So, that was 2010

This will be my last blog entry of 2010, unless something spectacular happens in the next couple of weeks. I was planning to write this in a couple days time, as my last thing on my to-do list before switching off from any projects for the rest of the year, but I suddenly have a free evening tonight due this country's inability to deal with the snow (thus cancelling trains, and meaning I couldn't get to play at the very special 'It's Going To Be An Awkward Christmas, Darling' show in London). So this is all very self-indulgent, kind of like a justification for being so busy, but hopefully by the time I've finished writing this I'll be proud of what I've achieved this year, or just ruing a wasted 12 months.

The year started slowly, with big plans of touring, which never actually materialised (both with Matt Corrall Band, and with the play, for different reasons). It was a typical start to the year though, making plans and setting the ground for projects that would later emerge, also leaving THE DAMSONS and reforming UNDER THE STREETLAMP in the process, I'm glad I did the latter, and sad about the former but had to be done. The end of January found me organising a charity gig for the Haiti victims, which was a nice event, and we did well I think, and I failed to grow a beard. February was spent writing new material, and we recorded the UNDER THE STREETLAMP album, IDEAL MEXICO, which was eventually released in December. In March I recorded some drums for ALIGHTING, and my play LETTERS TO SPARKLE was performed at RADA, a performance of my work which I'll never be more proud of - a magnificent night for both myself and my ego, and one of the highlights of the year. That reminds me...I need to facebook those actors involved again, for a project next year, they were awesome. March also saw me start a short run of gigs with JON ORCHARD and the first shows of the year for EUREKA STOCKADE, my play AN AMBULANCE STUCK IN TRAFFIC was performed at the Brockley Jack Theatre in London to a packed crowd, and my murder-mystery play, THE MURDER OF THE RAZZLE DAZZLE ROSE QUEEN was performed in Cambridge to an audience of 4 people. In April I purchased some congas from my works bonus, a gift to myself which would be extremely beneficial for the rest of the year (even if I didn't realise this at the time), and then there was great panic when our leading actor for our Brighton Fringe show pulled out due to transport issues, with just 8 days to go. I quickly learnt the lines and took the lead role in CAT FOOD, which opened that month in Cambridge. April also saw the launch of a continued music collaboration with RICHARD CONWAY with a modest gig in Histon, and AN AMBULANCE STUCK IN TRAFFIC was performed three times at The Horse in Waterloo, and it was another one of those spine-tingling moments, seeing my work done so well. In May, CAT FOOD headed to the Bury Fringe where it was performed in front of barely anybody alongside my new comedy, SOME PLAYS ABOUT INDIE ROCK, and then to the Brighton Fringe festival where it felt like it died on it's arse and I put aside any thoughts of me becoming an actor. Back to the gigs, I played congas for TOM TILBURY, and then drummed for hours at MATT CORRALL's 30th birthday gig, and the month ended with me turning 29 and LETTERS TO SPARKLE being successfully performed at The Old Kings Head in Islington, my faith in my writing ability quickly restored. June was spent largely watching the World Cup whilst working on new material, and then recording (with Richard Conway and Chris Lilley) the debut TRIP 35'S album, which still hasn't been released yet but we will get around to it soon. In July things started to get proper busy again, playing live and recording an EP with LU at the amazing High Barn studios in Essex, the sole performance of a sketch show I co-wrote with Alan Morgan called THE HEDGEHOG COLLECTIVE for the Cambridge Comedy Festival which went down a storm but neither of us were happy with it, and then a day to record all 5 episodes of my radio sitcom, THE MODEST ADVENTURES OF PATRICK AND CAMERON, which launched last week on Cambridge City Radio. Also in July I was back in the studio, this time to record with ETHAN ASH, the resulting tracks were released in November as an EP, and lead single, 'Tried To Get Rid Of Me' was iTunes single of the week, which is a handy CV note. August was spent rehearsing new shows, re-writing new material, and generally feeling bitter that I wasn't at the Edinburgh Fringe. The end of the month saw the preview performances of two new shows, the much-talked about (by me) spoken-word musical, CLOWNS, which surprisingly worked very well, and the messy but very much a return to form comedy, YEAR OF THE RAT. Both of those pieces ended up at the Lodestar Festival a week later, which was at the start of September. That month saw the mixing of the radio sitcom, lots of Under The Streetlamp action, and my first live show with the fantastic FLAMING JUNE, whom I've been playing with a fair bit since. In October I started playing congas for AIDY, and I still enjoy playing live with him now, I launched a comedy club, THE CORNERHOUSE COMEDY COLLECTIVE which failed instantly, got stressed out when my dad got seriously ill, then got happier again when he started the long road to a full recovery, and spent time in London/Cambridge writing with HELEN ARNEY, the result being our much acclaimed Christmas album, IT'S GOING TO BE AN AWKWARD CHRISTMAS DARLING, which we recorded over three intense days with the genius that is Martin Randle at the end of the month. It was released at the start of December, with Dave Gorman praising it, Chortle coverage, and airplay on BBC 6 Music, it's been one of the finest things I've been associated with. Also that month, played live with THE TRIP 35's for the first time, and my monologue, SLOW PUNCTURE, was performed in Cambridge. In November I played plenty of gigs, got stressed about the mixing of the Christmas album, wrote both Christmas shows and played live for the first time with ETHAN ASH for the EP launch show. Also, AN AMBULANCE STUCK IN TRAFFIC was nominated for an award for the performances in Waterloo earlier in the year, which it didn't win. And so here we are, December, the Christmas album released, Under The Streetlamp album was released, the debut self-titled album EUREKA STOCKADE was released, we recorded my Christmas radio comedy, THE CHRISTMAS COLLAR INCIDENT which will be broadcast on Christmas Day, played more gigs, and then our Christmas double-bill, (DAWN PALMER JUST WANTS TO BE) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS and SANTA CLAUS & THE UNFORTUNATE ALLEGATIONS was performed 4 times in Cambridge to good, satisfied audiences, but it was a show which left me feeling a little flat, probably because I had to play the lead role in it. The year was supposed to end on a high tonight with the Awkward Christmas live gig in London, but the treacherous weather has put a stop to that, but looking back I think I've done enough to be proud of in there anyway. It's been a strange year - it started with my writing getting really noticed on the London scene, without me necessarily pushing it as such, but my biggest successes have come as a drummer (iTunes single of the week, 6 Music, festivals, some really good gigs etc). I've probably spread myself too thinly, but I think my list of credits is in a much better shape than it was 12 months ago.

And some stats:
This year I've played 49 gigs, and have played live with 15 different bands
I've been the drummer on 4 albums and 2 EP'S that have been released, with another 2 albums and 1 EP ready for release next year
I've written 15 plays (many of which haven't made it further than private performances for my own benefit), have had 13 different stage plays performed publicly, totalling in 29 performances of my work as well as (by the end of the year) 6 radio plays broadcast.

For every gig there's a story, whether it be simply one involving me getting lost finding the place, an on-stage assault on the singer, or even that magical glimmer that suggests things are actually going to plan. For every play performance there's a crisis, and a solution, and generally a happy ending, the above stats don't really say anything. My favourite gig of the year has to be Flaming June @ B-Bar, my least favourite was the festival in Windsor. The best performance of my script material is the stuff at RADA, my least enjoyable being the opening night at the Brighton Fringe. I've got much to be thankful for, and I'd like to think I deserve the rest I'm about to give myself, especially considering 2011 is already looking busier than ever. There's been a lot of people who have been very good to me this year, you know who you are.

Happy Christmas, Happy New Year x

Christmas play - performances 3 and 4

I'm knackered, again. This is why I'm not an actor. As I type this, the smoke alarm in the hairdressers attached to my little flat is going off to say it needs new batteries. It's going to be going all night, isn't it? And the hairdressers bit is basically the other side of my bedroom wall. Ah, bollocks, another sleepless night then. It was probably going to be a sleepless night anyway as I'm analysing things far too much. I really enjoyed Friday's Christmas shows - I felt the sudden nature of me being pushed into the role what with Kev stranded in Amsterdam added a sense of excitement to the proceedings. Tonight, with a days rest and a couple hours rehearsal, I just didn't like it at all. I was annoyed at first that hardly any of my long-term friends could be bothered to make any of the performances (and there was 4 to chose from) apart from Rachel, Andy P, Andy H, Amy, Michelle, Julia, Rob, Andy B, Vicky, James, Jack and the lovely Emerald Sky girls, but then again - why should I expect people to come to things all the time - it's time for this to move on from me putting on shows and then friends and family come to watch it, I've been doing that for 5 years. I think that is what is bugging me about the whole thing - it's the third year of the Christmas show, I know it's a tradition, but it's not as fun as it used to be. Yeah - so Paul can write jokes for sweary Santa Claus, he can throw in a loser and let him be unlucky in love and milk the audience sympathy, but it's nothing I haven't done before. Perhaps because I was in it this year I may have seen more flaws in the writing than I knew existed. Or maybe the stress of being an actor has disrupted my enjoyment of the whole thing. Tonight's shows were pleasantly ramshackle, with lots of jokes, and I was really proud of the rest of the cast - Heather, Vaughan, Cara, Steve, Clare (in at the last minute as narrator - a wonderful performance), Aidy - they were on fine form and I think they enjoyed it. The audiences did - lots of compliments, lots of laughter in the right places, everyone came away happy. Apart from me, the man who puts this all together, and is frankly a bit bored of it all now. I need new challenges, I need to push myself - so much of that material that was on display tonight didn't work. Let's be fair - if you smother that dodgy material with jokes you can get away with it. But that won't stop it being not all that good at the end of the day. I was chatting to Heather, and Paul Malpas (a soundman/actor friend who also came to the show tonight) about how to get further, how not to be here, in this venue, this time next year, putting on a show to four charming but half full audiences. I really like CB2, it's a cracking venue run by generous people, so this rant is by no means anything against the space - it's what we did with it. Paul was very generous about my writing, explaining that there are often "slices of comedy genius in your work" and that "tonight had more slices than the other shows I've seen you do this year" but was also very honest about lots of it dragging and/or just not working as well as it could do. Heather's rather intense reply was simply related to the fact that I need to slow down, and focus more on the projects, rather than bash them out and move on to the next one - basically be more serious about individual shows, rather than be serious as a writer. A valid point. I've got nothing to complain about really - we've entertained lots of people over the last 4 shows, many of whom laughed a lot, the actors have worked so hard for it to happen, it'll go down as a success. But come December 2011 I don't want to be writing another blog entry about another show at CB2 which "worked in many ways but..."

Christmas play - performances 1 and 2

I'm knackered. I've just experienced what I put my actors through on a regular basis...that was a long night. It was a nice day at work (secret Santa - I got a mug that's a boobie, and it made me happy) and curry, before the news started to trickle through that Kevin - our leading man for the play - was stuck in Amsterdam. The snow is really heavy over there, no flights or anything. We were left with an ultimatum - either I step into the roles (which were Tim, Jesus, Jason, Policeman, Journalist and Cliff Richard) or the show is cancelled. I've never cancelled a play in my life, and didn't intend to start tonight, so we just went for it. Naturally, a couple of Kev's lot didn't bother to come down as he's a popular chap, but we did 2 performances (a total of 3 hours of 'acting') in front of lovely crowds tonight. I wasn't crap - I thought I would be - especially after watching a DVD of 'Cat Food' from the Brighton Fringe recently and realising just how bad an actor I am. But these characters are easier to play - slimy boyfriends, nervous losers, bitter religious shelf-filler etc, and I actually got a bit into it. Let's get this straight - I'm not an actor. But I wasn't far off tonight, and with Kev still stranded and unable to take in the next 2 performances on Sunday evening, I can wing it again. As for the plays themselves, the first piece - 'Dawn Palmer...' was met with much warmer laughter than the messy, lively second play, which is weird as I only spent 3 hours writing it. Either way, I'm a knackered, happy Paul tonight.

Day of the Christmas show

Tonight at 7pm our Christmas show opens in Cambridge. As far as I am aware, my leading actor, Kevin, is stuck in the snow. In Amsterdam. I've never cancelled a show in my life, and don't intend to start tonight, but this far from ideal.

Bollocks.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Bands: Aidy
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge (supporting She Makes War)
Date: 13/12/10
Audience: Sparse, but enthusiastic
Set: As always with Aidy's sets, I'm not sure, but I think it was the same as Saturday's show
Notes: I've played the Cornerhouse a lot this year (and I'm back again on Saturday guesting with my mate Jo's band for their special Christmas show) but there's something comforting about that. Tonight's show was promoted by my chum Rich Conway, and he managed to get She Makes War down to the venue as part of the UK tour. We opened, in what felt like a very relaxed, informal, no-pressure kinda gig, and had a good time - the sound was excellent, the audience continually enthused by Aidy's sense of humour, and I played light drums rather than congas this time which made a nice change. She Makes War - by the way - is just one person, Laura Kidd, who was excellent and really enjoyed her set, and she's also incredibly friendly which was refreshing.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade album launch @ The Haymakers, Cambridge

Bands: Aidy, Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Haymakers, Cambridge
Date: 11/12/10
Audience: Rammed, lively, enthusiastic, brilliant
Set: Aidy - not sure; Eureka Stockade - She Got Good, Erotomania, Violence, Broken Pieces, Resistance, Without You, Warm Hands, All Alone, Sharks, Through Every Darkness, Heroes Fall
Notes: With our album released on Monday, we (Eureka Stockade) launched our debut long player with what is probably the best gig we've ever played. Firstly, I felt a little sorry for Aidy - I played congas for him (alongside the always excellent bassist Dave Martin) but the audience didn't seem to realise the set was starting so a majority of it was ignored - shame, as we played pretty well. After short break for middle act, The Morning People to do their lovely thing, Eureka Stockade's set was greeted by a rousing audience, many of whom surged to the front. We went down well - and that only enhanced our performance, it was without question the tightest we've been. All in all the perfect combination of good venue, solid set-up, well rehearsed band and a festive crowd who's energy was flattering. We were joined by the superb Anna Scott on cello for all the songs apart from the first three and she's an awesome musician who filled any gaps, and also Dave Greeves (from The Morning People) to add sublime slide guitar lines for 2 tracks. Both of those musicians helped make it a proper special gig, and the after show party was equally exuberant. I eventually succumbed to being old, and crashed out on Rob-Eureka-Stockade's sofa at 4am, today has naturally been largely unproductive.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Bands: Aidy
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge (Cracking Tunes Christmas gig)
Date: 10/12/10
Audience: Sparse, friendly
Set: Not sure
Notes: After we lost a couple acts from the bill, Aidy kindly stepped in to open the Cracking Tunes Christmas show. Okay, so he's not actually signed to the label, but he's a mate and I drum for him so...anyway, nice little show, sparse audience, could even say dissapointing turnout for an event we were plugging like crazy. But it was friendly enough, with some excellent acts on the bill, and our set itself was well recieved.

Tunes and albums of 2010

It's that time of the year again, where lists are being compiled all over the place. At some point I plan to go through my own personal gig and theatre highlights to see if I've actually achieved anything myself in 2010, but on a less scary/self-obsessed note I strongly believe it's been a good year for music. Every year I compile myself a 'best of' CD with my favourite tunes from the 11 and a bit months that has just flown by, and I have to admit that last year I was slightly disappointed - it was supposed to be my musical highlights of 2009 - a whole year - yet there was the odd filler in there. None of that this year though, it's all solid gold, a delightful mixture of favourite artists still doing the industry proud, sprightly young bands who have made me smile, and established acts whom have previously slipped under my radar. All in all, to fit on an 80 minute CDR for my car, I managed to squeeze 18 songs in, and just for the sake of it here they are:

My favourite songs of 2010 in no particular order:
ED HARCOURT - Haywired
VILLAGERS - Becoming A Jackal
BEN FOLDS & NICK HORNBY - Picture Window
SLOW CLUB - Giving Up On Love
JOHN GRANT - Where Do Dreams Go To Die?
MONO TAXI - Love Shows No Mercy To Fools
THE TRAVIS WALTONS - Millionaire
STORNOWAY - Fuel Up
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN - I Want The World To Stop
FYFE DANGERFIELD - High On The Tide
EMMA POLLOCK - Nine Lives
REVERE - The Escape Artist
BADLY DRAWN BOY - It's What I'm Thinking
CHRIS TT - Words Fail Me
DAVID FORD - Hurricane
ELVIS COSTELLO - A Voice In The Dark
LOCAL NATIVES - Aeroplane
THE DIVINE COMEDY - I Like

Listening back to the CD now, it's been an absolutely awesome year for music. Single of the year? Probably got to be MONO TAXI - Love Shows No Mercy To Fools, great single from a band equally as good live as they are on record.

And whilst I'm at it, might as well work out my top 10 albums of the year, simply because I have a night in this evening ahead of the crazy gig stuff, and all my writing deadlines have been hit so I'm actually a little bored. These are in order, simply because I personally think it's important to have a 'favourite album of the year'. Not sure why that's important, but it is to me.

My top 10 albums of the year, in order:
1. DAVID FORD - Let The Hard Times Roll
2. SLOW CLUB - Yeah So
3. BEN FOLDS & NICK HORNBY - Lonely Avenue
4. VILLAGERS - Becoming A Jackal
5. THE DIVINE COMEDY - Bang Goes The Knighthood
6. ED HARCOURT - Lustre
7. FYFE DANGERFIELD - Fly Yellow Moon
8. JOHN GRANT - Queen Of Denmark
9. STORNOWAY - Beachcombers Windowsill
10.BELLE & SEBASTIAN - Write About Love

In a different world, Elvis Costello - National Ransom, would be in there, but I'm still getting into it, and in about 2 months time I'm likely to be saying it's the greatest thing I've ever heard - but as with a lot of latter day Costello the joy comes from the time you invest in it. The top two in the above list are very tied - I've been playing Slow Club all year, they're a brilliant band that lull you into a false sense of security by fooling you that they are a twee folk band, but lyrically they are both honest and cutting, whilst tracks like 'Sorry About The Doom' are just beautiful. But David Ford pips it for me - the most complete pop/rock album I've heard in years, played with passion, energy and again it's the lyrics which steal the show. It's an album that got me through a tough month a few months back, and not many albums could have done that, this one summed it up perfectly for me whilst also offering fresh optimism at the same time. Saying that, I was obsessed with Fyfe Dangerfield's debut solo album for a long time in the first half of the year, and how many times have I had Ed Harcourt's latest blaring out of my car as I wished I was him? Lots of times. But then again Villagers could easily have topped my list, as it's probably the album I've played most in 2010. Ahhh, maybe having one favourite isn't such a good idea after all...

More festive good stuff

Dave Gorman said on Twitter earlier that he likes our Christmas album, that's made me happy today.

Chortle

The video for 'mince pie', from the Christmas album, is currently on the front page of Chortle... http://www.chortle.co.uk/?id_news=12320

Another proud moment :-)

A very satisfying weekend

After treating my car to two new headlights on Saturday morning, the weekend was creatively an inspiring one. BBC 6Music very kindly played 'Office Party' from our Christmas album, which was very lovely of them - it was played on the Collins & Herring show, both of whom are legends (I've been a huge fan of Richard Herring for a long time). Then it was a long old rehearsal with the full cast of the Christmas show - the initial fun stage is now typically put aside for the hard work, with the fun to follow again once the guys are all confident with their lines, but it's taking good shape. In the evening I finally got around to writing the Christmas radio script - writing it a day before recording is a bit tight, even by my own standards, but by 1am I had the half an hour piece nailed and went to sleep in a good mood. At 10am we were all in Martin's new studio to record the thing - Martin himself took a good acting role, alongside Juliette and Heather in the leads, and I really feel 'The Christmas/Collar Incident' is a nice play actually, if I may say so myself. It's a lively piece, aimed at younger children, but with some nicer cameo roles - especially 'Jeremy The Evil Greyhound'. The recording was nailed in three swift hours, and is now in the editing process, before being broadcast on Cambridge City Radio at 3pm on Christmas Day. I'm relieved I managed to write it in time - it's my last creative deadline of the year, and one which looked difficult for a while, but it's worked out well. After that I dashed over to Cottenham to start rehearsals with Dousing For Sound - an incredible new music project, which will culminate in a big show at the end of January 2011. The project itself features wild interpretations of relatively obscure songs (ending on a rousing version of 'One Day Like This' by Elbow), performed with an eclectic line-up...and a 40-piece choir. The choir have been rehearsing separately, but it was great to finally meet the band today having been on the books for this project for a short while now. The rehearsal itself was inspiring, an unprecedented level of musicianship on display, and I felt incredibly challenged by the music as it changed from light bongo work to full on drum kit tango grooves, it was incredible and I for one am very much looking forward to the fairly intense rehearsals in January because this could be absolutely amazing. Next year itself is already looking a bit manic, with offers for session drum work for more albums coming in, lots of gigs, an opportunity to write for youth theatre, talk of one of my plays potentially heading to the Leicester Comedy Festival, and the further development of the whole Awkward Christmas project with Helen. For the rest of this year though I suddenly feel stress-free, there's lots of gigs left to be played, there's much Christmas partying with friends in the diary, it's going to be a messy, but enjoyable three weeks or so...

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Haymakers, Cambridge

Bands: Flaming June
Venue: The Haymakers, Cambridge
Date: 03/12/10
Audience: Sparse at first, but fairly busy during the set and extremely responsive
Set: Rejoice, Stop The Ride, The Devil's Daughter, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, Little Love In A Cruel World, The Wizard, The Boy I Knew Before I Met You, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Wednesdays And Weekends, Under My Skin
Notes: As with most Flaming June shows, I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight. We were supporting touring band The Moulettes, and shortly after we started playing the audience seemed to get bigger and there was a really nice vibe to proceedings - the lively set met with people dancing and generally getting really into it. We were on the ball tonight as well, we're in good shape - I was a bit lost on 'Little Love In A Cruel World' but nobody would have noticed, the rest of it was pretty sharp. Flaming June put everything into their shows, every last ounce of energy, so whilst from a percussional point of view the songs are relatively simple, the force and speed in which they are played makes for a good workout and I always come off stage drenched in sweat. Which is a good thing. The Moulettes by the way were outstanding - I was going to go home early, but they were an incredible band and well worth checking out. On the way home both of my headlights went, which lead to a slightly concerning drive. The A10 is a very scary road when you're travelling on it in practically complete darkness, will get that sorted tomorrow me thinks...

Gig report: Under The Streetlamp album launch @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Bands: Eureka Stockade (acoustic support), Under The Streetlamp (electric headline)
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 02/12/10
Audience: A nice bunch of people from both the 'Streetlamp and 'Stockade camps, plus a random Christmas party
Set: Eureka Stockade - She Got Good, Warm Hands, Through Every Darkness, Broken Pieces, Without You, All Alone, Heroes Fall . Under The Streetlamp - Do I Don't I I Do, Anything Nothing, Sunny Rainy Tuesday, What She Did To You, I Never Win, Last Excuses Of Summer, Wicked Witch Of The West, Honest Lullaby
Notes: Looking back on the above sets, it looks like I played lots of songs tonight, but they just flew by. The debut album from my on/off band Under The Streetlamp, a band that frustrates me but whom I love dearly, was released a couple weeks back, but due to the hectic schedules of all in the group tonight was the closest to the release we had for a launch party. Tom Tilbury opened it with a sterling, honest set which was well received by the large-ish audience (okay, not a huge crowd - but it's a small venue, it felt very busy), I'm very happy I've signed him to the label. I then played congas for Eureka Stockade for our stripped-down, acoustic, trio set (we gave bassist Nathan a night off tonight) which worked really well - at times it was proper flying, especially on 'Through Every Darkness' - that works so well acoustically, who would've thought it? Then it was time for Under The Streetlamp to take the stage. For a band that hasn't rehearsed for months, I thought we were remarkably good - any lack of finnesse that perhaps the 'Streetlamp of a couple years ago had was replaced by good old fashioned energy and enjoyment for what we do. The kit wasn't ideal, so a majority of my fills were snare-based, which made me feel a bit bashy, I'm aware I'm capable of playing a lot better than this. But the songs are just such fun to play - the time signature changes, the humour, I love it and could do it all night, the audience seemed as into it as we were. With a few songs to go, some dickhead from the Christmas party, which seemed to be taking place at the same time as our gig, ran onto the stage and did something to our singer, Jess, which I'd rather not talk about again. It ruined the show, it upset her, it angered the rest of us, it marred what was great little gig. We dropped 'Mostly Twilight' from the set, finished early and went home. Jess did brilliantly to hold herself together after that 'incident', she's a strong girl. It all felt flat afterwards, there was a sense of closure about the whole thing. To me that felt like the final Under The Streetlamp gig, you can just sense it sometimes, it's hard enough getting us all in a room together at all but for the sake of the album we had to tonight. I loved a majority of the evening, and have no doubts that we'll all be drunk together before the year is out, but the ending of tonight was just weird, and a little sad.