Gig report: Lu and Tom Tilbury @ The Haymakers, Cambridge

Bands: Lu, Tom Tilbury
Venue: The Haymakers, Chesterton, Cambridge
Date: 02/07/10
Audience: Sparse, but lovely
Sets: 6 songs with Lu (which included one cover), and 7 with Tom I think
Notes: My first gig in ages. Well, a couple months. There's been a growing concern in my head that my writing is completely taking over my drumming at the moment - which is cool because I've written a hell of a lot this year. But suddenly out of nowhere comes all these little projects out of the musical woodwork. With our big recording session taking place on Sunday/Monday coming, Lu and I have been in intensive rehearsals to make sure we don't let ourselves down. Rob Toulson - genius producer/engineer/friend has fixed us up some time at High Barn in Essex and I'm thrilled to be there. Lu is a brilliant singer/songwriter/friend and I'm thrilled to be her drummer. It's all good, this. We rehearsed a lot this week, and after a relatively shaky start it's now sounding awesome, and that's not a word I use lightly. We rounded off the rehearsals with a cheeky support slot tonight at the Haymakers in Cambridge, as they say one gig is worth 10 rehearsals, which by now means we've rehearsed lots ahead of the studio malarkey. The gig itself was barely attended - we were on just after 8pm, but those who did see us - basically Rob T, Tommy T, my mate Marcus and my mate Anita, were very kind, as were the locals and other bands on the bill who passed through at various stages. But it was good just to do a gig of some kind with Lu, because we've been meaning to for a while. The songs are jazzy and give me space, but space which I shouldn't abuse - a couple years ago I would have been parradiddling all over them, but now they come across as sensible, well constructed vehicles for Lu's incredibly good vocal ability. We were a little shaky, but it was a good set, I'm happy enough. I then went from drum kit to conga and bashed my fingers to pieces for Tommy Tilbury, who's indie tunes are worthy of much more exposure. I've done a couple gigs with/for Tom this year and I always enjoy them, he likes his funky bits in songs which gives me a decent run out. Not that it's all about me, of course, but some kind lady was "amazed" by my hands. I've tried to explain it's not an art form - I just hit things very quickly and hope for the best, but she mistook it as modesty. I enjoyed tonight a lot.