Well here's me thinking I wasn't going to get a gig in this week and somehow I find myself doing 2. Here's how the first of them went:
This was an emergency booking I picked up quite by chance on Facebook last Friday, from Prickly Promotions. I've actually got a lot of time for these guys, they're one of the few promoters I've come across so far who have been able to get their mind around the idea that promotion is their job as well as the bands. And it seems to be working well because there was a brilliant turnout for tonight; there were around 40 people in the room tonight which for the Victoria Inn is near enough full. And I hadn't brought anybody, Luke Huntley hadn't brought anybody, Tom Lloyd brought 2 people... and there were only another 2 acts on! So they're doing OK. Cal told me it's getting pretty popular now, unfortunately they seem to be plagued with pull-outs...
Anyway, on to the show. I didn't intend to surprise anybody tonight - I didn't think I was going to get a gig in, after all - and started off with the Bitterness/Get Out Of My Head Combo. Pretty much the same as I did the last time I played there, but with almost a completely different audience (apart from Tiffany, who remembered me) it worked as well as it ever did. I've done enough gigs now to make those songs bang on perfect when I play them, which is a nice position to be in.
It was then time for the mid-set cover, and I had intended to play either Let's Start a Band or that one by the Noisettes I can never remember the name of. However I was really trying to engage with the crowd this time rather than playing songs, and when Tiffany heard I could play A Little Respect she requested that one. Not a bad choice, it's almost impossible not to enjoy it and that was the part of the show that the people who spoke to me afterwards remembered. Learning that one way back in 2007 was probably one of the best decisions I made that year!
Storm from the North was next, interjected with the Metallica bit. I rarely do that, but I think before I do it again anywhere I'd better learn how to play it, because the kids in the schools I was teaching at last year can play that song better than I can and I really did mess it up a lot. I think I fluffed some lyrics in that one as well and I really ought to know better; I need to concentrate!
I finished up with We Will Survive, which I'm really enjoying playing live, no matter what the audience thinks of it. (Rarely unkind, for the record.) I think that's a nice energetic one to play and now that I'm not worrying about getting it wrong (it still happens, I just don't worry about it!) it gets the right combination of chemicals going around in my bloodstream so that I can leave the stage wishing I was still there, which is never a bad thing. Now if I could just get the audience to feel the same way...
Not necessarily my best but as ever far from my worst, and it's always a pleasure to play for Prickly. Long may it continue.
Showing posts with label Victoria Inn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victoria Inn. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
19/8/2011: The Victoria Inn, Cradley Heath
All quiet on the gig front due to Holidays and such, but I'm back...
This was to be my first gig supported by PricklyMusic P Romotions (I know;) and as I'd never played the place before nor had I done a solo gig for a while, I was in 'New Gig' mode...
I was on first, a position I wouldn't normally take out of choice but it gives me the rest of the night to kick back and relax. As it was a new gig, I started with Bitterness, and I saw quite a few people sit up and listen to the whole 'rock star with acoustic guitar' thing that I have going on. It was as I was singing the line 'With long red hair and wild eyes that could tear my soul apart,' that for the first time since I've been playing this song I happened to notice a young lady in the audience... with long red hair. Laughter ensued from that particular group, who turned out to be one of the bands that was on later, but I made a point of saying in the musical interlude to the song that it was extremely unlikely that she was the person the song refers to. Other than that, it went quite well.
As ever, I followed it up with Get Out Of My Head, which now that I had the attention of the audience was met with the kind of appreciation that I think this song deserves. I didn't play it all that well, I fluffed up a couple of chords and dropped my plectrum, so I had to finish the song with my fingers, but again, the crowd seemed to like it.
I then road-tested my new song Chapter One, after announcing that it refers to moving out of Perry Barr. I think it is a good song and it went down quite well, though probably not as well as it would have done had I picked a faster song to keep up the momentum. I also fluffed the words to the first chorus; I was halfway through singing the wrong line before I realised I couldn't do anything about it; the mistake must have been noticeable even to an unfamiliar crowd, but at least I made it all the way to the end of the song which is more than I've managed on some other occasions I've chosen to showcase a new song! I was also reliably informed by Aaron from Pheonix Rising that the PA cut out halfway through the song - I didn't notice, but it wouldn't have helped that I was making a deliberate effort to keep quiet. (Oh, and Aaron, if you're reading this - sorry if I've spelled your name wrong; there's about 20 different spellings of the name so I just had to pick one and hope for the best.)
Followed that up with a much better performance of Storm From The North. Interestingly, given my last Katies blog, I came surprisingly close to Emma hearing that song for the first time tonight - In Between Seas were actually on later, but because they also had a gig in Birmingham on the same night they didn't arrive until just before they went on. I imagine when that eventually happens, the ensuing discussion will be very interesting. But for tonight, all that happened was the same thing that happens every time I play the song in a new place, which is that people start clapping just before the last 'quiet bit.' At least I spared them Nothing Else Matters, though I was seriously considering it at one point...
I finished up with We Will Survive. I think I'm going to have to stop putting the Battle Royale reference before it; I know what I mean but it always feels really clunky to explain. That was probably my best song of the night, an opinion shared by Cal from Prickly; looks like I've got the first and last songs sorted out, it's just the rest of the set I need to figure out now!
So, an enjoyable return to acoustic gigging. My next one is at the Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham next Wednesday, see you there!
This was to be my first gig supported by PricklyMusic P Romotions (I know;) and as I'd never played the place before nor had I done a solo gig for a while, I was in 'New Gig' mode...
I was on first, a position I wouldn't normally take out of choice but it gives me the rest of the night to kick back and relax. As it was a new gig, I started with Bitterness, and I saw quite a few people sit up and listen to the whole 'rock star with acoustic guitar' thing that I have going on. It was as I was singing the line 'With long red hair and wild eyes that could tear my soul apart,' that for the first time since I've been playing this song I happened to notice a young lady in the audience... with long red hair. Laughter ensued from that particular group, who turned out to be one of the bands that was on later, but I made a point of saying in the musical interlude to the song that it was extremely unlikely that she was the person the song refers to. Other than that, it went quite well.
As ever, I followed it up with Get Out Of My Head, which now that I had the attention of the audience was met with the kind of appreciation that I think this song deserves. I didn't play it all that well, I fluffed up a couple of chords and dropped my plectrum, so I had to finish the song with my fingers, but again, the crowd seemed to like it.
I then road-tested my new song Chapter One, after announcing that it refers to moving out of Perry Barr. I think it is a good song and it went down quite well, though probably not as well as it would have done had I picked a faster song to keep up the momentum. I also fluffed the words to the first chorus; I was halfway through singing the wrong line before I realised I couldn't do anything about it; the mistake must have been noticeable even to an unfamiliar crowd, but at least I made it all the way to the end of the song which is more than I've managed on some other occasions I've chosen to showcase a new song! I was also reliably informed by Aaron from Pheonix Rising that the PA cut out halfway through the song - I didn't notice, but it wouldn't have helped that I was making a deliberate effort to keep quiet. (Oh, and Aaron, if you're reading this - sorry if I've spelled your name wrong; there's about 20 different spellings of the name so I just had to pick one and hope for the best.)
Followed that up with a much better performance of Storm From The North. Interestingly, given my last Katies blog, I came surprisingly close to Emma hearing that song for the first time tonight - In Between Seas were actually on later, but because they also had a gig in Birmingham on the same night they didn't arrive until just before they went on. I imagine when that eventually happens, the ensuing discussion will be very interesting. But for tonight, all that happened was the same thing that happens every time I play the song in a new place, which is that people start clapping just before the last 'quiet bit.' At least I spared them Nothing Else Matters, though I was seriously considering it at one point...
I finished up with We Will Survive. I think I'm going to have to stop putting the Battle Royale reference before it; I know what I mean but it always feels really clunky to explain. That was probably my best song of the night, an opinion shared by Cal from Prickly; looks like I've got the first and last songs sorted out, it's just the rest of the set I need to figure out now!
So, an enjoyable return to acoustic gigging. My next one is at the Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham next Wednesday, see you there!
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