Wharf 10 Cafe Bar 26/2/11

Hah, forgot to blog my last gig, how silly...

I actually went in to this one feeling pretty good. They let me do 6 songs, and I came up with a list of my four best, or at least most popular, a cover and a new song. This is what happened:

I opened up with Bitterness, deciding that if there was ever a time to set the bar high with adrenaline, it was this. Struggled again with the fast strums, but it went down quite well, there were a fair few people at the Wharf tonight who hadn't seen me before and were probably quite surprised by this if they were expecting Paul Simon or something like that! Whatever the reason, I got a nice loud applause at the end of the song and that's always a nice feeling.

Cracking straight on with Get Out Of My Head, I played it with all the energy I can get from following Bitterness, and this one went down surprisingly well as well. Putting the songs in this order seems to work, so I'll probably be doing that for some weeks to come, or until one of my newer ones takes it's place!

Then I did my complimentary 90s cover, in this case Linger by the Cranberries. I think members of the audience of a certain age - and a certain level of being hammered - would remember this song very fondly and enjoy it, and I like playing it; it's one that's actaully hard to get wrong as long as I remember all the words. Dave didn't like it so much, but the few times I've played it so far it hasn't gone down badly. I probably won't play it there again though. When I do covers at The Wharf it has to be a different one each time - it's just my thing - so I'll have to pick a new one for next month. Any suggestions?

Next, I did Dear Mr Manager. Not sure whether this was the right place for this, I think because the song is very quiet it needs an intimate atmosphere which the Wharf Bar doesn't usually provide. However, Matt from No Time To Sleep really liked it, and I got a polite applause from it which wasn't bad!

Moving back in to more familiar territories, I went in to Girl's Names, which I'm actually playing a lot better these days and I'm far less self-conscious because of the fact that other than the time-signature change, it's about as MOR as I get. My Feeder influences come through with this one, I think, not because it necessarily sounds like Feeder but because it's got a catchy vocal line and chorus which will always work well. The audience seemed to like it but the novelty of an acoustic guy at the Wharf was wearing off by then...

Which is why I choose to end gigs like this with We Will Survive, my DragonForce-inspired romp through the message of Battle Royale and basically any good guy vs bad guy film you care to mention. Oddly enough I don't play it often at the open nights, but I end gigs with it... I wonder why? Perhaps it's because I think I've written songs since then that are better, or maybe I'm just not as in to it, but whatever the reason, it's always good to have as a set closer, and tonight was no exception.

A bit less analytical than usual tonight, but I am in a bit of a hurry! It was nice to see the guys from 2 Days Notice again, their new singer seems to be doing well!