Chris from Coast asked me if I would deputize for Coast up to Xmas because their guitarist, Glyn, had resigned after becoming somewhat disillusioned with the band - particularly its singer Steve. Chris also asked me to host a practice session to look into Glyn's criticism of Steve. Chris also asked me
if I'd mind looking into Glyn's criticism of Steve. So in the week we had a session in my back room and it is true Steve does have some timing and consistency issues and some songs just don't suit. I suggested they drop a couple of the worse ones and pad out the sets with some Shads instrumentals while I'm depping with them.
On a windy, mild Autumnal evening, Jacqui and I set off for Bottisham at 6:25pm arriving at the gig just after 7pm. Chris and Ian were already there and Chris gave me hand in with my gear. I had decided to give my Bose system with T1 mixer and single bass bin an airing and that set up and sounded just fine with my usual Godin XTSA gig guitar. I planned to to use my PRS 12 string for some songs in set 1 and I gave that a good sound test in the empty hall. Interestingly, what sounds too toppy near the Bose sounded good in the hall. I had in mind a comparison with the Rickenbacker which is quite a toppy, compressed sound and was quite pleased with the PRS which I think is more strident and less compressed. My view is that it fills the guitar spectrum better in a single guitar, bass and drums line up; but I see how the Ricky could work better sharing the soundscape in a 2 guitar band set up.
Steve arrived and the boys swang into action with the PA which seems to be a combination of Ian's Behringer Europowered mixer with (Steve's) 15" plus horn speakers (not sure of the make).
Steve arrived and the boys swang into action with the PA which seems to be a combination of Ian's Behringer Europowered mixer with (Steve's) 15" plus horn speakers (not sure of the make).
To be fair the vocal mics sound OK through the main PA but the monitors are crackly, slightly distorted (and later on cutting in and out). The whole thing could do with an overhaul in my opinion. They don't make much use of FX which was OK for this lively hall. Even with maximum bass EQ the bass drum mic wasn't deep enough for me (miss that sub-bass on my Line 6 mixer).
We sound checked with "Smiling". Steve carves his 'own' melody out but it was fine sound wise. I suggested bringing the volume down to help deal with the lively hall, then it was off for beer!
Probably about 25 in the room by 8pm. We got changed and poppied up for an 8:30 start (Remembrance Day on the way!). I was happy to start with FBI - it sounded OK to me and we got a good round of applause, Steve came up and opened the vocals with "Heartbeat". About 3 numbers later Chris broke his D string. We decided to continue with "Alright Mama and Folsom Prison" while he changed it. Then we continued with a typical Coast set. I enjoyed playing the PRS 12 string on the Beatles and Searchers numbers and they went down well. After a few unexpected spells of Steve singing over solos and coming in early or late making for strange arrangements, I found I was having to signal him from afar as to when solo's and middle 8s were coming. We finished with "Runaround Sue" which he sang very well - nailing that Dion over saturated vocal sound. In the break Jacqui let me know the band was too loud and my harmonies were too low in the mix, so I pushed up my mic volume a bit (Steve has a very middley, penetrating voice and is very loud to compete with).
We returned to open with "Apache" to which Steve and I did the Shadows walk. It was quite fun 'walking' with another person and we got a truly great reception for it with thunderous applause from the 30 or so in the hall!
The set continued the patterns of before but I was stronger in conducting than before and we tightened up quite a bit to get some dancing going. Right at the end we had a request for "Moon of Love" so I took the boys into it. Steve knew enough words to karaoke it and it went surprisingly well.
In the break a local DJ had come up and talked about recently departed musicians and said he'd love to hear "Diamonds" from Jet Harris. I had told him about my time with the Checkmates and he said do "Eyes" as well (even though Emile is still about). So when we returned we duly obliged with a verse of "Diamonds" then into "Eyes" which Steve knew enough to improvise the words (and Chris remembered from my time with him in ReTrio). We now had the audience well onside and we rattled on through the set to "Johnny B Good" to finish. We got a lot of shouts for 'more' so Chris called for "Mustang Sally as the encore. As we came off my ears were ringing - the band had been very loud in the last set.
Looked at Chris's bass as we packed away. On the night, I couldn't see any sharp edges that would have led to the D string breaking. He said he'd restring the bass in the week and asked if I would give it a onceover and check intonation before the next gig. No problem I said.
Jacqui and I were able to get away quickly and made good time home - in for cocoa at 12:40am! Headachey the next day.
We sound checked with "Smiling". Steve carves his 'own' melody out but it was fine sound wise. I suggested bringing the volume down to help deal with the lively hall, then it was off for beer!
Probably about 25 in the room by 8pm. We got changed and poppied up for an 8:30 start (Remembrance Day on the way!). I was happy to start with FBI - it sounded OK to me and we got a good round of applause, Steve came up and opened the vocals with "Heartbeat". About 3 numbers later Chris broke his D string. We decided to continue with "Alright Mama and Folsom Prison" while he changed it. Then we continued with a typical Coast set. I enjoyed playing the PRS 12 string on the Beatles and Searchers numbers and they went down well. After a few unexpected spells of Steve singing over solos and coming in early or late making for strange arrangements, I found I was having to signal him from afar as to when solo's and middle 8s were coming. We finished with "Runaround Sue" which he sang very well - nailing that Dion over saturated vocal sound. In the break Jacqui let me know the band was too loud and my harmonies were too low in the mix, so I pushed up my mic volume a bit (Steve has a very middley, penetrating voice and is very loud to compete with).
We returned to open with "Apache" to which Steve and I did the Shadows walk. It was quite fun 'walking' with another person and we got a truly great reception for it with thunderous applause from the 30 or so in the hall!
The set continued the patterns of before but I was stronger in conducting than before and we tightened up quite a bit to get some dancing going. Right at the end we had a request for "Moon of Love" so I took the boys into it. Steve knew enough words to karaoke it and it went surprisingly well.
In the break a local DJ had come up and talked about recently departed musicians and said he'd love to hear "Diamonds" from Jet Harris. I had told him about my time with the Checkmates and he said do "Eyes" as well (even though Emile is still about). So when we returned we duly obliged with a verse of "Diamonds" then into "Eyes" which Steve knew enough to improvise the words (and Chris remembered from my time with him in ReTrio). We now had the audience well onside and we rattled on through the set to "Johnny B Good" to finish. We got a lot of shouts for 'more' so Chris called for "Mustang Sally as the encore. As we came off my ears were ringing - the band had been very loud in the last set.
Looked at Chris's bass as we packed away. On the night, I couldn't see any sharp edges that would have led to the D string breaking. He said he'd restring the bass in the week and asked if I would give it a onceover and check intonation before the next gig. No problem I said.
Jacqui and I were able to get away quickly and made good time home - in for cocoa at 12:40am! Headachey the next day.
1 comment:
Well done Mog, I think you've summed up the Ricky vs PRS usage very well there, I guess Ricky could be too thin on its own but it cuts through really well. Strange about the broken bass string, I used to break loads in the 1980s when slapping was all the rage but not bust one for 20 years since. Sounds like a successful night, hope the headache has passed though, loud headaches are the worst!
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