Sian's Doctor Party at Bar Humbug Bristol

Niece Sian had asked for some muso performances at her Doctorate party and I had willingly agreed to join in.  I came prepared with a small PA and my Levinson Blade Strat-a-like.    Bar Humbug has a small function room and Carl from the 'Controversials' set up a small (looked like Behringer) PA.  Claire's boyf' Nick (a BBC Sound Engineer) helped set it up soundwise and I plugged the guitar in to get a muddy sound.  Nick reported a dodgy tweeter,  so I switched in the top-boost pre-amp on the Levinson and 'lo and behold'  there was an acceptable Strat sound albeit at lowish volume - but enough for the gig!  After a few beers, I joined in the 'Sanders Band' (Joey Cahon,  Paul Acoustic Guitar,  Roy Harp and Simon Vocals) playing Robert Palmer's "Doctor Doctor" to open the proceedings.  We followed with "Hoochie Coochie Man" and then "Rescue Me" featuring a young lady called Liz.  Then I did 3 of my selection with Joey: "Alright Doctor" (a version of 'alright mama'),  Guitars Cadillacs and I got Simon up to sing "Brown Eyed Girl" with me a la my own party in 2013.  Next up was Carl and Matt from the 'Controversials'  Matt had a tasty Yamaha APX 700 11 12 string and the aim was to do some Beatles songs.  I found out that Matt is a real Beatle enthusiast and plays them in the original keys so I joined in on guitar and harmonies on "One After 909,  Can't Do That, Love Me Do / Should Have Known Better (with Roy on Harp)".  Next they did a "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones.  I just checked chords with Matt and joined in that as well.  Once in the swing we carried on with  "Sunny Afternoon,  Saw Her Standing There and finished with A Little Help from my Friends"  I reckon I got 90% of the chords right but had to sing most of the harmonies low 'cos the Beatle keys are so high!  We carried on drinking to midnight then got a taxi back to Roy's house.  We had a slight hangovers the next morning and we set off for Bury after a big fried breakfast.  Got home about 5pm and was tired for a few days!

ReTrio at the Owners Lounge Hopton Holiday Village

Chris had set this gig up with Lee Derbyshire, the Entertainment Manager at the park, to demonstrate our potential for the various performance stages across the whole site.  We wouldn't get paid as such,  but In return we would receive 3 big caravans for the Friday and Saturday and we could bring family / friends to enjoy the facilities for the weekend.  As it happened I had a party in Bristol to go to on the Saturday,  so I donated my share of the caravans to the two Chris's to invite family.   This particular gig would be in the owners lounge on a 'World Cup Special' evening with a mix of quiz,  comedy and band.  Moreover,  we were asked to come prepared to play the "Match of the Day"  theme to introduce the compere and other performers.  We had had a couple of practice sessions prior to the gig where we ran this through and tightened up some of the show to be able to play a slick 60 minutes on the night.  The only snag was, nearly 2 months after the cold I had,  I was still suffering a low grade infection around my voice box and low fitness - but I was confident I could do an hour before my voice gave out. 

On the day it was sunny and warm and Ms J decided to enjoy a spell at the seaside and accompany me.  We set off at 2:20pm aiming for a 4pm arrival.  It was a good trip and, even though I took a wrong turn ending up at Great Yarmouth and having to head South to Hopton, it was just a few minutes after 4pm as we rolled up at reception.  I rang Chris the bass and he came round to escort me to the gig.  Good job too 'cos its a big park!  The two Chris's gave me a lift in with the gear;  we had to carry it around a bowling green into the Owners Club and upstairs to the lounge.  Chris did find a lift to shift the bulk of it. It was a nice surprise to see that Chris had picked up the 2 Ashdown 4x10 cabinets he had ordered (trading in the Harkte stack) - it looked gorgeous with a slight blue sheen to it.  It does add a little something (a bit more toppy jazz bass click) to the already excellent bass sound but the main thing is that it really looks the part with its retro badges and dials.  With the boys already set up it only took me an hour to get things working and we were doing a sound check with "Smiling" at 5:30pm. 

 

 

 

All sounded good and everything worked so we retired for some free tea and coffee courtesy of the Owners Club.  Jacqui and I went off for a walk round the site while the boys retired to their caravans.  We were well limbered up by the time we got back for a final relax and sandwich before our briefing meet up at 7pm.  Chris the bass led the discussion with Lee as to what we were to do and I appointed him stage director for the night.  Then we went downstairs to the unisex toilets and changing room and got changed into red,  white and blue patriotic colour tees for the World Cup Event starting at 8pm. As we took our places the band had at least 10 family and friends in the audience and the rest of the upstairs lounge was filling to capacity.  At 8pm we opened up with the "Match of the Day" theme to bring Lee on to start the show.  He made a brief intro of the event and then asked the band to play a couple of songs.  We obliged with "FBI" which went well enough (if a little nervy).  We finished to good applause and I briefly acknowledged how delighted we were to be playing to them on this special night. Then I quipped about the band that was riding high in the charts last time England won the World Cup in 1966;  this linked us into a wig up for a little Beatle medley of "8 Days a Week into Can't Buy Me Love".  All in all this was a bit nervy but we got a very good response from an audience clearly out to enjoy themselves.  Finally it was "Match of the Day" theme to hand back to Lee.  The event got underway proper and it was a mix of facts and comedy:  every time Lee brought someone up we played the theme music and Chris the drum finished it with a loud 'goa a l'!  The show finished with an anarchic 'French?' pizza making demo - we were prepared for some dough to fly our way but it was all ok - with just a sprinkling of flour on the floor in front of us!  Lee put some muzak on for an artistes 10 minute break and we got changed.  We put on black shirts,  white ties matching the white belts on our black trousers and returned for a 50 minute set. 

We started off with "Apache" with a bit of a Shadows walk in the flour sprinkles on the floor in front of us.  The guitar sounded good and the boys were nicely balanced.  (later Jacqui told it was a really good band sound in that hall)  Nice applause from an experienced audience.  We linked Sir Cliff's backing band into "Do You Wanna Dance" and then did a bit of country with Chris the drum singing "Ring of Fire".  I could see that was going well by the tapping along and we did get a big round of applause for it.  Next was some rock n roll with "Rock Around the Clock".  I got off too fast on this,  but there had been no dancing,  so we played it through at this pace - I managed the solo somehow!  However, it was well received and I carried on to do my bit about "Is Sue in the room?" to link us into "Runaround Sue"  Nerves had settled somewhat and we did a good performance.  I had been working on the boys to join in on a 'do wap' vocal arrangement - no harmonies as such but with the 50s echo the unison vocal backing helps build the atmosphere.  I was pleased with the response and we progressed into the 60's with "Happy Together".  Chris the drum and I had agreed an 8 bar intro at the previous practice,  but on the night he carried it on too long - I think he has trouble getting his first vocal phrase teed up in his mind?  But,  once in the song proper it was a creditable performance with the harmoniser doing sterling service to create a good illusion of Turtles harmonies. Again very well received.  Next we did our little Searchers medley of "Needles Pins into Walk in Room".  As the audience applauded,  Chris the bass called for "Delilah" I signalled 'soon' and introduced "Daydream Believer".  Now this got the crowd singing along nicely -  but then I messed up the arrangement finishing the song a bit early.  Nothing the audience would notice and they clearly loved singing along.  So now it was time for "Delilah".  I am pleased to report that,  after many performances, we finally played this through as arranged with no muffed chords or words and all the strings and echo effects in the right places.  Chris the drum sang it really well on the night and, of course,  the audience joined in and we got a massive round of applause as we finished!  I skipped "Saturday Night" and took us into "Sweet Caroline" to keep the atmos going.  It was the right song choice and the audience joined in enthusiastically;  but it was in this song that my voice started to gum up. I had trouble getting the low and high notes.  However,  being aware of the problem I could back off at the right places and the audience would fill in - so not too noticeable and very well received!  I made my mind up to tackle American Trilogy" while I still had some voice.  I got into a difficulty getting it started as I tried to clear my throat and then forgot the opening words.  But once that was through I sang it OK.  I had to delay the flute solo a bar because of poor hand co-ordination switching sounds at the bottom of the Godin,  then It was into the big finale which I was delighted the audience were singing 'cos my voice was getting quite croaky.  I needn't have worried because we got a fantastic response - as good as I get with any band and most rewarding!  We were on the homeward straight now with a dancey sequence starting with "Pretty Woman thru Hey Baby, Hi Ho and All Right Now"  As it happened we didn't get any dancing but we continued to go down really well as we approached the end of the set.  Lee signalled last number so we finished with "Johnny B Goode".  My voice was really croaky now but we had a good rhythm.  We did our outro's with each of us getting big applause and we got another big response from one table when I mentioned we were from Bury St Eds.  I skipped the final guitar solo and we ran through to the end getting a massive roar of approval and shouts for more as we finished.  Lee the compere took over and got us to encore with a final "Match of the Day" and we were done.

I left Chris the bass to manage the post performance meet and greet while I took a few minutes to recover in the dressing room.  Chris reported that the management were most impressed and were keen to book us back and he had given a lot of cards out!  They boys very helpfully pitched in to tear down and load up my gear  (they were leaving theirs overnight) and Jacqui and I were on our way before midnight.  It was a smooth ride home and we were in bed with cocoa by 1:30am.  Bit of a lie in the next morning before we set off to Bristol.

ReTrio at Home Guard Club Bury St Edmunds

We had been booked to play here again just over a year since our band debut.  With the closure of a couple of pubs in the immediate area,  the club was doing well apparently - and it was cup final day.   I met up with Chris bass en route and followed him to the club.  Lovely sunny warm day as we drew up.  Chris the drum already had the fire door open and was just completing load in (assisted by his son-in-law).   Chris the bass parked on the pavement and started his load in and I waited briefly for Chris drum to finish before reversing into his place.  It's an easy load in straight onto the playing area and we soon had everything up and running.  We didn't bother with a sound check 'cos we were still confident after the previous night and I was soon enjoying a lager watching extra time between Hull and Arsenal. 

 

 

There was a bit of a changeover of people as the football finished and those that came in seemed motivated to be there to see the live band.  Chris the drum advised white tees and black waistcoats and an 8:45 start.  We were following the same set list as the previous night and we were relaxed about the gig.  There were about 30 in the room as we opened up with "FBI".  From the off we got a good reception and the improvised bantering worked as well as the night before.  I think the on stage sound here was even better and we were a tad slicker through the set.  A few more people arrived as we approached the end of the set and,  as we had a good repartee going and my voice was still not 100%,  I went for "Green Grass" to finish.  A lot joined in so we finished well pleased with the set.  Trudy, who hadn't seen the re-vamped set 1 before came over and said how improved it all was. It being quite warm Chris the drum had soaked his tee shirt and needed a change!  They adopted red tees but I only had blue so we weren't quite matching for our return. Wow a few more had arrived and the place looked busy!
 
We opened with "Apache and got a great reception for the walk.  The sound was spot on when I was out front.  And the rest of the night went much the same pattern - we had a very good gig with lots of audience interaction,  bits of dancing, general good atmosphere and a very sweaty drummer. One mistake I must note was my loss of a brain cell at the start of "Sweet Caroline" - I just couldn't remember the starting note was A in the key of C.  We had to stop and re-start but the audience, all lined up for a dance, took it in good heart.  We encored with "Born to be Wild" which was even wilder than the previous night, but well received despite that.  As we were packing up the club chairman came over and thanked each of us for a very entertaining night.  Then it was a 10 minute drive home, cocoa toast and bed!  Voice was a bit shot the next day but I was in good heart.  We have a few weeks off now for hols and will resume in early June!

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.