Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: Retro, London
Date: 12/11/11
Audience: A couple tables worth, mostly nice enough
Set: Caught In A Fire, I've Been There Before, Violence, Without You, All Alone, Through Every Darkness, Heroes Fall
Notes: For a London gig, this was remarkably easy to play. Rob kindly picked me up at 3.30pm, and by 5.15pm we had arrived at the venue - it seemed in a nice enough area, and there was parking directly outside. Nice performance space, very friendly place - a bit empty (especially for a Saturday evening) but we felt welcome. After a quick takeaway, we soundchecked and I actually felt incredibly relaxed about this one - the sound was good, the house drum kit - albeit a very cheap one, was tuned well and we never felt rushed which was nice. Another gig and another slightly different Eureka Stockade line-up, with us three regulars (Rob, Andy and myself) joined again by the ever brilliant Dave Greeves and tonight, for the first time, Claudia McKenzie on bass. I used to play with Claudia in a band years and years ago (from 2001-2003, this makes me feel very old) and she is an outstanding bassist - big grooves, fills the sound, she seems to feel every note and plays with jaw-dropping confidence. From a drummers point of view this is fantastic - so easy to lock in, it gives me the space to open up my playing a little and let go, and because we're both completely comfortable with each others playing (we've had a few other one-off sessions over the years, recording etc) it was easy to be a tight rhythm section despite only having the one rehearsal of these songs earlier this week. The billing was a mixed-bag, one band older than us, another much younger, and we were second on out of three. Wasn't much of an audience, but those who were there seemed to be into it, apart from one idiot who kept annoying Andy. In response, during the quiet bit of 'Without You', Andy told him to "go fuck yourself." I'm glad he did this (Andy retaliating, that is) because some people just need to be told - it was a free entry gig tonight, we sweat our arses off on stage, and one person shouldn't ruin that - if this stranger didn't like it, he didn't have to be there. The mood changed slightly perhaps at this stage, but that doesn't take away the fact it was a lovely gig; we sound great as a band at the moment, I think we have been for a few gigs now, and I'm feeling a renewed sense of enthusiasm for this project. Home by 11pm, that's pretty much unheard of for an out-of-town gig, I've enjoyed myself - had a few beers with my Eureka chums and a bit of a catchup, played a very satisfying set, all in all a nice way to spend an evening.
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