Practice at Plug Studios Norwich

Met up with Nige and Mick at Plug for 11am. We set up my Bose for testing outputs to feed into Mick's PA. We did the test into the house PA and confirmed that the bass output would only be suitable for very low Bose processed frequencies. It worked best taking the T1 Master out into the power amp in section. I will have to return the reverb to input 4/5 on the T1 so we can provide a full vocal mix to Mick's PA. Nigel and I had talked about taking each Bose output separately to each side of Micks PA. But, given the description of the hall at Seacroft, I think it would be best if we can mix it to mono first. I'm not sure how we can do that without using Mick's mixer though?

Getting on with some practice we started to work through the 'showcase' set. In general we had some trouble with high singing. We need to bear in mind that as we begin to work together more often on these numbers the voices will flex better – so it is not a good idea to bring down the keys just yet!

Sky High: We added Nige and me on “aaahs” in the Chorus. Mick had trouble hitting the F on “Sky High---” so we agreed he would aim for a low A whilst Nige went for a low C and I went for the High A. Good enough to get by but I would rather fix it so Mick and Nige sings the C and high F under my high A . We adjusted the ending to repeat the Link Intro and end on a final stab on Am. Otherwise this went very well – tight and dynamic.

After the Sky High stab, the idea is for Mick and Nige to immediately pick up the drum and bass G intro for “Don't Worry Baby” I would suggest that this is a short 2 bars unless we are announcing over it. We sorted out harmonies based on top of Nigel's Mike Love type bass vocals which are characteristic of this song. Mick will need to listen to the Beach Boys phrasing on the lead line, hard to do and drum but worth the effort. We agreed to end it by repeating the Intro and then Rit Rallying to an accapella end doing a final “don't worry baby--”

Do You Wanna Dance: Mick sets up the Cliff type catchy snare intro and beat. Tempo needs to be not too fast to encourage dancing! We agreed Mick Lo Nige Lead Mog Hi on the harmonies. Ending with the final Chorus and “Oh Ba-by” Stop “Do you wanna dance” Drum Roll to end on G

Heartbeat: Mick to Count in (slightly faster than Buddy Holly heading to Nick Berry tempo) Mog to do first verse solo. On the Middle 8 Mick Lo and Nige Hi “aahs” “Wap Wap Wap” then all sing the final “Heart Beat why do you miss when my baby kisses me” Mick Lo start on D. Verse 2 Mick Lo Nige Hi on “Heart Beat” 's

How Sweet It Is: Mick Lead, Mog Close Above, Nige Hi Above (Carly Simon Lines) First Chord is C Maj 7. Mog to sort out Solo and Mick to Accent Final “I wanna stop” in half verse following. Ending on Final Chorus Rit Rally on Last “How sweet it is to be loved by you--”

How Long (Ace) went well. Mick Lead, Nige close above, Mog Hi Mog to sort out 16 bars of solo over Bm

How Long (Eagles) Nige and Mog to play E F# G G# A under “rock yourself to sleep” in Chorus Otherwise OK but with some room for improvement as we get familiar with key and playing together.

Beatles Medley: More work on Vocals and some harmonies to check. Mick to sing lead line on last “Yeh Yeh Yeh Ye—h” on She Loves You Nige will do the hi line and Mog will pick up the 6th note on the last Yeah.

I plan to write all these changes up in my Mogerised arrangements. At 4:45 we cleared the room in about 15 minutes and loaded up for the off in rush hour. I followed Nige to the A 47 and dropped down to the A 11 from there. A bit knackered after a hard days work.