ReTrio at Mariners Bar Searles Holiday Village Hunstanton

Chris the bass had secured us a promo showcase gig at Searles Hunstanton.  If it went well we would have opportunities as Searles and other venues run by the agent who managed Searles entertainment.  Prior to the gig there was some confusion as to which hall we would be in.  I was a bit fearful soundwise it might be the big Sundowners hall;  but Chris rang and found that, if we were in there, we could use their big 12KW house pa.  But when I looked on the web site I found we were actually in the Mariners bar - this was good because I recall it was smaller and more our kind of audience in there.    Chris maintained it was still a big hall so we agreed to pack the Line 6 PA as well - we could double up PA if needed.  He had also arranged that we could get access in the afternoon to set up and soundcheck.  I was quite keen on a soundcheck 'cos we hadn't had one for over a year and we were now using the Line 6 mixer.  So, on the day, we had Chris's drums in Chris the bass's car and I took one of his bass cabs as well as all my gear - my car was pretty full and the spare guitar had to travel in the front passenger seat!  Nice day to go to the seaside - sunny and still.  We set off in convoy at 1:30 and arrived at a crowded Searles about 3pm.  We acquired the trolley to shift the gear and started to set up on the good sized stage in the Mariners.  It is a big room but I thought the Bose would cope so we set just those up - towards the middle (either side of the drums) to get a clear 'line of sound' into the hall.  The TV was showing football on a big screen in the centre of the stage but we set up in front (and under it).  We had hoped for a quiet afternoon to soundcheck but Man United were playing so, after making sure all was working, we decided to take a walk into town to get a beer and a meal and come back after 6pm to check the sound.  It was still good weather and we managed fish and chips in town (pensioners for me) before we returned to find the Mariners suitably quiet!

Doing soundcheck I explained to the chaps that I was able to instantly record 20 seconds of the performance on the Line 6 M20d mixer.  Then they would need to play along with that so I could pop out into the hall and judge the sound.  We performed and recorded a chorus from "Smiling" with guitar,  main vocal,  harmoniser and strings.  Got it right on the second take and I had a wonder round while the 'band' played on - doing the chorus a couple of times.   I was impressed at how clear the vocal was and well it carried into this big hall.  The guitar sounded fine but the bass guitar sound from the Ashdown stack was a bit too strong in the mix and the drums needed to come up a tad.  After these small adjustments I thought we had a classy sound for start off.  I made a mental note to take the bass drum mic up a little as the show progressed and maybe add a bit more bass end to the mics when I got chance.   One of the entertainments girls came over to see if we were OK and she showed us how to operate the house lights.  We still had a couple of hours to while away until showtime at 9pm so we had another beer and a coffee before passing through the Sundowners to get to the dressing room.  There we met up with the band who were performing there - The Young Drifters,  nice bunch of experienced geordies.  They we going to do a popular soul show with a singer, keys,  bass and guitar,  and accompanied by a drum machine!  We wished them luck and set off to change into our smart black shirts, white ties outfits to do our stint in the Mariners.  As we passed though the Sundowners I was even more pleased we weren't in there.  There were a lot of young families and I thought it might even be hard going for the 'Young Drifters'.

We arrived in the Mariners,  got the TV screen rolled up, house sound off,  took to the stage and opened up with "FBI".  All sounded good,  Chris fluffed but didn't completely miss a change to D in the high bit - he relies on me nodding him in and sometimes I can't fit a nod in so I will have to get him to practice that.  As it was we got an enthusiastic reception from a busy room and I made my usual short intro of ReTrio before getting us underway with "Heartbeat".  I sometimes retain the lead sound (with echo) throughout this song.  I pick the verse chords damped and I think the boost in volume and echo suits that style.  On this night I thought this technique was very effective and we got another good response from the growing crowd who were spread right round the room and even applauding from the very back.  "Smiling" went equally well and we set off on our little Rock n Roll medley: "Rock Around the Clock,  Blue Suede and That's All Right Mama"  As we started it several teen/early twenties chaps came up and danced - much to our surprise!  Quire athletic and good to watch -  I gave 'em a big round of applause from the band at then end.  We did the band member intro's with "Act Naturally, Ring of Fire and Wanna Make Those Eyes".  There was quite a lot of foot tapping and arm dancing to the country songs and when I did a 'test' of "Eyes" by just doing the 'doo wappy' bit and leaving it to the crowd we good a good, loud "What do you wanna make those eyes..... "  from some of the older members of the audience - our kind of crowd!  The Beatles (with wigs) and Searchers went well.  I kept the banter slick and let the music do the talking and soon we were approaching the end of the 45 minutes - we finished with "All Shook Up" getting suitable audience responses when I called for it! 

In the break we had a look next door to see how the Young Drifters were doing.  A good tight sound through the house PA,  and some applause as they finished a soul standard,  but I sensed they were struggling to connect to the young mums and kids.

We returned for set 2 and the place was a little fuller.  I opened with a Shadows stagger to "Apache"   Chris played the sympathy card telling the audience I had a bad leg and I was on pensioners meals!  I laughed at that one.   Despite the sciatica, I went out front and  a lady came up to join in the dance.  I was impressed by the guitar sound out front and the boys sounded full; and we got a really big round of applause as we finished and I took my position back on the stage.  We proceeded to play a standard 2nd set and it all went very well.  Nor major errors,  some good tight endings and good audience response and singalong. 

In the break we got changed into white Ts and waistcoats.  I came back to have a sit in a passage just outside the Mariners and a lady came up to say how much she was enjoying the band and complimented me on my singing.  She said she holidays there a lot and they have too many duo's and solo artistes who can't sing in tune!  Well that buoyed me up a bit and, as I herded the band back on stage, I reflected that I personally had made a step up vocally recently;  last couple of gigs really.  And I was on the right track with the sound and repertoire. It was about 11pm as we started with "Great Balls" and the hall was still quite busy.  Maybe a few had gone,  but those that were left we now applauding louder so it was a pretty good sing-a-long set.  Even though there wasn't much dancing I thought we needed to keep momentum up so I skipped "American Trilogy and we played continuously through 7 numbers from "Pretty Woman" right through to "All Right Now".  A few were going home but the crowd sang on.  We tried a slowey in the shape of "Help Me Make it Through the Night" but no dance takers so we settled down to play out our last number "Johnny B Goode".  This was warmly received before we even started and it all went pretty well including the band outros we have been working on.  As we finished very tightly there was a roar of applause and shouts for more.  Fantastic!  Some wag in the audience called for "Amarillo" and I was about to do it when Chris bass suggested "Hippy Shakes".  A much better choice I thought - so I said our 'thanks for your appreciation and here is a song you wouldn't be able to dance to at this time of night" - and they didn't!  But when we finished we still got a great round of applause and several came up to speak to us as we came off stage.  They all said what a great sound we had and how good it was to see a live band with a drummer.  One lady said the band was so clear, even at the back, that they just wanted to listen and sing rather than dance.  Another offered to give us a mention to Mr Searle!   Of course we were delighted with this unexpected result and we were in high sprits as we set off to get changed.  The other band reported it had been a struggle in the Sundowners and they were off - driving back to Newcastle overnight.  As they left Chris sounded out the entertainments young ladies who said they had been asked to look in on us and were very impressed at how we had held the crowd - they would be giving a good report to Matt the agent. 

 As we packed up we were in good humour and the trolley made load out quite easy.  We got on the road at 12:40am - I said to Chris you carry on I'll probably lag back for an easy run home.  Well the drive went well to Kings Lynn but, then the sciatic pain started to kick in.  By Thetford it was really painful and the last 10 miles home were agonising.  On reflection I should have stopped and walked it out a bit.  I was pleased to get to bed,  but had to take a pain killer to get to sleep.  Still it had been a very good night with the band (best yet) and in the following week I took steps in the form of exercises to try and work the sciatica out.  In the week I moved "American Trilogy" forward in the running order to be the second set finisher.
 

ReTrio at Moreton Hall Pub

This blog will be quite brief because we are fast becoming the resident band here with a gig about every three months and some of the moments are quite similar.  On this occasion it was a Friday and Chris the bass and I had planned to arrive ahead of Chris the drum to lay the cables and amps before he arrived - he was meant to be delayed at work!  Needless to say, as we arrived at 6:30 pm he was there already set up and eating a burger - so we had to work around the kit anyway.  Perversely I do find the twisting, bending and reaching of set up is soothing for my continued bout of sciatica.  I decided to miss out on the string synth which would make things easier.

In the week I had given a heavy old mic stand to Chris the bass to modify by halving all the bits to create a bass drum mic stand.  He had duly got it sawn up and re-assembled and it looked very good.  I had a general purpose T-bone (Thomann) mic I could screw on and lo and behold we had the bass drum miked up!  I ran it into the Line 6 mixer on channel 3 and put a sub-bass algorithm on it set to 'thump' and it sounded suitably deep so we were well pleased with it.  When I get chance I will tweak the mixer settings a bit more but for now it helps fill out our sound just as it is.  I'll get a better pic sometime.

Soon all the rest was set and working but my performance space was even more minute than usual.  To avoid a wooden pub beam I would have to face sideways and lift the guitar anytime someone walked past the band.  The osteopath I was now consulting had observed that my stage stance had some bearing on the sciatica and the tips he had given me definitely couldn't be applied here!

I had a good chat with a Michael Jackson tribute artiste on matters technical - he was doing the pubs and was keen to hear our Bose.  We were geared up to back one of Chris drum's mates on a few numbers (in strange keys such as C# for "Wonderful Tonight") but he hadn't turned up.  So come the performance we played standard sets.

These went quite well and I was pleased with the overall band sound, continuity and playing.  One blooper I heard was Chris the bass hitting the wrong key for "Needles and Pins" - I had to shout 'it's F' and miss a vocal line to get it back on track. I'm less bothered about finishing a set with a ballad nowadays and we stopped after "All Shook Up". Set 2 went similarly well and we had bits of singalong and dancing at times.  Some of the folks were getting a bit drunk by the time we went on for set 3 and, once underway, had to turn my back to the audience from time to time to repel boisterous dancers.  I decided to skip "American Trilogy" and we kept on rocking through to "J B Goode" where I let rip with the guitar giving it max volume which drove the amp simulation so that, even on the  clean setting, I was rewarded by a slightly dirtier, singing sustain which I was very pleased with.  A lot of shouts for 'more' resulted in our embarking on another voyage into the unknown with strangely changing tempos.  Because the guitar was sounding so dominant I tried to use it to push the band into doing it right as we got to the second time around with it - with mixed success.  Anyway the revellers revelled along to it and we closed to a good response.  

Pack up was a bit tricky with people  in the way and a massive drunken dispute developing between 2 fellas who had drunk their way through the night.  In the end the governess got them out the pub and locked the doors.  So we couldn't complete load out for a while.  Jacqui had returned home with Chris the bass's missus and fortunately missed all this out. Got in a few minutes later and she had made me cocoa and toast a good finish to a good night for the band.


 

ReTrio at The Wok and Rock Lakenheath

Grandchild still hadn't arrived on the Friday so drove home in torrential rain late Friday (good job I didn't go earlier in the day cos A14 was badly flooded).  Woke up Saturday to check out the Line 6 2T that had returned having had its circuit board replaced.  All seemed OK - but we wouldn't be using it tonight.  Chris the bass now makes a rough assessment of whether the Bose's will fit height wise at gigs and he had reported this one as 'fit for purpose'.  I got the gear ready for load up and mooched around the house on various tasks until I got a call from Jacqui to say the new Grandson had arrived about 2pm and all was well.  What a relief!  I loaded up in the afternoon even though we weren't setting off until 7:30pm for a 10pm start.  Chris the bass led the convoy and we picked up Chris the drum at Fornham,  then it was about 30 minutes to Lakenheath.  The pub used to be known as 'The Plough' and had been completely refurbished as a restaurant, bar and lounge - looked good. 

Load in was round the back and more or less straight into the playing area where the Chinese guvnor had organised a move of the pool table.  There was not quite enough room to fit the Bose in on Chris's side so we put it the other side of an opened wall forming the alcove we were playing in.  The top few speakers would be blocked off by the top of wall but it seemed a good solution.  Set up went smoothly and we skipped sound check 'cos it was busy ish.  But I left it loud on the PA figuring they were used to live bands.  You could hear the feedback suppressors kick in and I am coming round to thinking it is good technique to let them do their work to seek out the resonances at set up rather than avoid feedback and it come as a surprise to the PA later in the evening. 

Enjoyed a couple of beers and then got changed into white T's n black waistcoats in the large disabled toilet.  We opened up with "FBI" which got a round of applause but the Chinaman came over and indicated too loud.  Strange,  we thought,  they often have rock bands here?  Anyway it suited me to take the sound down a bit so we were well below feedback risk and more in tune with our easy listen repertoire. By and large the set went well.  We picked and mixed through Sets 1 and 2 to do about 50 minutes which got increasingly sing-a-long.  A few errors crept in:  I forgot the arrangement for "Ring of Fire" (again),  Chris forgot key for "Needles and Pins" (but he did a good "Sugar and Spice" - if a little fast).  We dropped in a good paced "Aright Mama" which I was pleased with and we finished off with "Wonder of You" which went very well apart from my forgetting the words to the first line which I had to mumble!  We had about 10 minutes off at 10:50pm and looking round I could see some older folk had arrived.  The place was by no means full, but it was busy with a mix of ages and they seemed to be enjoying the bar!  Back on we went to play a standard set 3.  As we got into "Saw Her Standing There" we got some dance action going,  so I went straight into "Dance the Night Away" to keep it going.  Looking through into the restaurant I could see some more dancing starting up and,  incredibly,  the inscrutable manager had joined in. From then on it was a good night,  lots of applause,  banter and sing-a-long and bits of dancing.  We were a number short as we ran down to the finish so I called for "All Shook Up" which was a good choice as we managed to get the audience to do the answer back 'all shook up'.  I announced Johnny B Goode as the last number hoping to coax an encore out of them and we did.  I called for "Wonderful Tonight" but the boys fancied something faster so we settled on "Born to be Wild".  This turned out to be a good choice as the audience was getting a bit wild and was still drinking at midnight!  The performance was still messy with strange changes in time - Chris the drum must know a different version?  We finished to more applause but declined any more encores and wound down.  After I got changed one of the village elders came up and said he had really enjoyed the band and he could get us a gig at another local venue - I steered him onto Chris to talk business.  Pack up didn't take too long but getting the gear out the back was a tad treacherous it being very dark and the path a bit uneven.  But we were loaded and away just after 1am.  I got in about 1:40am still buzzing about a good day with arrival of grandson and an OK gig.  Went back to Manchester the next day (in more torrential rain from ex hurricane Bertha)  to meet the little fella and 'wet 'is head' with several drinks with Phil his dad.   I brought Jacqui back Monday morning - this was an agonising trip because the sciatica had flared up again.  Ended up at the chiropractor Tuesday and learned some new stretches!

ReTrio at The Railway Club Bury St Edmunds

Sunny, hot and humid - just how I like it!  Jacqui decided to give it a miss so at 5:50pm I set off on my own for the 10 minute drive into town.  The chaps were already unloading as I arrived and parked up.  I walked in with a guitar and they were inspecting the stage to see how to enlarge it to get mic stands on.  It is a kind of boxy stage wider than some (think Caister Social) but not quite enough room to get the stands on at the front.  We played around with ideas as we brought the gear in and eventually Chris the bass moved a piece of stage extension over to accommodate his stand.  It was on wheels so he'd have to take care.  On my side I put the stand on the floor and extended it so it would reach.  It was a bit shakey on full extension but it was workable.  We decided to site Bose on Chris's side 'inside'  the bass amp to give it a clearer sound flow down the middle of the hall - it would also have the advantage of giving both the Chris's stronger monitoring.  The rest of set up was uneventful  but I did leave the Bose on 40%+ analogue input volume. 

 

 

 

 

During the week, to right the wrongs of the previous gig,  I had taped certain knobs on the harmoniser and vocal FX into a fixed position and I also restored the mixer to its original state when I last set it up back in May.   With all this change,  it took me a few minutes to get the mics and FX levels sounding OK.  Oddly enough Chris the bass's cheap SM58 copy sounded good from the off;  it was mine and Chris the drum's mics that I had trouble balancing a good sound against toppy feedback.  On my Audix the problem was also getting more low end into the sound and I had to mess with "deep tweak" on the mixer's complex EQ which has 2 shelving and 3 parametric adjustments = easy to make it worse.  In the end I settled for bit more push in the lo-mid frequency.  It was the boxy nature of the stage that was restricting volume with toppy feedback.  You could hear the feedback suppressors kicking in to kill it but,  as it wasn't too noticeable out front,  I settled for a workable level.  The club was relatively quiet so I asked the boys up for a sound check with "Sugar and Spice"  It took a couple of goes to get the harmoniser balance about right and then we ran through it.  It worked pretty well so I said it would be in the show later to kick off the Searcher's medley.  As we got off stage it was still 28C and we disappeared a couple of beers in double quick time. I put our muzak on the create some atmos.  By 8pm we had a good turn out from the Chris's family and friends and with more 'local's arriving all the seats were taken as we set off to get changed in the little kitchen at the back.  We put on our 'club' outfit of black shirts,  white ties,  black trousers with white belts and strode out to do our bit. 

The start of set one was fairly standard and we got good applause and banter response from the first number "FBI".  After "Groovy Kind of Love",  I introduced Chris the bass and asked the audience if they wanted to hear him sing - "Yeess" they roared and off we went into "Act Naturally".  He hadn't sang in bands 'til I got him started a few months ago and he is still finding his voice;  but on this night, I thought he sang it best he has done so far and he got a lot of appreciation from friends and family.  As did Chris the drum when we followed with "Ring of Fire". Blame it on the heat,  but I lost my way with this towards the end as I led the chaps into doing three choruses to the finish rather than the usual two!  Audience didn't notice and he got a good response.  Chris then introduced me as a former member of the "Checkmates".  I said 'they're too young to remember - let me try them out on a the first line' and we did the 'do wappy' intro.  Normally I get little response to this bit of banter but on this night several sang back 'what do you wanna make those eyes...'  So we did the song and it went quite well.  The audience is a dance floor away from the band but I could definitely hear some sing-a-long!  We wigged up for the couple of Beatles songs and that went down well.  The Searchers medley with "Sugar and Spice" added at the front worked very well and w got a good round of applause for it.  We continued through the usual set and Chris called time as we were about to do "All Shook Up",  so we made that our last number.  Chris the drum is starting to get the 'whats wrong with me' type harmony on this now - he just needs to learn the words for the other verses!  The audience were tapping and singing along but,  oddly enough,  when I stopped for the 'all shook up' line they were missing - I need a fall back for that:  maybe repeat the cue 'I'm in love, I'm ---'?

A chap came up in the break and asked for a 'Wet Wet Wet' song - he was going to see them next week.  I could have busked "Love is All Around"  but the boys weren't too confident,  so I had to decline.  I was quite hot and downed a pint of water.  Then the requester fellow came back over and asked if we could do "Summer Holiday" - he was on hols next week!  Yes I said - we'll busk it but you'll have to sing - a - long!  I don't actually know it but felt confident I could busk it and I briefed the chaps to expect it in C.  We opened set 2 with it and the requestor's family came on to the dance floor and sang and danced lustily.  They probably didn't notice fluffed chords etc and it was a clear success! We carried on with "Apache" - no walk tonight the stage didn't really support it.  That went well and we followed up with "Do You Wanna Dance" and 'lo and behold' several came up for a dance - unexpected but appreciated! I skipped the Monkees to "Happy Together" and a few stayed on the dance floor.  Chris the drum started the vocal at the right place and it fared well up to the second verse where he was distracted by my pre-echo's (I do it like the record),  from then on we were all a bit distracted - I made a mental note that we need to run it thru a few times next practice.  I called for "Daydream Believer" and we got quite a bit of sing-a-long going,  just a warm up for "Delilah" really 'cos that was very popular as usual.  Still Chris and I are confusing the chords right at the end - it's hold the G out the chorus then B7 'just couldn't take ..'  Em  Am  Em  Am Em  B7/Em.  "Bad Moon Risin" came next and got some dancing going and then we carried on with some rock n roll to keep them going for a bit.  Chris the drum still doesn't seem to know the drum responses in "Jailhouse Rock" so that's another thing to sort out next practice.  As we finished that someone came up and asked for some sloweys.  I asked Chris to oblige with "Help Me Make it Thru Night" and that did the trick.  At least 4 couples came up for a dance.  I thought we'd better do some more,  so I called for "Green Grass of Home" and that went pretty well.  Then it was back to usual running order with "Proud Mary"  (there was someone called Mary in the room we could rib), "Don't Stop"  (I forgot some words and the stop - doh!) and "Hot Love" which went very well.  Chris had called time but I urged them on to finish with "Wonder of You" and it went down very well - a great set closer!  I was pleased with my vocal on this night but I was also pleased we were taking a break.

We only had about 20 minutes to play 'til 11pm when the club would play their unlock the treasure game.  I suggested we start with "Dance the Night Away" to give it an airing and after a promising start it was me that cocked the horn solo in the middle - I rather lost the way and we had to have several bars of E to B to get back in synch.  Mind you we had a couple of dancers up and they didn't miss a step!  Next we had a request for another slowey. We did a good job of "Wonderful Tonight" but the crowd enjoyed it so much they wanted another.  I called for "Raining in my Heart" which we had played together about 18 months ago.  Chris the bass couldn't remember any of it but said he would give it a go. I remembered it very well but I could hear Chris struggling on bass.  I was able to remind him to keep playing the G in the verse under the guitar chord changes and I think he saw enough of my chords to get most of the middle 8.  Surprisingly it went down well as well.  I could see the game organiser heading off to the gents so I called for one more number chaps - "Great Balls of Fire".  That went well and even had a few rock n roll dancers up and,  more importantly,   it was short enough not to delay the game.  I was preparing for a long spell off as they did the game,  but the first chap up won the £220 jackpot so that was it!  We went back on and opened with "Pretty Woman,  Saturday Night,  Sweet Caroline" sequence.  We were rewarded with lots of sing-a-long and some dancing - a good set up for "American Trilogy".  I took my time with this,  we did a good job and got a roof raising reception at the end.  I could sense that had taken a big chunk of my stamina out but we ploughed on with the "Hey Baby,  Hi Ho, All Right Now" sequence.  Then it was 'all the ladies sing' as I introduced Chris the bass again to sing on the chorus of "Mustang Sally".  My intention is for Chris to sing the verses when he's ready for it - but for me its not too demanding at present.  I couldn't spot a slowey in the list (Albatross came to me after the gig though - it would have been ideal!) so we did "Hippy Hippy Shake".  By then the hall had thinned out as we approached midnight,  so I calculated an extended "Johnny B Goode" would be enough.  We took our time over the outroductions but we could have been more together on that.  However, the remaining dancers whooped it up right to the end and that was that - gig over!  I was very tired at the end and had to have a couple of quiet minutes before getting changed.  I think it was the start of a 48 hour virus 'cos I felt rough the next day (didn't feel up to visiting me old mum even) and on Monday my sciatica got a lot worse.  Sufficient to make an appointment at the chiropractor - hope that fixes it.  We have a couple of weeks off now - but grandson is imminent,  no rest for the wicked.

ReTrio at The Waterside Bar Hunstanton

Sadly no pics of the band - but here we are enjoying the seaside prior to the gig!

 

 

We decided to do this gig in two cars.  Chris the bass would squeeze Chris the drum's kit into his and I would take one of Chris's Ashdown cabinets.  It was forecast hot and sunny so we decided to make an afternoon of it at the seaside as well.  The two Chris's headed off at 2pm and Jacqui and I set off about 3:15.  We had a good run to Kings Lynn then ran into very slow traffic for the last few miles up to the Hardwicke roundabout and on the A149 skirting round the town.  But once on the Queen Elizabeth Way we had a smooth run past Sandringham and all the way to Hunstanton.  Chris had texted to say 'park in the town' and meet in a pub so we did and after a cool lager in the 'Golden Lion' we eventually met up with them in the 'Wash and Tope'  near the gig.  We had a beer and a half there so we were fairly relaxed as we arrived in the gig bar at 6pm expecting to load in.  The manager said they were too busy with meals so could we come back in an hour.  We had a walk down the front before we came back to load in at 7:40pm.  Even then it was a bit busy in the playing area,  but the manager arranged to clear a table and we set about getting the gear in and setting up.  Chris the bass was pleased with the house lights - so no band lights needed.  It is a biggish room with a big conservatory extension as well,  so I set each Bose up from 25% to 45% power to give me a bit more headroom on the mixer master volume. I was pleased there was no significant increase in hiss and reckon I'll do this more often in future.  I was getting quite hot from the exertion of the load in and setting up quickly and got Jacqui to get me a pint of water - it didn't touch the sides!  The place was quite full so we would not be able to do a sound check,  I just checked mic levels close to feedback and then pulled the mixer down a small notch to keep below feedback.  I thought all would be OK.  Then I looked up and saw old mate Nigel and his missus Jen had arrived in support.  We had a pleasant few minutes meeting and greeting before we went to get changed (white tees and black waistcoats) in the gents for a 9pm start. 

We started with "FBI".  I didn't feel too fluid with this on the night,  but there were no serious mistakes and we got a healthy round of applause.  As I acknowledged that and introduced "Heartbeat" I was a little shocked at how much the volume on the PA seemed to have crept up - I hadn't done anything?  Still "Heartbeat" went well enough.  But the real shock came in the next number, "Smiling", when I went for the harmoniser - 'wow it was loud!'  I managed to reduce it a bit before the rock n roll section but I was distracted throughout that wondering what had made the harmoniser so hot.  On the positive side I think we got the tempo of "Rock Around the Clock and Blue Suede Shoes" about right.  I had intended to do "Rip It Up" next but I could sense the audience were paying attention to the historical narrative so we did "Ring of Fire" with a reference to curry houses instead.  I was able to bring the PA down a little while we were doing this - Chris the drum's mic didn't seem so hot and it was a bit tricky to work on the mix and play the song, but we got through OK.  I decided to do our little Beatles sequence next and I was pleased to hear the rhythm was right on "8 Days a Week" but I wasn't so sure when we ran into "Can't Buy Me Love",  so I kept that short.  We tried a bit of sing-a-long with "Daydream Believer",  I think there was a bit of sing a long but the band was relatively loud and I noticed touches of hi pitched feedback.  At the end I took the PA volume down another notch, but the harmoniser was still way too strong - I knocked it down even more for "Delilah".  Chris got off to a strange start vocally but picked up and we definitely had strong sing-a-long in this one!  As we finished I couldn't help but look out the window at a wonderful red sky -  however, the forecast was storms!  Perfect cue for "Bad Moon Rising".  We were still going down well with a relatively full house of our kind of audience as I took us into "Summertime Blues".  Chris the drum still has some odd timings with the stops on this one:  but I take the view it will get ironed out if we play it a lot!  We didn't see any dancing as such,  but I could see people getting agitated in their chairs - maybe that's it round here?  (Actually, Jacqui said later we had a good groove going and would have danced if anyone else was - but it was a hot night,  much better for drinking than dancing!).  Next up was Chris with "Proud Mary" and that seemed to go well - I even detected bits of sing-a-long from the folks on my left.  We were winding down the finish of this set now.  I called for a song that was 'right up to date'  for us -  "Hot Love".  Chris the bass got us going at the right tempo and,  by and large, we were getting it right (I messed some of the words up but hey ho at least I knew I did!) up to the first set of 'la la la laas'  I knew there was something I had to do but couldn't bring it to mind,  so I chose to do the guitar break again whilst I got my head together,  The boys followed just fine and then I remembered it and next time around we got it right - 'phew'.  Time to finish with "Wonder of You".  All went well enough,  I had a bit of finger trouble getting the strings up to volume for the big ending and I went to the low pitch vocal finish to be safe;  but it got a good audience response and we could take a break.  Caught up with Nigel and Jen in the break,  but still stuck to water.  Nige said it was a full sound for a 3 piece and he was impressed by my personal work rate. I explained that the others were starting to contribute vocally and with banter but it was early days.  Chris the bass had to show off his compressor to Nigel!  Nige said Chris had a good bass sound - might need to come up a tad in the mix.  Useful input from a trustworthy source!

We got back on for the second set which was basically our normal 3rd set with some added numbers missed out earlier.  Opened with "Great Balls" as usual.  I skipped "Dance the Night Away" and counted Chris the drum in with a McCartneyesque 1,2,3,4 for the start of "Saw Her Standin There".  Chris the drum looked a bit hot and bothered at then end and he confessed he hadn't had time to get the words up and sang it from memory.  'Brill - way to go!' I said as I also urged him to get on with the drum beat for "Pretty Woman"  Then it was through the usual sing-a-along pairing: "Saturday Night, Sweet Caroline"; I later discovered Chris was playing an F# rather than an F in the run down on the latter - another fault fixed for the future!  As we came to a halt, Chris pointed out we were getting through the set quickly,  so I called for the little Searchers medley next. I was still not happy with the harmoniser sound on this but we soldiered on to some applause.  Next was "American Trilogy"  which apart from an added bar at the end of the flute solo went as well as it could and we got a really good response to it.  We seemed to be back on track timing wise so I continued with "Hey Baby,  Hi Ho, All Right Now" where we finally saw some dance action!  Continued with "Hippy Hippy Shake, Honkey Tonk" before embarking on "Caroline"  which brought up a couple more dancers.  "Mustang Sally" was the natural follow up with my 'all the ladies sing' quip to bring in Chris the bass on chorus vocal; and then we were ready to call last number with "Johnny B Goode".  This went pretty well.  Chris the bass was a little bit late on my outroduction,  but we compensated by holding the E while he finished the announcement and then I went for the guitar solo - this actually built a bit of tension and worked so well I think I will ask him to do it like this every time!  There were a few shouts for more so it was natural to do "Born to be Wild" as the encore.  We did manage to do it a little more disciplined than of late,  but it still has some weird tempo changes courtesy of Chris the drum who must have listened to some freak out version in the past?!?  We left them shouting for more and took a few minutes before pack up.    After a well earned swag of water,  we said our goodbyes to Nige and Jen and set to pack up. I told Chris the drum that Jen was a top drum roadette if needed help packing up.  Chris was exceptionally sweaty and when Jen gave him a goodbye hug I joked "Bring back memories?" - she laughed!

Well I have to say it was great to have old mate and staunch blogateer Nige see the band and I was so pleased we had a relatively good night for that.  Pack up went quick as Chris didn't have any lights to deal with!  I set off first and we had a very smooth run home in balmy conditions with none of the forecast thunder storms.  Chris caught up in the final few miles and I saw him peel off to Chris the drums house to drop drums off.  We got in about 1:30am and, apart from being a bit tired next day, generally felt good about the gig.

ReTrio at the Moreton Hall Pub Bury St Eds

I was geared up to use the Line 6 mixer with one Bose with two B1 bin + a Line 6 L2M on a speaker stand on Chris's side.  Arrived and found the two Chris's mainly set up. We squeezed my gear in.   Chris set the speaker stand legs flat on the floor - I didn't spot this in time so we proceeded to set up with those legs well splayed out.  It was very tight on my side;  I had to operate the pa effects by threading my right foot through the drum stands to press footswitches - but amazingly it all worked.  By the time I came to check to mics out properly I was a bit concerned at the low power from the Line 6,  we had to turn the master up to max to get close to feedback.  I thought it would do and left it for a bit.  Then Chris the bass reported a popping sound from it.  I powered it down and back up,  that often cures problems - still there! I asked Chris to disconnect the signal lead from the mixer and it was still popping away,  so we had diagnosed a faulty unit.  Thought about it for a minute and took the decision to pull it down and bring in the spare Bose. The boys helped with the gear shift and it only took a few minutes to get the Bose with 1 B1 set up.  Actually,  it didn't take up much more room than the splayed leg Line 6 so no major band re-arrangement necessary.  The PA all checked out ok and there was plenty of volume so we retired for a beer.  Chris the bass had quite a few friends and relatives arriving - including a family from San Diego and, with some of our usual supporters coming in,  the pub was getting quite crowded.   Jacqui arrived having made the long 10 minute journey from home on foot!  We completed change into white tees n black trousers in the gents.  Actually I had arrived in mine so it was just waistcoat for me.  When we got back out I was pleasantly surprised to see how busy it was. In fact I found it easiest to get to the band area by exiting the pub at the back, walking round the outside to the front door, and then inside and to the left to the playing area!  We took our places and opened up with "FBI".  Sounded good and some folks were definitely jiggling around to it;  and we got a good round of applause as we finished. Followed up with "Heartbeat and Smiling" as pa system testers and all seemed ok soundwise.  I was finding it hard to stand and reach the various pedals and eventually settled on a workable position by turning to my right to face the bass. We carried on with the usual flow for a few numbers.  Chris the bass asked to defer "Act Naturally" 'til set 2 when there would be a bit of bandaoki (i.e. karaoke with backing by a band).  The audience was well on our side and we got a good response to everything.  I chose to finish with "All Shook Up" as we reached the 45 minute point.

Set 2 was interesting - we got off to the usual start with "Apache, Do You Wanna Dance, Happy Together, Daydream Believer, Delilah" all very well received.  It was so crowded round the band that there were only little spots of dance action.  Then we had a strange session where Brian, the original 81 year old singer from their first band 'The Mustangs'  came up to do a couple of songs accompanied by the band and his son,  Malcolm,  on acoustic guitar. We made a bit of space for them in front of the drums.  I had set up the spare SM58 for Brian and it just needed unmuting on the mixer.  Malcolm didn't need any amplification.  We were all set to start with "Crystal Chandelier" in C.  Brian's voice was a bit short of power as he tested the mic so I gave it a final boost and off we went.  In truth it wasn't a great musical performance,  but it was massively nostalgic for those doing it and many of the crowd.  Brian called for a solo and I obliged with something country chordy.  He got a big roar of approval as we finished,  so we asked him to do another.  He chose a similar song: " Wedding Bells" also in C.  Chris called for "Act Naturally" with Brian singing along and of course that got a major reaction from the home crowd.  I think Brian and Malcolm were a bit overwhelmed by crowd and the emotion and Brian wisely chose to stop.  Next up was Lewis (Chris the bass's partner,  Bridget's son)  He had done "Achy Breaky Heart" before with us last year and chose to repeat the performance.  He sings it well but the arrangement is all over the place - anyway it went down a bomb!  Then they persuaded his sister,  Abbie,  who had sang with us for several gigs in 2013, to come up and do "Pontoon".  She was a bit well oiled and unsteady but gave it a good shot while I tried to remember the chords. Chris seemed to remember the bass ok as we improved out way through.  I can't recall the number but Lewis came back to do something else;  then it was over to the band to finish with a normal run through to the end of set 2.

 

 

We came back on for a rocking set 3 and it was a blast.  Everything we did went well with singing along,  bits of crowded dancing and a raucous applause.  We signed off with Johnny B Goode,  got the call for an encore and bashed out "Born to be Wild" to finish a great but wild night.  We heard later that the pub had had to send out for an emergency drink replenishment to keep the crowd supplied!!!

Pack up was very difficult as the crowd slowly dispersed,  but eventually I got it all in the car and set off home.  I was really tired and achy the next couple of days,  but no virus thank god!  The Line 6 L2M tested out faulty and has to go back to the supplier - more work finding the packaging and filling in forms.

ReTrio at the Oakley Festival Rougham

Chris the drum had arranged with neighbour Tracy to get us a slot in the afternoon at this charity event.  We had had a practice / get together on the Thursday and decided to do our 3rd set with a couple of additions to make it an hour.  It was a warm afternoon as I set off to pick up Chris the bass for the 5 mile drive to gig in a field behind the Eddington Arms in Rougham. We could hear a rock band playing as we arrived. Then we drove through security and passed a few words with Tracy on the gate before we drove onto the field and parked up.  The idea was there would be 2 band slots in tent;  one setting up and the other playing.  We were early so I got the beers in and we watched the rock band complete its set and a bit of the next band "The Muppits" do theirs as we waited for the rock band to clear their space.  This was a good band;  guitar bass and drums with a girl singer.  The guitarist had a PRS through a top of the range Fender amp and it sounded great with bits of sustain or jazzy clean when he needed it.  Their material was middle of the road but the guitarist was good enough to play string or horn pats on songs like "River Deep Mountain High"  to very good effect. He was also good at relaxed improvised between song banter. They didn't get much reaction so it didn't bode well for our spot.  We set up on a gravel floor and,  thanks to a tip,  using power from the pub rather than a generator.  I was doing it lite with no harmoniser or strings so set up didn't take too long.  The Muppits finished their set and we tested the pa.  No sound?  Ah! forgot to switch the Bose on! 

 

 

 

 

 

We opened with "Great Balls" and got a ripple of applause - that was as good as it got!  We had some visibility problems seeing LED's etc so switching echo was problematic - but no one out there seemed to care.  Also the dry atmosphere was making me miss undershoot frets as I slid up the neck.  I was sufficiently frustrated that I started to make errors on words and arrangements.  After "American Trilogy" we got a little applause so we gave it one more big heave  with "Born to be Wild"  which was a very wild arrangement indeed - not many of the musos present would have been impressed I fear.  We signed off rather weakly with "Johnny B Goode" - I didn't even give time for Chris to outroduce me!   Pack up was slow and steady as a young solo artiste started on the plot to our right.  We finally got away at 5ish;  by the time we got home we had about an hour for a sandwich and relax before setting off to our local pub The Moreton Hall for our evening performance!  I was a bit unhappy about our performance in the afternoon and I hoped the evening would go better!