GuitarSquid is awesome. Sometimes, I wonder if I have too many guitars (or if there is such a thing). Happily, all my answers quickly led to “Buy more guitars.”
GuitarSquid.com | Flow Chart: Do You Have Too Many Guitars?
It’s apparently as simple as this, my friends:
Got a wife? → Yes → How many pairs of shoes does she own? → 10+ → Buy more guitars.
I really do need an amp before another guitar though…
It would be beyond super-awesome if you could come out to this show. Why? Ernie worked hard to bring Locksley to town. They just got back from Japan, and they’re rocking selected cities around the U.S. You can’t deny their incredibly poppy sound & we can tell you that they put on one hell of a show. Go to their site, check out the free EP, look ’em up on YouTube, hear ’em on TV, then come see ’em live next week with us at the Smiling Moose.
You’ve heard their songs. You knowLocksley even if you don’t know it. They’re the next big thing, and you have the chance to see them now! Ernie and one of the Berts saw them open for Fountains of Wayne in Philadelphia, and they dug it so much that Ernie decided to set up a show to bring these guys to the ‘Burgh!
Locksley performed “Don’t Make Me Wait”, “Let Me Know” and “She Does” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! March 2, 2007. They performed “Let Me Know” on Late Night With Conan O’Brien on August 13, 2007. MTV made Locksley their “Featured Artist of the Week” for two weeks straight on September 8–22, 2008.
After the release of Don’t Make Me Wait, Locksley were featured in multiple magazine spreads, notably SPIN Magazine’s “Breaking Out”, Rolling Stone‘s “6 Breakout Bands to Watch”, Alternative Press‘s “100 Bands You Need To Know” and in ELLE Magazine with an 8 page fashion spread in their March 2007 issue.
On August 24, 2008, “All Over Again,” “Don’t Make Me Wait,” and “She Does” were made available as downloadable content for the popular Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game series Rock Band. The songs have been downloaded over 60,000 times to date. Locksley credits licenses with keeping the band going.[3]
Locksley wrote the song “Slink (A Hymn)” for use as the theme song to FOX’s TV show The Good Guys.
The ECHL hockey team the Toledo Walleye plays the chorus of “The Whip” whenever the team scores a goal at home.
You can buy your tickets now to make sure you get them in your music-loving hands in time for the show. You can also buy at the door. Really though… It’s 2011. Try buying something online. It’s quick. Convenient. Easy.
❧ LOCKSLEY w/ Ernie and the Berts & The Mondaze - Tue. Nov. 15th 2011 @ The Smiling Moose (Pittsburgh, PA - South Side)
Here are the show details, stay tuned for videos after the details:
We have some shows coming up. You ought to attend. We’re a good time. I promise.
The Punk Rock Sock Hop Invades Pittsburgh! Sat.11/05/2011
This is going to be one crazy show… bands, magic, a DJ spinning 50’s tunes, zombies, contests, prizes, and probably even drunk chicks. You can get free admission and some other goodies from Pittsburgh Punk Rock with very minimal effort(if he extends the contest). This benefits Free Ride Pittsburgh, and is a Pittsburgh City Paper Critic’s Pick for this weekend! Click the flyer for details, links to all the other bands & entertainment!
Locksley, Ernie and the Berts, & The Mondze! 11/15/2011 @ The Smiling Moose!
Click the flyer for details, to see videos from all 3 bands, the link to buy tickets, and check the comments for the link to a free EP called Ghosts from Locksley with a fun Halloween theme! Erin saw these guys in concert, and wanted to bring ’em here to the ‘Burgh. You’ve heard the song “The Whip”. Lets show them some love! Help spread the word.
From now on, let’s call this “The 12 O’Clock Rule” so you can remember it easily. Next time you’re at a show, running sound, or setting up with your band… a friendly “Dude, ’12 O’Clock Rule'” should suffice to any knob tweaker getting out of hand.
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I think the bass & treble cranked with the mids to zero was a Metallica thing, wasn’t it? I seem to remember that being in a Guitar World or Guitar for the Practicing Musician article in the mid 90’s. Everyone must have read that one.
On turning the gain back and still rocking hard, I give you Warp Riders by the Sword. Case closed. You just found the droids you didn’t know you were looking for. Move along.
This is an oldie but a goodie from 2004. At the time it was the basement of the Dion Den. It was a crazy party & a great night. This set was thrown-together, and it was a ridiculous amount of fun:
Filmed like a stalker would film, by a guy that eventually became to be affectionately known as “Creepy Dan”, the lighting, “effects”, & continual shots of Mike’s crotch are kind of disturbing.
So, I recently posted a link to Guitar Squid’s quite humorous timeline of a bar gig. Whether in a band, or going to see a band, we’ve all been through similar situations. Here’s how it usually goes IMHO…
8:00pm | Arrive at gig early to load-in because the flyer says 9:00pm. (Assuming your GPS/Phone/Google Maps has brought you to the right place.)
8:30pm | Finally get into the bar, because all the lights have been off & no one has been there. Bartender looks at you like you’re a vagrant.
8:32pm | Notice that there are no posters or marquees at the bar telling of the gig.*
9:15pm | Band wives/girlfriends begin to get annoyed that no one’s there.
9:30pm | Promoter comes in looking quite rushed, says that they want to start bands at 10:00pm.
9:32pm | Start setting up.
9:47pm | Get told some other band is playing 1st, so & so in 3rd band has to go work night shift, so you’re playing cleanup.
10:00pm | Hear bartender or promoter tell band #1 to hold off, to wait for more people to arrive.
10:03pm | Band wives/girlfriends have perfected the stink eye.
10:23pm | Band #1 plugs in, and tunes… at full volume, no pedals/tuners.
10:32pm | Band #1 gets the go ahead. Vocals inaudible.
10:41pm | Equipment malfunction on 3rd song. Someone scrambles to change a string, get a new amp head, get a new kick pedal, or borrow a guitar.
10:50pm | Band #1 resumes after finding a solution while someone form the band or the crowd sees the chance for an open-mic night comedy routine.
10:51pm | Vocals now audible. Wish they were inaudible.
11:15pm | Band rocks on, stopping after the 3rd “OK this is our last song” song, to remark “oh, we didn’t play ‘such & such’ yet!”
11:23pm | Band #1 on 37th verse of “such & such”, heading into extended solos.
11:35pm | Band #1 is done, starts “tearing down”.
11:52pm | Band #1 finally off stage.
12:15am | Band #2 up & ready to go. Inexplicably sets stuff down & walks off stage.
12:16am | People who have come to see you have asked for the 497th time what time you’re going on. Wives/girlfriends give them the stink eye.
12:29am | Band #2 comes back, double-fisting beers… ready to apparently rock.
12:35am | Band #2 has successfully cleared the room, they bill themselves as “performance art” and “experimental”.
12:42am | Despite the experiment gone horribly awry, you realize so & so that was supposed to leave for work hasn’t done so yet.
12:51am | “This is our last song…” starts out, with a story about the last song.
1:01am | Last “song” finally ends & tear-down begins as your band is placing stuff on the stage.
1:10am | Sound guy yells at you for taking too long to set up, bar owner says you have to be done by 2:00am.
1:15am | You’re set up, plugged in, & playing.
1:16am | Realize no one from band #1 or band #2 is in the room.
1:30am | People looking at their watches… except the old guy who is almost on stage with you & is so drunk he thinks you’re his favorite band from the 70’s.
1:45am | Old guy professes his smelly drunken love for your band as you decide which songs to cut from the set list & what to end on.
1:55am | Tear down/clean-up.
1:59am | If you can find promoter, he tells you he gave all door cash to band #1 or band #2 because they “drove in from B.F.E.”
2:15am | Head to a diner to get some breakfast… because you sure won’t be awake during normal breakfast hours.
*This being said… it is not the bar’s job to promote your show. Bands need to learn to advertise. Promoters need to advertise too. Take posters to the bar, I bet they’ll let you put them up, or even do it for you… but a marquee or dry erase board would be nice.
One of my favorite blogs, the Guitarz Blog, has been kind enough to help me in my quest to try & track down the origin of my Batman Guitar! They’ve posted an email from me making a plea for information related to just where exactly this thing came from.
Batman Guitar Montage
Emails to Six Flags have gone unanswered, and the cryptic info on the back of the guitar is not much of a help. Check out the details in the email plea for help that I sent to Gavin at the the Guitarz Blog. They have had many people write in with guitar identification questions since I’ve started reading, I’m amazed at the vast amount of knowledge out there. I hope someone out there is able to provide some insight… whether they recognize the headstock shape, work for Six Flags or their importer, or are just incredibly knowledgeable about cheap obscure Chinese guitars.
Here are some more photos:
Well, that’s about it. Check out the post and see if you can help me out, or just spread the word to all the guitar gear-heads and Six Flags employees that you know.
Happily, long ago I realized that I have absolutely no guitar chops. I decided to just try to write solid songs & be entertaining. Punk rock is my friend.
