On Saturday 4/9 The Dudley Manlove Quartet performed at “Hops n Props”, an annual microbrew festival held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. We’ve performed at this event for a number of years and it’s always enjoyable. This show included a number of our favorite songs in the set list, with some of the big crowd-pleasers in each set. I brought along the new goldtop for this show and used it for the first set, switching over to the black strat to wrap up the night. The new guitar sounds very good and has a gutsy growl when slightly driven. For songs like “American Girl” it has a nice beefy tone that seems to sit in the mix better than the strat. I’m sure this guitar will get a lot of stage time in the band.
Our drummer Jeff was out of town this weekend we had the pleasure of working with our pal Shane Peck as a sub. Stefan and I worked with Shane for years in two bands: 80s Invasion and Black Celebration. Previous to that, Shane regularly performed with Jumbalassy as a sub drummer. Great musicians are worth calling on again and again!
One down side to performing at Hops n Props is that we really don’t much of a chance to try the beer. With only one quick break between sets, we’re lucky to get a single taste of one beer before we need to return to the stage. Once the music is over the beer stops flowing and everyone breaks down to load out. My wife helped out by fetching a taste of one of the IPA selections for me to try at the end of the night. Another great show with great friend in DMQ. Always a pleasure.
On Friday 2/11 the 1 Uppers performed at Conor Byrne in Ballard, along with our friends Ranieros and Side Saddle. We’ve performed at Conor Byrne many times and we’re getting to have a good solid following in that club. The staff is always friendly and supportive of bands, which makes it all the more fun to be there.
The stage at this venue is pretty small, and a significant portion of it is occupied by a piano (which I have never actually seen anyone use). So as a six-piece band we have a fit ourselves up there like a puzzle, but once we’re in place it works reasonably well. Another interesting aspect of the Conor Byrne is that since the club is small, we usually do not put microphones on any of the drums or instrument amplifiers. The only microphones onstage are for vocals and everything else is just adjusted by the musicians onstage based on instinct and the occasional feedback from audience members (can you hear me now?). We played most of the original material from our recording project and threw in a few favorite covers as well. The band seems to be developing a decent following, so we have some faithful friends to let us know how things are going out front.
At this show we had a solid crowd from the beginning of the night. I went up to the front door right before we went on stage to add a friend to the guest list, and the door man informed me the show had sold out already. Good thing they had space to fit one more person in the room! Another very good show with this band. We look forward to getting more shows in the area soon.
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On Saturday 2/5 The Dudley Manlove Quartet performed at The Showbox in Seattle. This shows was a double bill with our friends Super Diamond, and held a lot of promise for being a popular event. About four days before this event we were informed that all advance tickets had been sold, and that the Showbox would be releasing the remaining tickets usually held for day-of-show sales. This certainly indicated the level of interest that was being generated for the performance.
We arrived for load in and discovered there were already some brave people standing in the rain waiting to be admitted. Between our equipment and Super Diamond’s the stage was pretty well packed. We completed our soundcheck and trotted across the street for a quick dinner. Looking down the street we could see there were now several hundred people waiting in line to get in. We finished dinner and returned to the venue which was now fully at capacity with people still arriving for admission. Off to a great start!
Because my main DMQ amp (a 65 Twin reissue) was in the shop this weekend, I used my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for the show. It sounded great even if it slightly edgier with the crunch channel breaking up at stage volume. I thought it was a good driving sound for the show.
The night was easily one of the best DMQ performances to date. We played a powerhouse set of hits with our horn section providing their big sound. It’s the biggest audience reaction we’ve gotten in quite a long time, and we’re looking forward to doing more shows in the near future.
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Over this past weekend I spent some time working on the David Bowie songs we’ll be playing at the Dudley Manlove Quartet’s “Scary Monsters Halloween Ball”. We’re doing a bunch of great songs and it’s always interesting to learn the guitar parts from these classic tunes. Over the year, Bowie has been visited by pantheon of guitar deities: Mick Ronson, Earl Slick, Robert Fripp, Carlos Alomar, Peter Frampton, Reeves Gabrels, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Torn, and Adrian Belew. Recreating the tones and notes of such distinctive guitarists is a treat, and it’s something I approach with respect and admiration. I’m always amazed to look at the long career Bowie has had, and consider that during all these varied decades, he’s remained musically relevant and a trendsetter. I regard him as one of the most influential and important musicians of the past 50 years. Halloween will be great fun and I am really looking forward to playing these songs. Join us for a fun night of music and dancing.
This last week has been intensely busy. Two of my bands have had rehearsals, and all three bands have had at least one gig. The detailed itinerary:
Thursday 8/12
Rehearsed with Dudley Manlove Quartet and the Plan 9 horns.
Friday 8/13
Drove to Marysville (about an hour North of Seattle) to play at the Tulalip Casino with the Dudley Manlove Quartet and the Plan 9 horns.
Saturday 8/14
Performed in Ballard with Dudley Manlove Quartet and the Plan 9 horns. It was over 90 degrees outside, and I’d guess over 100 in the club.
Sunday 8/15
Caught the morning ferry to Bainbridge Island, then drove another 45 minutes to Hansville. Performed with The 1 Uppers outdoors. Another 90+ degree day. Caught the ferry home in the evening.
Monday 8/16
Rehearsed with The Preons.
Tuesday 8/17
Performance with The Preons downtown Seattle on the waterfront.
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Last Saturday the Dudley Manlove Quartet took a quick road trip to Lake Chelan for a wedding reception performance. The road trip, as always, was full of crazy humor and musical chatter. We arrived in Lake Chelan early and were set up on site pretty quickly. Mack had been hired to play piano during the afternoon, from the time guests arrived, through the wedding ceremony and during dinner. So while he sat in the sun merrily playing away, the rest of us went back to the hotel and spent a few hours sipping bourbon and lounging by the pool.
The show went well and our set included several requests from the wedding couple. This was the first time we’ve played “Summer of 69” since I joined the band. We changed the key on the song, which meant several of the guitar licks – which involve open string runs – had to be refactored in the new key. As a result, it was quite a bit harder and required a few extra hours of woodshedding to get those parts to sound smooth. It went well and I’d expect to see it making an appearance in future sets.
The wedding reception was at “Karma”, a small winery near the lake. They made their wines available to us for sampling throughout the night, and they do a lovely blend (along with some nice single-grape wines). We performed our set in the underground wine cave. I’m always pretty happy to be out of the sun, especially on hot days like this one.
We’ll be busy this summer performing at private events, but there are lots of great public shows as well. Come join us on Saturday 7/10 for Redmond Derby Days, Friday 8/13 at the Tulalip Casino, and Saturday 8/14 at the Tractor Tavern.
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Last Saturday The Dudley Manlove Quartet hosted our annual “80s Prom”. This year’s event took place at Neumos on Capital Hill, and was attended by nearly 300 people. We arrived early in the day and did a lot of setting up… there were streamers to be hung, balloons to fill, and lights to set up. All in all, the evening went incredibly smoothly and everyone had a great time. I was especially impressed at the effort put into prom wear and costumes. Some very clever and fashionable looks were on display. The official prom photographer did a nice job of recreating the classic photo setup, with fake marble pillars and a fabulous backdrop.
We had been rehearsing for weeks with the Plan 9 horns and our guest vocalist. I felt pretty confident about the songs we had worked up and once we settled on a final set order it was easy to get my patches in order. My new amp sounded great and I’m delighted with it. Having the additional headroom and clarity is wonderful, and it has a very warm tone. For the solo section in “The Power of Love” I went with a very clean compressed tone and just let the amp do the rest. For the big rocker tunes like “White Wedding” I set the Pork Loin pedal up to push the amp into some tube distortion and it sounded terrific. I may actually downsize my pedalboard later this summer and look for a smaller multi-effect unit that can handle modulation / delay effects.
Our set list for the prom:
Set 1
Working for the Weekend
Don’t You Forget About Me
Sunglasses at Night
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
I Ran
Rio
Sister Christian
Betty Davis Eyes
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Don’t You Want Me
One Step Beyond
Power of Love
St. Elmo’s Fire
Let’s Dance
Our House
Set 2
Safety Dance
Take On Me
I Melt With You
Hold Me Now
Video Killed The Radio Star
True
Poison Arrow
White Wedding
Goodbye to You
Kids in America
Love Shack
Boy Meets Girl
The Final Countdown
Don’t Stop Believin’
Many thanks to all who joined us for this glorious prom evening. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
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The 1 Uppers will be performing this Saturday at Slim’s. As part of my preparation for this weekend’s gig I’m doing some practicing at home. It’s also an opportunity to continue the fine-tunining of the pedalboard. We are likely to surprise the audience with a few new items, and naturally you’ll be hearing some favorites as well. The band has been working on recording a CD and we’re making good progress on it. Hopefully we’ll be ready to begin mixing and mastering this recording in the next month or so. I still need to finish up some solos and stuff, so a couple more studio days loom in the near distance. Come on out this weekend and hear The 1 Uppers!
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Warr Guitar - Front
Last night we had the first Preons practice in quite a while. We intentionally took a little break last fall, though it wound up being a longer break than we anticipated due to work, vacations, Swine Flu, and the holidays. But we’re a hard bunch to keep down, and last night we reconvened for a full-band rehearsal. We played through the material from the most recent CD, along with the songs that we’re planning to record for the upcoming release. Generally it felt pretty good. There were definitely some moments where we had to search our mental files to recall our parts to songs, but I was satisfied that we got through everything we attempted.
I only brought my 5 string bass last night since there would be so much to remember as it was. Just a few songs into the evening I found myself wishing I had my fretless and Warr guitar. It’s pretty standard for me… I definitely love to play all those instruments. I’ve been putting some effort into Warr guitar lately and look forward to expanding my use of the sonic range, along with improving my general technique.
The band has the potential to really rise to something special and I think this will be a good year for us. We’ve been talking about a slightly different approach to composition and performance, and there may be some opportunities for us to introduce new instruments or technology into what we do. Brad and I chatted over dinner before rehearsal, and we’re both considering how we might spice up the band’s sound. I’m planning to transition more of my bass parts to fretless bass and Warr Guitar. The band has an interesting dynamic and I appreciate having so much freedom in what I do with them. Look for us in your local saloons. The Preons will be getting twisty.
