Duke Special, Dublin, Dorchester and the Downfall of Aunty Lil...

Well it's been a busy few days here in the Little bass world....

On Friday night I performed with one of my all-time favourite artists, the sublime Duke Special at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. I've been looking forward to this show for quite some time now. Myself and Tim Weller were drafted in from The Divine Comedy to play with Duke Special's band and the RTE Concert Orchestra, under the baton of conductor David Brophy.

Tim and I met up with Peter on Wednesday afternoon to have a quick run-through of all the material. I was recording a charity song with Clare in the morning at Air Studios (watch this space) and had to rush across town to make the session. The next rehearsal was to be in Dublin at the RTE building. Our flight was, surprise surprise, so early in the morning from Gatwick that I had to stay up all night again in order not to miss it (I left my house at 3.15 in the morning!).

The rehearsal with the orchestra went pretty well, although the room wasn't ideal acoustically for our setup. It was a big hall and we were set up facing a big wall so everything the band played at the back of the orchestra bounced back a fraction of a second later than everything else. And we couldn't hear Peter or his piano.  So we came away having no idea what this was going to sound like, but did manage to ascertain that the various parts worked (Luckily I'd spent all day Tuesday working out parts for myself).

We spent the rest of the day strolling around Dublin. I really do love Dublin and it was great to have the time to take a look around again. It's not often in a gig/touring situation that you have any spare time to actually see anything of the town you're in. Having said that, our hotel was up in Rathmines and it was a bit of a schlepp to get right into town, but luckily we had quite a long time. We ended up in Whelan's twice (!) and got some food on the way into town. Incidentally, we came across a fantastic Chapman Stick player in Temple Bar. No idea who he was but he was great to watch. Hopefully our paths will cross again sometime so we can have a chat.

We soundchecked and ran through the set again on the day. The show was sold out (I think the venue holds about 1200, but I can't say for certain). 

It can be quite a tricky situation when a band goes out to do a show with what is essentially a pickup orchestra (in other words, one which does not tour with the band and hasn't necessarily seen or indeed even heard the material before). I've done a number of these kinds of shows with The Divine Comedy and to be frank, they were a mixed bag. The whole show really does depend on the attitude and motivation of the orchestra and the conductor (if there is one). TDC have had a few issues in the past with some rather stuffy orchestras and orchestral managers. We were so lucky with the RTE folks and David Brophy. They were so enthusiastic and energetic. It makes such a huge difference when the orchestra really get into the music and they did a great job, both in rehearsal and at the performance.

The show consisted mainly of tunes from the Duke's debut album Songs From The Deep Forest 

with five brand new songs from his forthcoming album. Let me tell you, the new album is going to be amazing.  It's due for release in Ireland in October. At the moment, since Universal bought up V2, Duke Special only has a record deal in Ireland. This is a bloody travesty folks. Peter is one of the best singer-songwriters to have emerged in the last decade and deserves much better than this. Still, we'll all just have to buy the album from Ireland; that's what I'll be doing the moment it comes out!

The show was a resounding success and one of the best gigs I've done in a while. The new songs were incredibly well received and the audience were fantastic. Really hoping to do more shows with Pete some time soon.

I had to fly back the following day and peg it down to Dorchester for a little function giglet. When the bandleader called me up for the gig during the week, the call went something like this....

"Yeah man, it's gonna be great. It's in this swanky manor house, loads of food and free drinks all night. We've all got hotel rooms for the night and there's a big swimming pool so bring your swimming gear. It's gonna be great fun".

Hmm...(!)

Well, the wedding was indeed held in a manor house, which was indeed swanky. Sadly, at some point in the 50's or 60's, the estate was bought by the police who turned it into a training college and threw up (literally) a selection of hideous yellowy utility buildings (including the aforementioned swimming pool) all around the back of it. Let me tell you, if the planning consent had been applied for by anyone other than the police it never would have been approved. Absolutely putrid and horrifying. And guess where we were staying? Yep. I've stayed in swankier Travel Lodges.

As usual in these wedding gig situations, everything was running rather late. About an hour late. We were just about to go on when the father of the bride (a rather portly Scottish gent in a kilt) came up to us and asked for the mic. He wanted to make an announcement...

Apparently Auntie Lil (a lady in her late seventies) had slipped down the stone steps on her way out and had been quite badly hurt having bashed her head. The ambulance was on it's way and could we please have ten minutes of quiet time? O my god. Needless to say, that killed the mood at the wedding in an instant. And we were about to go on. Couldn't believe he'd just announced this to the whole party over the mic. Neither it seemed could the bride and groom by the looks on their faces. Neither indeed could Aunty Lil who I discovered earlier had insisted that nobody tell the bride as she didn't want to spoil her big day.

Well as you can imagine, the gig was a bit of a challenge after that. We did somehow manage to drag the mood back up again and by about halfway through the first set everyone was having a good time once more. 

Anyway, enough of that!

I will be performing with Duke Special again this Friday with the London Gay Symphony Orchestra at The Roundhouse in Camden. Let me know if you're coming along and I'll come say hello afterwards. Really looking forward to it.

And just before I go....

I've mentioned to several people over the years about the funny signs at Dublin Airport. The ones about unfamiliarity with escalators or lifts. Nobody has believed me thus far, so here is the proof.... (you might have to zoom in a bit!)

How anyone who was unfamiliar with either escalators or lifts would be perfectly happy jumping on a plane is utterly beyond me.

Maggie Reilly Sommersted Festival: A Field Report

Well it's been another hectic weekend folks.

On Friday night I drove out to Wells to play a little jazz gig with sax legend Pee Wee Ellis. This was the first time I've played a gig with Pee Wee (we met a couple of weeks previously when he came to sit in on Clare's gig at the Frome festival) and, I must say, I was a little nervous. Now, I don't normally get nervous before a gig but I am a big fan of Pee Wee and I really wanted to make a good impression. Gareth Williams was on piano and he was fantastic. I've wanted to play with Gareth for a long time now; he's one of my favourite pianists. Pee Wee was great fun and sounded great. We were playing at Cafe Piano, a gorgeous little venue in Heritage Courtyard, just off Sadler Street. The place was sold out (this was the forth gig Pee Wee had played there) and the trio went down a storm. Really hoping to play with Pee Wee again in the near future, it was a real privilege and a pleasure.

It turns out that Wells was a lot further away than I originally thought and it took an incredibly long time to get back home after the gig. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem but I had to get up early the following morning in order to catch a plane out to Denmark for a festival gig with Maggie. As I may have mentioned before, I find it very difficult to sleep if I have to get up early to catch a plane. It's that terrible thought of waking up late and missing the flight. So no sleep for me!

We arrived at the airport in Arhus (in the middle of ar street) to be driven out to the festival site. Now I'm not overly sure of the exact whereabouts of the gig, but I'm guessing it was Sommersted as that was the name of the festival. It was an outdoor show for about 1800 people. We were headlining at around 9pm following a rocky blues band. After us was to be a well-known Danish covers band who would be playing on late into the night. I've discovered that having a covers band on festival bills is quite common in Denmark (you may recall my mentioning a similar band at the Struer festival in one of my previous posts). Still doesn't sit quite right for me...

We went to check in at the hotel as we discovered they weren't quite ready for us at the festival site. Very odd hotel this one. It really wouldn't have looked out of place in the middle of the Slough Trading Estate. Imagine something resembling a low-rise office block crossed with a dodgy backstreet pub and you'll be halfway there. We retreated straight to the bar for a little drink, but the promise of a decent meal at the festival site quickly lured us back into the van. 

Back at the festival in the dressing room, we eagerly awaited our evening meal. In came the cheese and speckled ham platter. Should have seen that one coming really. 

They did keep the coffee flowing though so we were at least awake for the show if a little under-nourished!

Having been a rather fine day, the heavens opened up as soon as the previous band came off stage. Luckily our gear had already been loaded backstage so we managed to avoid the rain whilst setting up. The audience seemed really excited to see Maggie and refused to be beaten by the rain. Fantastic stuff. This was to be Gordon's second gig with the band (we've still yet to have a proper rehearsal all together!) and Chrys had improvised a keyboard stand with various bits of metal bolted together. As we set the stage up it lasted about 10 seconds after the keyboard was lowered onto it! A couple of empty flightcases were swiftly dragged on as a last-minute replacement. Wish I'd had my camera at that point, it was quite funny watching the little frame slowly buckle under the immense weight of the keyboard!

The show itself went down a storm (Literally. It was pouring down by this stage). We played pretty much the same set as Slupsk, with a few of the quieter numbers taken out to save time. Probably about half of the audience had retreated under cover towards the back of the site, but the rest of them braved the rain in a sea of anoraks and umbrellas. Chrys had decided to drive all our own gear over to the show this time. It was great to finally have both my basses to hand as well as my pedalboard (I use quite a lot of bass effects with Maggie). I much prefer playing the little solo spots on my fretless, although my chorus pedal decided to emit it's sporadic 'I don't like 120 volts' hum, as did my amp. O well, at least it was my hum!

I had to leave alone early the next morning in order to get back to England for a gig with Symeon Cosburn at the RAC club in Epsom. This was no mean feat as we were in the middle of nowhere in deepest Denmark on a Sunday. Chrys had very kindly organised a series of train connections in order to get me to Copenhagen airport so I could get back in time. The hotel's one saving grace was it's being situated opposite the local train station. As I sat on the platform at 7.45 in the morning the station attendant informed me that the train times are completely different at the weekend and I'd have to get on a much later train. Bugger, I thought. Luckily the train I eventually caught an hour later went straight through to Copenhagen, so with a bit of last minute improvisation I was able to get to the airport on time with only one change. 

It took me nearly nine hours in total to get to my gig in Epsom (phew...), but it was well worth it in the end. It was a great little quartet gig with Dave Ohm on drums and Anthony Strong on piano. Symeon isn't doing too many shows at the moment so I was really pleased I could make it. The RAC club in Epsom is a beautiful place. The main building is like a huge mansion in the middle of some stunning grounds. We were playing in a huge ballroom for a crowd of about sixty people, most of whom ended up buying a CD in the break. I swear this must be some kind of record; almost four fifths of the audience bought one of Symeon's CD's. A fantastic result. Hopefully we'll be doing some more in the near future. Keep an eye on my gig list on my MySpace page for updates.

I'm going to be playing at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Maidstone on Saturday with Clare Teal if anyone's in the area. Do let me know if you're coming along so I can say hello. I'm off to play an orchestral show with Duke Special in Dublin the following week, with another gig at the Roundhouse on the 29th. Seriously not to be missed. 

Hopefully see you at a show soon.

Simon

The Bass Player's Fear of the Pollen Count

Just a little rant, followed by a sigh of relief....

It seems we have come to the end of the hay fever season. Thank god for that is all I can say.

I must admit to being one of those people who hates the summer and all it brings. Every year I have a hard time and can't wait for the cold weather to return.

I don't function well in hot weather. I like a good crisp and dry winter's day. I like to go out wearing a jacket and ideally a hat. I find the lack of pockets in the Summer an immense pain in the arse. The man-bag has made another appearance this year to accommodate  all my various bits and bobs that I cart around with me, but in a gigging situation the last thing I need is another bag to lug around. I can't stand being too hot because there's literally nothing you can do about it, whereas you can always layer up in colder weather.

Every summer brings with it the usual spate of outdoor gigs which I very rarely enjoy. Wearing a suit in that kind of weather is a surefire recipe for playing discomfort. The run of garden parties and the like never fails to take it's toll on me upright bass. I've just had to spend a considerable amount of money having my bass overhauled due to the effects of the weather. For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, double basses are fixed together with a special glue that melts under heat. This is to facilitate easy repairs. It doesn't take kindly to direct sunlight though, and every year without fail my bass decides to come unstuck right in the middle of my busiest period in the summer. My instrument plays best in the winter, and so do I.

I also get terrible hay fever. This usually comes on around March and stays with me to varying degrees until early August. Anyone else who suffers with this ailment will understand what an inconvenience this can be when you're trying to work. It's like having a cold all through the spring and early summer months, with the addition of itchy and dry eyes to really finish you off.

I went through the rigmarole of going to my local GP for the latest antihistaminic placebo. This proved, as always, a complete waste of money yet again. Every year this happens. Next spring I'm not going to bother, they never work and they're not cheap. I've been taking chewable Vitamin C this year, which has eased some of the symptoms. Not the soar throat and the itchy eyes though...

So as you can see, the summer is not the idillic picture of fun and excitement it is for most people. They announced on pollen count section of the weather forecast that the hay fever season is now officially over. And as I look outside, I'd say the hot weather is over now too.

Great. Looking forward to lots of lovely sensibly indoor shows and the relative comfort of a hat and scarf in the not too distant future.

Is it just me who hates the summer?