ReTrio at Toppers Hemsby

It was a virus! A particularly nasty one that first made me lose my voice, second gave me a stinking cold and finished with a dose of the Norfolk cough.  I was still suffering with a phlegmy voice box 4 weeks later when a last minute gig came in to replace a failed duo at Toppers.  We thought about doubling up into two cars,  but in the end we elected to do a convoy of the 3 vehicles meeting Chris the drum en route to Thetford.  It was a nice sunny warm day for a trip to the coast.  Chris the bass and I got away on time at 5:30pm but soon ran into traffic at Ingham meaning we were late at our rendezvous (Indian Restaurant near Barnham on West side of A134)  But Chris wasn't there - being stuck in the same traffic!  We saw him rolling towards us a few minutes later and we sneaked in ahead of him to form the convoy.  Chris the bass led us over the Nun's bridges and it was a smooth if somewhat slow, run from there to Norwich.  Chris the drum wants to avoid strain on his old Mondeo engine so we potter along about 60-65mph.  Once on the A47 we picked up again but then ran into road works.  We made fair time after that so we arrived at the Sundowners caravan park at 7pm as planned.  It took a couple of false trails to actually park up at the club - but it wasn't open yet.  Chris went in search of the guvnor when he appeared from a nearby caravan and opened up the back doors for us.  He soon found Chris at the front and we started an easy load in. 

The performance hall looked more the part than when I played there 4 years ago with a pro lighting set up and furnished much more for dancing and drinking.  Mathew the guvnor explained they were an adults only club and we would need to be prepared to play through to midnight.  No problem we said - we'll do three 45s from 9 ish.  Fine he said!  We got the gear in and Mathew was very interested to see we were using Bose - only seen it with solo artistes so far he said.  Mick the compere arrived,  introduced himself and said he would take care of house music; and there would be a Cardingo session after 10pm to fit in.  A handful of people had drifted in as we set up. Chris the drum would be using my spare Shure SM58 'cos I wasn't happy with his mic last time out.   I had a bit of trouble powering up the PA - turned out I had forgotten to switch the Bose's on!?  But once over that we did half of "Smiling" to test the PA.  Sounded OK to me and I spotted Mathew listening intently at the back.  He didn't say anything which I took to be a good thing? 

With that all working we were able to get beers in and relax for an hour.  I asked for a lager and Chris the bass came back with a Kronenberg.  He didn't know it is strong stuff - so I would have to watch it and just have a half next time.  Had a laugh in the dressing room when Chris the drum put a kid's entertainer bear's head on.  We got changed in a relaxed manner into the red shirts n black waistcoats (no ties 'cos Chris the drum was hot).   There were about 40 in as we came on stage just before 9pm.  Mick gave us a good intro and we were off.  I had changed the set around a bit to liven it up and we opened with FBI,  the idea being to waggle the guitars a little as we play fairly up tempo.  Actually it went well and we got a good round of applause for it.  Next up was "Heartbeat" again (slightly more up tempo than usual) and it garnered a good response.  We eased it down for "Smiling and Groovy Kind of Love"  But I picked up on the announcements.  I was pleased with the response - the people out there must have been able to hear me well and I could hear their comments back enough to banter a little.  So far so good.  We did our 3 songs to introduce the members of the band ("Ring of Fire, Act Naturally & Eyes at Me For") and we all got good rounds of applause.  We followed with a bit of banter about rock n rollers slashing cinema seats then into "Rock Around the Clock - Blue Suede Shoes".  Again well received.  Next up we pinched the start of the old Foot Tapper Beatle medley by putting on the wigs for Eight Days A Week - Can't Buy Me Love"  and we got a good audience response to that bit of old showmanship I thought.  We followed this up with a well received medlification of "Needles and Pins into Walk In the Room".  There hadn't been much dancing up to this point and as the lead into the next number,  I asked if there were any ladies named Sue in the room.  'Yes' said one of two ladies towards the front.  So we bantered for a few seconds before getting underway with "Runaround Sue"   And a few got up to dance through this and the following "All Shook Up"   Time was up signalled Chris.  I didn't fancy any of the high singing finale songs so I announced "Green Green Grass" as the last number  -  also it seemed right for this crowd to sing-a-long with,  and so it turned out.  We finished the set to good applause - job well done I thought.
 

During the break Mick did his Cardingo session - he is pretty good at this compere / gaming role and it seemed to go well. By now there was probably over 60 in the hall and, although it was far from full, by our standards it was busy.  We came on for Set 2 starting with a well trodden walk through "Apache".  We definitely got a good round of applause for this and as usual I was able to gauge the sound which I thought was impressive: guitar and bass pretty spot on maybe mic up the bass drum next time?  Chris the bass had been using Dan's old Warwick bass amp at practice and I had set a more Fender Jazz bass tone on it with a hint of toppy click. I think he has set up his Ashdown amp similar 'cos it sounded very Fender Jazz but with a really solid bottom in this hall - I thought it was great!    We carried on with "Do You Wanna Dance,  Happy Together and Daydream Believer" as sing-a-longs and then I introduced Chris the drum for "Delilah".  Well of course the audience joined - very loudly too!  Chris later blamed the audience doing chicken noises in the chorus for throwing him out of kilter with the arrangement.  He completely missed the second verse and I had to hurry into the solo to keep things going.  The audience were perplexed 'cos they were singing it correctly!  Anyway Chris, a bit panicked, then went for the final verse,  got the words wrong again and we drew it to a big ending close.  We bantered our way out of it saying 'they knew it better than Chris';  but it was clearly one of those errors the audience did notice!  We quickly got underway with "Bad Moon, Move It,  Summertime Blues, Proud Mary".  My voice was beginning to break so I elected to do "American Trilogy" at this point.  It went really well and we got a massive response for it.  Following up I made a few mistakes with "Dont Stop" but the last few numbers went pretty well.   I still had a quite a tight throat,  so,  rather than do the usual "Wonder of You", I was happy to finish with Chris the drum singing "Achy Breaky Heart" for a change.  I thought we played it OK for first time out with Chris singing it and there were a few dancers. 

Mick took over smoothly while we had a short break  (reminds me to note how good he was at subtly changing lighting as the show progressed). As set 2 had progressed I had developed a bit of a bantering relationship with the two sisters Sue and Pam right at the front, so I went over to thank them for their support.  It was Sue that said she was delighted to hear us doing "Proud Mary" the Tina Turner way,  'cos she had chosen it for her funeral!!  But they said the band was great,  loved the song choices and entertainment and thought we were very good!  We came back on about 11:25pm for a shortish set 3.  This is mainly dancey and the songs link in so there's not so much banter.  After our last number around midnight: "Johnny B Goode" we got a big round of applause (by our standards) and Mick asked us if we wanted to do another.  'Yes' we said and we asked the audience if they wanted a fasty or a slowey.  It came back fasty so off we ventured into "Born to be Wild"  Chris the drum has some weird tempo changing heavy metal interpretation that just makes it a freak out. Still we had an enjoyable jam session and the audience was merry enough to appreciate it this time - but I will have to get the band more disciplined on this one!

We were quite elated with the gig after so many unresponsive pubs but,  in truth,  we had fared no better than the Foot Tappers would have and my voice was well below par; so it would be the guvnor's view as to whether we would get booked back - he told Chris he would ring but that could mean anything.  Once loaded up we set off and I looked in my mirror expecting to see past my suit bag if Chris the drum was following.  No suit bag!!  Fortunately, we had only gone a few yards and I was able to dash back and get the bag which had fallen under a table.  It was about 12:45am when we got going again and caught up with Chris the bass waiting at the entrance And then we set off on the long drive home.  Chris the drum was even slower on the way back and Chris the bass lost us by Norwich, so I trundled along at about 60mph with Chris the drum in tow.  It was about 2:30am when I got home and still quite mild.  But I was ready for bed so skipped the cocoa on this occasion.

 

Good Friday ReTrio at The Lucky Break Bury St Eds

We had the grandson and family over for Easter,  but somehow I managed to avoid getting diverted into a pub on the gig day.  However, I was feeling viral with a bit of a sniffy nose - could be tree pollen borne down to Bury on the Northerly wind from Thetford Forest?  Nephew Phil helped me load up and at 6:15pm I followed Chris the bass down town to the gig.  We were able to park up close to the short flight of stairs up to the club.  Chris the drum was already parked and setting up.  Getting the gear in wasn't too bad;  but we wasted a bit of time looking for Chris's keys (left on a table upstairs!) before looking at set up.  We needed to run power quite a long way down from the bar and over the fire escape for the band amplification.  For the lights Chris ran a lead over the other side of the club from the TV socket.   Without looking too closely we could see there would be floor space for a Bose each side of a rather large alcove; and we positioned the Bose bases one each side before loading the bass stack into position.  So far so good.  Then I came to fit the speaker poles to the base unit and it became immediately apparent that the Bose poles would be an inch too tight to fit in under the low ceiling.  I took a few minutes to think through the options and decided we would try it with the half poles.  The room wasn't massive and if we needed more oomph I could bring in a Line 6.  So we completed set up and sound checked.  Despite the half height Bose there was a definite feedback ring that we would have to work within.  Actually, it sounded OK in our playing positions and listening out front to the mics I thought it was a bit less toppy but it would be a good enough!   One problem emerged though:  Chris the drum's SM58 clone mic sounded excessively bassy and I couldn't fix it with the simple EQ on the Stagescape mixer.  Eventually I had to drill down into the advanced EQ and fix it there.  Whilst I felt it was good enough for this small gig I made a mental note that it would benefit from a complete re-set up when we get the opportunity.  In fact I am wondering if this particular mic is failing and changing characteristics on the way because it sounds much bassier than Chris the bass's identical mic?  I reckon I might get Chris the drum to use my spare Shure SM58 next time out.

 

 

In the meantime, several of Chris the drum's band supporters had arrived and with Jacqui and nephew Phil arriving about 8:30 there were about 25 in the club as we approached 9pm show time. Not full for sure,  but there was a positive atmosphere of enthusiastic anticipation.   I found an alcove near the toilets to get changed into our home strip of white tees and black waistcoats / trousers.  As we took to the stage.  I spotted that the mixer had entered a rare software glitch phase I had occasionally seen before.  It doesn't affect the sound,  but the mixing sensors glow blue instead of the green and not all of them light up.  Not good for making adjustments on the fly so I powered it down and re-booted without fuss as we took our positions.  We opened with Flingel Bunt and I thought the guitar sound was a bit weaker than normal.  I put it down to the half poles but then noticed that the guitar pick up selector was in position 4 rather than 5 - so I was getting the blend of the neck and middle pick ups rather than just the neck which has a commanding sound.  I switched it for the last verse and we ended in good order.    "Just One Look" and "Heartbeat" allowed me enough time to make some adjustments to Chris the drum's mic to kill hints of toppy feedback.  At last I was able to take stock of the audience reaction - actually we were going down pretty well and getting appreciative applause!  I relaxed into a good bantery frame of mind as we progressed though a typical set 1.  I did pre-warn the boys that we would link a couple of rock n roll songs together in this set.  On the night I chose "Rock Around the Clock" in G then straight into "Blue Suede" in A - and I am pleased to report it worked a treat!  I elected to finish the set with the debut of "A Little Bit More" that we had been rehearsing recently.  I find it is quite demanding to sing with the lead line sitting just lower than falsetto. I had arranged it such that the harmoniser would do high harmony in the second part of the verses and through the chorus; and Chris the drum would add a low harmony just in the chorus. Despite a slightly nervy and hurried performance,  I thought it went pretty well for first time out - and we got a good response for it!

 

Taking soundings in the break,  I was assured that the band balance was OK.  Mind you we weren't playing very loud and volume would have been limited by feedback in this boxy alcove anyway.   We had a beer and returned for set 2 starting with "Apache".  I was able to take a 'walk' out front and the guitar sound was fine and solid.  Not a bad balance;  if anything the rhythm section was down in the mix,  but I thought it better to lower the guitar a tad rather than ask the boys to get louder. We followed up with "Do You Wanna Dance"  and I could see a bit of audience at the bar wriggling even if they didn't actually come up for a dance.  Next up was Chris the drum's vocal on "Happy Together".  I bantered a suitable announcement which went down well,  then I got us underway with the guitar intro.  I glanced round and Chris didn't look like he was ready to sing so I added a couple more riffs and then entered the song proper expecting to hear his vocal.  Nope not there - he had switched the mic off and was having trouble switching it back on.  So I went back through the intro and finally we got going.  I think we were all a bit rattled by it as we messed up the coda to end the song - not fatally,  just got at cross purposes with the words.  But we followed up with a well played "Daydream Believer";  I have taken to using just the hi harmony on the harmoniser in the chorus and I think it works better than the muddier full harmony I was doing.  Chris the drum was back on form with "Delilah" which went down well with this audience who sang a long in all the right places.  We followed up with a dancey sequence of "Bad Moon Rising, Move It,  Summertime Blues and Jailhouse Rock"  There were a few up and dancing in places and we got good applause.  Chris the drum did his version of "Proud Mary next; following a slow start with a fast song body.  It was a tad nervy I thought,  but it went well with the audience.  We started a 70's sequence with "Don't Stop Thinkin About Tomorrow".  Apart from the odd word juxtaposition on my part I thought we played it the best we have done so far - shows it can take several months for a song to truly bed down.  Then it was straight into "Yellow River".  The rhythm section in this song always sounds weak to me and,  being brutally honest,  it just doesn't suit Chris the drum's voice.  Not a massive crowd pleaser either.  I am going to propose we drop it and find something more meaty for Chris to sing there.   Chris the bass signalled a 5 minute warning so we finished with a well played "Hot Love" and "Wonder of You".

I felt unnaturally tired (viral) as we returned for set 3 but I was determined to give it a good shot.  I was toying with opening with "Dance the Night Away" but I could see the guys were geared up for "Great Balls" so I went with that.  Wish I hadn't - we were a little fast and off the beat I thought. So next I did call for "Dance the Night Away" and we played that pretty well and even got a bit of dancing going.  I think we will open with this for the next few gigs.  Chris the drum had another delayed vocal start with "Saw Her Standing There" - mic switching problems again.  Once into it,  it was another nervy,  slightly off the beat performance.  Things improved with "Pretty Woman" and I did notice Chris the drum had done a bit of homework putting in some of the catchy drum tweaks that are on the record - well done!  Then we played through a well established continuity sequence of:  "Saturday Night at the Movies,  Come on Over to My Place,  Sweet Caroline, Hey Baby,  Hi Ho Silver,  All Right Now".  We got little bits of dancing and singing going through this sequence and I had livened up considerably as well.  But I still decided to skip "Trilogy" as I was a bit under par on vocal stamina,  so I called for "Mustang Sally".  I sing the verse and Chris the bass sings the chorus.  It went well:  we kept the dancey sing a long vibe and I had the opportunity to bring Chris in with the phrase 'and now all the ladies sing'.   There was just time for "Hippy Hippy Shake" (a tad fast - my fault!) and "Johnny B Goode" to wrap up.  It was midnight so no time (or call) for an encore. I got changed and set about tear down. I was now exhausted,  it was a good job I had help shifting the gear out!  We loaded up but there was only one spare seat in my car so Chris gave Jacqui a lift back.  It was about 1am when we got in.  I felt like boxer must feel after a hard fight;  I slept for over 8 hours and still recovering a couple of days later. Must be a virus?

ReTrio at The Dolphin Pub Wortham

Our booking was for Saturday 29th March.  Strange but true - a chance reading of a gig guide that showed another band called "Faith" at the Dolphin on Friday 28th,  prompted Chris the bass to get in touch with the pub.  Yes they did have us booked for the Saturday in one diary,  but that was an error because they really preferred music on the Friday.  No, the booking for "Faith" was cancelled months ago and they weren't coming.  So could ReTrio switch to the Friday?  Actually that suited me and Chris a lot better.  In my case I needed to pop down to London to help daughter Claire complete their move from Hackney to Walthamstow and a free Saturday would be ideal. Chris the bass could use the Saturday for family and Chris the drum not bothered either way.  So 'yes we can' was the right answer all round!  We did a practice on the Tuesday and Chris the drum reminded me that Mick Taylor (ex Stones) might show up.  'Right ho',  I said, 'we'd better brush up "Honky Tonk" and run through "Brown Sugar";  both records he played guitar on.  And I'd better take my little Vox Valvetronix and spare guitar in case he wants to join in'.  Come the Friday I loaded up both Bose,  the spare Line 6 and the Vox - the car was pretty full!

 

Rhythm Section Setting Up

 

Chris the bass swang round at 6:15pm and I followed him out in convoy to the gig.  We parked up to find Chris the drum with missus Trudy already loaded in and setting up.  Our set up went OK,  I chose to use just one B1 on Chris's side to give a bit more floor space. When I switched on and it all worked, but the echo was low. Quickly spotted the vocal FX foot pedal was halfway up!  Not many in for the start and again I decided to bypass the DEQ1024 opting for quality rather than sheer volume.  At sound check Chris the drum felt his mic was a bit low so I tinkered with mid boost on the Line 6 mixer and got a bit more gain on it;  but advised him to sing loud as well!  Then it was down the beers and while away an hour to show time at 9pm.  I'd worn my white T to the gig and it was white Ts and black waistcoats as we took our positions for the off.  The first few numbers are the same most nights now,  but the banter varies a bit as I try to set a good time mood early in the night.  I was concentrating on this so much that I forgot to put my left hand in the correct position for opening "Heartbeat" and got off in the wrong key.  I shifted quickly and we played the intro through again (without restarting) and carried on as though it was all part of the show.  As usual I mixed up words in "Smiling", and after "Groovy" I announced "Blue Suede" and inexplicably started "Rock Around the Clock" in Blue Suede's key of A.   I shrugged to the boys and indicated we had started so we had better finish it.  We played it OK though - didn't drop a beat.  And acknowledging the mistake in a Bruce Forsyth sort of way I called "Blue Suede" to follow.  There still weren't many in the pub and I was thinking it would be a hard night to hold the attention of the few.  By the end of the set there were a few more in but I decided to finish on "All Shook Up" rather than the usual ballad.  Set 2 was more on the ball.  We opened with "FBI" for a change.  After that I pushed the guys to do numbers in flights of 3 or 4 with no breaks - so we wouldn't have to banter as much to a small crowd. We debuted Chris the drum singing "Proud Mary".  He starts slow like Tina Turner and then abruptly switches to Creedence pace - it swang along quite nicely so I think it will stay mid position in this set.  As we got into the 70's stuff,  we had a couple of dancers with us for several numbers right up to the finish with "Wonder of You".  Actually, there had been a steady trickle of late arrivers throughout set 2 and at 11pm as we resumed for the last set I would say the pub was busy.  We opened with a request from one of the dancers for an Elvis ballad,  so we obliged with "American Trilogy".  Don't know if it was pollen or a bug,  but I found this hard going vocally and was quite out of breath for the last phrase which I restricted to 4 bars rather than the usual 6. Still it went down well and we carried on with "Great Balls" and then a generally dancey set. We did fit in a good performance of "Honky Tonk" but no Mick Taylor (or Bill Wyman) in the wings?  I tried a version of "Mustang Sally" as a request (to show Chris the bass how to phrase it - he likes the song and I suggested he sing it but he had difficulty with phrasing when we tried it out,  so I said I'd have a go at some gigs and he can sing along til he gets it):  but then on the night I cocked up the phrasing a bit myself; so I will have to work on it.  I have to say that the audience did its part in this set with bits of dancing,  singing along and applause;  so it was quite enjoyable and relaxed for us.  At 11:40 ish Chris indicated time for the last number and we did the usual with Johnny B Goode and its outroductions.  I was ready to do an encore but we were well over time already and there wasn't much in the way of shouts for more,  so we called it night just after 11:50 pm.  I found tear down and load quite demanding again. I think this is a combination of being a tad under the weather and that I have to put a lot of effort into the band performance.  Don't get me wrong: I like to be busy on stage; but doing most of the singing,  most of the solos, masterminding the show, bantering and looking after the sound is demanding and does leave you drained at the end of a night.  Fortunately the boys did the heavy lifting out to the car.  I have it in mind for both Chris's to do a bit more in the show as they get more confident with the current material.  Strange drive home:  I was in a bit of a dream like state - maybe i was going down with a bug? 

 

Next day I unloaded and Jacqui and I drove to London to help Claire move from Hackney to Walthamstow.  This resulted in me making a couple of drives of 7 miles between flats:  each one took about an hour in Saturday traffic and Nick and I also fitted in a trip to Walthamstow tip where we unloaded their bathroom rebuild rubble into a skip.  I was so tired by the time we got back to Hackney I had to go across the road to the Marksman pub and have a pint and a steak sandwich to revive myself for the final drive back to Walthamstow!

ReTrio at Bramford British Legion

I had been looking forward to this gig as our first 'club' gig in a long while.  SInce we got underway on the pub circuit we had all been concerned at the lack of reaction to the band and questioned whether the repertoire was right. We had looked at going more country,  thought about more rock n roll, dipped into ska and dabbled with more modern material from the 80s onward. I personally was pushing the latter because I believe it keeps us versatile. Towards the end of 2013 I had sensed a touch of band friction and paranoia emerging as our confidence was sapped by some of these gigs:  but we had also been hardened to deal calmly with lack of reaction - and let's not lose sight of the fact that the main reason for playing pubs was to season the band.   In my opinion we had largely achieved that aim and I thought we were now well enough organised with 50s 60s 70s focussed sets to have a good Saturday night at a British Legion (remembering how Norwich BL was always a success for the Foot Tappers with a similar repertoire).

Chris the drum arrived with wife Trudy about 6pm at my place just in time for a coffee prior to hitting the road.  At 6:12 we set off in convoy to Chris the bass's house arriving there bang on time at 6:15.  We were about a minute late on schedule as Chris the bass led the band convoy of me and Chris the drum for a trundle down the A14 to Ipswich.  It was still dusk with an ominous, large moon hanging low in the sky as we arrived at Bramford at 6:45pm.  Not much parking outside the venue, so Chris the drum and I ended up parking down the street, a fair walk back to the club.  When we arrived at the door it was still closed so we had time to examine the band promo on the chalk board outside. 

The club opened up at 6:55 and we started the physically demanding task of bringing the gear up the road,  up the steps and all the way through the club to the to the stage at the back. A good sized stage beckoned for the 2 Bose set up.  By the time we had it all in and set up we were all feeling a bit shaky from the exertion.  The governor showed us a kitchen we could use for cases and changing = luxury!!  He also pointed out the sound limiting system and that influenced my decision to set the PA a couple of dB below feedback and switch the Behringer DEQ 1024 graphic / limiter / gate to hard bypass - figuring 'less would be more' in the signal chain.  It was a reasonable sized hall and quite absorbent, so I pushed up the vocal echo a little.  We would be aiming for a quality hi fi sound at modest volume at this gig. The club had filled up quite well as we set up and it looked well over half full as we sound checked with a verse and chorus of "Smiling".  All seemed well with a very clear on stage sound and the audience looking unperturbed by the band warm up!

Despite downing a lager I still felt a bit shaky from the exertion and we only had about 15 minutes before show time.   Chris the drum, exercising his role as wardrobe mistress, told us to get into the white shirts and black waistcoats for the first set - while he wore his gold 'wedding' waistcoat! 

We got on stage and I was making final adjustments prior to go, when up comes my business partner Marlon,  his missus Magda and also accompanied by Craig from work to say 'hello' - Marlon had recently moved to Bramford and thought they'd come and see me perform at the local beer house.  Marlon has known that I gig since we formed the company in 1996 but he had never had the opportunity to see me in action before - a nice surprise for both of us!  As it ticked over to 8:30 I lowered the musak,  Chris switched on the lights and the lady governess announced:  'give a friendly welcome to first timers at the club - ReTrio'  and off we went into an uneventful "Flingel Bunt".  This was very well received by our standards and I sensed we were in for a good night. I told the crowd we were 'delighted to be there playing our brand of retro music' and then we opened up with the first vocal: "Just One Look".  I had been fiddling with the harmoniser sound and at this gig the dry hall allowed us to hear the PA clearly.  I was quite impressed actually and thought the harmoniser on this was as good as I was likely to get it.  Despite not warming up my voice I did a pretty good job of the solo high line in the bridge and we got a really good round of applause at the end.  Sound quality was good and levels were about right as we were only just clipping the red on the sound meter.  I did a bit of quality bantering on Sunday night TV as a link into "Heartbeat" and it was sufficiently clear that the audience got the joke and bantered back a little. I counted us in a bit quicker than usual (more TV show pace) and off we went, and this time we even got a few up and dancing (a rare sight for us over the last few months!).   Next was "Smiling".  I use a longer 450 mS vocal echo on this and with the very clear sound in the hall you could just hear the final echo as a high quality ghost of the original.  I was slightly distracted listening and mixed up the words from the different verses a bit.  With the harmoniser and strings coming in on the "she gets her way its true...." lines I thought it sounded real good and we got a very good reception for it.  We bantered into "Groovy Kind of Love" as a romantic ballad and as we got underway the floor filled with slow dancers - fantastic for us after all these months!  We have little ritual of introducing each band member with a song at this point.  Chris the drum does his "Ring of Fire" dedicated to a day after curry the night before: and that Johnny Cash country sound went down exceedingly well at this venue.  Then Chris the bass sings a bit more country with "Act Naturally",  and he also got a real good round of applause for it.  He then announces me as one of the Checkmates and we do "Wanna Make Those Eyes".  This night I was astounded by the audience singing along so lustily at this early stage in the show. "Blue Suede" was up next.  I took it a tad faster than normal (maybe a little too much):  but it still got some rock'n'rollers up and dancing.   After a bit of Merseybeat banter about the river Gipping, we continued with "Ferry, 8 Days and Walk in the Room".  Next up was "Tambourine Man".  Earlier I had issued Chris the drum with a tambourine specifically for this song, but with guidance to use it as he saw fit to widen the percussion pallet generally - this would be its first use!  Actually it worked well and apart from a momentary footwork glitch with the harmoniser we played it well - and we got a good round of applause for it.   We continued with a fairly standard set with good reaction.  Chris the bass gave the nod for last number and,  with things sounding so good,  I elected to do "Nights in White Satin".  This was a good choice as the dance floor quickly filled with romantics.  It is a demanding song vocally, but I had recently worked up a harmony line with Chris the drum for the chorus.  Coupled with big echo, strings and harmoniser,  it sounded very full and symphonic.  I still have to vocalise the flute part in the solo but I can't see a way round that.  As we brought it through the big ending,  I could see the sound meter red lights were on; but it didn't cut and we got a really good round of applause for it. We had completed a very good set.  True there were some minor errors - e.g. I had occasionally mixed up words and verses and Chris the drum had missed or added the occasional break,  but nothing the audience would take issue with I think.  I caught up with Marlon et al in the break and they said it was awesome! They thought the sound was superb and my vocals unexpectedly good (the only time Marlon had heard me sing prior to this was a few carols one Christmas).  I could see they were genuine, as were some others who came over to say how much they enjoyed the band.  One of these well wishers, Barry,  turned out to be a guitarist (a Telecaster toter) with 'The Houseshakers".  He was very impressed and loved my guitar sound.  I explained how it runs through both Bose (not recommended) and he said it had sounded great at all angles as he moved round the room.  Their band had recently acquired a single L1 model 2 with B1s and a T1 with a view to using it for PA and he was wondering how it would all work with a back line etc.  I explained that we had had a bit of trouble, at busier, medium sized pub gigs, getting enough volume out of a single system and how we had successfully tried using a Line 6 2t to bridge the gap.  Food for thought!  He had taken a couple of pics in the set and posted them on www.suffolkbandarchives.co.uk  the next day.  
 

We did a quick change into coloured T shirts and waistcoats for the next set and strode on manfully to open with a walk to "Apache" - it went down a bomb even though my feet were out of time most of the time!  As this set progressed we were still going down the best we had ever with this band.  However,  the very clear on stage sound and the unexpected reception introduced some nervy edges to our performance.  More missed words,  some forgotten chords (suitably fluffed over),  drum break errors and arrangements going awry e.g. I missed a whole section from "Hot Love"  (band followed me though!).  I know Chris the bass was making a few errors as well but they are hard to pinpoint being so deep.  But none of these annoying foibles were fatal and we continued to sound good and keep the dancing going with a good mix of slowies,  rock n roll,  and 70's stuff.  As usual we wrapped with "Wonder of You" and it got a great round of applause (even though I am still going for the easier low last line).

We changed into all white Ts in the break.  The lady governess did the raffle and we heard her wish a happy birthday for a lady at the back.  So when we resumed we opened with "Happy Birthday" and they all sang along!  Opening with "Great Balls", we continued with a typical set 3; but I avoided the heavier songs with the exception of "All Right Now" which filled the floor and still didn't trip the sound meter.  Pretty much everything we did went well and kept them dancing. Chris the bass called for "Achey Breakey Heart" at one point and I could see he had spotted a line dance vibe.  'Don't know the words' I said so I opened up with "Dance the Night Away" instead.  I did muff the opening horn lines but kept to time and quite a few dancers enjoyed the song even if they didn't line dance it. After "Hey Baby" Chris the bass called for "Twist?".  I set off into it but Chris the drum continued the rhythm to "Hey Baby" so we were all forced to fall in - a strange song mix that strangely kept folks dancing. But on the whole there were a lot less nervy errors in this set and continuity was good.  As we came to the end I presented "Johnny B Goode" as our final number and,  because we had been asked to finish no later than 11:30pm (for the neighbours) there would be no encores.  So we used this to say good night and we all got big rounds of applause as I outroduced us. We got changed and we were definitely walking taller as we packed the gear up and interacted with well wishers.  You only need a few gigs a year where you go down very well to keep your confidence up and this was the best reception by far we had had to date.  For me it cements that we are an alright, approaching good band and confirms my suspicion that no matter how well we perform at some of the gigs we do we will never get any reaction and its not our fault.  However,  I am still of the view that we need to dig deeper to widen the repertoire to include numbers from the 80s 90s etc.  These 'perfect'  British Legion audiences for the 60's vibe band won't be around for much longer.  After a long tear down and gear shift down the street,  I was pleased to get in the car and take a relaxed motor home on a clear, but not too cold, night.  Couldn't resist toast and cocoa when I got in though.

ReTrio at The Morton Hall, Bury St Eds

Space is very tight at this gig and there was no room for the Line 6 mixer the last time we played there. So I thought it would be an easy choice of PA gear for this local job i.e. One Bose with one B1 bin + Line 6 2M and the Bose T1 mixer.  Arrived and found Chris the bass bringing his gear in.  He said: we have been relocated to a bigger area in the pub!  Oh dear I thought - could have brought the Line 6 mixer after all - but anyway dies were cast and it's good to exercise our space saver setup occasionally!'   So in I went and inspected the site: there was more space but there was a big fruit machine where the second Bose would have gone,  so Line 6 2M speaker was right choice!  I could have got the Line 6 Mixer in on my side but I thought one B1 would do and I would hang the T1 mixer from the Bose pole as I used to do and combine the 2 Chris's mics into the one input.  Set up with the T1 required a few other little changes swapping XLR to jacks with adaptors;  but I was relieved to see that levels were all about right when I brought up the ReTrio scene on the T1.  The MP3 player would be swapped with the guitar input on input 4; and input 5 took the echo return (so muzak, echo and guitar all shared the same flat EQ setting.  I set level for echo and then just needed to set the level on the Roland GT10 guitar FX to balance it all up. Sound tests on mics went well,  but I backed the master volume down a little to lose the little toppy ring that emerged when they were all on.  The other compromise with this set up would be no strings,  but I thought I could live with that.  I used a standard jack to take the TI analogue output to the 2M.  Like the previous week signal level was low and I could crank the 2M up over half without feedback.  A lady passing by asked for our card thinking we might suit a caravan rally. She wouldn't be staying long but hoped to get an idea of what the band was like. I suggested to Chris that he provide her a set list to give her an idea of repertoire.   We sound checked with "Smiling" and she seemed happy with that so fingers crossed!  Jacqui walked over from home and made a welcome entrance at 8pm ish The bar girls were enthusiastic as usual and although the pub had been quiet from around 7:30pm it began to fill up with a mix of locals and our supporters as we approached show time. 

We did a toilet change into the white tees and waistcoats.  I had got a new black waistcoat from Matalan to work better with the V necked tees that our wardrobe mistress (Chris the drum) preferred.  We hit the stage bang on 8:30 but immediately had a gremlin with Chris the bass's mic.  I had forgot to tell him that sharing the same input with Chris the drum meant that either of them switching off the mic would switch off the other - Chris the drum had switched his off!  Solving that took a couple of minutes so I announced we were sorry for the technical delay but we would now open up with "Flingel Bunt"   All seemed well and the follow up numbers sounded good so we ploughed on with our current standard pub set.  This was generally well received and I got into a relaxed bantering vibe which was also well received by the relatively big crowd (by our standards) of over  50.  Chris the bass got another rousing response from his supporters for his vocal intro with "Act Naturally"! Once again I chose to finish with "Rock Around the Clock" rather than a slowie.   The 2nd set went well and we got bits of dancing going in the 70's "Hot Love,  Amarillo" sequence.  For the 3rd set we changed into red, white and blue tees.  My voice was a little tired now (I had been suffering the onset of a virus since a tough game of squash in the week),  but I as we encored with "Wonderful Tonight"  I thought we had done a good job considering the compromises on the set up.  Pack down didn't take too long and we were home by 12:30am.  I think I had a ginger wine as a calm down rather than cocoa!

audience action!

 

 

 

ReTrio at The Victoria Thurston

In December we had discussed the possibility of a Valentines Night Dance with the owner of Pot Black and I got as far as making flyers and tickets on the pc.  But while I was away the project got canned:  basically because of poor ticket sales.  I think we learned some lessons about the need for promotion of own events there. But coincidentally the Victoria at Thurston had been given a 5 year lease extension and Chris the bass was able to book us into there this night to replace the Valentines gig. 

The day after the big Friday night storm it was still windy and wet as I set off with Ms J aboard at about 6:15 to arrive at the pub at 6:30.  The two Chris's were in an advanced state of set up and the bass amp was well back as I had asked.  There definitely wasn't room for two Bose,  so I took the decision to put up the Line 6 2M on Chris's side.  I set the stand up just to the right of the bass rig and with the 2M speaker on the pole it was positioned slightly over the bass rig.  By positioning the pole legs carefully to fit in nooks and crannies, the whole set up only took about 6 inches of extra floor space up!  I set the Bose up on my side and, with Chris the Drum forward of the back line, the whole set up was a lot more comfortable all round.  I set the Bose levels first then I ran a normal PA XLR to jack signal lead to the 2M inserting the jack into the combi input socket at the back.  I was able to take the volume up quite high on the 2M before feedback which makes me think that,  another time, I might be able to get more sensitivity using the XLR element of the combi socket? Testing it out - we all thought it sounded good and complementary to the Bose sound.  We sound checked with "Smilin" where I make good use of the harmoniser and a bit of use of strings. 

 

All sounded OK and we got a ripple of applause from the few people in the pub.  By playing time there were still only about 15 people in (including wives) which was disappointing - but it was another cold, wet and windy night.  Anyway we kicked off with the usual and about 4 numbers in,  I was pleased to see old buddy, Mike Keeper and family coming in which boosted numbers significantly.  With a couple more arrivals as the set progressed, we had about 25 to play to.  Mike had brought his video and set about doing a video record of our performance as I opened a mini country sequence by introducing Chris the drum to sing "Ring of Fire".  This went down well and I had briefed Chris the bass to be ready to follow on with his intro number "Act Naturally".   The idea of this is a novelty number to introduce him and get him singing confidently,  I take the high harmony to beef it up and anchor it to key.  On the night he did quite well and got a good round of applause for it!  Thinking there might be some country fans in the far room I popped in an abbreviated "Folsom Prison" to complete this little country spot.  We then moved onto the sixties: opening with some banter about the rivers of East Anglia vs Liverpool before playing a creditable version of "Ferry Cross Mersey" We did the usual sequence of "8 Days a Week, Mr Tambourine Man and Walk in the Room" to complete the sequence.  We had settled down and I was pretty content with the overall sound and my voice was holding up well second night out.  We were in a relaxed vibe:  even where we (mainly me) forgot occasional details of our arrangements the band followed whatever I improvised with only slight hesitation.  After a few rock n roll numbers we were approaching the end of the set.  On this relaxed night I elected to finish with "Albatross" introduced as Albert Ross - a good choice we all agreed.

Set 2 opened with a bit of banter between me and Mike on the role of washboards in skiffle and a snatch of "Putting on the Style" to take Mike back to his cinema seat ripping youth in the mid 50's.  We opened up set 2 proper as usual with "Apache" - I did a bit of a stroll out front but nothing too energetic.  "Delilah" went well as usual but,  as there was such a small audience,  I then took the boys on through the set at quite a pace,  pushing the continuity by running numbers into sequences where I could.  I finished with an OK version of "Wonder of You" where I chose to sing the last phrase down rather than risk an unseemly flat high note on the video!

Set 3  came and went in much the same manner and we wrapped up with Johnny B Goode where I was pleased to get the timings on the outroductions largely right and got back into my final solo in good order!  We have taken to using Chris the drum's vocal: "Help Me Make it Thru the Night" as the preferred slowey in the final set and on this night I recall that we encored with it. 

As we proceeded to pack up,  although the pub was by no means full,  it was strange how large numbers of people contrived to be in the way as we tried to get the gear out through the front door.  True - it was cold outside and they all wanted to huddle near the door as they smoked.  The two Chris's helped me out with the final bits of PA and I was glad to shut the door on the car to get out of the wind and set off for home.  As we drove,  Jacqui commented that the band's sound had been excellent,  we had played well and a good time had been had by those that came.  A fitting conclusion I thought - but I suspect they may not be booking us back as we don't bring enough of a crowd to make it pay.  Ah well,  we will see.  Post script:  Mike dropped his video edit off a couple of days later.  I thought the video was pretty good and he also commented on the crisp, clear sound of the band and how the video didn't do justice to the sound. Must be doing something right?

ReTrio Video

ReTrio at The Dolphin Inn Wortham

Jacqui and I had returned from Mexico refreshed but at least 6 hours behind UK time.  After a few days we were still a bit out of time,  but I organised a band practice on the Tuesday before the gig at my place to check we could remember any of the repertoire?  In the meantime I ordered two Line 6 Stage Source powered speakers;  a 2T and 2M each with a 10" speaker and horn and some interesting DSP in the electronics.  The 2T has a useful mixer on the side - good for solo / acoustic artistes such as Mr Mog.  Line 6 had recently reduced prices significantly and my spend was timely and primarily aimed at overcoming the lack of space problems of pub venues.  Trying them out I was impressed with the sound quality and small footprint.  The DSP included feedback suppression and different sound optimisation for PA, Music, Monitor, Guitar etc.  Downsides:  they are quite heavy and tricky to locate on a pole.   A claimed 800 watt class D amp sounded good with plenty of headroom for dealing with peaks; and there is a quiet cooling fan which only comes on when things get hot inside the cabinet.  After playing around in the back room I concluded they were a similar hi-fi sound to the Bose L1 but a bit more directional.  The Bose with 2 x B1 has the edge in the depth of bass and top end dispersion and produces a big weight of sound for a less powerful amp of around 500 watts.  I reckon the band would be best placed to use the 2 Bose set up if it can and 1 Bose and 1 Line 6 in cramped gigs (i.e. most of the pub jobs).  I can't see where I would use just the 2 x Line 6 with the band,  but I might prefer that set up for a solo acoustic session?  However, I could see us using 2 x Bose and 1 or 2 Line 6 at the largest venues. On the Friday gig day I loaded up both Bose and one Line 6. 

It was 6pm on a very stormy night as Chris the Bass and I set off in convoy up the A143 heading to Wortham.  The wind was strong and gusty and the rain was heavy and torrential at times!  Despite the storm and rush hour traffic, we arrived at the pub after 30 minutes and parked up near the front door well away from the worst of the puddles and mud spreading round the pub frontage.   Stepping inside we were shown to a decent sized stone floored playing area in front of a large bay window.  I made up my mind there and then that this would be a 2 x Bose gig but I would use just one B1 bass bin on Chris's side to save a few inches on the footprint!  As we got the last of the gear in, Chris the drum arrived.  I explained to the guys that at most gigs from now,  we were aiming for the PA and bass amp to be right at the back and Chris the drum was to set up in front of them.  About an hour later we were all set up and enjoying beer with the band muzak on.  I was happy enough with our sound check even though we were setting the PA down a bit to avoid a toppy ring.  I wanted a less aggressive feedback suppression than New Years Eve and figured it would be better to avoid feedback altogether until there was a real need for more volume.  By 8:30 there were was a little crowd of 20 and 30 somethings round the bar,  a darts match starting up in the side sports bar with a good age mix and a handful of 40 plusers in the dining area enjoying a meal. 

 

Chris the bass had agreed our start time of 8:45,  so we did a bit of a toilet change and came out to open up our first gig of 2014 with the safe choice of "Flingel Bunt".  I was happy with the sound and we got a ripple of applause which is as good as it seems to get in pubs, so we carried on with a safe choice set.  We did start to get a bit of reaction here and there and I was heartened enough to build up the banter which began to involve the younger ones round the bar.  I avoided slowies and on this occasion we finished with "Rock Around the Clock".  We are now playing this in G as the optimum compromise between guitar for the 9th shape chords and the vocal (A is too high E is about right).  Anyway it went well and it's an easy reserve to have in the repertoire to drop in as needed.

In the break one of the audience mentioned that Mick Taylor (ex Stones) lived nearby and sometimes popped in.  Wow I said:  I was playing a school dance in 1968 and we were supporting a London band (can't remember the name though).  They had brought a guest guitarist with them who had just landed the job with John Mayall - turned out to be Mick Taylor!   So I would have met him briefly though I'm sure he wouldn't remember the lanky youth on bass with the 'Banana Tree Band' that was me then!  Looking out the window we could see the wind had got up and the pub sign was really rocking in the gusts.
 
We opened set 2 with "Apache" and I went out front to do the 'walk' and check the sound.  Guitar sound was good and then a young lady joined in the shads walk - fantastic.  Things continued quite well and we even got a couple of the 'youngsters' at the bar doing a few dance moves as we did a 'strictly come dancing' version of "Delilah".  I was pretty happy with the overall sound - the audience reaction to the banter showed that they were able to hear the PA clearly.  We were remembering our songs better than expected and I pushed the continuity between numbers to make it a bit slicker. We finished with "Wonder of You" to good applause.
 
We came back on for set 3 maintaining the cosy audience reaction and played a rockier final few numbers than usual with "Born To Be Wild" as the encore.  This time I was able to get the attention of the Chris's to bring it to an end together rather than the usual 'freak out' descent to a muddled finish!
 
We were all pleased with the first gig back and that we had laid the New Years Eve ghost of PA problems to rest by using both Bose.  We didn't notice the absence of one B1 bass bin on Chris's side and, because we aren't putting bass through the PA, I reckon one B1 on my side would be fine as well.  Mind you I need two my side to stand the mixer on!
 
We took our time packing up hoping the wind would die down.  One chap came over unsolicited and said what an excellent sound I got from my guitar - I was quite chuffed!  The landlady came over and said she was sorry there weren't more there - the storm had kept some of the regulars away. I didn't tell her that a half full pub was a good crowd for us nowadays!  We loaded up in the wind,  the rain had eased fortunately.  I led the convoy back and we had to stop briefly to skirt a fallen tree near Stanton (fortunately the police were in attendance and the blue / green? lights advertised the problem from a safe distance away.  Got in about 1am and enjoyed a cocoa before I took to bed.