Kramerguy

Whelp, it turned out to be a huge turnout, I was surprised as anyone haha. Something quite unique happened too. We use a Mackie mixer, one of the models that has an iPad dock where the iPad controls everything. Apparently our sound guy never thought to change the default password for the software, so imagine our surprise when our sound went goofy and one of our mic's started feeding back, our singer noticed a guy in the audience with an iPad.. called him out. Apparently the guy hacked into our sound and thought he could do a better job and just took over using the default password to get into our settings. It got tense when the singer berated and trashed the guy in front of the whole bar, but apparently this guy backed off and stopped. Then this 'sound guy' had the audacity to post a response on our FB page - a "review" of our gig, where he said the band was really good, but that our sound needed work and then promoted his next gig as a sound guy in the review. We debated showing up and confronting him, then decided it wasn't worth it, but of all the things in the world to go wrong at a gig, who ever expected this to happen? Who brings an ipad to a bar with the hopes and intentions of taking over their sound control?? Which concerns me greatly.. many guitar pedals are bluetooth now.. and many have no security whatsoever.. how can I stop people from showing up at a gig and hacking into my pedals? What a crazy world we live in.

So we got a gig coming up next week. Bars around here are allowed to open to 75% capacity. The bar has been harping on us almost daily about how many people we're going to bring 🙄 to the point that I'm no longer even looking forward to playing there. Oh yea, and NO FREE BEER.

And just this other one- It's pretty amazing musicianship

I'm really into the genre post-rock. It's like rock with no rules, truly alternative by it's own nature. This is a really fantastic album I wanted to share and hopefully excite a few people into learning new ways of looking at rock

Thanks for all the replies!

My band started rehearsals during the summer after the initial 'wave' of the pandemic simmered down. We're on hiatus again since this 2nd / 3rd surge doesn't seem to be slowing down I miss rehearsals the most. We haven't gigged since just before Covid hit back in February. I guess the silver lining is that we've consistently added new songs and since we don't rehearse together as much, everyone has been extra prepared and we've replaced nearly our entire set list with all new material. How are you guys faring?

How about "Stimtallica" ? haha

Local bars have mostly re-opened around here, but with enough restrictions that few are doing enough business to turn any profits, so few to none are having bands, and frankly I'm okay with not playing in a closed room until a vaccination is a reality. Outdoor events are trickier... We played an outdoor lawn party last month which went extremely well. Families stuck together and everyone maintained a fair distance from those not in their respective parties. AFAIK nobody was sick or got sick after the event. It was a really nice way to finally get out and play while maintaining a reasonable level of safety. I think we all kind of needed it, so it was arguably one of the best gigs we've played. We've been rehearsing weekly again since July, with the rule that if anyone has so much as the sniffles that we cancel that week. So far, we've missed more rehearsals than we've had, but we all have continued to be uninfected. We're placing most of our efforts into learning and rehearsing new covers.

Very exciting! Can't wait to hear it

I use the Xotic BB boost, it's super flexible and sounds great no matter how I use it - either for boost or light dirt tones. Notably, I've added both the EQD Arrows and Black Eye pedals for clean and solo boosts and they make the need for any 'dirt' boost kind of pointless for me.

I find the Ibanez CS9 and FL9 pedals to be among the best I've used. Simple, elegant, and they really mix well with band volumes.

I'm kind of hoping (maybe fantasy) that once this is all over, that the masses will crave and appreciate the performing arts and social events surrounding the arts far more than the virtual arts (youtube, facebook, etc..). We're all getting a heavy dose of social media, and I believe the world is seeing it for what it is- a flimsy and ungratifying way to socialize, and now that it's been forced on us all by proxy, when we get past it, I think the social media sites will see a much reduced participation level than before the crisis. The internet is a tool, and a useful one, but not the end-all for everything - especially in the arts and socializing. I believe people are beginning to see that now. Hopefully we all learn a lot from this experience and change our behaviors. Yea, maybe wishful thinking

Yep this sucks. My band hasn't even rehearsed since the last week of Feb. I'm in an area that had one of the first outbreaks, so we're now on stay at home orders from the governor. Music isn't my income, but gigs did help pay for some really nice gear and let's face it, when everyone gets along and gels well in a band, it's just good times and some of my fondest life memories. I'm so sorry for those of you who can't work One of my favorite inspirational quotes from a fictional character: "We shall endure".

I have to say my 'new' coverband recorded our first practice.. The volumes were dialed back and we sounded fantastic. I'm glad I have this at least, and the search for a great side-band continues....

I got a chance to play the elite Strat last week, also incredible, I dunno if I can wait a year to buy the strat but my wallet says NO