Gig report: Relay For Life show @ Ickworth Park

Bands: Dowsing For Sound, Flaming June, Trevor Jones Band
Venue: Ickworth Park, Suffolk
Date: 30th July
Audience: Packed at times, gradually going throughout the day
Sets: Dowsing For Sound - Alive, Mercy Street, The Book Of Love, You Are My World, Storm Coming, Terrible Love, White Sky, Let It Be, One Day Like This; Flaming June - Rejoice, Under My Skin, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Rumplestiltskin, Stop The Ride, Wednesday's & Weekends; Trevor Jones Band - All I Am, Badman, Shine A Light, Alive, Roll On The Rain, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Old Fashioned Woman, She Was Me, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling, Solid Ground.
Notes: It's 2.27am. I've just got in. I should have got home sooner as I got off stage just after midnight and Ickworth isn't that far away, but for some reason I had great trouble finding the A14 tonight and drove around for what felt like a lifetime whilst swearing a lot to myself. I'm up in five hours time to be in the Fred's House promotional video - that's something like seven hours of filming, I'm playing a chip shop bloke. I can only hope it's a chip shop bloke who has massive bags under his eyes, because that's what I'll have in the morning. I should be sleeping but at one desperate point in my journey home in which I felt I would never get out of Suffolk I pulled into a layby and opened my fifth can of Red Bull equivalent of the day, assuming I would never get home at a reasonable hour. Half an hour later I'm home, but there's no chance of me sleeping for hours. I'm rambling a lot about the insignificant things here I know, I should probably chat about the gig...it was a good day, at times absolutely jaw-dropping; the ceremony was amazing, the commitment of people to do the walk around the park was incredible - even as I left they were still doing laps, in honour of those who have died of cancer. This is a charity which means a lot to me on a personal level, I'm really happy to have been there today. Outside gigs are always strange though - the sound can never be right somehow, despite the hard work of those trying to make it happen. Ickworth Park is probably the most beautiful location I've ever played in, but part of me wanted to be a spectator today and enjoy the site rather than have to worry about my equipment all day. The last time we played as Dowsing For Sound it was in an indoor venue where the sound was much more controlled and we had in affect a 7 hour soundcheck. Today we were outside to a backdrop of perfect sunshine with about 20 minutes to get ourselves ready, it was a different kind of gig altogether, which was probably a good thing because nothing could really replicate the magic of that January show. That's not to say we didn't rock though - we certainly did, it was a little nervy, my own personal performance was a little stilted at times, nothing the general public would notice but nowhere near as technically sharp as I can be, the choir were in fine voice when they really got going ('Book Of Love' for example was fantastic), although there was a real sense that they couldn't be heard as loudly as they could be on occasions which was a shame. We went down very well though - the audience, all very chilled, took to us, it'll go down as a success but I just can't wait to do it all again as I personally didn't really feel 'on it' at times. Dowsing For Sound is special - the people involved are special, really looking forward to the next adventure with them all, I consider them all to be more than just people I drum for now, I consider them to be friends. I then quickly found myself on stage with Flaming June - it felt nice to be playing songs that I was really confident with , especially considering we had a warm-up show the night before. Nice big stage too, we could really go for it, we did, I think that's the best we've played in ages, FJ are just a band that really hits the mark on such a regular basis, such a nice confident performance. A few hours and a can or two of naughty energy drink later and I was back on stage just after 11pm with Trevor Jones Band - by now a lot of the audience had gone, it was dark, it was late, sometimes I hate being the headline band - but despite our reservations walking on (there was a general vibe in the band of 'well, we're here now, we might as well just get on with it') the grounds seemed to be buzzing again - although there wasn't much of a crowd left, those who were there leaped about, cheered enthusiastically, really made their presence felt. A couple songs in and we actually started to enjoy ourselves again and put on a decent show I think, some of it really, really worked big time - 'Can't Take This Anymore' has grown into a beast of a track, our now song - 'Solid Ground' - was a little too loose but it was the last song of a very long day so I guess that can be forgiven. Massive thanks to Marcus, Will, Vicky, Louise, Gav, Andrea and Lorraine for staying out that late to watch us, it was completely appreciated. It all became a totally enjoyable experience, I really enjoyed today, I was in the company of some exceptional people (friends, bandmates, family), it was a wonderfully organised event, when I wake up a bit tomorrow at some point I'll appreciate just how great a way that was to spend a summers day for such a worthy cause. And, as I finish typing this, I can feel the caffeine gradually starting to wear off, and I think I may actually still get a good four and a half hours sleep in tonight, huzzah.