1st Stage Gig in 41 Years!!! (with "Perfect Strangers" Band and Hammond SK Pro 73)

[Old No7]

Like many here (or so I've read), after graduating from college, getting married and starting a family and "real" career, I got away from -- yes, perhaps "too far away from" (in hindsight...) -- live music and performing with rock bands until the last few years when I picked it up again and invested in newer -- and much lighter! -- equipment.  Sure, I occasionally jammed with friends or other musicians, but nothing like what I did the other night.

 

Having the desire to "get back out there again", I linked up with a local non-profit "School of Rock" type program and joined an adult rock band with two others, a guitarist and a drummer.  We didn't have a bass player or vocalist sign up, so our instructor played bass for us (you can see him in the shadows of one image), and by default I sang lead vocals -- and I have not sung much over the last 40+ years either!  (And it showed on week 1, but I sure did a lot of vocal exercises and singing over the last 9 weeks.)  For only playing together as a band that many times (9), our band "Perfect Strangers" closed out the school's annual fundraising concert and we were treated to a professional stage, sound system and lighting.  Neither of the other 2 band members had ever played such a venue before, or even with a formal band (other than informal jams); and it's been 4 decades plus for me since my UMass days, so this event and the school-of-rock program turned out to be the perfect way to get back into it -- and now I WANT MORE. 😊

 

Anyway, my Hammond SK Pro 73 sounded awesome and easily handled a wide variety of voices, such as: Churchy Hammond for Bach's "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" intro that I connected to Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" intro with a heavily-overdriven Hammond tone -- as that seemed to be a great way to introduce the band's name (video clip below).  From there we morphed into Collective Soul's "Gel" and a guitar & synth patch combination did the soft intro, plus I played overdriven Hammond chords while the guitarist did his solo.  Sounds for ELP's "Lucky Man" included strings (as background on verses & choruses 2-4) along with a soft Hammond tone on verses & choruses 3 & 4, plus an organ solo we put in after the 3rd verse/chorus to lengthen the song, and man oh man -- the synthesizer on the SK Pro did a really great job emulating Keith's Moog synth solo!  I put it into "unison" mode and dialed in 6 voices, with a slight detune and some delay & reverb, adjusted the ASDR and filters by ear, and then added in some ring modulation as the synth solo ended.  Wowza!  Then it was a Vox Continental organ tone used for The Doors "Light My Fire", followed by Hammond organ (88886) on verse/chorus plus an overdriven version of that drawbar setting for the main riff to finish our set with Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" (video clip below for that too, my organ solo at the end).

 

At the end of the gig, I got a lot of questions and great feedback on the SK Pro and I think I might have helped to sell a board or two, as the younger kids and parents there couldn't believe all the sounds that I had coaxed out of it.  Plus, I think I rocked it too.  😉  For sure, the Hammond did much better than my vocal chords did -- but it was all for a good cause, we had fun, the band did great considering all factors, and the audience enjoyed the show.

 

I think the best part -- besides being up on stage and turning my Hammond into "The Beast" (as they used to call Jon Lord's organ for his intro to "PS") -- is that my wife & kids, and other friends and family all got to see "this 'ol man rock" just like he used to tell stories about.

 

And now I want to DO MORE!!!  The "beast" has been unleashed!!!

 

Cheers!

 

Old No7

 

 

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

Cool!  "Perfect Strangers" is on my short list of songs I am trying to get my band to learn.  We'll get to it eventually, once we learn all the grungey songs the 30-somethings want to do first!

 

Thanks for posting!

[RABid]

Nice. On your Hammond SK did you use the internal effects for leslie and distortion or an external pedal. I've not had the opportunity to try an SK. I have a XK-3c and the distortion is really bad. JMHO I had to get a Vent 2 for a decent leslie crunch. Wondering if they improved that on the SK.

[Old No7]

1 hour ago, RABid said:

On your Hammond SK did you use the internal effects for leslie and distortion or an external pedal.

 

No real Leslie -- no external pedal -- I used the SK Pro Leslie sim only.

 

I had many of the young rockers and even several of the experienced music teachers ask me "So where'd you hide the Leslie?" -- and I said "in the Hammond".  They were all impressed and amazed.

 

Would I love to have my old Leslie 145 with 147 amp back?  You betcha!  But I sure liked carrying only the 25# Hammond!

 

Old No7

[Mitch Towne]

Great job!!

[Old No7]

Re-adding my "Smoke on the Water" organ solo, as I went to replace it with a better version and it fell off my first post...

 

Old No7

 

(Guitarist & Drummer missed the change at the end by one bar, but it was their first gig ever...)

[Moonglow]

Organ sounds badass. Way to go! 

[wineandkeyz]

Nice job!  

 

I have an SK Pro 73, too, but I rarely gig with it for various reasons (stage space, the need to get on/off stage quickly, laziness, etc.). But you've got me thinking that I need to set those reasons (especially the third one) aside!

[Outkaster]

Aswesome.  I love the SK Pro 73. I use it in every band I am in. 

[timwat]

Sounds great, congrats on a good gig!

[lightbg]

"Old Guys Rule!"

Well Done!

 

Jake

[Moonglow]

18 hours ago, Old No7 said:

 

So what did Old No7 pull out of his pocket at the beginning of this video?
 

a. A book of matches to stick between keys to hold down a note.

 

b. A guitar pick.

 

c. Ear plugs.

 

d. Something to smoke after the show.

 

e. His AARP card (like mine).

 

 

[Old No7]

1 hour ago, Moonglow said:

So what did Old No7 pull out of his pocket at the beginning of this video?

 

LOL!! Too funny...

 

Actually, it was a 1 ounce fishing weight wrapped in black electrical tape, but it didn't hold the low D down like I'd wanted...  At home, I'd been using a Buck multi-tool (knife blade & pliers) as it had good weight and was the right width -- and it worked great! -- but my wife stopped me on the way out of the house telling me "not to dare" carrying that into the gig.

 

Oh well... 🙄

 

Old No7

[Old No7]

For those who might be curious how I transport the SK Pro 73...

 

I use a Pelican "Vault" Double Rifle Case V800 -- with "rock band & Hammond" stickers on the outside.  With the inside foam cut to the outside dimensions of the SK, this results in about 2" of foam on all 4 sides (plus room for a cutout for the power cord), plus about 1.5" on the top & bottom; all very well protected by the heavy-gauge plastic case.  There are heavy-duty latches, 3 sturdy handles and wheels on one end (I have not used those).

 

Old No7

 

Edit to add: It's about half the price of the SKB 76-key hard case that's sold for keyboards -- and just as well built.

[Chris Link]

20 hours ago, Old No7 said:

For those who might be curious how I transport the SK Pro 73...

 

I use a Pelican "Vault" Double Rifle Case V800 -- with "rock band & Hammond" stickers on the outside.  With the inside foam cut to the outside dimensions of the SK, this results in about 2" of foam on all 4 sides (plus room for a cutout for the power cord), plus about 1.5" on the top & bottom; all very well protected by the heavy-gauge plastic case.  There are heavy-duty latches, 3 sturdy handles and wheels on one end (I have not used those).

 

Old No7

 

Edit to add: It's about half the price of the SKB 76-key hard case that's sold for keyboards -- and just as well built.

I think I’ve sold a lot of Plano gun cases to Nord Electro users. It fits a 73 perfectly, is tough as nails, doesn’t weigh too much, and is waterproof! 
 

Congrats on the gig! I took a long hiatus (16 years) but have been back at it since 2000.