Hi guys,
I'm in Dubai doing a one-off gig with Macy Gray this weekend. Back Monday afternoon, limited time and internet access until then. Will get back on here in a couple of days!

Best,
JMJ

Have fun, Justin...when you get back, please tell us how you prepare for a one-off with artists you only work with occasionally. Do you have to memorize the whole show or can you use rhythm charts? How much full band rehearsal do you get for a one-off? Do you fly all your amps and effects and a handful of basses, or do you rent amps and pedals there and just bring one or two basses? Can you actually get good backline in Dubai? ;)

I've always been curious to know how different it is doing one-offs on a Macy Gray level as opposed to an oldies level one-off. I know the promoters are happier to spend money on the band at your level than they are at mine, that's for sure!

You guys ever hear about Dallas Austin (TLC producer) who was in Dubai for a birthday party a few years back? He was traveling w some extracurriculars in his baggage and was thrown in Dubai's prison with little hope under their STRICT drug laws. It took the Voltron-like collaboration of Senator Orrin Hatch, Quincy Jones and Lionel Ritchie (I'm not making this up) to get him sprung.

Here's NYTimes' writeup:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/arts/music/08pard.html

ps - hope the gig was a good one - Dubai is one of the world's most wealthy and interesting regions.

I wasn't going to ask, but curiosity has got the best of me...was a rig provided for you or did you have to fly your own amp over? I am mostly wondering due to the voltage difference.

I hope it was a good trip either way. ;)

come back asap :p

Have fun, Justin...when you get back, please tell us how you prepare for a one-off with artists you only work with occasionally. Do you have to memorize the whole show or can you use rhythm charts? How much full band rehearsal do you get for a one-off? Do you fly all your amps and effects and a handful of basses, or do you rent amps and pedals there and just bring one or two basses? Can you actually get good backline in Dubai? ;)

I've always been curious to know how different it is doing one-offs on a Macy Gray level as opposed to an oldies level one-off. I know the promoters are happier to spend money on the band at your level than they are at mine, that's for sure!

I had to memorize the whole show. For an artist of that calibre, I have to look like I have it cold, because it's a full-on show. I fly stuff when budget allows, but I really just fly a bass or two normally. This time, I flew nothing and rented everything. Backline was top-notch. But this was big $$ client, so I think they had no issues getting anything.

JMJ

I had to memorize the whole show. For an artist of that calibre, I have to look like I have it cold, because it's a full-on show. I fly stuff when budget allows, but I really just fly a bass or two normally. This time, I flew nothing and rented everything. Backline was top-notch. But this was big $$ client, so I think they had no issues getting anything.

JMJ
Yes, definitely better at your level, except I don't have to bother with that silly memorization stuff because nobody cares about the band. You'd be surprised how many times the SVT on my rider becomes a GK/Hartke rig. That's why I fly with a Markbass amp in a laptop bag now.

I hear you.

Funny, the more time goes by, the more I feel I can work with any amp. Even GK/Hartke, God forbid. :-) (Last time I got one of those as backline was 1993, but you know what I mean).

JMJ

Did you go see the Bahrain GP by any chance? Saw on TV that Macy Gray was hanging out with the drivers before the race.

I hear you.

Funny, the more time goes by, the more I feel I can work with any amp. Even GK/Hartke, God forbid. :-) (Last time I got one of those as backline was 1993, but you know what I mean).
Yep. It's the player, not the gear. You got a job to do, so you do the best you can and don't make excuses. Most of these acts I work with spent their FU money decades ago and they're not about to blow their retirement because the bass player didn't get an SVT. To his credit, though, Bowzer did step in recently when a casino tried to make me use a Yorkville combo. I have to admit I almost wanted to use it just to see how well I'd do with it. All I can say is thank God someone finally invented solid state amps small enough to carry on an airplane. Not quite the same as an SVT but way better than previous stuff.

"...Bowzer did step in recently..." that is hilarious.

Yeah, I like buying gear and trying stuff out, but then when the gig comes, I forget all about it, as I should. I can literally play through anything, and have even started being relaxed about borrowing basses. Sometimes I'll go to a session and bring nothing at all, and use whatever bass they have on the wall unless they ask for stuff.

JMJ

I had to memorize the whole show. For an artist of that calibre, I have to look like I have it cold, because it's a full-on show. I fly stuff when budget allows, but I really just fly a bass or two normally. This time, I flew nothing and rented everything. Backline was top-notch. But this was big $$ client, so I think they had no issues getting anything.

JMJ

So I have to ask then, without going into too much detail, what DID you rent there for this show? I expect you can find a good P or J most places where shows of this caliber are happening(maybe a GREAT one), but what about the more esoteric stuff, like a Starfire? Do you throw a few stomps in your luggage kinda thing as well? Or can you actually rent a pedalboard with some items you like in situations like this?

Dubmon, I didn't even bother. The tour manager asked me what I wanted to have shipped of mine, and I said nothing at all. Instead, I had him get an all-around bass: asked for an American-made Precision or Jazz, got a Jazz.

Didn't say anything about the amp, which ended up being a Trace Elliot big head, 4 x 10 and 1 x 15, all practically new (UK made stuff) and sounded fantastic. What did I bring to a gig like this? A pick, two cables, and a tuner pedal. Boo-yah. All that detail and specificity about my pedalboard, and rhetoric about certain basses I love, and all that money I spend on collecting neato gear gets completely thrown out the window.

And you know what? I love it. I'll even do gigs with Beck, or others, where I have the opportunity to have my tech bring in all my backline and basses, and I'll just deliberately blow it off and use anything that happens to be there, literally ANYthing, and do the show. It keeps me sharp.

It's a bloody-minded way of reminding myself that I need to be good at what I do no matter what, AND that gear is ultimately completely and utterly irrelevant to the people in the audience, and even the people sharing the stage with you.

JMJ

Very interesting!
yah, I mean after a point, a bass is a bass is a bass I guess anyway!
Prolly LESS stressful in a way too to not have all your own stuff schlepped for just one show--more "freeing" perhaps?

Cool.

I need to be good at what I do no matter what, AND that gear is ultimately completely and utterly irrelevant to the people in the audience, and even the people sharing the stage with you.
Cue the sound of heads exploding all over Talkbass.

Cue the sound of heads exploding all over Talkbass.

+1 lol

I too like mixing it up but really don't have the opportunity often to do it. I did have the pleasure at one gig this weekend to use a totally different rig than I'm used to, much to my surprise I just set the EQ flat and went about my business. I did have to adjust my touch a bit b/c the rig was a little smaller than I'm used to using.

I just like the "adversity" of it, as well. It's like touring for years in ****** clubs with bad or no monitors: makes you sing better. You rely upon and develop your internal pitch, rather than on monitors to provide it for you.

Bass gear is the same way. I collect because I can and it's fun. I love the different sounds, I love the feel of different instruments. If it all went up in flames tomorrow, I'd still have a job, and I'd still love playing, AND I'd probably still get my sound.

I'll go further: a bass is a piece of wood with four (or more, God forbid) wires strapped to it and a magnetic pickup. That's what it is. It doesn't create anything. It is a musical reproduction apparatus that is down a chain which begins with you as a soul or a creative entity, then the physical mind which directs the action, continuing through the rest of your body and your hands.

If you somehow doubt the de-emphasis I'm putting on the gear, I ask you to think back to the earnestness and emotiveness of the music you were making on your first junker, even if it was learning a Black Sabbath song. I didn't care that the action was 1" above the frets. It was just part of the conduit. I had the shittiest amp too....didn't matter at all, I was in heaven. Constantly inspired, constantly learning and playing.

How do I get back to that feeling? By reminding myself occasionally that the gear is not me, and I am not the gear.

JMJ

Hmmm...I was planning on bringing my newly-acquired 1977 B-15N to today's gig in Naples. I used it on a gig Friday night with the original CTS speaker, and I was going to try it with the brighter 1966 CTS speaker in my double baffle cab tonight. But backline is being provided, so maybe I'll just play what's there, whatever it is, and remind myself that I'm not the gear, either.

HAH! Not on your nelly! I've had 10 years of that character-building through adverse rented backline and I'll have plenty more opportunities really soon. Today I'm going to rock the vintage Ampeg (as much as a 30w amp can rock out at a Bowzer show, anyway).

It's a bloody-minded way of reminding myself that I need to be good at what I do no matter what, AND that gear is ultimately completely and utterly irrelevant to the people in the audience, and even the people sharing the stage with you.

JMJ

If you somehow doubt the de-emphasis I'm putting on the gear, I ask you to think back to the earnestness and emotiveness of the music you were making on your first junker, even if it was learning a Black Sabbath song....

How do I get back to that feeling? By reminding myself occasionally that the gear is not me, and I am not the gear.

JMJ
this thread rocks. this FORUM rocks.

thanks, Justin, for the reminder!

If you somehow doubt the de-emphasis I'm putting on the gear, I ask you to think back to the earnestness and emotiveness of the music you were making on your first junker, even if it was learning a Black Sabbath song. I didn't care that the action was 1" above the frets. It was just part of the conduit. I had the shittiest amp too....didn't matter at all, I was in heaven. Constantly inspired, constantly learning and playing.

How do I get back to that feeling? By reminding myself occasionally that the gear is not me, and I am not the gear.

JMJ

Very well said. When musicians perform in that sort of mode, it is also much more involving for the audience. I caught two show last year within the space of about a week, first Sparklehorse and then Sebadoh.

The Sparklehorse show sounded spectacular, but was completely uninspiring in so far as as Mark Linkous (who I otherwise admire tremendously) and his bandmates were just (very competently) going through the motions, and performed as though they were just meeting some promotional obligation. I recall that a very elegant woman was playing a G&L 5-string in the band.

The Sebadoh show, on the other hand, sounded average at best, but was, nevertheless, still one of the best shows I have seen in years. Barlow, Gaffney, etc. played like they meant it, with great passion and focus, and created something with real authenticity and purpose. I don't think it occurred to me to notice their gear as it just didn't really matter.

Although had they performed using the Memphis Jazz bass copy and small Peavey combo amp with which I used to play along with Sabbath records in my early teenage bedroom, it might have become at least a small issue. I think they probably sounded pretty bad.

...the gear is not me, and I am not the gear.

JMJ

That is so awesome. Signature worthy. Hope you don't mind Justin. :D