope I don’t offend anyone. Before you read it, however, you should click here to read the report of the gig itself.

Set 1

Major and dominating problem on the recording, as it was on stage, is the destructively distorted bass amplification. Sort of a high tinny sound, but also just dynamically overblown. Ironically, the ‘warbling’ effect of the screechy bass really suited ‘Come as you are’ (Nirvana). Most of the time however, it overpowers all of the other instruments to the detriment of the whole. I don’t think it’s fair to comment further as, on stage, the effect of the bass amp had exactly the same attention blocking effect as it has on the tape. Lesson to be relearnt: if something seems wrong at the time, fix it. We are all responsible.

Set 2

Much much better. Probably the bestest bit about it is the mix. All instruments become audible and you can hear the timbre of the vocals. At the time and from my position this pretty accurately summed up the improvements in my acoustic surroundings as experienced on stage. That, combined with the fact that I had the volume setting on my guitar up a bit more than usual and my greater familiarity with the material, allowed me to loosen up through this set.

The two observations I recall making at the time were that, firstly, it was much better sounding bass now that Sharon had zapped the ‘high boost’ button and Barry had jiggled the EQ, and secondly, that I could hear Chris much clearer and Steve at least enough to get a bearing on him. I suspect the two were related.

We all made clangers, generally of the type which bespeak a great deal of rust accumulated over previous months of inactivity. Still, I’d hang around and listen to a band that sounded like we did during this set. We obviously were as loose as hell, but were equally obviously having fun and having a go. You can hear it on the tape, it’s infectious.

The potential sound we can make was perhaps most evident in ‘The Wall’ medley, and the Stones numbers, Jumping Jack Flash and Honky Tonk Woman.

Set 3

The third set was in the vein of set 2. I won’t linger too much on it. I will, however, mention something about my own playing which bugs me when I listen to the tape. It is that I really was rusty and really stuffed up some songs which I actually know quite well. The long break from the rigours of gigging has left various parts of our repertoire relatively unvisited as a group. And I have been too slack to go and do my homework revision. Tsk Tsk. At least I have a chance of atoning for this before next gig.

Set 4

I think that this is the best set on the tape. This has come as a surprise, as I felt while playing that we were pretty on the edge all the way through (we had all been up and about in our busy straight lives since about twenty hours earlier). However, listening to the tape, I’d say that the raw bones of what we were doing were being adequately fleshed out with determined attitude. And that counts at a rock gig. We certainly don’t ‘cover’ songs necessarily quite like the original, but if we can learn a bit more about dynamics (eg in Paint it Black), tempo (eg. Little Aeroplane) and interaction of harmony and melody (eg River Deep Mountain High) we’ll be able to consistently pull off what we are only presently showing in glimpses.

In Retrospect

I probably wouldn’t have hung around for the first set if I wasn’t in the band. It sounded pretty harsh, let alone the musicianship. The second set – I’d've stay in the pub to listen, but if I had had to go somewhere meanwhile I would have. Third set, the calculus would swing slightly further towards staying. And I’d definitely have delayed departure to all but a wedding or funeral to catch the last set til the final chord of Little Aeroplane. This is what I think after listening to the tape in the sobre light of day.

Thus, even though I have a fair bit of homework and brushing up to do as a musician, I also remain a great fan (how lucky am I!). Being realistic, and knowing my daytime job will reduce its demand on my limited hours and energy back to the level of a few months ago, I remain confident that we will continue to grind out more good rock and roll in the future.