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.