David B

So, in a nutshell, Neil's the man but he's never in. Is there anyone slightly less good but more available?

You can always store your Les Pauls (and your Tele) at my house. Good company for the Marshall I borrowed from you earlier in the week! Presumably this reply doesn't really help.

Any recommendations on who best to set up guitars in the Aberdeen area (or who to avoid). Strictly speaking I can now do a decent set up on my own guitars - having used my kids' guitars to practice on! However, I have no electrical knowledge at all and when it came to wiring faults or pick up replacement I am definitely unable to do this myself. Same for replacing frets and nuts. Any opinions greatly appreciated.

So did mine!

I got 2 tickets on Friday. Will be my 10 year old son's first gig. He is really excited. Maiden was the first gig I ever went to, 26 years ago in the Music Hall. Supported by Praying Mantis. Whatever happened to them? I am beginning to feel old. The plus point is that I can use Iron Maiden for educational purposes. For example, I have told my son about Winston Churchill, the Battle of Britain, Charge of the Light Brigade, Icarus and Alexander the Great. This is the approach I will be adopting to get him off school for the day! If only I could write their set list. Live After Death would fit the bill nicely. How I long for their Jurassic era.

I recall an interesting comment by one of the Slipknot guitarists when asked to compare himself as a musician to Kurt Cobain. It went along these lines - I can shred the ass off Curt, but he wrote Teen Spirit. Nuff said.

10 years since I last saw them. To be honest, I found a lot of the stuff sounded a bit dated (even the new stuff!). Great musicians and I have been humming "Beat the Drum" since the gig. Currently trying to find it again in my brother's CD box. Disappointed they didn't play Arrive Alive. Great song. Killer chorus. Think they only played 1 song from The Wedge. Pity. Definitely my favourite Pallas album - and it has not dated. The 2 others in the car home disagreed with my critique, but there you are.

Been about a decade since I saw Pallas. Should I make it through from Peterheed? All together now - ARRIVE ALIVE

Well, at least Charliesays enjoyed it. Always hard to judge a gig from behind the kit, but my feeling was that the 1st half went OK (no better, no worse) but the 2nd half really picked up and ROCKED! Definitely the best sounding PA we have played through.

What? Too loud man (NOT).

A few gentle shuffles will be quite enough, I'm sure. Old time waltz, anyone?

Yes, PA is new, improved and VERY LOUD!!!!! Good quality as well. Bass and guitar will be so noisy that no-one will notice that the drummer isn't doing enough fills. Talkin bout my de-generation.

Alice Shad in Mintlaw? I remember taking the bus out to Mintlaw to see them. Support band called Fair Warning. Think Steve Mowat on guitar, his brother on vocals. Murray Ross on bass, I think. Great night. Fair Warning played UFO, Purple etc. Played Overkill by Motorhead but drummer lost his speed on the bass drums by the end of the song. Had to pay to get in. Loads of Peterheeders in the school playground before the gig, looking for Magic Mushrooms (now Class C under Misuse of Drugs Act - recent development all you legal watchers).

Bit of deja vu a few posts back. When I was still at school I would go to the West End most weekends. The bands who more or less played in a rota at that time were Alice Shad, Anthem and Panic. I must be getting old.

NEWS FLASH Biz doesn't think we practice enough (we don't). Not even accurate enough. A disgrace that we go out gigging. Drummer crap (that's me, by the way). Entitled to his opinion but is music not supposed to be fun? Should we feel guilty that we play local gigs? Not quite Wembley Arena but everyone has a good time and entry is free - no-one is forced to come and people can leave at any time they want. I am not a professional musician. My music takes a back seat behind my kids and my job. Should that prohibit me from being in a band? Is fun proportional to talent? Seems a rather elitist postion to adopt. Meanwhile, for those who like a good night out, even if musically compromised and less than perfect, come see the RED CORTINAS on SATURDAY 11th MARCH at PITFOUR ARMS, MINTLAW.