Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ High Barn, Essex

Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: High Barn, Great Bardfield, Essex
Date: 14/09/11
Audience: About half-full, sat at tables, nice
Set: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, She Got Good, I've Been There Before, Heroes Fall, Sharks, Caught In A Fire, Broken Pieces, Without You, All Alone, Erotomania, Violence
Notes: High Barn is my favourite venue, I know I say that everytime I come back from there but I mean it - it's a crime more people don't know about it. The acoustics are magnificent, the whole high wooden ceiling thing is beautiful, the stage is the perfect size for being both roomy and intimate, the decor is incredible, the smell of the place...ahhh, it's all wonderful. All of these things made it our number one location to record the live album/DVD, headlining with the oustanding (fellow Cambridgeshire band) Willows also playing and recording their set too. This was the 6-piece version of Eureka Stockade and my favourite - with the four of us joined by Anna on cello and Dave on pedal steel guitar. They add so much to the sound and take it away from the standard indie rock format, and they're both lovely people too so it's always a pleasure. This gig was also sadly our last show with Nathan on bass - he's been with the band for a couple years now but has decided to move on to pastures new, but he ended it on a high - this is the best I've heard him play these songs in a long time. All in all a good gig, I'd be concerned if the whole show was released as there may have been a couple less than perfect moments (the ending of 'Caught In A Fire' for example), but when we hit top form - which we did sporadically throughout the performance (I don't think the ballads, 'Broken Pieces' and 'Without You' have ever sounded so good), there is a real sense that we should be showing people these recordings. I await the final mixes with much anticipation, in the meantime just the thought of being sat behind the kit looking at that beautiful venue in all it's glory is enough to keep me happy.