Gig report: Trevor Jones Band @ Native Tongue, London

Band: Trevor Jones Band
Venue: Native Tongue, London
Date: 28/05/11
Audience: Sparse, but lovely
Set: All I Am, Badman, Shine A Light, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Alive, Roll On The Rain, She Was Me, Old Fashioned Woman, Falling
Notes: After playing our one song gig in Bedford a couple months back, tonight was the first full gig for the newly formed and indeed titled Trevor Jones Band, a band perhaps that given my current schedule I shouldn't have agreed to play more gigs with but a band that I really enjoy and just can't help myself. Normally in these situations a 'first gig' would be a nervy affair, but there was none of that tonight - we were composed as a band that has been playing for years together, not three rehearsals. That's probably because Trevor has been writing outstanding songs for a very long time now, and has been gigging in a duo with Tony the bassist for a while, whilst Bill the guitarist has been playing at a top level for decades and me...well, I've played in one or two bands. It really works, you know, really solid, a lot of that has to be down to the quality of the way the songs have been crafted, but also from the attitudes from all involved, it feels like a healthy project to be involved with and I'm looking forward to the next 3 gigs (2 in Cambridge, 1 at the Water Rats in London) and hopefully we can do more after that (Trevor does have another drummer in the wings for anything my schedule doesn't allow, such is the professional that he is). Tonight's gig was in probably the friendliest venue I've ever played in. Having been picked up by Tony, we arrived in good time, to be greeted by the promoters - Duncan and Chris, who are the nicest promoters I've encountered in years, and we had a good lengthy soundcheck, followed by flattering praise from our hosts. Native Tongue is a nice venue - a hidden doorway next to Subway (where we ate, it was lovely, although that's a pointless fact), neon lights and a good sized stage, with a fantastic house drum kit, and an everso slightly swanky wine bar feel to it - only slightly though, as this is very much a gig venue. Due to the fact that there was the Champions League final taking place we had a very tiny audience, in fact all we had was the other acts and the bar staff, normally I would frown at this and feel a little demoralised, but when everyone in the room is so enthusiastic and we all felt like one team, supporting each other, it was a completely wonderful evening. I'm no hippy but it felt like there was a lot of love in that room tonight. Okay, mutual appreciation at least. We were on the bill with basically various different ukulele players...still not sure why, but they were all great (especially Caroline Grannell - what a voice) and some really old guy with a massive beard who stunned us all with his heartbreaking, stirring ballads - I don't think any of us saw that coming, incredible stuff. Our set was warmly received and you know - rightly so, I'm not just saying that because I've had a couple pints and now enjoying a nightcap, we played bloody well tonight. Okay, so the ending of 'Roll On The Rain' was slightly messy, but the rest of it buzzed along nicely, whether it be the chilled ballad, or the funky Latin stuff. 'Alive' was pretty spectacular, whilst 'Falling' has such a groove I even got a bit carried away. It felt like a perfect mixture of good musicians complimenting each other - nobody overplayed, everybody respected the song, yet it still sounded exciting somehow. From a personal point of view I feel like tonight I've finally found the drum sound that defines me as a drummer. I've been really taken to the whole hot-rods on tight snare, with hi-hat tomfoolery but solid grooves on the bass drum and snare feel over the last few years, but have always struggled with new rods - basically they sound too fixed, too controlled, yet if I was going to play with brushes instead the notes wouldn't be defined enough. To cut a long story short, as I appreciate non-drummers will find this boring, I've realised that a new pair of rods, with the top rubber bit taken out (so the wood themselves is really loose) and replaced with a tiny bit of gaffer tape three quarters up on each stick is the way forward - offers enough flexibility for trickery, but also enough beef to it for the solid note in these acoustic type situations. Cool, glad I've cleared that up. It was a great gig anyway, I don't think I've ever had so much praise for a performance as I did from that audience afterwards, one person even shouted kind things about 'the drummer' before we'd left the stage. I'm fickle, but these things mean a lot to me. Nice trip back with the band in Tony's people carrier with good banter, a near-perfect way to spend a Saturday evening.