Hi all,
This week’s CLAN Gigs are:-
Friday 12th April
The Ridger
China Farm Lane
West Kirby/Newton
Saturday 13th April
The Cardwell Arms
Adlington
Lancs
Ok, a couple of things to clarify first of all.
The first is that this blog update is now going to be sent from the Clan website rather than my own Craig McDonald Website. There will be no major changes to its format and I will be leaving the Clan logo off the correspondence. I will still keep the weekly gig dates at the top so that those of you who only require that information don’t have to trawl through my waffle to find it J
It will still be my Blog/update and reflect my personal opinions. The reasons for the change are: – the majority of you are on both mailing lists anyway and it is far more efficient to manage one list than two, it is also easier to manage one web site and given most of my activities relate to the band anyway there is not a lot of point in me having to use the two different sites. I will still be maintaining my own site but it won’t be updated as often as the Clan site is.
If any of you don’t wish to receive this from the band site then simply click the unsubscribe option at the bottom of this email.
The second thing is that the new Single “Hungry Like the Wolf” is now released and is hopefully flying down the wires and across radio links from sites such as ITunes and Amazon. As members on the mailing list you should all have received a unique code which allows you to download the song free of charge. If you haven’t received codes then please let us know by sending us an email at clan-rock@virginmedia.com and we will rectify the situation.
We would actually be interested in hearing your comments about the track. If anyone wishes to add a review either on ITunes or Amazon we’d appreciate that as well.
Ok – Although mentioned above here are this weeks gigs
The first is a welcome return to The Ridger in West Kirby, Wirral. We first played the venue in February at which time it was our first local gig since June 2012. It went very well and they asked us back for this Friday, 12th April, looking forward to it. The single will be featured of course.
The second is on Saturday 13th April when we return to the Cardwell Arms in Adlington. Always been a good venue for us despite the tight squeeze to fit us and the equipment in and the entrance to the toilets meaning people have to walk through the performance area to get to them. Steve and I will be taking smaller backline gear this week so although visually it will not be the way we like it (we like large speaker stacks) we will fit in better. Don’t panic The Clan “sound” will be the same.
Last Friday we thought we were going to get a night off but late on Friday afternoon we were contacted and asked to play The Wheatsheaf in Preston. The booked band had cancelled so we came to the rescue. It turned out to be a really excellent gig in a very nice venue with very friendly people, staff and customers. It all went well and we really hope we can get to return in our own right with a bit more notice
Saturday was a long planned night off then on Sunday I went along to have an on air chat with Kevin McDempster on Leasowe’s (7Waves radio) Rock show. Obviously I took the opportunity to push both the new single and this Fridays Ridger gig and generally had a very pleasant chat with Kevin. Initial audience feedback via Facebook etc. indicated that people like the track. Now if only we can get some bigger stations to take note.
I know John White from Wigan FM is playing the track a few times but really some of the BBC stations would be a great help. That being said I have heard from the man himself that Billy Butler played it on Radio Merseyside last Saturday.
My Boss Digital delay pedal packed up last week or something in the loop did. I’ll have to look at it this week and sort it before Friday. I will be very surprised if it is the Boss pedal as they are usually pretty bullet proof. I am sure it is probably something simple such as a faulty patch cable. Good thing we don’t play any U2 numbers, most of them are virtually impossible without a delay pedal ha-ha.
Fortunately I tend not to rely on effects units, I only use them to help out every now and again and provide a bit of variety to the sound.
So – not a lot else happened really, everything has been geared to the single release which has now happened. Will keep pushing that over the next couple of weeks and then probably start thinking about the next one.
We have a few Fridays and Saturdays which need to be filled as well so need to keep chasing on that front?
We do ok for gigs but it’s a constant effort. There are so many bands trying to get in to so few venues.
I only thought about this the other day but actually the downturn in the pub trade has actually made more pubs diversify and some pubs are now putting on live music to try and attract custom whereas they didn’t before. Whether this will be sustained in the long term remains to be seen.
We would really like to be a notch above the Pub circuit anyway but I’m certainly not going to knock it.
On the plus side this week, we have Black Sabbath announcing UK dates in December. A definite if I can obtain a ticket. They have a new album out in June which I am looking forward to as well so it’s all good. I know there are complaints from some quarters that it’s not Black Sabbath without Bill Ward on Drums and I can understand that but for whatever reason the best we are going to get is Ozzy, Tony and Geezer so let’s just live with it and be grateful we have three out of four. Maybe it should be called BIO (Butler, Iommi, Osbourne) but whatever they call it I’m pretty sure it will be worth going to. There aren’t many bands that have been playing for over forty years with all original members still alive let alone playing in the same band. The only one that springs to mind is Status Quo on their recent Frantic four reunion tour.
Rants
Lorry drivers on mobile phones. Really not a good idea and I don’t like seeing a 50 ton truck coming round a corner towards me when the guy has a phone to his ear. Van drivers are just as bad. I’m sorry but you can buy a Bluetooth hands free set for less than £50 these days so there is no reason why all business vehicles should have one if they expect the drivers to use the phone for work.
Current eating trends continue to amaze and annoy me. When did it become normal for people to forget how to use a knife and fork? Have I missed some form of universal bulletin that suggested we all need to hold our cutlery in the most inefficient manner we can find or make it even more difficult by putting it in the wrong hands?
Not sure if I have mentioned it before but there are a few phrases that really wind me up.
“My Bad” is one. Seems to be short for “it’s my fault” so why not just say that. “My bad” actually has no grammatical meaning at all.
Gotten – this is also totally wrong. Yes I know they use this in the USA but as we don’t live there why do people here use it. The word they should be using is simply “got”. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone use the word “gotten” when the word “got” couldn’t be used.
I see the post offices are installing automated stamp and postage machines presumably in an effort to reduce the numbers of counter staff. I was there the other day and both automated machines were out of order and the reduction in counter staff meant huge queues and a 30 minute wait to buy a stamp. Not much to say about that one really.
Have the self service tills in supermarkets reduced staff numbers? Seems to me there are as many people wandering around authorising alcohol, medicine and other similar purchases at these tills.
Music
Music this week well in anticipation of the new Sabbath record and the tour I have had mid 90s Live Sabbath Reunion album playing a fair bit. Not bad at all. A few favourites missed off (nothing from Sabotage) but I guess you can’t please everybody and no real turkeys, i.e. nothing from Never say Die.
Personally I like Live albums to be raw and the Sabbath “Live at last” repackaged as Past Lives is still a favourite of mine. It won’t be to everyone’s taste as it is very rough and ready but I like it.
What else – Well some old favourites such as the fly labels compilation Bolan Boogie. I must put a playlist together of the rockier T.rex songs, there are plenty of them. Buick McKane, Chariot Choogle etc.
I did give some of the later T.Rex albums a listen as well (Futuristic dragon, Dandy in the underworld) but I find them difficult to listen to. Some of the songs are ok but to my ears they are ruined by some dreadful keyboards which is probably down to the fact that Tony Visconti was no longer producing. If he had been who knows how they may have turned out.
So Recommended listening this week – The Clan – Hungry Like the Wolf (of course)
Until next time,
Keep Rockin’
Craig