Backline surprise (the good kind)

[SamuelBLupowitz]

Played a pair of road gigs subbing in with a friend's band this past week: an outdoor venue outside Nationals Stadium in Washington DC on Thursday, then Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA on Saturday. The band is a hard-working but shoestring operation, so I was thrilled that there was going to be pro backline at both gigs -- it meant we could load everything into one compact SUV instead of all driving separately, which was nice for me since I was doubling on bass and organ.

 

Anyway, I didn't even have to take my Mojo out of the case at the gig in DC, because I showed up and the headlining band had backlined a B3/Leslie, plus a much nicer bass amp than I ever cart around. I set up my Roland bass pedals and MIDI'd them up to the (also backlined) Yamaha CP, and plugged my Fender into their Ampeg. What a treat. 

 

On the downside, the incredibly hot, humid weather in DC turned to thunderstorms, which delayed and shortened our set -- we didn't get to any of the keys tunes and the Hammond got DRENCHED by the rain (I was horrified, but it worked just fine for the headlining band, The Band of Heathens, whose keyboard player was no slouch). 

 

No backlined keys at Musikfest but the bass rig there was an SVT with an 8x10 cab that was even taller than me, and the Mojo definitely held its own on the low end (though I learned the hard way when the bandleader called an audible of Roadhouse Blues that keeping a shuffle going with your foot is no easy task). 

 

Anyway, just thought my fellow gearheads would appreciate! It was a rough couple of days of intense heat and humidity, and long hours in the car, but I do love to do that every now and then, when I can get away from my usual 9-5 routine.

[Joe Muscara]

Sweet! I love it when a plan comes together.

 

 

 

I'm a big fan of the Heathens, based nearby in Austin and they come through Houston a lot so I have seen them a few times over the years. I was turned on to them by someone here on KC sharing this video. Trevor is great. (The configuration of the band has changed since this clip, but Trevor [keys] and Ed and Gordy [lead vocals and guitars] remain.) They were doing live streams during much of the pandemic that were great too.

 

 

[Old No7]

Dude!  (as in Samuel)... Almost didn't recognize you without the long hair............

 

You cut yours while mine is growing out, and in a couple of years, I'll look just like Jon Lord in his latter years... (Still workin' hard to duplicate his chops!)

 

Old No7

[KuruPrionz]

Can't go wrong thunder thumping some big Ampegs!!!!! 😬

[SamuelBLupowitz]

17 hours ago, Old No7 said:

Dude!  (as in Samuel)... Almost didn't recognize you without the long hair............

 

You cut yours while mine is growing out, and in a couple of years, I'll look just like Jon Lord in his latter years... (Still workin' hard to duplicate his chops!)

 

Old No7

No cause for alarm, didn't cut the locks -- they're just pulled back into a bun. It was too hot to let my hair fly other than when we hit the stage. You could see the sweat through my all-black stage wardrobe and everything.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

18 hours ago, Joe Muscara said:

 

I'm a big fan of the Heathens, based nearby in Austin and they come through Houston a lot so I have seen them a few times over the years. I was turned on to them by someone here on KC sharing this video. Trevor is great. (The configuration of the band has changed since this clip, but Trevor [keys] and Ed and Gordy [lead vocals and guitars] remain.) They were doing live streams during much of the pandemic that were great too.

 

 

I didn't get to chat with any of them for too long but they seemed like a nice bunch of dudes, and clearly a pro band. I enjoyed the original tunes, but particularly loved their long, slow-build cover of Gillian Welch's "Look at Miss Ohio," and a *spot-on* "Tumblin' Dice" that got me and our drummer up and dancing from the first slide lick. Those Stones grooves are a lot harder to nail than most people think, and they just crushed it.

[KuruPrionz]

2 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

I didn't get to chat with any of them for too long but they seemed like a nice bunch of dudes, and clearly a pro band. I enjoyed the original tunes, but particularly loved their long, slow-build cover of Gillian Welch's "Look at Miss Ohio," and a *spot-on* "Tumblin' Dice" that got me and our drummer up and dancing from the first slide lick. Those Stones grooves are a lot harder to nail than most people think, and they just crushed it.

Keef and Charley were a one-of-a-kind groove monster thang and the rest of the Stones supported that very well. 

Pretty tough to cover them, you really have to tune to a 5 string G tuning to sound like Mr. Richards. 

[The Real MC]

Keef used to say that all you needed to play rock-n-roll was five strings, three chords, and one a--hole.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

12 minutes ago, The Real MC said:

...and one a--hole.

From what I've heard, the Stones had more than enough of those to go around. 🤣

[stoken6]

5 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

Pretty tough to cover them, you really have to tune to a 5 string G tuning to sound like Mr. Richards. 

One of the first bands I joined used that open G tuning for their Stones numbers. Sounded spot-on. I've still got a recording somewhere...

 

Cheers, Mike.

[HammondDave]

On 8/8/2022 at 7:36 AM, SamuelBLupowitz said:

Played a pair of road gigs subbing in with a friend's band this past week: an outdoor venue outside Nationals Stadium in Washington DC on Thursday, then Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA on Saturday. The band is a hard-working but shoestring operation, so I was thrilled that there was going to be pro backline at both gigs -- it meant we could load everything into one compact SUV instead of all driving separately, which was nice for me since I was doubling on bass and organ.

 

Anyway, I didn't even have to take my Mojo out of the case at the gig in DC, because I showed up and the headlining band had backlined a B3/Leslie, plus a much nicer bass amp than I ever cart around. I set up my Roland bass pedals and MIDI'd them up to the (also backlined) Yamaha CP, and plugged my Fender into their Ampeg. What a treat. 

 

On the downside, the incredibly hot, humid weather in DC turned to thunderstorms, which delayed and shortened our set -- we didn't get to any of the keys tunes and the Hammond got DRENCHED by the rain (I was horrified, but it worked just fine for the headlining band, The Band of Heathens, whose keyboard player was no slouch). 

 

No backlined keys at Musikfest but the bass rig there was an SVT with an 8x10 cab that was even taller than me, and the Mojo definitely held its own on the low end (though I learned the hard way when the bandleader called an audible of Roadhouse Blues that keeping a shuffle going with your foot is no easy task). 

 

Anyway, just thought my fellow gearheads would appreciate! It was a rough couple of days of intense heat and humidity, and long hours in the car, but I do love to do that every now and then, when I can get away from my usual 9-5 routine.

whatever you do, don’t try to pick up that SVT head!  That is the heaviest amp I ever lifted. 

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, HammondDave said:

whatever you do, don’t try to pick up that SVT head!  That is the heaviest amp I ever lifted. 

I will never forget helping my bassist carry his SVT rig up two flights of stairs for a 30 minute opening gig. The head AND an 8 - 10" cabinet. Ugh!

We were lucky we didn't kill ourselves, probably because we were too stupid to die anyway.