Tonight I started to write a new song for the first time in ages. Although it’s far from finished and I’m a bit stuck as to where it will go, it has reminded me that I should really have written a review of the last gig a few weeks back. Life has a habit of taking over and all too easily the things we do to support what we love soon become the things that demand all our attention and we forget what we loved in the first place. In short, I have a job.
After a successful pre-Christmas gig I was offered a slot in trendy Camden of all places. More than that, it was at the Camden Stables Market, perhaps the centre of all things painfully cool and hip. I am neither cool nor hip. I have never even tried on a pair of skinny jeans. So I thought that Camden would be a bit of challenge for me. As it happened, the Haiti earthquake wreaked its havoc and the good people of Camden decided to host a fundraiser on the night my promoter was due to stage the band night. I was more than happy to postpone my gig for a good cause and because it would buy me some time. It also reminded me to dig into my pockets for the appeal.
As tends to happen when I’m not entirely enthusiastic about something, I chose to simply ignore the fact that the next gig was booked and didn’t really promote it with anything other than word of mouth, which went some thing like,
Loyal fan/weary friend: “So Phil, any news on the next gig?”
Phil: “Oh, I’ve got a something coming up at the end of March. Nothing big. Don’t worry about coming along, it’s a bit out of the way…”
Friend: “No, let me know when it is and I’ll be there”
Phil: “Well, ok, it’s… but really don’t worry. They’ll be plenty more gigs in the future”
My reluctance to promote the gig could be traced back to the same old problem of worrying about getting a band together, choosing the right style and getting a good setlist. I’m sure that if I knew all these things were organised for me I would be much happier to just turn up and play. But that’s not the point. These things are supposed to be a challenge.
As time ticks on and we are left with but distant memories of the gig I will try to pick out the main points. Tek wasn’t available this time, but the absence of a lead guitar allowed us to explore other options. We changed the set up of the band to me on guitar and vocals, Rich on keyboard and vocals, and Stu on cajon (a cajon is a percussion box that you sit on and hit. Like many instruments, it’s easy to play but hard to master). The room of the venue was a gallery space and bar, with a small stage set up at one side. The space wasn’t huge but sounded vacuous. Pieces of foam had to stuffed into the windows to keep the sound in.
It was about this point that we realised we were missing a vital component of the keyboard, namely the power lead. Very very luckily a band called Lucid Jake were on the bill to play and they kindly lent us their keyboard (complete with ironing board stand) for out set. I’m not just saying this but Lucid Jake put on a fantastic show later on in the evening.
I began the set with a song I had only just shared with the band two hours earlier, and they were also the first people besides me to hear it. It was called “Losing my faith” and was an attempt at a political song as we were approaching a general election. Who says it should all be about love and heartbreak? The rest of the set had a lot of the usual songs but with a different approach given the line up change. I was told afterwards that it was the best gig yet. I should certainly give my compliments to the sound man for balancing everything and again to Lucid Jake for the keyboard. Friends were also very kindly in abundance and made the whole thing very enjoyable! I hope they were entertained as well.
I am determined to write these reviews much sooner after the gig in future as I recollect far more interesting anecdotes and witty observations! Still, Gig No. 4 is done! I learned a lot about adapting to a new sound and venue, and most importantly I did not get ejected from Camden for being too uncool.
