Good bye old Dave, welcome new Dave...
Entry posted by mark555
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For those of you kind enough to read my last blog entry you will recall that we had lost our other guitar player to another band, and that had come at a bad time, as we were all about ready to gig, just working on a final few song ideas to get up to the magic number of thirty songs in the set list. So, we have had to look hard and find another guitar player good enough to fit in. I had placed several ad's on websites and was getting little response when a guy from Doncaster (about fifteen miles from where we practice) replied. So, we had a chat on the phone and arranged to get together for a session. That was this afternoon.
We were very pleased when that he was happy to turn up so quickly and we had sent him our set list during the week. It's always a good sign when the guy you are auditioning actually prepares for the audition and has taken it seriously. He turned up with a PRS Swamp Ash Special with a trem and what looked like mini humbuckers without covers. The guitar certainly sounded very nice. Anyway, after an hour we had a break and offered him the gig. He was very pleased to be invited to join and accepted right away. He had brought his wife with him who was a very nice lady, and she enjoyed what we did. We immediately went back to playing with a serious look at the set list and started to play and gel together as a unit. The sound was as tight as you can expect for a first time get together, and a few of the songs we played sounded as though we had rehearsed them for a few weeks. So, next Saturday rehearsals start as a new line up in earnest.
It is often the case that something you initially think is bad news (in this case our previous guitarist letting us down and leaving) can turn out to be a blessing in disguise given time. Dave, our new player is less highly strung and his choice of songs is more in keeping with the rest of us and I think, that given a few rehearsals, we will have a better band and will progress faster.
Terry, our drummer, actually went to see our old guitarists new band and said that although they seemed to have a good following, they were very unprofessional in their attitude, going on stage half an hour late, letting their "followers" come on stage and mess with their guitars etc when the band should have been on, and their language on stage was very bad and their attitude was poor. Dave, (the old guitarist) told Terry that he had gone for the money, but they had not told him if he was in or not even though he was gigging with them that night. they have since lost their drummer. So the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Last night Shaun (bass player) and I went to see Wishbone Ash as they were in town. They were nothing less than Superb! Afterwards they did a meet and greet and were very nice to talk to. We got some stuff signed by Andy Powell and the rest of the band, for me the three high spots of the night were Blowin' Free, Jailbait and Pheonix, all three were fantastic. HOWEVER.... The support band had come to the back of the theatre where we were and were making a lot of noise with some people who had come to see them and this was while WA were playing Pheonix. Now, if you're not a Wishbone Ash fan, you have to understand that this is an epic number that just builds and builds, and the noise this band were making as they talked loudly with their friends was just too much, so I walked over to them and told them that they were spoiling the night for all the WA fans, and that we had come to see Wishbone Ash and not them. They didn't like it, but they needed telling. The trouble was that they didn't shut up, but several people said "well done" to me afterwards. Their conduct was certainly unprofessional, let alone rude and inconsiderate. But I also thought it was very disrespectful to Wishbone Ash who are always very considerate of their fans. When I spoke to Andy Powell about it he was very disappointed about that. But it just goes to show that professional courtessy is a must, and if you are going to play live in any given situation, a professional attitude is required at all times.
Thanks for reading,
Mark.
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