This is another of Sam Draisey's open nights, moved from The Harrow to this rather modern-looking bar. It was also an interesting one for me, as I had to play through illness for the first time...
This being a new place and the fact that I STILL haven't practiced my new songs enough to play them live, at least not after that mess with Dear Mr Manager, I decided to stick to the songs I knew tonight. I haven't forgotten the benefits of starting with a fast one though, and kicked off with We Will Survive. This is usually my set closer but not one I'd necessarily play at an open night these days, having written better songs in the 3 years it's been since I first wrote that one. I played it OK although I messed up a couple of the chords, having said that playing a F when you should be playing a Dm7 isn't the end of the world and as long as you keep singing I guess you get away with it.
Then I played Girl's Names, and this is where I started to notice that coming to play tonight was a bit of a misplaced idea. Having not eaten very well over the last few days my innards weren't functioning at their best and I cut some of the vocal notes short, due to the very real possibility that I was going to be sick. This didn't happen, thankfully, and in all other respects I played the song quite well.
I then explained to the audience that, even though I do give up chocolate, coke and takeaways for Lent, for me the celebration that we might call Mardi Gras goes on for about the week running up to it. Therefore, having spent much of the last few days eating very little else, my stomach wasn't working very well, and now might be a good time to chill out for a bit lest my set be cut short by an emergency trip to the bathroom. Whether anyone other than the 4 people stood at the front gave a monkeys I don't know, but thankfully it's not hard to do with my set with the correct application of a little song called Get Out Of My Head. Couldn't have played that one at a better time for this particular night!
So after a set like that, there was only one thing I could end it with, and that of course was Bitterness. From the way this has gone the last few times that I've played it, I think I can safely conclude that a thinner plectrum makes all the difference! It's the best I've played it for a while; the whole set went down as well as could be expected I suppose, not amazing, but hardly my worst.
So, will I be back? Almost certainly yes, though not for a while, I need to hit Walsall next week and give myself some time to rehearse those songs I've been banging on about for the last couple of months...
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