Heading for the End Part #2: The Rose and Crown in Glory

So we finally reach the end of 2 years and 4 months of tireless gigging. Here's how it all went:

After warming up in the soundcheck to the first bit of All Star by Smash Mouth, I opened my set with Get Out Of My Head. I did the a'capella intro because I think opening a gig like that lends a certain amount of intrigue to proceedings, and given that I was following Neil Corbett, who just for the record is really, REALLY good, I thought I'd better look like I mean it. It did the job and I played it reasonably well; it has certainly served me well over the last year and a half!

Bitterness is of course the song that everybody remembers. I opened it by telling everybody that footage of me playing it now exists on Youtube, and hammered it out my my usual measure of bile and spite. Mitch said that's his favourite of my songs and he loves to hear me play it; I must admit it's probably one of the most enjoyable songs I play live, made all the more so by the small number of times I choose not to.

I then for only the second time brought on a guest, Mitch Jones to sing Hurt by Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash. Should probably have told Mitch which version we were singing because he sang the NIN lyric - you know the bit I mean. But it was a good song, fit my mood perfectly and it was a pleasure to sing with him. We might do it again in the future, who knows?

Then I did something I've been meaning to do for a while and sing A Lonely Night while throwing in the chorus to Dani California by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I did open it by dedicating it to RHCP 'for stealing my fucking song,' but in case and Chili Peppers people are reading this or saw it, I WAS ONLY JOKING. I want that on record, as I don't want a lawsuit for defamation! It would have worked well if I remembered the words to it, unfortunately I tripped up on one of the lines so it didn't go as well as I'd hoped. The rest of the song went OK though.

I finished off with one of my 'It's all over' songs, Home for Summer by Feeder. This one takes me right back to calling time on Jack's Legacy; it's fitting I think to end my last gig with this one. It worked perfectly.

Well I got some very positive feedback from some people who hadn't seen me before so thanks for that guys; I think as last gigs go, I could have done far worse than this. Thanks to Cal and Joy from Screaming Harlot for putting me on, and to everybody who watched my set.

Now with any rules, there are exceptions. I'm not doing solo gigs any more. I may, however, do some or all of the following:

• Gigs with The Fakes, or any other band I join,
• Back-up musician for a singer, e.g. Hannah,
• Compere gigs for the St John's Church group (which I haven't been blogging because I'm not actually performing, just compereing)

So I doubt you've seen the last of me. And I might be back playing gigs at some point. But for now, I need to take a long, hard look at myself and see what I want to be doing with this.

Because what I don't want to do is come back and do exactly the same thing I was doing when I left...

Goodbye for now!