Placebo @ The Bush Tomorrow!

Hey all, long time no post. Been doin' band stuff lately, which means that I've had to invest more time drinking beer and pontificating in public houses than blogging.

Real life, man.

Got a brand new stretch target. It's unachievable, but hell, I'm going to have a shot.

Hooked up with another guitarist with some very cool ideas. Need to get some songs together and find a rhythm section. The plan is to put 5 songs together, consisting of 2 revamped and rocked-out covers and three originals. A small local pub is looking for bands to play short sets throughout August and September. If we can get all the elements together then maybe we can scrape in under the wire for one of the late, late summer shows. May be no hope, but I'm fired up about music right now and plan on giving it a shot.

And TOMORROW NIGHT we get to see Placebo play a warm up gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. We all know that I hate 'The Bush' but hell, it's an excuse to get all gothed up and part-ay!

If anyone knows who the support are going to be and when the band are likely to be onstage, please, please, leave a comment with that info here. I've been bashing my head against the wall trying to find out. We're likely to be a bit late, but don't want to miss a thing!

Bish Bash Bosh

Okay, considering I was going to take a break from blogging, I seem to have been posting rather a lot lately! I have 10 minutes, so I figured I'd grab myself a coffee and bash out a couple of things.

First off, news to me today was that Placebo have found themselves a new drummer and are in the studio recording a follow-up to the most-wonderful "Meds". They're playing loads of non-UK festivals, but fingers crossed for some tour dates in Blighty over the summer!

Next up, Wacko Jacko at the O2. We have tickets... along with a significant proportion of other Londoners. I wasn't going to go, but Tim insisted. I WILL HAVE FUN (I've been told!)

Thirdly, I was back at Rockschool last night. Just 4 of us in class. The focus of the lesson was on muting, both in terms of using left/right hands to mute non-struck strings to stop them from ringing out and also karate-chop muting with the right hand as part of a strumming pattern. I'm useless at the latter, so I need to practice. We had been told that there would be no Ritual Humiliation (ie performances of the songs we're supposed to be learning) but Teach pulled a 180 with half an hour to go and we had to stand up and do our thing. I have to say that in the three weeks I've not been to class, the other guys have really improved. I've definitely fallen behind. At this point I'm supposed to have 3 songs down and be working on a 4th. I reckon I have 3 half-songs down and no clue about another. Joy, joy!

What else? In 'product' news I've ordered myself some 'Fret Doctor'. Red's fingerboard is really drying out and needs some TLC. Damn high-end guitars! Apparently you just use your finger to smear on a dab here and there, wait, wipe off the excess and bingo! Fingerboard perfection! We'll see how well it works. I'm not one for using too many products like this, but I've heard good things about Fret Doctor and historically I've shied away from 'the other solution' of using lemon oil as I remember reading somewhere that the unfinished Les Paul necks don't like it... I may have misread that, but it stuck in my mind for some reason, freaking me out.

And finally, I ordered an amp cover for the Blackstar HT-5 Combo from Silverstone. Don't want to risk getting dust in my pots, do I?

Hmmm... must be coming up on concert season, too! Lyle Lovett next weekend, followed by Jason Mraz then the Derek Trucks band in both London and Man-chest-er! Good times!

You Can Quote Me On This One...

Whilst watching Placebo "Soulmates Never Die" DVD over the weekend (three sheets to the wind) I found myself blurting out the following pontification:

"Sometimes, when playing electric guitar, it's less about playing the guitar and more about playing the electricity!"

You can use that... really...

Off to see Drive By Truckers at the Electric Ballroom, Camden, tonight. Not seen them before but they come highly recommended by Col of Magic Ship so I have faith it'll be a good show!