Manor Park at Hunstanton

Dave had asked us to get over to the gig 5pm because there wasn’t much opportunity for set up later in the evening. So I set off about 3:45 looking forward to the first gig with Nigel playing as the permanent bassist. Arrived at 5 and just started getting the gear in when Nigel the Dave, Jen and Laura arrived. No one in charge there and the stage curtains were drawn. We had a good look round for how to operate the curtains and in the end Nige found a pully system in the control room on the left of the stage. By the time we got the curtains back and most of the gear on stage, Becks arrived to brief us on timings and use of the “Owners Lounge”. Got set up slowly. Nige got his finger trapped in his Bose legs. Dave had a bit of trouble setting up his bells. We decided to put a feed through to Nigel’s Bose for monitoring. It took quite a bit of time to get it right but it sounded fine to me once it was up and running. I adjusted the front of house PA to drop the signal levels from the mixer and decrease the power amp attenuation. There were quite a few adjustments to make and we still weren’t set up by 6pm when the dance class started. I had to admit I was quite stressed by then! We finally got a 1 minute check of “I Feel Fine”. Jen reported the vocals were too loud out front. It had sounded OK on stage so I decided to leave it in the hopes that it would work OK in a fuller room. I now had to shift most of my gear back to allow room for the bingo caller. With a few people coming up on stage and brushing close to my 12 string, I decided to put it back in its case. We only had 2 sets to do starting at 9 so we passed the time mainly in the owners lounge (I did manage a bit of a stroll round the site in the sun first). Despite having a good look at the running order, I couldn’t see an obvious way of splitting into 2 sets and we casually decided to play through the usual set 1 for a bit to see how it went. So at 9pm we were duly announced by Becks and off into “Foot Tapper” etc. The first few songs I had problems with the relative levels of the mics. Nigels sounded loudest and mine weakest. Trouble was I was doing most of the MCing and couldn’t get back to fiddle with the mixer, so we ploughed on. We were getting good applause from the audience but not much dancing. My bantering started off OK and got a bit of audience reaction, but it became increasingly hard to keep it up. Dave had retreated into his shell a bit and it was hard work for me to manage the sound, sort out my own gear, try and advise where in the book things are and do the announcements. So the band was getting increasingly tense and untogether as the set went on. Still we have to remember we went down well enough and got very good reactions to “Apache” and “I Believe”, and we also had a few people up and strictly come dancing to the slowies. Dave popped in the 70’s “Under the Moon” sequence which got some dancing response. The message I took from this is that (like last time) this set should have been all about entertainment and not about getting people up and dancing. Becks said as much when she said they too had been struggling with an odd balance of the young and old. Some of the more lively types were absent – was it ‘cos it had been a sunny day or the finals of TV talent had kept people away? Now the other problem was that Jenny said the vocals were too loud compared to the band. This could be an artefact of feeding the Bose LI with a monitor signal, or it could be down to the changes to the main PA I had made; I had increased the hi end enhancement and decreased the bass processing to take out some boomy feedback we were getting. Anyway we were a bit downcast after the first set and decided to start the next set with Set 3 stuff to try and liven things up. We started off with Amarillo and apart for a break for a birthday boy, we played through to “All Right Now” getting some response on the dance floor (particularly the twist). Then we did “Unchained Melody” which filled the floor with slow dancers. We followed up with a quick “Bad Moon” before going into the closing sequence. I announced “Pretty Woman” as our last song and Dave did a bit of a sign off from the band towards the end. This evoked a reasonable crowd response for more, so we encored with “Wonderful Tonight” which filled the floor nicely. Then it was over to the disco – which also had trouble getting the floor filled. We managed to clear the gear whilst the disco was working away and we took great note of an instruction to the dancers to remember to keep their thongs on when they change for part of the show! Got away about midnight and home for 1:30am after a night I have mixed feelings about. I think we all felt we could have done much better on a night of highish expectations, but on the other hand we seemed to have done the job well enough and satisfied the audience and people in charge. We now have to dust ourselves off and rebuild confidence!

Practice at Skeyton

Nigel has got emphysema! He has to give up smoking and is waiting some further discussion with medics, but is hopeful that it can be arrested and controlled. Slow start to practice but finally got going with run throughs of:

• I Feel Fine – OK, a bit more attention to avoiding unison clash at verse phrase end.
• Hotel California – went fine, ready for play!
• Seasons of Gold – agreed some changes to Sherry riff, words and backing vocals. Still doesn’t sound quite right so I will review key and vocal arrangement.
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love - sorted out harmonies on answer backs sounded good.
• Love Is All Around – sorted out B7 but harmonies still sound a bit odd to me, happy to persist for the time beigng
• Peaceful Easy Feelin – went well and is ready to rock.
• Only You - “do do wah” phrasing issue, Adrian to write it out.
• Do It Again – went well, bit more whimsy on middle 8
• Somewhere under the Sun – Adrian to revise arrangement
• End of the Line – Took a bit of effort but we raised the harmony base and it started to work well.
• Walk Don't Wipe Out – went well.

Tried a bit of new with: Somebody Help Me and Keep on Running. Concensus is these are rockier pieces that need to find a home in the second half of the show.

Had a discussion about how to go down well and secure repeat bookings. The issues discussed were:

1. Band Uniform - with hindsight it was a strategic error to stick with the Foot Tapper waistcoats as long as we have. We do need to fix this quickly. Dave has been given the OK to see if he can buy something locally.
2. Repertoire - we think we have this cracked by learning a wide repertoire.
3. Entertainment – we do OK but we are working on improving this
4. Sound – We have a good reputation for playing at lowish volumes, but some gigs do demand a more solid sound to grab attention. We are still having trouble with the PA sound and the issue of Bose came up again. Nigel would bring his Bose gear along to the next gig and would contact the Bose UK rep to see what might be available.
5. Slowies versus Fasties – some bands just do the latter. But some audiences do enjoy the former. The Foot Tappers experience has been that Nights in White Satin, I Believe, Can’t Help Fallin, No Matter, Love is all Around, Unchained Melody and the Elvis American Trilogy pieces have always got a very good reception and come across as high points in the show. The ability to do these big ballads is a big differentiator against much of our competition.

In my opinion it amounts to versatility. If we apply that principle to what we play, how we look, entertainment and sound; then by adapting what we do on the night to meet the needs of different audiences we are maximising our potential to go down well and get repeat gigs.

Searles at Hunstanton

Windy but dry day. Uneventful trip over making good time to be first to arrive at :5:30pm. Met up with the security guys to find the stage had been moved back to its original position. I got the trolley out and loaded up my gear when Dave and Rita A arrived; followed shortly by Dave and Jenny. We managed to get set up on the small stage, making a few adjustments to a poster and partition to give us a bit more room. It was plenty warm enough inside. Soundchecked OK and sat down to have a beer outside and talk with Dave A about the future. I explained that whilst we were very happy with him and his bass playing, we had offered the job to Nigel and it was Nigel’s vocals that gave him a clear edge in the decision. I asked Dave to continue to dep with us whilst Nigel got released. Whilst he was disappointed, Dave seemed agreeable to that. Dave and I said we had hoped Dave A would get a more permanent job with the Nashville Numbers, but Dave A explained that that was not likely and he would still be looking for bassist work. So with the air mainly cleared we got changed and did a creditable hour long set 1. We were requested to do an Elvis number so we brought forward “Blue Suede Shoes”. Bantering was good and we got a good reaction from a growing audience. Gave away a couple of CD’s to some lads who came up to play tambourines in “Mr Tambourine Man”. Had a break for some water and did set 2 pretty much as set out to finish after another hour with “Shake Rattle Roll” and “Love is all Around” During this set Dave had been a bit distracted but we still did a good job on the bantering front. Got changed with the dancing girls and came back to do Set 3 playing right through to “All Right Now” without stopping. Unfortunately, I cocked up the solo but it still got a warm round of applause. Then we only had time for “Bad Moon Rising” before we were into the close down numbers. We got a great reception as we signed off and the governor gave us the OK to do an encore with “Great Balls”. The band sounded good where I was bust Dave A reported distortion on the PA on the loud bits – oh dear still haven’t sorted it! Overall, despite a few mistakes, I think it was a good night for the band. Got packed and loaded up slowly; getting away before midnight for a 1am arrival home.

Practice at Skeyton

Nice day and good trip over. PA doesn’t sound too good in this hall, but we want to concentrate on music at this stage so I didn’t waste time fiddling.

• I Feel Fine: E.g: M8 Nigel to take the line under Dave Start A. Dave start D, Adrian to do a high falsetto line (start G).
• Hotel California: minor changes e.g. Chorus – Nigel start G close under, Adrian starting C Dave on Hi Line starting E
• Seasons of Gold: Adrian to do bass part lead into M8 of Sherry. Adrian to do bass line on “Working My Way Back” but Dave to do bass “I had to get away” link.
• Only You: Nigel to sing bass line on Do Do Wahs and Aaahs
• 3 Times a Lady: Guitar to be single chords to lose military 3/4 time. Swap GMaj7 to D in Chorus
• Crazy Little Thing: Adrian to investigate solo clash of notes on Bb
• Love is all Around: Adrian to investigate swap of Bm to B = turned out to be B7

Trimingham

Made good time over taking a short cut through North Reps down some by-roads. Alright in the day but best avoided at night! Just got parked up and Dave and Rita arrived. I suggested they park down near the club to avoid going through the barrier. Dave, Steve and Jenny arrived and we got the pass card off Andy. So I went round the back on the newly tarmaced road while Dave tried to get through by the side of the club. After a couple of tries he abandoned that and took the card to come round the back. Got loaded in and set up without incident other than a lead being in the wrong socket on the harmoniser. Did a bit of a sound check and, as there weren’t many there, we ran thru “Pretty Woman” and “Shaking All Over”. It is a dry sound at this gig and I was very happy with the PA sound but I still have some problems with input and output levels on the reverb. We had time for a beer and then a few of Dave’s muso mates arrived and we were on for a creditable hour long set 1. Good continuity and banter and we all seemed to know what we were doing. The dry sound can be a bit off putting ‘cos a mistake sticks out, but we didn’t make many! The reverb could have done with a couple more notches on it but the on stage sound was fine. Had a break for water (not beer). Once Daves mates went there weren’t that many in the club watching the band. Anyway we went on and did a good set 2 lasting about another hour. By the time we came on for set at 11:25pm things had really thinned out. But we started with 500 miles and Dave did this Scottish dance with the kilt on which got me and Dave A laughing. We seemed to lose it after that, not many to play to and getting a bit tired and we were glad to finish at midnight with the usual! Dave and Rita were staying over. I was quite tired on the way home and needed two cola’s to keep going – got in about 2:45 am.

Practice at Skeyton

Good run over in rush hour and traffic was good, so I arrived at the hall at 6:20pm to find Dave already setting up. We carried on setting up and I made an adjustment to to rock’n’roll reverb. While we waited for Nigel to arrive. But he was lost a few hundred yards away! In the end Dave talked him in and we finally got cracking about 7:30pm. Nigel had bronchitis so a bit off par and sat down to sing. Did a warm up with “I Feel Fine” which Nigel asked for a check on middle 8 chords. Had some problems getting the PA sound right. Ended up boosting mids for this hall. We have a difference of opinions on reverb levels: Nigel and Dave want less than I want. I’m happy to compromise a bit but I do believe a good dollup of reverb presents the best sound to the audience - so we may need an independent assessment somewhere down the line. Started off by putting Nigel into some of Dan’s repertoire, so we have:

• Peaceful Easy Feeling – Nigel Lead, Dave close above and me the high line, this worked fine
• End of the Line - We ended up switching parts so I do Dan’s old line and Nigel does mine. Bit of home practice for both of us.
• Johnny B Good - worked fine. Nigel will give me a U Tube link to help me work on the original Chuck Berry solo.
• Spirit in the Sky – Switched Key to G, lose last chorus, me to look at opportunity for more distorted guitar parts?

Then we looked at some more tricky pieces:

• Somebody Help Me – we agreed Nigel to sing in A and to marry this with Keep On Running with Dave taking the lead also in A. I will need to research guitar parts for both and they will be placed in the more rocky end of the show.
• Seasons of Gold - Adrian to resend arrangement and Nigel to work on Dan’s parts. But the run through to demonstrate the scope was promising.
• Hotel California - Nigel worked up the bass part very quickly and fitted in well on Dan’s vocal lines. I played it on the 12 string and fluffed the solo. Nigel liked the sound of the 12 String so we did a couple more 12 string pieces Needles and Pins and Mr Tambourine Man to demonstrate the sound fully. Then for the hell of it we did Take It Easy / Lying Eyes on the 12 string.

Nigel suggested “Let it Shine” from Take That, Dave suggested “Oh Boy” from Buddy Holly - both have gone on the list. We had a bit of a convo about Bose gear. Dave and I both counselled Nigel to sell his if he got a good offer. We have plenty of PA if we do big halls. Nige paid £20 to me I gave him £15 change and gave Dave Nigel’s £20 for the hall letting him off any payment. So the effect on the kitty is Adrian and Dave have taken out £5 each for the hall plus another £5 = Kitty down by £15. We called it a night about 10:00 pm packed up and got off home, agreeing to resume the next Thursday. I got in about midnight on a clear mild night.

Blofield Plantation Park Hall 60th Party

Fairly pleasant sunny weather for the drive over for which I took at an easy pace, arriving in Blofield about 6:20pm. Couldn’t find Plantation Park straight off but then I spotted it as I drove past the entrance. So came back and you can see a clump of trees around Norwich United’s football ground just to the North of the A47 and that was it. Drove down the long drive into the car park and Dave A and Rita were already parked there. So I said hello and had a brief sit in their camper van for a few minutes before backing my car up to the door to the club. The gig was upstairs so I was glad to see Dave and Martin arrive, but the bar manager gave me a lift up with the PA anyway. It’s a medium sized room with sloping ceilings, the band plays at one end - but there is a fire escape in the middle. Initially we started to set up on the right hand side of the bar area, but in the end we moved over to the other corner, which put me in the sloping ceiling area and meant we had to set the PA down a few notches on its stand. Dave A was using his Fender mustang with a De Marzio pickup – through his Trace Elliot 2 x 10 rig it sounded just as good as his usual Bass Collection. We decided the club lights would be sufficient and set up and soundchecked OK. I got Dave to do a bit of “Nights in White Satin” to check out the main reverb. This was good but I concluded that the rock’n’roll slapback echo level needs to be reduced a little – a job for the next practice! Had a beer and did a good but short set 1. Got Tony and Angie up to do the Shadows walk. This whole set went down well with a smallish but mixed crowd. Had a break for the buffet and another beer and then went back on to do the rest of set 1 and some other stuff including a country medley, “Happy Birthday” for Tony in the hat and the “James Bond Theme” for his mate. In Set 3 we picked and mixed our way through to American Trilogy and then did a good rendition of some modern country in the form of “Dance the Night Away, Achey Breaky Heart, Bad Moon Rising”. There were a few stragglers staying to midnight so we finished off with the usual Orbison and Clapton. Dave A had a 2 beat bass going in “Pretty Woman” which didn’t fit too well with the vocals so we’ll need to fix that next time out. My throat was still playing up and I was really tired packing up and was glad to get the gear in the car. One of the guys running the bar said how much he enjoyed out harmonies and Tony and Angie were suitably appreciative. SO I plied Dave and Martin with cola. Dave A and Rita were staying in the car park and heading off West the next day. I took it easy on the way back, passing two police car incidents and got in very tired at 2am. Think I am suffering the last bout of this long virussy cold!