| Author | Message | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2848 Registered: 10-2002 |
Well, we've played a couple of wedding gigs in January and my right hand fingers are working perfectly. There's still a little stiffness across the base of my palm but that only affects lifting so there's now no problems playing. With that in mind, Big Tuna are back on the pub circuit this month, kicking off this Saturday 5th Feb at the Brightons inn, Polmont. next Friday - 11th feb we'll be at Malone's irish Bar in Edinburgh followed by another wedding gig on sunday 11th Feb. More pub gigs to come next month :-) Now that the carpal tunnel syndrome has gone I'm really enjoying playing again. Graeme | ||
| artswork99
Moderator Username: artswork99 Post Number: 1398 Registered: 7-2007 |
Glad to hear that it's all healed up and you're back to the gigs! Art | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2849 Registered: 10-2002 |
Thanks Art!. As if by magic we've just been asked to play at Malone's tonight as the booked band has cancelled. 10pm onwards if you're in the vicinity ;-) Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2851 Registered: 10-2002 |
Well,the malone's gig last friday was certainly 'interesting'. for a start we had to load in through the main pub entrance and negotiate around 50 yards of very drunk rugby fans - the pub was showing the wales/England 6 nations match. It doesn't seem to matter how loud you shout 'excuse me', sometimes only a 2x12 in the back will shift them. Sound check was an event - we'd unplugged their mixing desk and plugged ours into the house PA but it wouldn't work. Their sound guy went off on a rant about how we'd blown all their fuses and so on - turns out they had a switch on the wall to turn the PA on! After that the gig went really well although the vocal monitors weren't set up properly (because of the earlier probs with the sound guy he wouldn't turn the house muzak off for long enough to soundcheck ). By the second set the place was jumping which surprised the management as they usually put on traditional 'irish' fiddle music. We're back there this friday - there's no rugby so maybe it'll be a little less tense :-). graeme | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 1543 Registered: 6-2002 |
Ahh... local sound guys. Some are great, some are fertilizer. I hope things are stellar from the first song this week! Mike | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2854 Registered: 10-2002 |
well, this week we didn't unplug their desk - instead we ran our main-outs into channels 1 and 2 of their desk. I don't think they were happy but they didn't have any grounds for complaint;-) a couple of pics....    We play for a wedding party on Sunday. Apparently the room has a partition and there's another wedding party on at the same time. We've told them we're a pretty loud rock band........ Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2868 Registered: 10-2002 |
This saturday, March 5th, we'll be playing at the Waverley hotel in Callander. Known as the gateway to the Trossachs (a range of hills) and home of Rob Roy McGregor. One of the few places we play that could see an influx of our transatlantic cousins as it's a popular stopping off point for coach tours of Scotland. So if any of you are passing, get the coach driver to stop for the night ;-) Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2876 Registered: 10-2002 |
A couple of private functions coming up. Tomorrow (sat) we're playing for an 18th birthday party in Lundin Links on the coast in Fife. (I feel like we're selling out! However, one of the guests is a friend of paul simenon and has insisted we play some clash) Next friday we'll be playing for a marketing company bash in the centre of Edinburgh. Not my favourite type of gig but at least it'll pay for new strings ;-) Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2879 Registered: 10-2002 |
Well tonight's gig just got interesting. Apparently it's a french marketing company and around half the gig will be Karaoke with us providing the backing music. Tomorrow, to carry on their rock'n'roll theme they're in a studio in Edinburgh recording 'Don't you forget about me' with one of the original members of Simple Minds. Graeme | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 10110 Registered: 5-2002 |
"... around half the gig will be Karaoke with us providing the backing music ..." Hope you are getting well compensated. | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2880 Registered: 10-2002 |
We were Dave. at least enough to restring three Alembics :-) It was probably the most bizarre evening of my life. The venue was little more than a glorified cellar, complete with water dripping from the ceiling. Edinburgh's old town has a maze of passageways under the 'old town' which are regularly used by Ghost tours and we were told off by one such group whilst soundchecking as we'd left the fire escape door open and were disrupting his ambience. During the gig, we were expecting the guests to come up one or two at a time to sing to their colleagues. As it happens, they all crowded into the room and all tried to sing at once (mostly songs few of them knew and were trying to read from lyric sheets in a dark room). Their 'corporate' song was the aforementioned Simple minds 'don't you forget about me' which we were to play from an Ipod for them to sing along to. However, they insisted that I play the bassline to 'augment' the backing track - I'd not played the song since the 80's but it's not hard - they got us to play it twice. To cap the night off, we were contracted to play until 12.30 but bang on 11.20 they told us to stop as they were due to be in a night club by 11.30. We'd barely blinked and the place was empty. Their whole visit to Scotland was organised with military precision - we were due on at 9.30 and that's when we were told to start even though they were still eating! All in all a very strange night that i hope not to be repeating any time soon. Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2887 Registered: 10-2002 |
We've been sent some photos from the gig by the photographer they had following them around scotland. They give a very good idea how cramped we were. I spent the whol night facing sideways, terrified that I'd hit the wall with a headstock...   You'll see I didn't have enough space for my usual rig and had to use my spare 4x10 and marshall head instead. Surprisingly the room had a really good sound. Graeme | ||
| rustyg61
Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 71 Registered: 2-2011 |
Cool pictures! Hope you didn't smack your bass on the brick wall when you turned! Love the Deadhead shirt! | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2899 Registered: 10-2002 |
This Friday, 22nd, we'll be at Finnegan's Wake, one of Edinburgh's top Irish Bars, from 10pm. Break out the fiddles. Graeme | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 10161 Registered: 5-2002 |
Hah; now that was a rough gig! Great pics! | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2907 Registered: 10-2002 |
This coming Saturday we return to Behind the Wall in Falkirk. A great venue that's always jumping by 10pm. A week later we're playing at a friend and his wife's joint 50th birthday. It's a masked ball for around 300 guests and is behing held in Edinburgh's signet library , home of The Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet, one of the oldest professional bodies in the world. I just hope we don't rattle the books off the shelves :-) Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2924 Registered: 10-2002 |
This Friday - 20th May we're back it Finnegan's Wake in Edinburgh. Music kicks off around 9pm. Graeme | ||
| rustyg61
Advanced Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 221 Registered: 2-2011 |
Hey Graeme, that is my birthday, so sing happy birthday to me! LOL! Rusty | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2925 Registered: 10-2002 |
Will do Rusty. have a great Birthday. graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2926 Registered: 10-2002 |
meant to post these pics earlier in the week. Last saturday was our friend's Nick & Margita's joint 50th birthday. They held a masquerade ball at Edinburgh's Solicitor's Signet Library... The Birthday Girl...  and Nick..  naturally, Big Tuna made the effort..  One of the highlights of the night was Nick's 11 year old daughter Freja singing Chasing Cars by Snow patrol. She has an amazing voice...  By the second set we were so hot we ditched the masks...  graeme | ||
| rustyg61
Advanced Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 228 Registered: 2-2011 |
Thanks Graeme! Great pictures! | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2934 Registered: 10-2002 |
This Friday we're back in Finnegan's Wake - the last time we played the crowd just got bigger and bigger and wanted more music than the pub's license allowed - That's what I call a great gig. A week on saturday - 18th june we'll be in Callendar at the Waverley for another pub gig then on the 25th we have the annual Young Farmers bash at Edinburgh's Corn Exchange, one of the city's top venues. Hopefully we'll be getting some video from that one. Graeme | ||
| jos
Junior Username: jos Post Number: 43 Registered: 4-2009 |
Definitely my favorite band!! If I would live in Scotland I would be on every gig!!! J-O-S | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2936 Registered: 10-2002 |
You have a standing invitation to visit anytime Jan-Olof :-) Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2945 Registered: 10-2002 |
This saturday we're at the Waverley hotel in Callander, a really picturesque town on the edge of the highlands. Well worth a visit if you're ever touring Scotland. Graeme | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 1566 Registered: 6-2002 |
Have a great gig, Jacko. MIke | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2949 Registered: 10-2002 |
Not the best of nights. I've had flu so I was running a temperature and the rest of the band were all under the weather. Speaking of weather, it was raining really heavily which would explain why we only had around 30 bedraggled rock and rollers in the pub. Not much atmosphere going on which was a bit disappointing. Never mind, this Saturday is the Scottish Young Farmers annual bash at Edinburgh's Corn exchange - one of the top music venues in this area. We're expecting a couple of thousand this year and if the last time we played for this lot is anything to go by it'll be a monster gig. Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2955 Registered: 10-2002 |
The Young Farmers dance went off without any trouble! No fights and no naked men running around the hall. We played two hour long sets from 10:30 until 1am and had the whole room bouncing the whole night. My daighter was videoing and taking pictures so we may end up with something on youtube soon. meanwhile here are a couple of pics from the night..    I had a minor proble with my 410 cabinet as a second driver was making rattling noises. Luckily the PA and monitoring was loud enough to more than make up for me turning my amp down a bit. Graeme | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 2476 Registered: 6-2002 |
Looks like you are lost in the music Jacko JAzzyvee | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2956 Registered: 10-2002 |
That far up the fingerboard I'm in danger of just getting lost :-) Just had a Faital 300watt 10 inch 4ohm neo driver delivered so i'm back in business. Graeme | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 10238 Registered: 5-2002 |
Great pics! One of the people in the first pic looks like they might be intoxicated. | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2958 Registered: 10-2002 |
It might be difficult narrowing down which one yo mean dave; I think they're all well on their way to falling over :-) This Saturday we're back in Finnegan's Wake in Edinburgh. 10pm till 1am. Graeme | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 2480 Registered: 6-2002 |
That's pretty much rare territory for me too without a sat-nav. :-) Jazzyvee | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2965 Registered: 10-2002 |
Back to the wedding circuit for the next couple of weeks. Tommorrow is Menstrie castle near Stirling and next week we have one on Friday and another on Saturday. i'd much rather be playing a pub gig though. Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2985 Registered: 10-2002 |
After a brief holiday in the lake district we're back gigging this saturday. 10.30pm til 1.30 am at finnegan's wake in Edinburgh. It's Edinburgh festival time so all the pubs are jumping on the bandwagon by trying to fit two bands on each night. means we only get 45 minutes to load in and set up :-( Friday evening I'm off to see Guy Pratt (of pink floyd fame) do his very funny one man show recounting his adventures on the road. I can thoroughly recommend his book 'My bass and other animals' for a tongue in cheek view of life as a touring bassplayer. Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2996 Registered: 10-2002 |
Last weekend we were playing for a wedding on the Isle of Mull off the west coast. Caught the ferry saturday morning from Oban which passed Duart castle on the way ..  Home of the clan McLean, it's possibly better known as the home of Sean Connery in the movie 'Entrapment'. The wedding ceremony was held in the great hall. Mull is also the location of the kids tv programme Balamory (actually Tobermory) with it's picturesque harbour. There's actually not much else here...  Naturally, Big Tuna kept the guests dancing from 8pm till 2am, only interrupted a couple of times by the fire alarm...   Mull is a beautiful island well worth visiting for a couple of days if you're ever heading to Scotland. This Saturday we're back in Finnegan's Wake, kicking off at 10.30pm. Graeme | ||
| rustyg61
Advanced Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 313 Registered: 2-2011 |
Awesome pics! Thanks Graeme! | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 3038 Registered: 10-2002 |
Big Tuna will be playing at the Waverley Hotel in Callander this saturday 29th october from around 9pm. If you've had a hard day in the hills this is a great spot to wind down. Graeme | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 3043 Registered: 10-2002 |
And this Saturday, 5th November we'll be entertaining the crowds in Finnegan's Wake, a quaint Irish pub in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town. Graeme | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 1595 Registered: 6-2002 |
Excellent! Have a great time, Graeme. Mike | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 3048 Registered: 10-2002 |
Had a great gig, only slightly marred at the end of the night when I checked out the wear on my new strings. We played for 3 hours with only two 5 minute breaks and the crowd loved every minute. It's a very popular pub in the heart of edinburgh and regularly attracts hen and stag parties. This week we had 2 hen parties in - one from Ireland dressed in fairy costumes, the other from Glasgow dressed as Mrs Santa and her elves (on guy fawkes night!! odd!). Sometime forum member Mike Pisanek turned up to collect an F1-X from me and ended up staying the night saying we'd improved immeasurably since he last saw us play a couple of years ago. That ppleased me so much I gave him a lift home :-) We now have a month of rehearsing before our next round of gigs. However, this week I'm going to see Allison Kraus and union Station on thursday and YES on Saturday. can hardly wait. graeme | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 2056 Registered: 10-2003 |
Fantastic! | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 3069 Registered: 10-2002 |
Last gig of the year for Big Tuna tomorrow night (29th) at 'Behind the wall' Falkirk. It's a busy pub this time of year so be sure to get there early:-) graeme | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 1607 Registered: 6-2002 |
Have fun Graeme! Mike |
