DRLDev Dave

… went like a dream!

We were filling in at short notice at a club called The Big Bopper Rock n Roll Club over near Enfield, on the outskirts of London in the UK, and we’d had very little time to put together a suitable set for them. We’d managed to put a 95% rock n roll set together with a few miscellaneous numbers that showed we also did other stuff too.

The venue was a little smaller than anticipated and the accoustics were difficult but we set up and played numbers that we weren’t playing in the set just to get the levels right. I think the guy who booked us was a bit worried because when doing sound checks one tends to stop and start and make adjustments, and to the onlooker it looks like we’re uncoordinated hobbyists!

Well, the moment arrived to start and we were introduced (tentatively I think).

We launched into our version of the Juke Box Jury theme which I don’t think I’ve heard other bands do. It’s got a good solid rock n roll feel and people who grew up in the 50’s tend to remember it because Juke Box Jury was a cross between Top of the Pops and X Factor, but with politeness!

Anyway, folks immediately jumped up and started dancing to it, and if you are in a band you’ll know that if you have a great audience that starts dancing straight away a gig is really fun to do. Band and audience feed off of each other’s enthusiasm and it just gets better!

Our second number was Move It, or more accurately, our rendition of Move It because we are a lead/rhythm, bass and drums line up with our singer fronting the band so we arrange it to make the song “ours” so it sounds right for us, but modesty aside, it sounds pretty good the way we do it. Then into Bad Moon Rising and the rest of the set…

The folks danced on every number we did, even the slightly different flavoured ones that we snuck in (e.g. Ain’t No Sunshine), and that was an absolutely brilliant audience to play for! They were there to have fun and so were we and it all came together wonderfully.

You know I mentioned the accoustics being difficult? Well, with people on the dance floor that all changed and it sounded very good indeed, a great relief, but I could hardly hear my bass! That happens sometimes, the bass can merge with the rest of the sound so it’s hard to hear what one is playing, especially if the PA is very close to where one is standing. It’s only a problem if one gets distracted or is unsure of a new number. Normally I sort of “hear” what I’m playing in my head as I put my fingers on the neck of my bass.

Anyway, on this occassion during one number I’d stepped back onto my tuner which cuts audio off from the amp, and played a bar thinking, “hmmm… The others seem to have got louder?”! At which point I noticed the lovely flashing LED’s on the tuner. Doh!

The gig was fun, the audience delightful to play for, and the whole experience a really excellent one.

Our thanks goes to everyone at The Big Bopper Rock n Roll Club for making it a truly excellent evening!

The Big Bopper Rock n Roll Club
http://www.botanybaycc.co.uk/bigboppa/