Just a quick update, but first, I neglected to post a gig report on the Keys N Krates gig at the Supermarket April 10th...great venue, the place was packed out! Free the Robots started the night off with a killer set, and then the KnK Krew killed it like usual! Great night all around!
Next show is London 17th at the Tap House in London, this is THE May 2-4 bash to be at (okay, this year V-Day is not on the 24th, but that's what we've been calling it since way back in the day!) Definitely worth the trip details here .
Before that though, I'm doing a worship gig this Sunday morning with the Weber's at the Joshua Centre in Hamilton, it's been awhile since I've played with them as we got the fam settled into our new church 24/7 , it'll be nice to play with them again. But if you're in Burlington on a Sunday AM or PM, swing by the old NRG/Kingdom Nightclub...it's in a club, but the church is NOT a club...unlike anything you've seen, totally change your paradigm of church!
So, those are the only two shows on the horizon...but I have a summer gig coming up that I'm really excited about! I won't say anything yet as the rest of the band needs to be finalized, but Tune and I are going to be really busy this summer!
Still working on simplifying the rig. As much as I love Traynor gear, I needed something powerful yet portable, so for now the amp is a GK 2x12 combo (Neo 1001/212), I didn't used to really like GK amps, but Norm Stockton showed me that not only are they great sounding amps, they sound great with MTD Basses! Seth Horan, another killer solo bass player, has recently signed on as a GK endorsee as well.
The bi-amping capablities and the ability to cut those high frequencies that I don't like sold me...plus it's distributed in Canada by Yorkville Sound, so it's still in the family! I still use a Traynor DB300T with a custom 2x12 cab as a house rig at church though, and will pull the combo for smaller gigs.
The rack has been gone for awhile now. Too heavy, and the extra noise added to my signal resulting in arguments with sound guys just got to be too much of a hassle. So I've been looking to add to my pedal board the one effect that left my rack that I feel needed replacing. The dbx 120a Subharmonic Synth was great, but the rack had to go...after some research, I decided on an MXR M-288. There's a wicked player Uriah Duffy that has demo'd it, check out his Youtube clips.
Here's the frustrating thing...they're for sale all over the place. You can get them on E-Bay, theperfectbass.com has them available, different stores in the states...but they're still on backorder here in Canada it seems! What gives??? I'm using an Octaver from a different manufacturer that will remain nameless, it was (a distant) second choice based on my research and sound clips I'd heard...but it really doesn't track well down low...it sounded great when a colleague played a Strat through it, but I wouldn't reccommend it for bass. So, I wait in frustration...no love for the Canadian bass playing consumer, argghhh!!!
Hoping it comes in this week...then I'll be pretty satisfied with the set up...and be looking to a.) do Berklee online sometime next year and get my Bass Specialist Certificate and b.) get that MTD Saratoga 5 string...though if I can find a Czech NOS version I may go for that...
...until next time...
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Now playing: Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
via FoxyTunes
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Ce qui se produit dans Sainte Adele, reste dans Sainte Adele
Yeh...so last Saturday, I drove out to meet my boys from Keys N Krates out in Montreal to go and play the Shakedown After Party at the Bourbon Street venue in St. Adele, about an hour north of Montreal.
The guys flew in from Vancouver to M-Town earlier that day, so I had a long 6 hour drive to think about stuff...like getting the music thing back on track. I really need to start buckling down and work on original projects (...and then I returned to find an e-mail from my old man, somebody else is also trying to put my dad's poetry to song...after I finish working on another one for him and one that's long overdue for my Uncle Merv....so I have some stuff on tap to keep me busy for the next little bit...but I'm looking for more students and gigs as well...it's all about generating the income, dig?)
But I digress...now it's time to rant a bit...maps.google.ca SUX!!! Sent me in circles for half an hour when I got to Montreal trying to find the Delta Hotel where we were staying (nice digs btw!), and then when we left Montreal to go "nord", to St. Adele, the directions were screwed up again!
And when we stopped to ask for directions...another round of mess up the English speaking dudes! Tune know's French, he got directions from a gas station/convenience store to the spot...and then we almost ended up driving straight off a cliff that had no warning or barrier at the end of the road! Totally ambiguous directions! Grrr....
...so we finally made it to the spot, and got our gear in, sound checked up...and then got to the shared Green Room...which also happened to be doubling as the dressing room for 8 lovely Coors Light Girls (Coors Light was one of the event sponsors.) Um...yeh...and only two of them spoke any passable English...very interesting situation! Translate the title of this blog post to English Boys and Girls...but never fear, even in that situation, Rev Groove only had thoughts for Ms. Groove, it's all good! We tried to get one of the girls to do an on camera interview, but she declined...I think she felt a little weird, at that point, it was me, the KnK boys, and DJ Truespin in the room with just her, the rest of the girls were out working the crowd, she was finishing her hair and makeup...I think the language barrier got in the way...
...so after the Troublemakers got the crowd hot and jumping, Keys N Krates went up and showed them how they re-invented the re-mix...once again, a killer show! Then Truespin got up and kept the party going...we chilled for a bit, but Flo had an early flight, so we booked back to Montreal...and got lost AGAIN!!! I think we got back to the hotel...and then Flo basically just packed and took off for Mirabel...we got about 4 hours sleep before we had to take off to head back to TO...
...and my reward for partying with Coors Light girls and leaving Ms. Groove at home with sick kids??? Rushing home to a house that should be quarantined...there'd been a couple of kids sick when I left the day before, the whole house was ill when I got back...and now, I too am begining to suffer the same symptoms....dragged myself into work the last few days, hopefully I'll be able to get through tomorrow, rest up on Thursday and Friday during the day, and get ready for the Keys N Krates gig at the Supermarket on Friday evening. Should be another killer show, some new tracks to be dropped, as Flo sez, if you're lucky enough to live in T.O., be there Friday night!
That's all for now...I have a messy toddler's diaper to go change...lovely...
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Now playing: Bell Biv Devoe - Poison
via FoxyTunes
The guys flew in from Vancouver to M-Town earlier that day, so I had a long 6 hour drive to think about stuff...like getting the music thing back on track. I really need to start buckling down and work on original projects (...and then I returned to find an e-mail from my old man, somebody else is also trying to put my dad's poetry to song...after I finish working on another one for him and one that's long overdue for my Uncle Merv....so I have some stuff on tap to keep me busy for the next little bit...but I'm looking for more students and gigs as well...it's all about generating the income, dig?)
But I digress...now it's time to rant a bit...maps.google.ca SUX!!! Sent me in circles for half an hour when I got to Montreal trying to find the Delta Hotel where we were staying (nice digs btw!), and then when we left Montreal to go "nord", to St. Adele, the directions were screwed up again!
And when we stopped to ask for directions...another round of mess up the English speaking dudes! Tune know's French, he got directions from a gas station/convenience store to the spot...and then we almost ended up driving straight off a cliff that had no warning or barrier at the end of the road! Totally ambiguous directions! Grrr....
...so we finally made it to the spot, and got our gear in, sound checked up...and then got to the shared Green Room...which also happened to be doubling as the dressing room for 8 lovely Coors Light Girls (Coors Light was one of the event sponsors.) Um...yeh...and only two of them spoke any passable English...very interesting situation! Translate the title of this blog post to English Boys and Girls...but never fear, even in that situation, Rev Groove only had thoughts for Ms. Groove, it's all good! We tried to get one of the girls to do an on camera interview, but she declined...I think she felt a little weird, at that point, it was me, the KnK boys, and DJ Truespin in the room with just her, the rest of the girls were out working the crowd, she was finishing her hair and makeup...I think the language barrier got in the way...
...so after the Troublemakers got the crowd hot and jumping, Keys N Krates went up and showed them how they re-invented the re-mix...once again, a killer show! Then Truespin got up and kept the party going...we chilled for a bit, but Flo had an early flight, so we booked back to Montreal...and got lost AGAIN!!! I think we got back to the hotel...and then Flo basically just packed and took off for Mirabel...we got about 4 hours sleep before we had to take off to head back to TO...
...and my reward for partying with Coors Light girls and leaving Ms. Groove at home with sick kids??? Rushing home to a house that should be quarantined...there'd been a couple of kids sick when I left the day before, the whole house was ill when I got back...and now, I too am begining to suffer the same symptoms....dragged myself into work the last few days, hopefully I'll be able to get through tomorrow, rest up on Thursday and Friday during the day, and get ready for the Keys N Krates gig at the Supermarket on Friday evening. Should be another killer show, some new tracks to be dropped, as Flo sez, if you're lucky enough to live in T.O., be there Friday night!
That's all for now...I have a messy toddler's diaper to go change...lovely...
----------------
Now playing: Bell Biv Devoe - Poison
via FoxyTunes
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