Went down with a cold just before this gig. Jacqui and I went out for a strong curry on the Friday hoping it would cure it before it took hold, but I was still very rough and sniffy Saturday morning. I loaded up under the influence of Lemsip and, to keep things simple at a small gig, I decided to try the Mesa Lonestar for guitar amplification with the new TC-H Voicelive3. I got changed into black shirt, thermal vest, and trousers so there would be no need to change at the gig.
Windy evening as I set off about 6:20pm. Arrived at the gig to find Chris and Ian loading in. I wheeled my amp in and then one small case of leads and FX. Another trip brought mic, guitar and music stands in and I was ready to set up. Only problem was a Xmas tree right in the way on my side, Still I was able to work round it - good job I brought the small Mesa amp. Steve arrived with the PA. Instant decision = no room for monitors.
I set my stuff up. It all sounded OK in an empty room. No sound check so we got interested in beer which was good for my cold. There weren't many in the "concert lounge" but there was an interesting fancy dress party going on in the sports bar in the next room. e.g. a chap was dressed as Wonder Woman! Meanwhile, we agreed to abandon ties for this performance. By show time there were still only about 15 in our room. But, at least one couple had ventured out from our old residency at the Felstowe Arms specifically to see us which was good to see.
We played a selection from the Set 1 listing. As soon as we struck up with "F B I" I was distressed with the guitar sound which was thin and trebly with a toppy break up spoiling the clean Shads sound I was hoping for. Strangely as Steve came on he said "great sound". Nevertheless, I dropped the treble and presence a notch and pushed up mid from 5 to 6.5. This now sounded more clear and commanding but it was only when I ventured out on to the dance area that I could hear just how clear the guitar sound actually was. Standing in front of the amp it seems you just get the distortion and other artefacts wafting up. My sore throat and lack of monitors precluded any heroics in harmony singing but, by trying out VoiceLive FX such as doubling and harmony we were delivering quite a full sound vocally. With minimal audience interaction, poor continuity between songs; and strange arrangements and melodies when actually playing songs, I expected a poor reception. However, as we warmed to the task, we seemed to go down alright with the small crowd?
Set 2 continued the same theme. I was getting increasingly irritated with the compression setting on the VoiceLive which didn't seem to work well with the Mesa's natural valve compression delivering a flat squashed solo sound. As I was only using the compression settings to boost the guitar for solos, I made a mental note to eliminate compression from the guitar FX patches but use the compressors 'make up gain' to boost the guitar solo sound when I get time.
We came on for the final set and a few numbers in I mucked up the chords in the second verse of "You Say Nothing At All" trying to play the arpeggios like the record. But the VoiceLive harmonies in this song were rather good and we got a good response to it - some wag in the crowd said it sounded like "El Divo". A few numbers later I think we were all pleased to finish with "500 Miles" - but there were enough shouts for more for us to do "Johnny B Goode" as an encore. And I was pleased we did 'cos this was a better final memory of the gig. I was able to crank the guitar up enough to get the Mesa to 'sing' a little with some nice sustain and just a slight halo of distortion. So, by the end of the night I had got the guitar sound sorted and knew what to do on the next FX programming session. But, feeling rough, I packed up and loaded quickly and took off for home ahead of the boys. I was home by 12:45 am which was good because the next morning we were driving to Bristol to visit brother in law Roy in hospital following his bike fall earlier in the week.
Postscript: the cold got worse on the Sunday trip to Bristol and back so I took the day off work on Monday hoping to get fit for the next gig at the weekend. Steve's on holiday after next Friday's gig and we are going to use my PA so he can get away early. I'll have to fire it up in the week to make sure all is working.
Windy evening as I set off about 6:20pm. Arrived at the gig to find Chris and Ian loading in. I wheeled my amp in and then one small case of leads and FX. Another trip brought mic, guitar and music stands in and I was ready to set up. Only problem was a Xmas tree right in the way on my side, Still I was able to work round it - good job I brought the small Mesa amp. Steve arrived with the PA. Instant decision = no room for monitors.
I set my stuff up. It all sounded OK in an empty room. No sound check so we got interested in beer which was good for my cold. There weren't many in the "concert lounge" but there was an interesting fancy dress party going on in the sports bar in the next room. e.g. a chap was dressed as Wonder Woman! Meanwhile, we agreed to abandon ties for this performance. By show time there were still only about 15 in our room. But, at least one couple had ventured out from our old residency at the Felstowe Arms specifically to see us which was good to see.
We played a selection from the Set 1 listing. As soon as we struck up with "F B I" I was distressed with the guitar sound which was thin and trebly with a toppy break up spoiling the clean Shads sound I was hoping for. Strangely as Steve came on he said "great sound". Nevertheless, I dropped the treble and presence a notch and pushed up mid from 5 to 6.5. This now sounded more clear and commanding but it was only when I ventured out on to the dance area that I could hear just how clear the guitar sound actually was. Standing in front of the amp it seems you just get the distortion and other artefacts wafting up. My sore throat and lack of monitors precluded any heroics in harmony singing but, by trying out VoiceLive FX such as doubling and harmony we were delivering quite a full sound vocally. With minimal audience interaction, poor continuity between songs; and strange arrangements and melodies when actually playing songs, I expected a poor reception. However, as we warmed to the task, we seemed to go down alright with the small crowd?
Set 2 continued the same theme. I was getting increasingly irritated with the compression setting on the VoiceLive which didn't seem to work well with the Mesa's natural valve compression delivering a flat squashed solo sound. As I was only using the compression settings to boost the guitar for solos, I made a mental note to eliminate compression from the guitar FX patches but use the compressors 'make up gain' to boost the guitar solo sound when I get time.
We came on for the final set and a few numbers in I mucked up the chords in the second verse of "You Say Nothing At All" trying to play the arpeggios like the record. But the VoiceLive harmonies in this song were rather good and we got a good response to it - some wag in the crowd said it sounded like "El Divo". A few numbers later I think we were all pleased to finish with "500 Miles" - but there were enough shouts for more for us to do "Johnny B Goode" as an encore. And I was pleased we did 'cos this was a better final memory of the gig. I was able to crank the guitar up enough to get the Mesa to 'sing' a little with some nice sustain and just a slight halo of distortion. So, by the end of the night I had got the guitar sound sorted and knew what to do on the next FX programming session. But, feeling rough, I packed up and loaded quickly and took off for home ahead of the boys. I was home by 12:45 am which was good because the next morning we were driving to Bristol to visit brother in law Roy in hospital following his bike fall earlier in the week.
Postscript: the cold got worse on the Sunday trip to Bristol and back so I took the day off work on Monday hoping to get fit for the next gig at the weekend. Steve's on holiday after next Friday's gig and we are going to use my PA so he can get away early. I'll have to fire it up in the week to make sure all is working.
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