South london steelies meeting

[elparkirio]

Great day today lads...thanks very much, well done everyone.

See you on the next one

[andrew marson]

Agreed, thanks to all for a really good day in good company. Hopefully by the next one I can put into practice what I learned today. Cheers, Andy.

[Barry]

Yes it was a good day and thanks for steelies company.
Barry.

[Shaun]

Great day Lads
Really enjoyed it.
Looking forward to the next one.

[Shaun]

Thanks Nick for Organising it.

[Nick Bidmade]

Thanks for comments above. Well - we did it!
South London Amateur Pedal Steel (Including Console) Society - or SLAPStIC - met in a rather seedy pub back room in Clapham (maybe we should be known as the Bar Tenders (geddit!)

A great day, I think.
In attendance:
Andrew (Carter D10)
Barry (Mullen D10) [what a beauty!] (The steel, not Barry!)
Henry 1 (Williams U12)
David (Rittenberry SD10 - great sounding guitar!)
Nick (Sho-Bud SD10)
Henry 2 (ZB D10)
Shaun (Carter SD10)
Matt (Sho-Bud LDG SD10).
Alan Kelly also along for the ride, but without a guitar this time. He sat in on David's and mine from time to time. It was Alan who mentioned bringing along a console, hence the rather convoluted acronym SLAPStIC! It was great to hear my own guitar getting played by Alan - I don't think you 'hear' your sound as well when you are playing, so it was helpful to re-set the tone controls at Alan's suggestion. The Sho-Bud sound then really came through.

Big thanks to Shaun for organising backing tracks and bringing a PA along.
Surprising how nervous we all were and we pretty much slaughtered Cold, Cold Heart first time round, but, like fine wine, we mellowed (or maybe it was the beer!) Together Again fared slightly better, although we all seemed to agree that E is not our favourite key...
Matt showed us a few licks, I played Misty as my party piece (no other volunteers this time round), there was lots of chat and we all seemed to get something out of the day. I realise I am far too reliant on TAB and need to be able to comp and improvise and use my ear better, so that's my goal for next time.
Fair to say the standard of playing varied - Matt, Alan and Henry 1 certainly 'shone' but I think everyone showed they had good levels of skill and ability, so I don't think anyone was left behind.
Despite the general grottiness of the pub, we are meeting there again on 24 November. I will ask that they remove the pool table from the room so we have more space. I was pretty much right about there being room only for 8 steels comfortably - but we could maybe accommodate up to 12 if the pool table were to make an exit...
So, all round a great day spent in good, friendly company - PSG heaven!
Thanks to all for making it a success. David took some photos so I hope he can upload a few here for you all to enjoy. No video though, John - maybe next time!!

[judgebouche]

Hi All

Yes, successful day I thought - nice to meet you all and hear your playing. Thanks again, Andy, for the VP and amp - I would have been stuffed without them.

Just sussing out how to post pictures so will get them up as soon as poss - might be this evening though. I also took a video but it is not actually that inspiring (seriously!) so I might just forget it and try and get some better footage next time.

I thought the venue was good enough for the time being - I particularly liked the surly barmaid, lack of atmosphere, and range of socialist pamphlets available. We could probably get 2-3 more guitars in with ease just by rearranging the furniture some more.

Nick, I would say that was a misnomer as Matt is not an amateur. Perhaps a name that befits our origins in such a socialist hotbed? The League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Pedal Steeling Class? I'll do the posters...

Cheers
David

[SteelieAJK]

A very enjoyable afternoon.
Thanks to Nick & Shaun for organing, PA Backing tracks.. great job.

Thanks to Nick, David & Shaun for letting me play a few notes ( bum & not so bum) notes on their axes. This shorta**e need to grow a bit to reach Nick's levers, totally missed an E lower or 2 .
Very impressed by David's Rittenberry, what a superb steel.

[Shaun]

Great Name though Nick, very clever
Due respects to Matt.

[judgebouche]