some bands manage without a bassist.. this one doesn't...

powderfinger · #1 05-11-2011, 11:39 AM

Gosh, so I'm not the biggest David Allan Coe fan in the world, but I went to check him out not long ago. He had a couple guitarists, a drummer, and no bassist. I wanted to give the band a chance, but from the onset, it was straight up blaring guitars, loud drums.. and NO BOTTOM whatsoever. It was not easy or pleasant to listen to. It hurt my ears honestly.

And the worst part... old school country needs that solid 1 5, 1 5, with the walks between chords. It just sounded blah. I read up on some comments people have made on his site and other concert review sites. One of his guitarists said something to the effect of 'its ok... you couldnt really hear the bass in his old recordings anhow', and a fan commented that the lack of a bass made the guitarists play with more ferocity and passion. Yeah right....

aaronhutson · #2 05-11-2011, 11:44 AM

Decyfer Down doesnt have a bassist. They record the bass lines for the album, then play it live through loops just like you would midi. The funny thing is that they still run an 810 on both sides of the drums.

powderfinger · #3 05-11-2011, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronhutson

Decyfer Down doesnt have a bassist. They record the bass lines for the album, then play it live through loops just like you would midi. The funny thing is that they still run an 810 on both sides of the drums.

And they probably sound ok doing it. Doesnt John Kay (Stepenwolf) do the same thing now?

Either way... Coe sounded atrocious.

aaronhutson · #4 05-11-2011, 11:57 AM

[quote=powderfinger;10881084]And they probably sound ok doing it. Doesnt John Kay (Stepenwolf) do the same thing now?

I think he does. But im not positive.

And yeah they sounded good. But since the bass was tracked, there wasnt a musician playing. So in quiet parts the bass was still booming and was overkill. But I wish they would get a bassist.. or hire me..

powderfinger · #5 05-11-2011, 12:45 PM

[quote=aaronhutson;10881100]

Quote:

Originally Posted by powderfinger

And they probably sound ok doing it. Doesnt John Kay (Stepenwolf) do the same thing now?

I think he does. But im not positive.

And yeah they sounded good. But since the bass was tracked, there wasnt a musician playing. So in quiet parts the bass was still booming and was overkill. But I wish they would get a bassist.. or hire me..

Yeah, no kidding, that would be overkill indeed.

Better than NO bassist at all though. I was half inclined to tell Mr. Coe's road agent that Ill run home, grab my bass, and play the 2nd set with him.... for free, even.

Although it would be hard... Coe's show was basically 1 long sloppy medley of his hits, rarities, and covers... he barely finished a song... stopped abpruptly to talk to the crow.. started playing a whole other song. He would play the chorus of one song... stop.. then play the intro of another... stop... talk.. etc. I would have been quite lost.

Jayhawk · #6 05-12-2011, 12:07 PM

I saw Coe last summer and it was one of the worst shows I've ever seen - very disappointing. His band is largely family members now and the set was so short that the bar I saw him in had another band scheduled to go on just before midnight to finish off the night.

Bredian · #7 05-12-2011, 12:32 PM

Made a rare stop by an Indian casino 2 weeks ago and the house band of the week was playing - what I thought were pretty good covers, then, hearing some great keyboard, I searched for a missing player.... recorded...... no further interest in watching air guitarists at that point.

Last week got better as a friend invited me to see his Santana tribute band, The Rhythm Vandals, and they were smoken' hot down to every guitar solo, 3 percussionists, some Hammond sounds, and a bass player singing most tunes (Carlos doesn't sing).

Live vs lip sink?

SoCalBassman · #8 05-12-2011, 02:17 PM

The Doors couldn't find a bassplayer they liked so Ray Manzarek played bass on keys. He did a pretty good job imho.

Gaius46 · #9 05-12-2011, 02:26 PM

On the other hand I once saw a woman pop singer - don't remember who but she wasn't a household name - do a gig with just an electric guitar and bass. Sounded natural after the first song or two.

Come to think of it I remember doing a gig back in the day in a hole in the wall bar that couldn't have drummers for some reason so we left ours home. Steely Dan and Led Zeppelin without drums just doesn't sound right......

dgravesweiner · #10 05-12-2011, 07:00 PM

Okay so I'm from the southeast and I have seen no less than 20 bands play without a bass player. Atrocious considering most were metal bands and sounded so small and lifeless and metal should be big and brash and what, that's right, bottom heavy! i asked a few why they didn't and the usual response was they couldn't find one. I'm forty and have been around the block and imho you should stay home if you don't have a full band. Yes there are exceptions. Playing an acoustic set could be one. Singer can stay at home if you can manage instrumentals that don't put the crowd to sleep etc... But playing a show cos you can't find a bass player is inexcusable. I have played in some of the worst bands over the years and these are the scars I wear but please take it from an old fart, don't be "that" band. And yes the crowd will say, amongst themselves, that band sucks unless it's your frineds and family. They'll understand and not care but any poor shmuck that shelled out 7 or 8 bucks will. Sorry guys just thought some of that might help.