Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Community => Gigs => Topic started by: jazzyvee on December 15, 2024, 01:53:08 AM
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I have watched one of Bill, tgo's streamed gigs and a number of other members gigs on youtube links, and thought maybe we should have a thread for posting these in one place. Shall we start here?
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I think this is a cool idea. 😎 I'd love to watch what other Club Members are up to. One of my favorite bands I follow is on a livestream from this dirty little roadhouse in Madison, Tennessee on Monday nights. It's like rooting for a hometown ball team... you really get to know each band member through their stage presence. Over time, you learn their set lists, or changes to it on-the-fly, even the running jokes within the band. They even have it set up to tip them online through Venmo, etc.
The trouble we always had with Harwell-Grice Band... if Josh ever got the idea someone had a camera on him, he simply could not help himself... the loveable frontman and rhythm guitarist instantly morphed into DorkJosh... and calamity ensued. I can only imagine how a livestream would go. 😳
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I like this idea. I did my first show with a heavy prog band called the Cyberiam last Friday. There was a multi camera shoot and audio that is currently being mixed and edited. But for now, here's a cell phone clip of part of one song.
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Nice work Tom.
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Very nice. Interested in hearing the finalized video.
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Yessir, well done Tom. 8) And that Distillate Exploiter is just right there. Total badass.
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Thank you. Yes, that Distillate gives me nothing to complain about. Sometimes I feel like I'd like a normal shaped one, but this will do! :D
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Sometimes I feel like I'd like a normal shaped one, but this will do! :D
nah. ya don't want a normal shaped one. trust me 🗿
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Color me lackadaisical about details…. Distillate electronics, nice! 😎
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Thanks for posting this Tom! The band is hot! In a proggy way of course. You're kind of making me regret getting rid of my Spoiler Exploiter, but I'm glad I didn't have to learn this set of music lol - some of those bits where the hits alternate each couple of measures - so much intertwining between the instruments - how much time did you have to learn the material?! It sounds great! I love the busier bass stuff a little before 2:00. Looking forward to the "official" version but this sounds really good.
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Thanks Harry! It was a bit of a crunch. I had about 7 weeks and 6 rehearsals to get the 75 minute set together. No iPad, no cheat sheets. I'm a glutton for punishment! ;D
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I expect to be doing live streams on https://www.twitch.tv in 2025, under the user name ;
ClandestineCrow. I already have 84 followers.
Here is the link to my channel ; https://www.twitch.tv/clandestinecrow
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i picked up a faux DS-5 the other day. that was the last barrier to taking the ebony amazon along to rehearsal. my stage rig is already set up for stereo, so i hooked 'er up and let 'er rip. this is our 4th time playing together, we're still trying to find our direction and we're still gettin used to each other's playing. it's a whole lot easier to wear this monster when there's other musicians around, i think i'll do this more often, maybe in front of an audience, who knows? so here it is, warts and all - 4 old guys trying to relive their youth:
a fragment of heard it on the 'x':
i melt with you:
bye bye love:
cheers!
t
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Caught it on youtube first. Cars. Nice.
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Really enjoyed those videos, that smooth warm tone you have is great.👍🏾😁
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Sounds great! :)
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Loved it!
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thanx guys, i had a blast doing this. the ebony amazon tone is way different from the mighty MKD which is my normal travel bass. so much so that my bandmates noticed right away. here's the rehearsal rig i made that with: full stereo, neck pickup to the 1x15, bridge to the 2x10, tone wide open, fresh rotosound rounds.
the weight didn't seem too bad, gonna hafta try it at a show next 🗿
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Nice Tim! The Alembic cuts like a knife, even with mellower tones. Sounds like you have a solid drummer there, congrats.
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Yes. That is really nice.
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ok here's a take from our last rehearsal. this is the first we played this song together and we had a singer recovering from a cold. so it's a little rough. could've had a train wreck in a coupla spots. but we didn't. one of hte things i love about this band. i'm trying to find a camera angle where you can see everyvbody else and i'm not the star of the show but it obviously hasn't happened yet.
i've been alternating between the SII and the pretty bass on band days. the pretty bass doesn't have quite the huevos the ebony amazon does (same amp setup, same strings) but it is a helluva whole lot easier to wear for a 3-hour rehearsal. plus the wider string spacing means i can pop the E and A strings a whole lot easier. which i do whenever i can. doesn't sound too bad, it just ain't an SII. here it is, warts and all.
cheers!
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Sounds great! Senior management looked over my shoulder as I was watching it and proclaimed “old guys rock better than young ones!”
Bill, tgo
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The pops sound great!
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Live video 1 of 6 that will be released every Sunday at noon CST.
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awesome!
are you drop-tuned?
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Thanks for posting that. Looking forward to the next 5.
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Wow, I really enjoyed that. Loved everyone's playing. I have to state the obvious the bass sounds awesome and the sustain is impressive. I too look foreward to the next ones, and will have to play them through my sound system for a fuller experience. Great stuff!!!
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so after that highly polished and well-performed piece, here's another unrehearsed first time outta the gate shot from the old guys in the basement. it was one of those days - there are times when i just can't get the beast dialed in right plus the tablet and mic system i've been using was acting up so the audio might be from the tablet pinhole mic. the remote was acting up so i hadda keep the tablet close and drive it from the screen. so in addition to the bass-heavy mix ya gets a close-up view of the ebony amazon being put through her paces by some old geezer in a red shirt. so here it is, warts and all:
cheers!
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You guys rock!
Bill, tgo
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Thanks folks. We tune down a 1/2 step, and then drop "D", actual C# for most of the stuff. I play my 5 string Guild Pilot on one song (also 1/2 down), and there a few places where I use on octave down effect (mostly because I prefer playing 4 string).
And do please listen on something that's not laptop or phone speakers! ;D
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Hey Tim, my favorite ZZ Top song! Bass sounds great. Hope you're having fun.
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Hey Tim, my favorite ZZ Top song! Bass sounds great. Hope you're having fun.
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Nice video Tom, very good sound quality; and you're playing is great.
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Sounds great, looks like you guys are having fun too 😊
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We tune down a 1/2 step, and then drop "D", actual C# for most of the stuff.
IIRC unless ya had it modified, that's a medium scale bass, did you go up in string guages or do ya just like that flappity-flap ya gets when ya hits an open string? :o
Hey Tim, my favorite ZZ Top song! Bass sounds great. Hope you're having fun.
thanks, we're almost havin too much fun. i gotta tell ya, imho ya haven't lived until you've danced around with an SII strapped on ya playin some ZZTop.
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Thanks David, the band carries its own in-ear rig with a Midas M32 rack. We took the feed off of that to record the tracks, and the singer/guitarist mixed everything. The audio will be going up on bandcamp in March.
I figured someone would ask about the scale length and down tuning. Here's the funny thing - I was a couple of weeks into practicing the stuff when it finally occurred to me that this was on a 32'' bass. In other words - I didn't even notice a difference. Somehow, there's plenty of tension with my usual 45-105 DR Hi Beams.
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ok here's another first time outta the gate count it out and go for it take from the old guys in the basement. this time featuring a slightly different camera angle, a little less bass-heavy mix ( i'm working on my live ambient mic placement) so i'm not the star of the show for a change ::)
back in the day i'd pop a C-120 into the boom box, set it at the back of the room, hit record and that was how we recorded our band demo. guess times haven't changed that much.
imho if a band can get it like this first time outta the gate then we should be able to do it live, which is ultimately the point of this exercise.
The Alembic cuts like a knife, even with mellower tones. Sounds like you have a solid drummer there, congrats.
well now you can see him in action. i like this guy - he's got great chops plus i think he's got a helluva voice. for a drummer.
it's all been peaches and cream up to this point. then they dropped the bomb on me yesterday - they wanna do touch of grey by the dead. i realize this may be heresy on this board and i hope i don't get banned for it, but the grateful dead just aren't my cup of tea. but i'm always up for a challenge and i've had to bite my lip through other songs i idin't like so i guess i will survive. it.
i wasn't looking for an 80's band when i started out on this adventure but it sure looks like i stepped in it with both feet.
cheers!
t
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You guys really sound great! 😊
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Touch of Grey should be a fun song to play; while fairly straight forward, the chord changes and dynamic/rhythmic touches should make it an interesting addition to your set list.
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Touch of Grey is on my bucket list of bass lines to learn.
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Touch of Grey should be a fun song to play
Touch of Grey is on my bucket list of bass lines to learn.
well it wasn't on mine. i started on it yesterday after a day of getting the melody of the bass part memorized. i got a guit@r chord chart plus a phrase trainer from the 90's in the woodshed, this combination never lets me down. i got up to the confounded bridge yesterdy, should be able to get the rest of it presentable today 'cause i gotta stand and deliver tomorrow.
now that i'm this far into it, i gotta say it's one of the cooler bass lines i've learned, i like the way it flows and has that "riffy" feel.
soooo...... lessons learned? never say never? ormaybe i got my musical horizons stretched. either way it's all good.
also btw this plays much better on an alembic than it does on hte status. can't figger it out.
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now that i'm this far into it, i gotta say it's one of the cooler bass lines i've learned
Keep listening - I mean listening - to Phil's bass lines and you'll be saying this more ;) I recommend a few hits to deepen the appreciation....
Two exercises for extra credit:
- Find several live recordings of a song from about the same period. Identify what Phil considered the constant, essential elements, and what he improvised from night to night.
- Find recordings of the song over as wide as possible a range of its history. Observe how the song evolved.
Yeah, I'm an unapologetic Phil fan ;D
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:)
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Wow nice playing, you guys sound nice! Man I love your bass! Love to see how you guys are having so much fun playing.
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Two exercises for extra credit
thanx for the tips. i'm still working thru it. tried it out at rehearsal yesterday. the other guys mostly know thier parts, pretty sure they've performed it before. myself i've got two days in on it and i'm still scrambling a little. needless to say, we didn't nail it our our first try. as you probably know, playing along with the record is one thing, doing it live without a net along with other (critical) musicians is another thing entirely. it wasn't a train wreck, but we're gonna give it another whack this coming friday, so i got a coupla more days to work on it. i like a challenge and it's a rare cover song from that era that i really have to work this hard to learn. at least they didn't have me learn the fiddly parts to sister disco. that's one i was never able to really get.
Love to see how you guys are having so much fun playing.
thanks. we're 4 grumpy old men in a basement packed with model airplanes and high-end musical gear. everyone's laser focused and usually brings their 'A' game. how can ya not have fun?
cheers!
t
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No Alembic content last week, but this week, it's back and we have an instrumental up. "Long Lived the Queen"
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awesome!
kinda got that living colour vibe. a little. imho.
🗿
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Enjoyed that. 8)
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Pretty cool, kinda reminds me of King Crimson in a way 😎
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Interesting comments, thanks guys!
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These are great! The iPhone/smart phone is totally the boom box of the 2020s! Some of my favorite tapes of my old bands in the 90s were done with boomboxes.
I think the new camera angle (Don't You Forget About Me) is probably more "realistic" but I like the bass sound better on Cheap Sunglasses! Time to get another iPhone, do both, then do an edit with the bass-forward audio but switching between views! ;)
And I want to +1 on Touch of Grey - I am a Dead fan (if not a Deadhead of some form) and was resistant to this song since it's their "hit" - but the bass line is actually really cool - Phil actually plays a bass line that's a fundamental part of the song! Of course he does that sometimes but this is a good 'un. And the way the song is constructed is great - looking forward to your video!
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No Alembic content last week, but this week, it's back and we have an instrumental up. "Long Lived the Queen"
I couldn't watch from here (asked me to log in to confirm my identity etc.) but I found it via FB - can I borrow your video editor?!! Sounds and looks great - Haken are what come to mind, but of course with its own flavor - or should I say flavour?
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These are great! The iPhone/smart phone is totally the boom box of the 2020s
thanks for your kind words.
i'm doing these on a galaxy 7 tablet in selfie mode. i use these for sound, they wrok really well imho. before rehearsal starts i clip one in hte ceiling above me and the drummer, the other over the guit@r and kebyoard players. no muss no fuss. kinda tricky getting the mics placed right to balance the sound.. been tryin to round up a groupie to move the camera around while we play but no takers yet.
Phil actually plays a bass line that's a fundamental part of the song!
imho it really drives the song, it's not really apparent unless you're at the helm. if i'm stumbling, the whole thing falls apart as opposed to most of the other stuff we do where if i didn't hit a bad note here and there ya wouldn't know i was playing. still haven't gotten a good take on it, been focused on other things. not sure if we'll be able to do it well enuff to post here, the bar's set kinda high.
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oops forgot the attachmnet. been doin that alot lately. did i mention that? well, i am.
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"can I borrow your video editor?!! Sounds and looks great - Haken are what come to mind, but of course with its own flavor - or should I say flavour?"
The singer/guitarist edited all the video and mixed the audio. He seems to be somewhat of a workaholic. I would definitely compare the band to Haken, thanks for catching that! Flavour, indeed! ;D
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No Alembic content last week, but this week, it's back and we have an instrumental up. "Long Lived the Queen"
Nice sound quality throughout!
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Now up - "Trolls"
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This one is a nice ballad, free from odd rhythms. :( ;D ;)
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This one is a nice ballad, free from odd rhythms. :( ;D ;)
well done, sir!
🗿
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Ghost in the Machine gave me goosebumps on the outro. 8)
Gonna guess that Trolls is the drummers favorite. Seems like he was really enjoying it.
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I'm not sure what Tommy's favorite is, but this was not only my first show with the band, but also the first time that any of these songs from the current record have been performed live, so there's definitely some excitement on all of them. Such as "Yay, we all ended at the same time!" ;D ;D
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... my first show with the band
For your first show with the band, you seem to be a great fit, as if you've been doing shows together for years.
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Thanks Dave, it really did feel like we'd done this before.
Last one - the opening song of the night "Are You There?"
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been a while since i posted up. here's another shot from the old guys in the basement that i did earlier using the ebony amazon. not really a cure fan but i like how this one came out. whatta player!
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been a while since i posted up. here's another shot from the old guys in the basement ...
I don't know the tune, but that sounded very nice. And you guys are sounding tighter.
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thanks!
we're getting ready to play our first show memorial day, so we've been sweatin it out in the basement. here's our 1st take on an old rolling stones song that got thrown in by our guit@rist at last minute. for an 80's cover band it's kind of a (pleasantly) surprising choice. most of the time my bass parts are tightly defined, it's not often i get to jam a little. i like this band!
cheers!
t
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Sounding good Tim! Love the Cure. Good luck at the first gig.
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😀
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thanx. we got postponed to this weekend because of the monsoons here in the mile high. in the meantime, we're still grinding it out in the basement prepping for when we actually see the light of day.
so here's a rough run-thru by the old guys in the basement of an old ZZTop song done 3-piece style on the pretty bass playing through my old rig for the last time. complete with adroitly fingered narrowly missed train wreck at the end. i cannot wait to get this band infront of a crowd. maybe this weekend. sigh...
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😃
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Speaking of old guys, this is a link to a show I did some months back. If I do this right, you will see I was having lots of difficulty with my wireless system. Then I thought it was a problem with my 1/4 inch jack. Nope, it was the little connectors on my 9 volt batteries.
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Fun set list! Enjoyed the extra runs you were putting in those songs.
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Cool!!
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another day at the office for the old guys in the basement. getting ready for our next show on the 4th. leg's still in a cast (air boot) so i can't really play standing up. 2nd hack at the song. crash landing. playing the pretty bass. just the way i like it.
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here's another couple from the old guys in the basement. an absolute grinder of a 4 hour rehearsal yesterday. interminable rehashing of arrangements, harmonies and endings. stops and starts. so all of a sudden out of all that tedium, the guit@r player launches into this one. i had no choice but to follow along. gotta love the ramones.....
first take on this one, i guess after a while playing together ya figger out how to salvage a train wreck even while it's happening before yer very eyes and ya've never actually played the song as a band before:
Cheers!
t
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I just happened across your cover of "Touch Of Grey". Good job.
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well thanks for posting that. i had some real trepidation about posting that cut here given the pedigree and history of this forum but now that it's out in the open....
that's our first time making it all the way through that song without something bad happening. there's still a clam or two lurking in there and it's not always me. i don't think my bandmates are aware of the alembic connection that song has. kinda wish i'd brought the SII to practice that day. i still get strange looks from them because of the headstands i go thru with my axes and backline so that the audience can actually tell what kind of bass i'm playing.
so for the curious, here's my backline that accomidates the MKD in bi-amp mode and the SII in stereo mode: a 2x5 PJB cab powered by a 250-watt MB head sitting on top of a 1x15 powered MB (250 watt) cab. the whole thing weighs aboot 50 lbs (US). loud as heck. clear defined sound. lotsa thump. i'm using a radial stereo-to-mono DI box for FOH.
cheers!
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:D
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so with my leg still in an air cast and a 4-set show coming up on hte 4th we've been hitting the woodshed(basement) hard. it looked like i was gonna hafta do the show with the headless but i got my shoulders both shot up with steroids today, my leg is sort-of-serviceable so i took a devil-may-care attitude and brought the SII along with the headless to rehearsal today for backup.
lest ye be decieved, nothing has b@lls like an extra-ebony neck SII pumped thru a stereo rig having its E-string being pounded on like a red-headed stepchild by some 69-year-old geezer.
played it mostly standing up for 3 hours straight. i'm still walking. pretty sure that's how we're going to the show.
here's the series 2 underpinned version of an 80s billy idol charmer
cheers!
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You guys sound ready for the gig. 4 sets! Pace yourself. ;)
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https://www.youtube.com/live/AgQhpb6UTaU?si=LfqNqqQdfSAPIQc9
The Series I in action. Playing through a Genz 1x12 neo. TC amp. It was a LONG night, five sets. Live stream cut off before the fun stuff happened..lol
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looks like the tablet in selfie mode school of cinematography. a style i know well. i like yer stage setup. load-in must be a snap. party on, dude!
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Cool stuff!
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ever now and agin i get to 3-piece it with this band. this is probably the 4th version of this song i've learned, kind of a mash-up of the previous 3. training myself to play standing up in an air cast without getting tangled up in my cord or cracking my bass on a cymbal. sigh....
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here's the opener our band played on our july 4th show. i came equipped with the SII and the headless for backup. for the big, heavy neck diving monster that bass is, it hangs and plays remarkably well on a strap and so i wound up doing all 4 sets with it.
our first time with this sound man. the SII in stereo mode with a mixed mono feed from the radial DI to the PA. i'm quite impressed with that DI box, btw. recorded with the tablet in selfie mode positioned behind the PA stack on stage left so it's pretty bassy. all in all a good show, think i'll roll with the MKD next time, my shoulders and back sure let me know about it the days after the show....
cheers!
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Nice. 8)
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Hey Tim… Band sounds good and so does your bass. Glad you finally managed to find a band that stayed together long enough to get out and play. Hope you can repeat the experience soon.
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There's this one. Different bass, different band.
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here's a coupla more from the old guys on the 4th of july featuring the mighty ebony amazon:
TTYL. what can i say:
not really a prince fan but hard to do the 80's without him:
cheers!
t
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Both links played Purple Rain. ?
Great lead work by the guitarist. Whole performance was powerful. 8)
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oops. sorry aboot that
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The title says Talk To Ya Later - 070425, but the song that plays is Purple Rain.
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look like the stoner that does my uploads found a batch of extra high grade that day and pushed the wrong button. try this one. sheesh!
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Good one!
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Here's some Instagram videos someone posted of our Oakland Ballers Grateful Dead Night gig last Friday. You don't have to join Instagram to watch it. Just click on the "X" on the top right of the opening box that asks for you to sign in or register.
Bill, tgo
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMlLpUryDoX/?img_index=1 (https://www.instagram.com/p/DMlLpUryDoX/?img_index=1)
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Here's some Instagram videos someone posted of our Oakland Ballers Grateful Dead Night gig last Friday. You don't have to join Instagram to watch it. Just click on the "X" on the top right of the opening box that asks for you to sign in or register.
Bill, tgo
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMlLpUryDoX/?img_index=1 (https://www.instagram.com/p/DMlLpUryDoX/?img_index=1)
Looks well attended! Interesting to see people in ‘sunny California’ wearing layers whilst we have triple digit heat indexes (and air quality alerts) here in the Midwest.
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Looking forward to playing the Axial Tilt show at the Great American Music Hall tonight. The show is going to be streamed worldwide on VEEPS. Betty Cantor-Jackson will be providing the audio feed. We are supposed to start at 9 pm PST and wrap up at 2 am. But, most likely we will start a bit late so people who went to DeadCo can get to the venue from GG Park. The stream will be available for at least 48 hours after the show ends, we are looking to possibly extend that, if that happens I will let everyone know. I will be playing my Balance K Series II five-string. Three sets one acoustic, two electric.
Axial Tilt
Joan Osbourne vocals
John Kadlecik guitar, vocals
Nate La Pointe guitar and vocals
Mitch Stein keys and vocals
Stephen Ramirez bass
Pete Lavezzoli drums, vocals
Wally Ingram percussion
we are expecting a number of special guests, too
https://veeps.com/gd60/8b19a808-8dc6-48dd-b736-5ec57cd59b (https://veeps.com/gd60/8b19a808-8dc6-48dd-b736-5ec57cd59be4)
peace
Stephen
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Sounds like a fun time, Stephen, have a great time and I look forward to watching the videos (it will be a bit late here on the east coast)! :)
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Enjoy!
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Hope you had a great time, Stephen!
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Thanks everyone, show sold out and was a lot of fun but tiring, haven't stayed up until after 4 in a long time. Jay came down after DeadCo and played the third set, great version of Alligator with Pete, Jay and Wally. We encored with "Liberty" seemed an appropriate sentiment to end on. My wife is in Scotland and was bummed to miss the show but caught the third set over tea and scones, it was 8 AM there.
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Quick update, it now appears that the Axil Tilt stream on VEEPS will remain available for the foreseeable future… looking forward to hearing Betty’s mix.