Donna Summer DISCO! "On The Radio" via Josephs BasaView 08082026
NEW DISCO vid series!!!
Joseph’s BassView is going to be a little different.
Song:
“On The Radio”
By:
Donna Summer
I’m the bass player for a Donna Summer tribute band. We had our first performance together.
This performance is from August 8th 2026.
Music/Band:
I’ve never rehearsed with this band. The director had total trust in Rick, the awesome musician that recomended me for the position.
Everything before the performance as done via a Google drive and text. The drive contained lots of original recordings, rehearsal recordings, and charts. The charts were helpful, but unfit for stage use. Some of them were over 50 pages long because they were conductor scores or piano accompanist. No bass charts and some lyric sheets. It might have sucked for me, but I had a good head start. I like creating charts and using a pencil. It’s like art or drawing you get to use. I rewrote most of the charts. I made my own for stage. Sometimes exactly rhythms and sometimes not. All one or two page charts.
This band is available to lots of different event.
Hire us.
The vocalist and saxophonist in these videos is also the band leader and you should hire us: https://www.mikomusik.com/contact-1
Gear:
Bass: 98’ Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe
My 4 String… also known as “Bread and Butter.” I use this bass for long periods of time. It was made in November 1998. I don’t like chicken grease on my strings. Dexterity is important to a bass player. I’ve modified this bass for longevity. Light strings, heavy-mass bridge, low action, thick grippy leather strap, and very useful tone knob controls. ACTUALLY, I paid a good penny to have it altered by one of LA/Hollywood’s finest. Kenny, a former Fender factory tech and now locally famous luthier. Recommended by a mentor and familiar to some of LA’s top musicians. He said, “your bass will cost this must…” and I said “well what if I just buy one of your new basses?” He said, “my basses cost 5k.” He is well worth it. I believe it because of the amazing work he did on my Bread And Butter. I felt like I was free to play anything as fast as I want for ever…. lol. He tool pictures and showed me inventive modifications to balance the bass/neck. I hope he is well. I want to visit him for more work.
Bass Amp: Messa Boogie Walkabout 300.
Anything with “Boogie” in the name is going to be good for disco. It’s has a nice bite from the tubes when I get it on a loud stage. I like the was it sounds on my video. I didn’t like it too much when I was performing because I though there might be too much string noise when I pluck.
Music Stand and NO Lights:
No lights, but someone suggested using the stand lights to compensate for the stage light weirdness. I wasn’t the only person who found stage lights disorienting. I suggested practicing at home with a flashlight stuck to the cats head.
I need to get away from the music stand. It’s healthy to memorize the songs and the arrangements. It’s possible. Trust, practice and persistence will be required. The music stand has been with me for a long time. I will need to hide it and keep it low for this gig. I don’t want it to get in the way of my interaction with the audience.
The Magnolia Theater in El Cajon:
A nice, well maintained and managed theater. I would look forward to performing there again. Lots of healthy systems in place. Staff seemed happy and team-like. Metal detector was annoying, but the security was easy to talk to.
No ramp or elevator to load heavy equipment. Lucky my shitty dolly is surprisingly durable. It’s good enough to allow me to pull my amp/speakers up six stairs.
Parking was awesome. It’s not LA or SD. Car in a garage and in the shade. Stage crew was awesome. There are many good places to hide our cases. It’s a full stage with people that know how to keep things in order and light hearted. No wind because we are indoors.
Food:
In short, I’ve struggle with food at gigs. The line, too polite, too messy, no clean-up time between sets, ribs, chicken wings, beard, seating, priority, and more. I’ve even asked other bully-type band mates to escort me to the buffet line. It’s all really fucking weird. Maybe I hate buffets. I think my favorite gig food scenarios have been with hotels. Hotels and well catered events will simply have a plate ready for you at a specific time. One time me and band mates had access to an employee longe with a service kitchen and buffet. People were all fat. I was happy. Thought my time as a performer, I will don’t do a good job of attracting food. I really weird. I fight it.
ANYWAY, for this performance, I went into a local Italian restaurant. This was after the coffee shop. Fun area for now, but it’s changing. Anyway, I walked in the restaurant and it smelled like a recently shitted-in bathroom. Wtf is wrong with these people? The ventilation is dumb if people smell poop when they walk in. I ordered a sandwich to go anyway. I desperately wanted something to look forward to when I got in the car to go home. This is my new technique for life.
Thank you for reading and watching the video.