| Author | Message | ||
| ox_junior
Intermediate Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 189 Registered: 3-2004 |
Friends, See below for a link to some pics from our last gig at the Normandie Theater in LA. Kinda fuzzy but for those that are interested, the new improved upgraded Spyder is there for all to see. I'll just keep this a running thread for anyone interested and will post new photos of new shows. Of course, there are many pictures of us on our website, www.thewhoshow.com. Enjoy! Mike Bisch http://leecegee.deep-ice.com/music/tws-normandie2.html (Message edited by ox_junior on October 28, 2004) | ||
| hollis
Senior Member Username: hollis Post Number: 483 Registered: 11-2003 |
Mike, Great site! It's good to see your wife is looking so mighty fine after her extreme make-over. She's looking beautiful! Your band rocks man! Hollis | ||
| ox_junior
Intermediate Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 193 Registered: 3-2004 |
Hello all, Catch The Who Show at the Pala Casino in Temecula, CA on Saturday December 4 at 8pm. This is for our extreme SoCal (as in San Diego area) people...so come on down! The Spyder will be fully fired up and ready to go! Hope to see you there... Mike | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 218 Registered: 3-2004 |
Next stop for The Who Show: Saturday April 2 at the Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA. Three excellent bands - Led Zepplica, The Who Show, and Fallout - a tribute to The Police. Should be amazing! More info at www.thewhoshow.com or www.tributecity.com. Cheers, Mike | ||
| stoney
Advanced Member Username: stoney Post Number: 378 Registered: 7-2002 |
Hey Mike, Looks like tons-o-fun. Good to keep the spirit of the Ox alive. stoney (again, great page....) | ||
| richbass939
Intermediate Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 183 Registered: 11-2004 |
Stoney, clever profile. Quote: Don't quote me on this! Age: varies from year to year. Gave me a good laugh. Mike B., please post here if the Who Show ever makes it to Colorado. A friend and I would like to go to the Show. Rich | ||
| stoney
Advanced Member Username: stoney Post Number: 381 Registered: 7-2002 |
Hey Rich..I hoped that someone would get a good chuckle out of that page.......they left out the photo when I was around 6 years old....standing beside my baby grand in my 'Mozart' wig..... OY!!! | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 239 Registered: 3-2004 |
Next gigs: 5/7 at Thee Parkside, San Francisco. Two sets - the first all "mod" material from 1965, the second featuring their greatest hits. Costume changes will be interesting - tight black suit to tight denim and suede! 5/15 at The Good Hurt, West Los Angeles. All mod set. 5/21 at Soho Music Club, Santa Barbara - opening for Led Zepplica. 5/30 at the Hermosa Beach Memorial Day festival - 3 to 6 pm in the beer garden (hiccup). 6/11 at Zen Sushi, Silver Lake - all mod set 6/26 live in the studio at 95.9FM "The Octopus" in Ventura County. Playing live and interviews. It will be, as Pete would say, "incredibly nasty!". We've also added Hiwatt Amplification to our list of endorsers! Come see us if you're in California... And here's a pic of me at our Canyon Club gig 4/2:  Cheers, Mike Bisch | ||
| jalevinemd
Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 171 Registered: 12-2003 |
Congrats guys on the Hiwatt ad! Jonathan | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 243 Registered: 3-2004 |
Holy Geez it's been a long time since I updated this page! July 16 - Ojai Classic Rock Festival, Ojai, CA July 23 - Private Party (but you can get in if you're interested- just e-mail me), Woodland Hills, CA Aug 6 - DiPiazza's, Long Beach, CA Aug 13 - Pala Casino, Temecula, CA Oct 8 - Blue Cafe, Long Beach, CA Nov 19 - Grove of Anaheim, CA With their successful show at Live 8 (successful in that they managed to get through 2 songs without flubbing it and kicked a*$ at the same time!) we hope to see a resurgence of popularity for The Who, as they have come under fire recently for failing to deliver a new album/tour as they originally promised their fans this year. Our Nov 19 show will be VERY special....more news on this later... Thanks Johnathan re: Hiwatt. Our guitarist is very happy! I am working on a deal with the folks who are managing the newly revitalized Trace Elliot brand for our Nov 19 show (as I said...very special...can't wait to break the news to you all!) Cheers and steady on, Mike Bisch | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 248 Registered: 3-2004 |
More Pics!!! These are from our July 16 gig in Ojai, CA: http://photos.yahoo.com/thewhoshowbeyond All that tie-dye made my head spin! Mike | ||
| zn_bassman
Junior Username: zn_bassman Post Number: 22 Registered: 4-2005 |
Nice! Actually, your Spyder goes nicely with the tie-dye! What was the setlist? | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 2089 Registered: 5-2002 |
Great pics! | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 249 Registered: 3-2004 |
Setlist for Ojai show was: I Can't Explain Substitute Pinball Wizard/Bargain (medley) Behind Blue Eyes Baba O'Riley The Real Me Summertime Blues Magic Bus Won't Get Fooled Again My Generation (after which an unfortunate Strat copy was reduced to kindling wood and electronic bits) This was a fun show but it was SO hot out, it was difficult to not pass out! | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 448 Registered: 10-2003 |
Nice! | ||
| jacko
Advanced Member Username: jacko Post Number: 257 Registered: 10-2002 |
Nice pics mike, looks like alot of fun too. BTW, where's the 4x10? graeme | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 250 Registered: 3-2004 |
I dropped it for the Ojai gig. When we're in those uncontrolled festival situations, I can't count on the sound man to give me enough guitar through the monitors. Even though our guitarist is playing thru a Hiwatt 100 4x12, when I play with my full rig (especially when I have my 4x10 at ear level), I can't hear him. If I dial up the highs I can still get a good sound thru the 2x15 although it doesn't pop quite as much. Alembic Spyder + Trace Elliot AH600SMX + 4x10 + 2x15 + Fulltone Bass Distortion Pedal = THUNDER OF THE GODS! Mike | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 274 Registered: 3-2004 |
More gigs (all in California): Saturday October 8 at the Blue Cafe, Long Beach Thursday November 3 at the Canyon Club, Agoura Hills Friday and Saturday, November 18 & 19, at the Grove Theater of Anaheim - A TRIBUTE TO QUADROPHENIA starring Steven Schareaux and The Who Show! More details on this later, just giving you all a sneak preview.... | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 284 Registered: 3-2004 |
Here's ticket ordering information for THE QUAD TRIBUTE: www.thewhoshow.com/quad1.html Enjoy and hope to see some Alembicians there! | ||
| zn_bassman
Junior Username: zn_bassman Post Number: 27 Registered: 4-2005 |
Great site Mike! Wish I could attend, but the commute's too far. Can you get some vid/audio clips for us? What kind of sound are you guys going to use? With your Spyder, I would assume the bass will sound very different from the Fenderbird on the studio recording and '73 tour. What about your guitarist - cleanish studio sound, heavily distorted Les Paul '73 sound, or other? Or maybe you're going for the '96-'97 sound? And what are you doing for the solo on 5:15? I have a boot of 1 of their 6 shows at Madison Square Garden in '79 (Roger sings happy birthday to Kenney Jones) - they did phenomenal versions of Punk Meets the Godfather and Drowned, the latter featuring great improv work by Pete and John on his Spyder. That tour was a great showcase for what can be done on a Spyder. | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 290 Registered: 3-2004 |
Hi Zn, Vid/audio availability is TBD at this point. We haven't decided if we're going to make any recordings public after the show...many factors there. I will, of course, post pictures. I am having a "Fenderbird" built for me as we speak, hope to use it a little for this production. I will probably play at least 75% of the show using the Spyder though. Will most likely be closest to that 1979 tone. There will be a bass solo on 5:15, but it will be very short. I'll just do a few hammer-ons, that should be enough flash.  Since we are only using one guitarist for the show, Darren will be switching between a clean sound (using a Boss acoustic simulator pedal) and a distorted '73 tone. He will be using a Les Paul Deluxe as his main axe, through his Hiwatt PT-model head. | ||
| zn_bassman
Junior Username: zn_bassman Post Number: 28 Registered: 4-2005 |
I understand the problamatic nature of releasing recordings - it would be great to get even a couple of snippets, if possible. Sounds like you guys have a nice blend of sounds from different periods, should go over well. But you can't do a short solo, that would ruin the main reason for the show! ;-) | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 291 Registered: 3-2004 |
Well...the more I study John's 5:15 solos (especially the version from the RAH 2000 DVD), I realize I don't measure up. Not even close. Why mess with perfection? This is the only part of the show that makes me nervous. If we can use snippets of sound, we'll put them up for sure. | ||
| zn_bassman
Junior Username: zn_bassman Post Number: 29 Registered: 4-2005 |
The seeds of that solo were sown in '89 - listen to the short runs he did during the "down time" late in the song on the Join Together live album. By '96, he was doing the big overpowering solos, but they started out much simpler and shorter (ref. the Prince's Trust concert at Hyde Park) and evolved over the years. A lot of the bread and butter runs aren't that difficult for one who has John's basic playing style down - you shouldn't have any problem with them, according to the vid clips I've seen of you. 5:15 got voted down in our Who shows, but I used some of those lines in the solo bridge between Amazing Journey and Sparks - that got some of the biggest applause at the shows. At the first one I used my Epic through my GK 12" into the desk. At the others I used my new Rogue through a Fender Bassman 15", a GK 1x15 + 4x10 into the desk, and my GK into the desk respectively. I didn't use my Zoom pedal, so the tone wasn't even juiced up/Buzzardized the way it should have been. So I'm encouraging you to pull out all the stops (or at least a bunch of them) - John's legacy, your equipment, the opportunity, and your own talent are all screaming for it! | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 292 Registered: 3-2004 |
We'll see what I can pull off. Thanks for the clips, I'll be viewing those shortly. That solo bit in Sparks is fun to play. For this show, in addition to 5:15, of course I get to play The Real Me, and they let me go off at the end of Dirty Jobs, which is fun. I'll be using my standard amp set-up at the Quad shows (Trace Elliot AH600SMX/4x10/2x15). The "Fenderbird" I'm having built is the body of an Epiphone reverse T-Bird, in Seafoam Green, with a Mighty Mite replacement blonde Fender neck and chrome Schaller tuners. For pickups, I've settled on Gibson Les Paul bass pickups with custom-made mounting rings that will give me the width I need to replace the current P/J set-up currently on that bass. I understand these pickups have quite a bit of rumble to them, they were described to me as a "Thunderbird on steroids", which should be cool. I've had no luck locating the vintage chrome T-Bird pickups, so this is the closest I can get at the moment. Should be an interesting instrument when it's done. I'll post photos when it's done in a couple of weeks. | ||
| zn_bassman
Junior Username: zn_bassman Post Number: 33 Registered: 4-2005 |
Enjoy the clips, I hope they're useful! You can always use John's trick of soloing over bridges and g**t*r solos. ;-) Check out http://www.thewho.net:16080/whotabs/equipment/bass/equip-entwistlegear-endorsements.html. About halfway down the page is a prototype Fenderbird by Lakland which was to become a production model. Lakland scrapped the project when John died. Your Fenderbird project sounds cool, I hope it comes out the way you want it. A T-Bird on steroids would be perfect. John apparently got his big, ranuchy Fenderbird sound by having Gibson make him thicker T-Bird bodies (to accomodate the P neck) and moving the bridge slightly, plus the pickups that are no longer available. It's the difference between the Lynyrd Skynyrd bass sound (Leon Wilkeson) and John's incredible sound from '73-75. Personally, I want to get rich playing my Rogue so I can get a Buzzard-2. I want to get richer still from that, so I can take the Alembird idea in a somewhat different direction. Dreaming doesn't hurt.... ;-) | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 297 Registered: 3-2004 |
Getting REAL close to The Quad Tribute - so I thought I'd repost the URL to get tickets: www.thewhoshow.com/quad1.html The Who's licensing arm has given their blessing on the show. If you're on MySpace, you can get more info at: www.myspace.com/quadtribute Hope there are some of you here in southern CA that can come out! Cheers, Mike | ||
| ox_junior
Advanced Member Username: ox_junior Post Number: 298 Registered: 3-2004 |
The Quad Tribute - Phase One was an outstanding success!!! Two write-ups in the LA Times, an official "blessing" from The Who's licensing arm (as we helped to sell copies of the new "Tommy/Quadrophenia Live" DVD), a complete sell-out crowd Saturday night, who were on their feet for "Love Reign O'er Me" and did not sit down again - as we killed 'em with "My Generation" after the curtain call - a "smashing" good time!!! Here's me with my Alembic Spyder, hopefully doing justice to John's memory:  Hope to have more pictures and reviews soon. Cheers, Mike | ||
| borisspyder
Junior Username: borisspyder Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2004 |
Bravo! | ||
| zn_bassman
Junior Username: zn_bassman Post Number: 40 Registered: 4-2005 |
Mike, congrats on a great show! Wish I could have been there. Would love to see more pix (and audio files if possible). With such a big project under your band's belt, the sky's the limit! |
