It's been far too long since I was last here, and to be honest I only remembered it was because Sam texted me in the day saying so. It's one of those nice times where you think you're not going to get a gig in this week, and then it turns out that you do. And Sam's open nights are always good fun.
On this particular occasion, however, I'd hurt my right arm. Not quite sure how I did this, I think I've pulled a muscle in there or something, but whatever the reason anything heavier than a glass of water and my forearm would scream in protest. So none of my usual pyrotechnics tonight, then. I kicked off with Get Out Of My Head; I'm familiar enough with the place in order to get away with that and it worked quite well I think, considering how long it's been since I last played it. (At least a couple of weeks ago.)
After explaining about my arm and fogging the heckler who told me it was due to wanking, I then went on to play Chapter One. I think I played it ok but for some reason I was really struggling with the fingerpicking, it wasn't coming as naturally to me as it usually does. Not that it comes naturally anyway, I'm far more used to playing with a plectrum, but it was a struggle to do it. Probably because I don't practice it enough; it's rare that I find the time to do that these days! I didn't make any mistakes, except once in the second verse, so all it took was a bit of concentration. And I do have to remind people that the song is over, probably due to its stop-start nature; I wouldn't normally do it at a gig like this to be honest but given the circumstances was probably the best choice.
A bit of a risk for the next one: I played a new song, A Lonely Night, after warning the crowd about the bad language and relating it's subject matter to Sam's gig with The Replicas that would have gone on last (friday) night but had to be cancelled because they hadn't sold enough tickets. A risk because I'd only recently learned all the words, and we all know what happens when I try to do a song I don't know well enough... thankfully I needn't have worried, I sang the song as near to perfect as it was ever going to get for trying it out in a live environment for the first time, and the Chili Peppers style vocal delivery was a bit of a new step for me which Sam thought was 'class.' Couldn't receive a higher compliment mate, thanks!
I then went ahead and did some covers. I chose High by Feeder, as the song I pay when I'm not allowed to play Oasis songs* which was kind of ironic as the lads at the table to my left were convinced I was playing Wonderwall. Trouble is that song is so easy for me to play now I stop concentrating and fluff the chords; I shouldn't be playing a D of any kind in that song! Other than that it seemed to go OK, though I think it might be worth knowing more than one Oasis song for next time...
I finished up with A Little Respect at the request for a fast 80s song. If that didn't mess up my arm even worse, I don't know what will. But it went as well as it ever does, and as a way to wrap up a light-hearted set like this one I could pick far worse.
The quality of the rest of the night was consistently good fun all the way through and I'm always pleased to be a part of it. Still need to get me, Sam and Elliot playing some gigs together, time to email Acoustic Brew and see if we can't sort something out...
*This came from a gig I did nearly 4 years ago with Phil, sometimes known as Fatbwoi, where I was expressley forbidden to play anything by Oasis. He hates them. Ever since then I've used the Feeder song as my replacement, I could do with learning some more songs by those guys as well...
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