Well blimey how time flys....another month nearly over, indeed another year nearly over and my least favourite month (december) still to come. Still, you have to laugh.
It appears the last blog was on the 1st of October, so I think I'll start with Wed Oct 3rd when I played at The Grove Open Mic. I did 'Gods & Angels' followed by 'Dancing In The Dark'. I'm still raving about Bruce Springsteen as you can see!
The following night was a new venue for me which was Verve Bar in Leeds. This is the latest night run by Haley Gaftarnick. It's a great little downstairs bar, ideal for acousitc sets. A bit like Dare Cafe but with an entertainments license. I played half an hour, and after a bit of trouble finding any electricity (vital for keyboards) I played my set which went pretty well. The set went 'Shadow', 'Nobody Said', 'Whiskey','Money From The Satisfied Man', 'Young, Lost Hopeful', 'How Do You Sleep', and 'These Eyes'.
There was a decent crowd too and I enjoyed the other acts. One well worth watching for in the future. It was also the first time I'd seen Hayley play a set and despite me being a poor spectator (see previous blogs!), I thought that was cracking too.
Friday 5th was spent receeing pub venues for the band. 2 more old haunts were visited, and I left with a favourable impression of one of them-so not a bad night.
On the Saturday I should have been playing with Morris, so to speak, but this was cancelled which left an opening to voluntarily go to Coventry. Yes, you guessed it, Stock Cars again and my first visit to Coventry Stadium since 1986.
Sunday was another spectating job, easier this though as it was Jon Strong. He being the producer of my new album. The gig was at Square Chapel in Halifax where earlier this year I'd seen Gordon Giltrap perform. Jon's not done too many arts centre venues of late, where people actually sit quietly and listen. The night was very succesful I thought, in terms of attendance and the all-important Cd sales!!
Oh how I'd love to do gigs like that. On the solo side of things at least. To have 50 or 60 people pay to watch a set, listen, appreciate and purchase merchandise would be wonderful!
Into the second week of October, and we're looking at Wednesday 10th here. This was my band's latest assault on the public at Sheffield Under The Boardwalk. I played solo pretty well there the month before. Most importantly this was Norm's first gig with us on drums. Given the nature of the band and other's commitments, I can't always have the same line-up, but that's ok as I'm lucky enough to know some great musicians.
Norm is certainly one of those. A true pro and a wonderful drummer, I've worked with him since Uni days in 1998. The set was just the half hour. We did: Eyes, Shadow, Even, Whiskey, Hell, Wishing and So Lonely.
We were on first, so it wasn't too busy, but as with last time there were enough to generate some atmosphere so it went well. I have to say after the last band gig at Zephyr I think I personally needed this one to go better, and it was very relaxed too!
On Friday I ventured out into more lawless zones to look at pub venues. Some point soon this will all hopefully make sense. The band will be playing some of them, in the new year.
Saturday 13th was Atlanta Soul at Northwich. This was memorable mainly for being on stage 5 minutes before the Rugby Union finished. So I saw 75 minutes of England v France and missed the bit where England got in front and won the game. And I don't even like Union.....
The second was DJ Martin The Mod's announcement to the crowd just before our encore.
I think you had to be there but it's still making me laugh now.
"Right then you half-arsed bastards, it's Atlanta fuckin' Soul"
How I wish I'd have said that at several WMCs in the past.
Sunday was Stock Cars at Skegness, and great weather too which is not something you can say very often about Skeggy. This side of things seems to be getting more mentions, so I'll just point out again that I don't race I merely watch. I'm a far better spectator for this than of other bands! Especially those with talented female members!
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