I was looking forward to a return gig here because it was a known, if
somewhat tight, single Bose set up and I had decided at last to 'bite the
bullet' and use the Line 6 digital mixer for its first live gig. To that end I had spent a couple of hours on
the Saturday afternoon going through and tweaking set up in my back room. I didn't have access to the two SM58 clones
the boys were using, but could simulate
using a spare SM58 (or so I thought). I
decided to use the Line 6 mic pre-sets as supplied and it sounded just fine in
my music room. Not quite as toppy and
bottomy as the Bose T1, but seemed to
cut through well. Despite a really great onboard FX section, we would still be using the Digitech
Harmoniser and Vocal 300 delay as outboard to get the benefits of foot switching. The most complicated Line 6 mixer thing is
setting up monitor settings as aux send and applying them logically to the
programmable control sensor knobs. I
also set up a spare line in for channel 13 just in case we needed to plug in a
mono source. Happy that I had covered
everything I loaded up satisfied with the decision to use it. However,
I did notice I was also loading in the bag with the T1 mixer and leads
(just in case?).
I got to the gig at 6:30pm to find the boys with their gear in place. It is very tight so I explained I would need every inch they could give. To their credit they leapt into action and found an extra 6 inches - luxury! They had already relocated the Xmas tree and it was a problem to get to the mains socket behind it. There was no other socket nearby! In the end I ran a long extension past the tree then behind the bass stack and drums to my area. I got the gear neatly set up with a cable run past the drums to all the FX, leaving about a 9 inch path beyond my Roland GT10 on the other side that people could use to squeeze through to the other bar (not the only route though). Before I started on the PA I agreed to test out Chris's new bass settings. The previous gig had seen things being vibrated off shelves and amps due to the powerful sub-bass and the kitchen staff had complained that it was interfering with their cooking!?!. So I played some funky bass riffs on his new settings while he walked the room. He had reduced the bass and sub-bass from just under 50% to about 12% leaving middle and top as they were. In front of the amp I thought the sound had been suitably tamed, but Chris the drum was still reporting vibrations. I took the view that you would never get rid of sympathetic vibrations completely in a pub and it would emasculate the sound completely to take it down any further. Chris the bass returned from his walk declaring himself satisfied so we called it a wrap. Next the moment of truth came as I powered up the PA to a squeal of feedback that was quickly suppressed by the anti feedback filters in the mixer. I decided to set up the 2 Chris's mics first. Strangely the two mics were quite dissimilar with Chris the drums' being much bassier. Both needed some top end adding compared to a Shure and I used the 'simple tweak' on the mixer where you move your finger over a X Y grid on the screen to give the right mix of terms like: deep, clarity, air and scoop rather than conventional EQ. With theirs roughly sorted, I had a go at mine and was pleased to hear that what sounded good at home also sounded good in the hall, so no EQ changes needed! I spent most of my time getting the relative mix between my mic and the harmoniser right. The FX loop worked well and only needed a little level adjustment. The guitar sound was a bit bass heavy so I tweaked that a little. Strings sounded OK and clear on a flat EQ and I left it alone. There was a slight gremlin in that the guitar wouldn't switch the synth programs. I only use it for strings and flute so not catastrophic, but I found the 13 pin lead into the synth wasn't pushed in far enough home and re-inserting it fixed the problem. Finally, I plugged the MP3 player into the (unlucky?) spare channel 13 using the newish lead I had fabricated - it sounded fine. I put our muzak on at 8:10 and popped out to the car to get my waistcoat when I noticed I had forgotten to change my trousers? Fortunately there was a spare pair in my suit bag and I was able to get changed in the toilet before things got messy in there. Chris the bass had a few supporters arrive in the shape of his missus Bridget, Abbie, Nathan and Richard, and one other whose name escapes me? The dining area was busy but the bar where we were playing was fairly quiet. I had a word with a chap who had come specially to see us; used to live in Manchester and was a neighbour and childhood friend of Wayne Fontana. I promised him a Mindbenders song once we got going!
Started off with the usual. All was OK, guitar was maybe still a tad bassy but I didn't feel an immediate need to adjust things until a few numbers in. Actually I thought it was a good balance: the reduced sub-bass allowing the bass to sit better in the soundscape and no strange vibrations of the walls and ceilings to worry about! The vocal sound was different: it sounded clearer to me but not as toppy, but that could be the venue. The harmoniser was also clearer and better balanced than of late. It was only when Chris the drum sang "Ring of Fire" that I attempted to make an adjustment to bring his vocal up a bit. Identifying the sensor to do that was trickier than a conventional mixer. Band performance had been good up to now but, apart from a couple of stalwarts, we were getting little response and now we were at our first red hat moment. 'Red hats on boys' I announced as we readied ourselves for the first Xmas song of the night: "Rockin Around the Xmas Tree". I pretty happy with the way it went for a first time out - it was tight and no mistakes! I expected some audience reaction, but there was no significant response - 'oh dear' it would be one of those nights; best to just plough on and concentrate on getting things right. We got to the end of the set finishing with an abridged version of "Green Grass" with virtually no audience reaction. While we were off I took some more of the top off Chris the drum's mic to get more volume on it - I think I got it as good as it can be with this clone mic.
We resumed for set 2 with "Apache". As usual I took the opportunity to step out front and listen to the band. It sounded pretty well balanced to me and I was very pleased with the guitar sound. We followed this up with a bit of banter about who the Shadows used to back? - no audience response whatsoever; so I had to do a Bruce Forsythe and look at the band for an answer! They didn't know either so off we went into: "Do You Wanna Dance". I made a mistake in the solo because I was trying to look at the set list, but otherwise it was OK. "Delilah" got a smattering of audience reaction so I had medium hopes for "White Xmas" the xmas song in this set. I thought we played it pretty well, but to no avail. To be fair, apart from some of our supporters, hidden away in an alcove, there was no one in the bar we could see. But I suspected the people in the dining area we enjoying it because twice we had couples exiting from the dining room via the bar who waved approvingly at the band - so maybe we were going down well there (i.e. the real audience was out of sight and sound!)? We carried on through the set in good order doing creditable performances of Don't Stop", "Get Back" (turned round to count it in and Chris the drum had dressed up in Beatle wig and John Lennon specs - brilliant!), Yellow River and "Amarillo". I was delighted to get this mostly right and we all finished together in the right key! Chris the bass indicated time was up but I called for one more: "Wonder of You" to finish (I was keen to exercise this). We got off to a shakey start as the boys were late to join in, getting in just before the verse vocal. Then all went well until the solo where I got distracted and messed up - flubbing the fingers to get through: but we did the end OK. I did the safe ending of singing the last line down rather than attempting the high G and this worked well.
In the break the MP3 player started crackling again so, rather than try and fix it, I got the band on for set 3. Second number in I messed up the middle of "Pretty Woman" badly. I had left the guitar on the rock sound group (in error) on the Roland GT10. Not a problem until the middle when I went to footswitch 3 for what should have been the tremolo sound and got a distorted overdrive instead. It is this point in the song that there are a lot of chords and, although I kept singing, it took some footwork and missed chords before I got back in on the right sound - doh! A couple of chaps had arrived at the bar by then and were taking an interest so that gave some audience to play to - we even got some applause from them for "Sweet Caroline" and "American Trilogy". We then embarked on Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" with Chris the drum doing the lead vocal. The good news was we played it through intact and at the right pace. The harmonies could have been tighter; my excuse was I was playing from memory and couldn't remember the words! Also I felt the band was a little too loose - but it was first time out and it is relatively complex. It raised a bit of response for the guys at the bar! We ran down to the finish with a tight and rocking "Hippy Hippy Shakes". I was pleased with that but we were already overdue on finishing time so I called for "Johnny B Goode" as the last song. This went well and as we did the 'Outroductions" we got some applause for each member of the band. 'Good night audience' I quipped as the two fellas at the bar left and they waved good night back. I wondered who they were; then Chris the drum explained they were from a rival local 60s band - ah that explained why they looked interested! The landlord apologised for the poor turn out in the bar, but added that a lot of the diners had enjoyed it and commented favourably! We were soon packed up and off home getting in before midnight. Not a great night but good for our development I think; and I was pleased with the use of the Line 6 mixer. Chris the bass felt the vocal sound from it was a bit thin compared to the Bose or Mackie. I was using the pre-set sound on my mic and it sounded good where I was. And this gig has unusual acoustics I remembered - but I'll check things out at the next gig!
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