One o' 'those' gigs...

[Rick Jones]

...horrendous crowd noise, no monitors....couldn't hear anything etc... but this clip is an idea of the live sound of my Avalon....plus a rare action vid of me, I usually hide from people with cameras!

...'Stand by me'...Ben E King....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTdZWcHaxfE

[JB]

you've the patience of a saint Rick well done for battling through the continuous background noise / chatter !

[riverdog]

Nice jams Rick! You remind me of Stevie Ray, not in the way you sound but in the way you extract all of yourself and the tone from your guitar, (and there is alot of tone in that Avi beast!)... I once sat in front of Stevie years before he passed and like you, he pulled that tone out of those 13's with bare hands. (my hero Jeff Beck is the same way)... I played that song myself in clubs years ago except on top of the noise I was gettin' Bud & PBR bottles on stage too 'cause here in the south it gets pretty rough in some places. So cheers to ya bro from an ol' Bergen County rocker with a wore out shoulder from that 10lb Les Paul slung way down low! Keep up the jams cuz I'm gonna keep listenin'!
Riverdog

[boombox]

Nice one, Rick - guerilla conditions to say the least. Think I've only ever played anywhere with decent monitors once - only normally played places like in that vid. Full marks to you for persevering.

Reminds me of a Country Joe McDonald show I once attended in Somerset. Major drinking crowd in, who weren't there to listen. After the second song, someone shouts from the audience for him to turn up, but there was nothing left in the PA. As a result, he had to abandon his setlist in favour of rowdier crowd pleasers. Best of all, half way through on my mate's recording, you hear from the back, "Shut the **** up you lot and listen!" Fell on deaf ears, unfortunately. Chatting afterwards with Joe, he seemed to take it in his stride - he must have played some horrendous places in the early days of the band.

[Rick Jones]

Well done Rick!

The audience noise doesn't totally hide the very accomplished playing and singing and the gorgeous sound of the Avalon. If they won't listen to such a fine treatment of such a great song, they don't know music!

Don't let the b*****ds get you down! I had years of gigs like that. They usually began with carrying the PA up the fire escape and ended up with a midnight scrap to get the mike back from the guy who thought he was at Karaoke.

Long may you strum!

John

Thanks John! Totally know "the kareoke guy", he or his ilk follow me around it seems. Them and this conversation;

Drunk guy; "Do you know *insert Oasis song*

Me; "No, sorry mate, I don't really listen to them."

Drunk guy; *sings Oasis song at me whilst trying to get the mic*
"I'll sing it, gimme the guitar!"

[Rick Jones]

Nice jams Rick! You remind me of Stevie Ray, not in the way you sound but in the way you extract all of yourself and the tone from your guitar, (and there is alot of tone in that Avi beast!)... I once sat in front of Stevie years before he passed and like you, he pulled that tone out of those 13's with bare hands. (my hero Jeff Beck is the same way)... I played that song myself in clubs years ago except on top of the noise I was gettin' Bud & PBR bottles on stage too 'cause here in the south it gets pretty rough in some places. So cheers to ya bro from an ol' Bergen County rocker with a wore out shoulder from that 10lb Les Paul slung way down low! Keep up the jams cuz I'm gonna keep listenin'!
Riverdog

Woah!!! Riverdog....SRV?!! Really?!!
That may be the nicest thing anyones ever said to me. If I had one tenth of his soul and fire I could go the rest of my life happy with where I was!
Seriously, that is awesome of you, and a comparison I feel totally unworthy of!!

I hear you on the Southern bar deal....I lived in Buckhead, Atlanta GA for nearly two years...I have family in TN and SC, I have played a few bars out that way, as well as many bbq jams on peoples decks. I love it out there!
If the UK had Golden Corral, I'd be in serious danger of heart attack too.....

[Rick Jones]

Nice one, Rick - guerilla conditions to say the least. Think I've only ever played anywhere with decent monitors once - only normally played places like in that vid. Full marks to you for persevering.

Reminds me of a Country Joe McDonald show I once attended in Somerset. Major drinking crowd in, who weren't there to listen. After the second song, someone shouts from the audience for him to turn up, but there was nothing left in the PA. As a result, he had to abandon his setlist in favour of rowdier crowd pleasers. Best of all, half way through on my mate's recording, you hear from the back, "Shut the **** up you lot and listen!" Fell on deaf ears, unfortunately. Chatting afterwards with Joe, he seemed to take it in his stride - he must have played some horrendous places in the early days of the band.

I have my fair share of these...luckily here in Jersey I am blessed with a few venues where people listen, but it's a hard game sometimes.
I know the feeling of the maxed out PA vs. crowd all too well....I have one venue that is all reflective surfaces, hard flooring and a horrible resonance.
If two people are talking in there it's ear splitting.
Add to this the house PA is an uber cheap Behringer with 10'' speakers, and it redlines off the crowd noise no matter where you put the mic.
But they pay well.....sigh....

[riverdog]

Yo Rick,
We've shared some stomping grounds cuz I used to hit Buckhead, Dunwoodie, the "Limelight" back in the 80's. There was a great Zep cover band called Bareback back then and a few pounds ago when I could fit in those 30 in. leathers and my snake skin boots crankin' out some hometown Skynyrd ya know! But I hit the Waffle House, Steak n Shake, and yes Golden Corrall too many times.
Riverdog

[Rick Jones]

Yep....or wants you to play "Killing me softly" so she can "sing it for me", and proceeds to empty the place of anyone who was actually listening!

[riverdog]

...or how 'bout this one fellas; with all due respect to the awesome Mr. Clapton, I would get the "Wonderful Tonight" napkin from the newlyweds drunk on the dancefloor after playing it at dozens of weddings and clubs. I would nearly vomit that afternoons lunch from Steak n Shake into the mic while they slobbered into each others eyes!
riverdog

[Rick Jones]

...or how 'bout this one fellas; with all due respect to the awesome Mr. Clapton, I would get the "Wonderful Tonight" napkin from the newlyweds drunk on the dancefloor after playing it at dozens of weddings and clubs. I would nearly vomit that afternoons lunch from Steak n Shake into the mic while they slobbered into each others eyes!
riverdog

Oh....that old chestnut!! It's not just me then!!??