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All manner of stuff
2 August 2007 00:48The second Quesada & Molino gig at Summer Breeze went down pretty well- we played a good set and people came along to see us. We had more people in the room when we finished than when we started too, but we were first up so that is to be hoped for I guess.
The rest of the day had the usual mix of oustanding and average stuff- Arthur were clearly good, most of the acts on the main stage seemed a tiny bit lacklustre, I think because of an echoey room and a rubbish sound engineer. This was really disappointing with Big Wednesday who are usually outstanding but just seemed to be turned up so loud that it was physically uncomfortable to be there and it was impossible to make out what was going on in the music. When you are hiring a large PA from a professional company you would expect some degree of competence from the sound engineer. Very disappointing.
The weird bit was watching Sequoia for the first time since I left the band. The sound was still bad but less loud than Big Wednesday, but knowing the songs intimately it wasn't so noticeable for me. Obviously I was listening to the bass lines a lot- Abbe, the new bassist, is an amazing player- she can totally kick my ass when it comes to technical chops or playing fast but it sounded to me like her lines weren't as harmonically interesting as the ones I used to play, tending to stick to the root notes rather than offering counter melodies or driving the songs forward. Also, for whatever limitations I have as a musician (not that I run into them so much these days) I have a pretty good sense of pop dynamic which means that my lines tend to vary quite a lot during the songs and I didn't notice that happening so much now. Like anything, it was a mix, though, there were some songs that were clearly better, a couple that felt to me like they had lost a bit of punch and drive and most of them were fine.
It was interesting to notice that Chris looked much more rock than anyone else - and it was him the girls were all stood in front of - and that Ian is an astoundingly good drummer and the big room made him sound huge. There was nothing wrong with the set at all- Sequoia remain a truly great pop band, probably one of the best there is - but watching from the audience after years of being on the stage felt quite strange. It was funny when I realised that last year's Summer Breeze was the last one that Mic played - in spite of being a six-piece band at the time, there are only two members of the lineup that played on that day who are still in the band.
It was nice to catch up with them as well- apparently playing Guilfest and Italy were both really good fun- I'm really glad they are doing well and I enjoyed hearing them play but I have no regrets about leaving when I did.
The rest of the day had the usual mix of oustanding and average stuff- Arthur were clearly good, most of the acts on the main stage seemed a tiny bit lacklustre, I think because of an echoey room and a rubbish sound engineer. This was really disappointing with Big Wednesday who are usually outstanding but just seemed to be turned up so loud that it was physically uncomfortable to be there and it was impossible to make out what was going on in the music. When you are hiring a large PA from a professional company you would expect some degree of competence from the sound engineer. Very disappointing.
The weird bit was watching Sequoia for the first time since I left the band. The sound was still bad but less loud than Big Wednesday, but knowing the songs intimately it wasn't so noticeable for me. Obviously I was listening to the bass lines a lot- Abbe, the new bassist, is an amazing player- she can totally kick my ass when it comes to technical chops or playing fast but it sounded to me like her lines weren't as harmonically interesting as the ones I used to play, tending to stick to the root notes rather than offering counter melodies or driving the songs forward. Also, for whatever limitations I have as a musician (not that I run into them so much these days) I have a pretty good sense of pop dynamic which means that my lines tend to vary quite a lot during the songs and I didn't notice that happening so much now. Like anything, it was a mix, though, there were some songs that were clearly better, a couple that felt to me like they had lost a bit of punch and drive and most of them were fine.
It was interesting to notice that Chris looked much more rock than anyone else - and it was him the girls were all stood in front of - and that Ian is an astoundingly good drummer and the big room made him sound huge. There was nothing wrong with the set at all- Sequoia remain a truly great pop band, probably one of the best there is - but watching from the audience after years of being on the stage felt quite strange. It was funny when I realised that last year's Summer Breeze was the last one that Mic played - in spite of being a six-piece band at the time, there are only two members of the lineup that played on that day who are still in the band.
It was nice to catch up with them as well- apparently playing Guilfest and Italy were both really good fun- I'm really glad they are doing well and I enjoyed hearing them play but I have no regrets about leaving when I did.