Tuesday 5 June 2012

Double Gig Day

Yesterday was our Double Gig Day, the first we've done in a long time. The sun just about held out for the first, in Weston Park, organised by Toast Magazine, with monies going to the Children's Hospital. I managed to break a D string in soundcheck, which didn't bode well. It 's now becoming a bit of a joke. I've broken about 4 or 5 D strings in the last couple of weeks. I think there's something up with the indent on the bridge. However, we braved on (after replacing the string) and felt it went really well. Tom admitted to forgetting pretty much all the chords to opener, Men of Rank. Didn't notice at the time so I think he must have covered it well. It's quite funny doing the banter at gigs 'cause your instinct is to start asking questions ('How you doing?' 'Had a good day?'), which is a bit ridiculous really. You're not going to have a conversation with the audience. I attempted to unify the audience by asking what the collective emotion was in Weston Park, sensing we may be able to harness our energy and speak as one. I got a few whoops. Twas a lovely affair and I must extend my thanks and congrats to the Toast boys for doing a top job. Thanks chaps.

First time I've played a bandstand. Tick. Oh, and the sound was surprisingly good. Our expectations were really really low. Really low. Much to our delight, the engineers not only did a great job - I could hear my vocal really clearly, my one essential and by all accounts, it sounded great out front - but they were also very decent gents. Hope to work with them again in the future.

Tom mentioned he spoke to a friend after, who, on hearing us for the first time, said we sounded like Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and a lighter Queens of The Stone Age! Not heard that latter comparison before. I dig.


Straight onto SoYo, where they appear to own Monday nights. Matt and Tariq do a fantastic job of the promotions there and it's always interesting to see what touring band they've booked. Hungry Kids of Hungary managed to get a very catchy riff firmly stuck in my head for the rest of the night during soundcheck! Lovely chaps and an interesting sound. Really really poppy but with some interesting melodies and tight as a nut. I think by the time they got on stage, the West St crowd were populating the place and the mood changed a bit so they found it harder to hold the crowd. I think it's tough for a touring band when they've no idea what they're stepping into. The singer called it a "weird night" later and I can understand that. You do get a mix of people in there. Mondays are obviously a live music night but if they can keep the night going for a few more hours after and earn a few more quid, they're gonna want to widen the market a little. I think we took to the stage an the optimum time. People had a few drinks in them and were a bit jolly and were up for listening and giving a bit of banter, but they weren't so inebriated that they were acting like tools. Highlights for me were Julia Died of Cholera, which we killed and South (download for free here!). I screwed up the first song, Men of Rank slightly but it wasn't disastrous.

After watching Hungry Kids of Hungary, Ben and I went to the Redhouse with a few friends to keep the night going. We waited it out until they started playing some good music and finally it came: Chuck Berry, Elvis, The Supremes. We tore it up. And then it took it's toll. We crawled back to our beds. Ace night.



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