The British Steelies Society

by **Ken Byng** » Thu Jul 23, 2020 12:48 pm

Ever played a concert where a small group of people don't seem to want to listen to the performance? I have, albeit very infrequently and it does pi$$ me off. Why they don't go outside and talk I don't know. Here's a clip of the brilliant Curly Chalker playing the Christmas Song acapella on C6 with a noisy crowd talking over the top of his sublime playing. They get the Chalker stare around 1 minute into the clip but they still don't get the message. It's bad manners at the least, and pig ignorance at the worst especially when one of the all time greats is performing. (Note, Curly has his C6 on the front neck and E9 on the rear).

Direct link to You Tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROWkyBe ... Aa7dO2xgwN

by **bradsteel** » Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:19 pm

I can’t play the video on my browser unfortunately Ken

However, I completely agree that what you describe is terrible manners! As a young player from the U.K., I’ve not had chance to see any of the US greats live and several of them had sadly passed away before I even ‘discovered’ steel guitar. The Wembley country music festivals were before my time, as was Gerry Hogan’s steel guitar convention. I’ve not had chance to get to Ireland’s yet, and the US feels like a whole world away! In truth, I doubt I’ll ever see my heroes live, so when I see people completely wasting/ ruining an opportunity like this, it hurts/ irritates that bit more!

Although, I did see Brad Paisley at the o2 arena about 10 years ago (I was around 15/16 years old), so I did technically see Randle Currie (one of my favourite players). But, I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t really know what a pedal steel guitar was back then; I was mainly there for the songs/ Brad’s playing. So the opportunity to see/ hear Randle live was bloody wasted on me really and I genuinely regret it terribly!

by **hickenjr** » Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:26 pm

Chelping is for football games, not over songs.

Of course, after I finish a song I like to hear the likes of "Ohhhhhhhh Steven Hicken" and "Let's go F**kin' mental".

And if I'm having a bad gig my personal favorite is "Let's pretend Steven's playing well" followed by a sarcastic goal celebration.

by **Ken Byng** » Thu Jul 23, 2020 5:33 pm

bradsteel wrote:I can’t play the video on my browser unfortunately Ken

However, I completely agree that what you describe is terrible manners! As a young player from the U.K., I’ve not had chance to see any of the US greats live and several of them had sadly passed away before I even ‘discovered’ steel guitar. The Wembley country music festivals were before my time, as was Gerry Hogan’s steel guitar convention. I’ve not had chance to get to Ireland’s yet, and the US feels like a whole world away! In truth, I doubt I’ll ever see my heroes live, so when I see people completely wasting/ ruining an opportunity like this, it hurts/ irritates that bit more!

Although, I did see Brad Paisley at the o2 arena about 10 years ago (I was around 15/16 years old), so I did technically see Randle Currie (one of my favourite players). But, I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t really know what a pedal steel guitar was back then; I was mainly there for the songs/ Brad’s playing. So the opportunity to see/ hear Randle live was bloody wasted on me really and I genuinely regret it terribly!

Brad
If you get a warning notice 'Video Unavailable', you should get a link on the notice to play the clip directly on You Tube. That should work for you. Here's the link to You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROWkyBe ... Aa7dO2xgwN

Cheers, Ken

by **bradsteel** » Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:15 am

Thanks for the link Ken - I loved the ‘Chalker stare’ at the 1 minute mark!

by **Zebedee** » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:55 am

I disagree.
Chalker is playing exactly the sort of ambient, background music that is played by pianists in hotel restaurants, and it is not expected that the audience remain silent.

Only a pedal steel player would know that Chalker was world class, to the other 99.999999% of the population he was just a guy playing some annoying background music on some weird instrument, 'Pass the mustard over, Arabella, incidentally, how much has your house gained in value today? Oh, I do wish that chap playing that thing would shut up'

by **Danny Mitchell** » Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:05 am

Richard, I'm on tenterhooks, how much has Arabella's gaff gained in value? :lol:

by **Ken Byng** » Sat Jul 25, 2020 5:09 pm

Zebedee wrote:I disagree.
Chalker is playing exactly the sort of ambient, background music that is played by pianists in hotel restaurants, and it is not expected that the audience remain silent.

Only a pedal steel player would know that Chalker was world class, to the other 99.999999% of the population he was just a guy playing some annoying background music on some weird instrument, 'Pass the mustard over, Arabella, incidentally, how much has your house gained in value today? Oh, I do wish that chap playing that thing would shut up'

Actually Richard, I understand from the person (Mike Perlowin) who put the DVD together from two separate shows that the Chalker shows were advertised as Curly in concert. I could understand it if Chalker was an interloper in a regular drinking bar that rarely had music, but in this case it would appear that people actually paid to hear and see this genius performing and playing with his heart and soul. I've been in a saloon bar (The Broken Spoke) in Austin when the audience had way more respect when the band was playing, than the noisy folks in Chalker's venue. Curly was quite a fiery guy, and I'm surprised that he didn't just get off his seat and call it a night. :roll:

by **Donny Johnston** » Sat Jul 25, 2020 8:16 pm

Well said Ken, I have been fortunate to reach a level of performance on the cabaret scene where people bought tickets to come and see the show, there is nothing more annoying than watching people who have paid to come in, having there evening ruined by a table of punters, who, for whatever reason are speaking amongst themselves. This is ignorance, and bad manners, and normally they were very swiftly told to :censored:

off. Donny.

by **Ken Byng** » Sun Jul 26, 2020 11:59 am

Donny Johnston wrote:Well said Ken, I have been fortunate to reach a level of performance on the cabaret scene where people bought tickets to come and see the show, there is nothing more annoying than watching people who have paid to come in, having there evening ruined by a table of punters, who, for whatever reason are speaking amongst themselves. This is ignorance, and bad manners, and normally they were very swiftly told to off. Donny.