So, that was 2011

In the words of Emmy The Great and Tim Wheeler, 'I can't believe it's been another year...'

This will be my last blog post of the year I think, unless something dramatically amazing (or so dreadful I feel the need to write about it here) happens in the next week or so. And besides, this is my 110th post of 2011; I've gone on a bit. Anyway, it's been a good year I think. Like last year when I wrote a similar piece about 2010, this more of a justification for being so busy all the time, prepare yourself for a bit of a Paul Richards self-indulging session. Or of course you could just stop reading. Either way, here's what I did in 2011...

After what was a rather lovely end to 2010 (a year in which I was nominated for two small awards as a playwright (didn't win either), played on an 'iTunes Single Of The Week' and had some coverage on BBC 6 Music for a song I co-wrote), I entered 2011 with much excitement but a slightly blurred vision of what I wanted to achieve. I found myself making notes, playing the odd radio gig and writing a show with Heather (a project that never happened for various reasons) but then at the end of January it was my first show with DOWSING FOR SOUND. It's hard to think that the incredible Dowsing show at Great St. Mary's Church was 11 months ago because it is still at the forefront of my mind. It was simply one of the best nights of my life; a hugely ambitious project, with 40-odd singers, a live band, a complicated set and a huge audience. The expectation was frightening, the venue was beautiful, the rehearsals were both inspiring and worrying, but the show was jaw-dropping - nothing has come close to this as a drummer for me in all my years of playing, I feel incredibly grateful to be involved in such a mesmerising occasion, especially as I wasn't that keen in the first place but Andrea (band leader) was very persuasive and I'm rubbish at saying no. I still smile thinking about that gig. Also in January I played in London with LU, the first of many gigs of the year with AIDY and FLAMING JUNE and rehearsals started for my short film. February was mostly spent writing new material with Edinburgh in mind, my play IF YOU CAN'T MAKE ME HAPPY ended up at the Leicester Comedy Festival and a radio version of my play GONE MIDNIGHT was recorded by a company in Essex. The film version was also made, but despite a fair bit of work, I still haven't seen the final, final cut yet, maybe that will emerge in 2012? I have a horrible feeling it's been forgotten about, which is a shame because there was a lovely team working on it. There was also the AIDY/EUREKA STOCKADE gig at the Portland which culminated in the best aftershow party ever, ever, ever. It was in March when my year started to take shape properly, with recording sessions with LAURA TAPP (double a-side single release) and FLAMING JUNE (EP), I organised a benefit concert for the victims of the New Zealand earthquake (and played it with three bands), and had a first reading of a play I'd written called IS IT TOO LATE TO SAVE OSCAR PIKE? - a show that would end up taking a fair bit of my time as the year progressed. It was the first time I'd worked with IZZY NICOLSON, an outstanding actress who instantly understood the somewhat quirky timing of my work and somebody I'd end up working with a lot this year. Alongside other gigs both in and out of town, in April I found myself playing a one-off gig with THE TREVOR JONES BAND in a huge gig at the Bedford Corn Exchange. I enjoyed the show so much I'm still playing for them now, Trevor's an awesome songwriter. We filmed the promotional video for EUREKA STOCKADE's single, All Alone, and I found myself in the studio drumming on a hip-hop project with MICHELLE BESSANT and playing congas for a new album by THE PRISONER OF MARS. In May I turned 30, which felt like the end of the world at the time; recently single, 7 grey hairs, not really in the best mindset. Which is probably why my 'crisis play', IS IS TOO LATE TO SAVE OSCAR PIKE? worked so well for it's first couple of performances. The play is virtually a true story, to the extent it's painful at times, and the first couple of performances (which were in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust) found me on stage - being me - opening my heart to sold out audiences, and one point partially nude. It was my first time as a leading actor, or you could argue, a 'proper actor', and I'd spent months stressing about this, which coincided with my own 30th birthday as well as that of the title character's. But the director, MICHELLE GOLDER is an amazing talent to work with, somehow she pushed me through this, and alongside KATE MADISON, KEVIN WRIGHT and Izzy it worked an absolute treat. Probably my best bit of writing in years, too, I say somewhat arrogantly. That show pretty much took up my whole month with rehearsals and that, although I did find time to play a few more gigs, including a particularly excellent one with Trevor at Native Tongue in London, my first of many festivals this year with the Eureka chaps and also spend a day recording with PAUL GOODWIN. Ah yes, and turning 30 wasn't so bad after all, and my celebrations took place at The Haymakers in which good friends played songs and I got stupidly merry. In June, Oscar Pike ended up at the ADC Theatre bar for a couple more performances but I just don't think these were as good, played more festivals with EUREKA STOCKADE, recorded a live album DVD with TREVOR JONES, played a radio show with FLAMING JUNE, and tried out three brand new plays at CB2 in front of an audience who were really too kind considering most of it didn't work. I found myself on tour in July with AIDY (and Dave the bassist) playing 7 shows across the country during the first week of the month - Watford, Norwich, Leeds (twice), London, Brighton and back home to Cambridge. It was a short tour but a real eye-opener on how the process works, we played to some lovely audiences, made lots of friends and drank far too much. Aidy, Dave and I continued to gig out of town when ever we could for the rest of the year, realising that Cambridge is bit dull sometimes. I'm really happy we toured, it's been on my to-do list for a while, and it was so nice to do it with people I actually like. Looking forward to doing it all again next year. Also in July my play PROBABLY THE GREATEST GOAL EVER SCORED was performed by WriteOn at the ADC Theatre bar by GRACE WILLIAMS and ALAN STEWART - two wonderful actors whom I intend to see a lot more of in 2012, played at the amazing SECRET GARDEN PARTY festival with EUREKA STOCKADE, recorded congas for EMILY BLICKEM's charming EP, and played another truly memorable gig with DOWSING FOR SOUND - this time at the beautiful Ickworth Park. The month ended with me back in acting mode, playing a chip-shop worker called Billy in a promotional video for a song by the brilliant FRED'S HOUSE. The video seems to be pretty popular, and rightly so - it's a great track, and it was a lovely day of filming with some really nice and talented people. August started with a couple more festival gigs, and IS IT TOO LATE TO SAVE OSCAR PIKE? ended up at the EDINBURGH FRINGE for a couple cheeky performances. I love the fringe, and although we lost Kate from the show, Izzy played all the female characters somewhat remarkably and we did alright I think, in a really understated kind of way. Bit like touring though, I've got the fringe bug, next we'll proper storm it. I also started to felt really comfortable with playing Oscar on stage, to the extent that by the end of our short run I wanted to do more with that character, we will. The rest of August was spent writing a musical, and playing more gigs, the AIDY show at The Stockton Underground Festival was a highlight. In September I returned to my role as 'Director Of Theatre' for LODESTAR FESTIVAL in Cambridge, and having booked all the non-music acts for the second stage, the festival was a bit of a treat for all concerned - I had no reason to worry at all, Lodestar is amazing, and the comedy acts were welcomed by lovely audiences throughout, despite the rain. During that festival I wrote and produced two plays - a comedy called HOW ABOUT YOU? and also a musical for the Dowsing choir called RELATIONSHIPS, EH? Again, another big moment in my year. Writing the book for a musical is no easy task (especially as I had four days to bash something out), and with really limited rehearsals but loads and loads of singers...but somehow it worked out, I've got the whole show as an mp3 and I'm thrilled with it, once again it's all about the magic of DOWSING FOR SOUND. I'm already looking forward to Lodestar next year, I love being part of this festival and it's become a regular meeting place for good friends too to catch up over beers in a field. Also in September played a random gig for the Institute Of Videography, recorded a live album/DVD with EUREKA STOCKADE at the stunning High Barn in Essex, played at the excellent TRYSTONBURY FESTIVAL with AIDY, and then felt the need to physically calm down. Relaxed and refreshed, October was gig heavy with shows with all my bands including a headline slot at The Troubadour with Trevor in London, and recording sessions started with LAURA TAPP for her brilliant debut album, which is to be released next year. I also wrote a novel called BIG HOPES IN LITTLE WINHAVEN, which I spent nearly five days on, and will be spending the rest of Christmas editing and probably re-writing. I'm actually really proud of it, and am pretty excited about releasing it next year, just needs a bit of tweaking but that was a great way to spend a week out of the office. In November I tried out yet more new play material and absolutely none of it worked whatsoever, but my faith in my own writing was restored thanks to a performance of my new play, TO THE BRINK at the ADC bar which fed my ego nicely because they did it so well. More gigs, including the launch of REES GUITARS and a London showcase with EUREKA STOCKADE dominated my month, as well as writing the Christmas show, promoting a festive tune I'd co-written with THE PRISONER OF MARS called 'I Don't Care If Santa Comes Around' and also my first foray into drum teaching - working with Grace in a primary school for a day demonstrating African drums to a bunch of kids. Not sure if I'm teacher material, but I felt very welcome. And so here we are; December. A month that offered two more challenges; writing 12 short plays for an online release called THE TWELVE MONOLOGUES OF CHRISTMAS - I wrote the whole lot in three evenings, and then Izzy and Grace came over to record them, my mate Steve did the website, and it was a lovely little project that we've not really promoted properly but has made us feel Christmassy at least. My final out of town gig of the year was back in Stockton with AIDY, which we enjoyed a lot, and the year has ended on a decent note with our yuletide show, THREE ELVES, A SNOWMAN AND A FUNERAL.

Looking back, that was quite a busy year then, but it didn't always feel like it. I vowed at the start to do less and focus more on set projects, I think to a certain extent I have done that - the Oscar Pike stuff for example took a lot of time and I did find it difficult being tied to one project. But my creative CV is considerably better thanks to a lot of these things I've done this year I think. I said to Heather last night after the show that I don't think I've done enough this year, it's only when you look at it all written down that actually I realise that statement may have sounded a bit silly now.

And some stats:
This year I've played 83 gigs with 10 different bands
I've drummed on 5 albums, 2 EP's and 3 singles.
I've written 11 plays (plus a series of 12 monologues for audio release) and have had my work performed publicly 20 times, as well as signing two independent publishing contracts.

I have met some wonderful people this year, and (CLICHE ALERT) I feel like I've really started to find myself; I've calmed down a bit, I've finally worked out what hairstyle suits my face. A lot of people have been really good to me this year - the gigs, the theatre stuff...at the end of the day I'm just a playwright and a drummer, we're pretty pathetic without bandmates, actors and directors. My friends deserve a lot of credit too, for listening to me spout on about all of these projects every week, and often navigating me to gigs when I get lost. Which is often. 2011 has been good, 2012 will be awesome. In the meantime, I've got presents to wrap, family to see and mates to get drunk with. Have a lovely Christmas and speak to you next year x

Three Elves, A Snowman & A Funeral

Just back from the second and final performance of this year's Christmas show. Titled, 'Three Elves, A Snowman And A Funeral', I have to admit I'm rather happy with the way things turned out in the end. I'm tired, and feeling slightly flat about things at the moment, but I know deep down that actually this was one of the better ones - probably our best Christmas show since the first 'Alex' one four years ago, no probably actually - it was. The thing I can't really get my head around though is that there wasn't any crisis at all - okay, so we lost an actor early on so I ended up being the narrator again, whilst Heather's directing debut was a smooth one, we all know her, she knows us, we respect her. This working team of Izzy, Kev, Vaughan, Elisa and Steve is such a solid one, the whole thing was put together in the space of three and a bit weeks yet there was never any panic, never any doubts that it wouldn't pull through nicely. Maybe that's why I'm flat about it all - previously there's been a sense of victory when we've pulled it out of the bag at the last minute, these days we pull things out of the bag at the last minute on such a regular basis it has become the norm. Or maybe, just maybe, we're actually quite good these days? Either way, lovely show - the first performance last night had a small-ish audience of 18 (capacity is 30) but they laughed a lot, even if I was a bit Red Bull-ed up so didn't deliver my lines at a reasonable pace. But tonight's I felt was an absolute cracker - in a solid, sturdy kind of way, the show sold out so we added extra chairs and sold a few of them too. Steve and Clare had a puppy with them, I liked that, I think it should come to our gigs. It's a quirky little show about Santa's daughter taking the reigns and trying to change things too quickly, before getting killed in an anthrax attack and then Santa saves the day. Amongst all of that there is three dancing elves, Elton John, a snowman called Nigel, a little donkey, a cracker joke competition, a little romance, live music from the consistently brilliant Louise Hamilton, and Vaughan in an horrifically short skirt. All the elements of Christmas then, with a big sing-a-long at the end. The two performances flied by, we turned CB2 into Santa's grotto, and filled the show with Christmas music. Script-wise one of my better efforts I think, with that and 'Oscar Pike' this year I feel I've hit some good times creatively, ignoring the other shite I've churned out in between these shows, of course. In between performances, Heather, Elisa and I went to watch 'Arthur Christmas' in the cinema in a desperate bid to make us feel festive. To be honest I've been festive since mid-September; as I write this it's now Christmas Eve but I don't feel Christmassy at all. But back to the show, cheer up, Richards, I know I'm supposed to be happy with this one.

Tunes and albums of 2011

As the year tumbles to a close at a frightening pace, as before I've gone and made myself a CDR of my favourite songs released in the last twelve months. It's been a good year for tunes I think, although I tend to say that every year in retrospect. Obviously a lot will disagree and spout on about ' the state of the music industry' but I just don't feel it's my place to join in; at the end of the day there are plenty of amazing songwriters out there, and even if they don't receive the commercial recognition we think they deserve it's very clear great songs are still being written, which is, literally, music to my ears. (sorry). Anyway - managed to squeeze 19 tracks onto my end of year compilation, so for no other reason apart from the fact I'm just a bit chatty, here's my favourite tuneage of 2011:

My favourite songs of 2011 in no particular order:
CHRIS DIFFORD: Goldfish
GRUFF RHYS: Sensations In The Dark
OKKERVIL RIVER: We Need A Myth
JENNY AND JOHNNY: Animal
BILL WELLS & AIDAN MOFFAT: The Copper Top
PAUL GOODWIN: You Won't Break My Heart
THE DEARS: 5 Chords
MATTHEW P: Medicine
GUILLEMOTS: I Don't Feel Amazing Now
THE BEES: I Really Need Love
I AM KLOOT: To The Brink
ELVIS COSTELLO: Sparkling Day
FRED'S HOUSE: Someone Else's Road
PAUL HEATON: Even A Palm Tree
SLOW CLUB: Never Look Back
JULIAN VELARD: Take The Money And Run
EMMY THE GREAT: Cassandra
YOUNG REBEL SET: Precious Days
WARPAINT: Undertow

A pretty awesome compilation, I'm sure you'll agree. What's that? You want to know what my favourite 10 albums of the year are, in order? Oh go on then, if you insist...

My top 10 albums of 2011, in order:
1. BILL WELLS & AIDAN MOFFAT - EVERYTHING'S GETTING OLDER
2. OKKERVIL RIVER - I AM VERY FAR
3. YOUNG REBEL SET - CURSE OUR LOVE
4. SLOW CLUB - PARADISE
5. EMMY THE GREAT - VIRTUE
6. CHRIS DIFFORD - CASHMERE IF YOU CAN
7. JULIAN VELARD - MR. SATURDAY NIGHT
8. THE DEARS - DEGENERATION STREET
9. GUILLEMOTS - WALK THE RIVER
10. GRUFF RHYS - HOTEL SHAMPOO

Normally for me these things are a bit closer, but there hasn't been an album released this year that has come anywhere near 'Everything's Getting Older' - it's beautiful, poignant, witty, it doesn't overstay it's welcome and the whole 40 minutes is virtually flawless. If I read this a year ago I would have been saying, 'what, the new Guillemots album, that you've been looking forward to for sooo long, isn't even in your top 5?' - but I just can't get into it, despite the standout moments. Okkervil River are my favourite live band of the year, and 'I Am Very Far' is a mostly brilliant album that I have listened to virtually on repeat. Saying that, I can see 'Paradise' by Slow Club becoming one of my favourite albums of all time, but in time. Anyway, that's my thoughts, there's certainly been some good stuff released in 2011, and I'm confident I'll be saying the same thing about 2012 when the time comes.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade, Aidy, Flaming June @ The Portland Arms, Cambridge

Bands: Flaming June, Aidy and Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 17/12/11
Audience: Nice, not too many of them, but festive
Sets: Flaming June - not sure; Aidy - Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Dirty Little Cannibal, Down Like That, 3 Years, Waiting, God's Front Porch, Miami Beach, Washing Machine; Eureka Stockade - Violence, I've Been There Before, Erotomania, Goodbye You've Gone, Caught In A Fire, Resistance, Without You, Heroes Fall, Through Every Darkness, All Alone
Notes: We've been talking about this one for a while - it was the great Christmas Jumper Extravaganza gig, in which the audience were invited to wear a festive jumper and if so were allowed in for just £2 (£5 if they weren't). There wasn't much seasonal clothing I have to admit - but then again there wasn't really a huge audience, but there was enough of them (twenty or so perhaps?) to make the relatively small venue seem lively enough and those who were there were pretty vocal in their enjoyment. I played this with three of my bands, and after the mighty Paul Goodwin (still the best songwriter in Cambridge - fact) opened the show I hit the stage with Flaming June. Played this as a trio as Clare needed to rest, but did okay I think. Of course we missed Clare (after all - she's a really good musician), but Louise, Steve and I bashed through half an hour of material, including the new track. I played much better than I did on Friday - was much sharper, and the alternative Christmas cover at the end was a bit of a treat. Next up was Aidy, in which I was on drums not congas, and I really enjoyed this - we're much more exciting when we play electric I think. The banter on stage was good and we were really tight for a majority of it, including the songs we don't play so often such as 'Waiting' and 'Miami Beach', both of which were rehearsed a few times earlier in the day. The slow-motion anarchy at the end made us chuckle, probably confused a few audience members, but is all part of the Aidy experience. 15 minutes later I was back on stage to drum for the headliners, Eureka Stockade. This time we were a four piece (our line-up changes gig by gig at the moment), with us regulars (Rob, Andy and myself) joined again by Claudia on bass. My energy levels were flagging somewhat towards the end - might have been something to do with the fact I'd been drumming all night, or might have also been something to do with the fact I was doing all that whilst wearing a Christmas jumper. As a result I made a couple slips in the performance, nothing anyone would have noticed but I was still a bit annoyed with myself. We played well though as a unit - Eureka Stockade have come on leaps and bounds this year, with new track 'Goodbye You've Gone' sounding lovely, on the whole I think it was a really strong set and there was a real sense of fun on stage. I know I said this after the London gig, but Claudia's bass playing is remarkable - she puts so much life into it, it's a drummer's dream - and as I was starting to tire her funky grooves really did drag me through the last few songs. Great evening, a good workout, but thoroughly enjoyable. And yes, I did secretly like wearing the Christmas jumper, I doubt that's the last we'll see of that.

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 16/12/11
Audience: Friendly, half-full venue
Set: Not sure - the regular set with a new track thrown in
Notes: First gig with Flaming June for what feels like ages, and it's always a pleasure. The new track (I played this for the first time in the soundcheck) slots in nicely, the venue was decorated all festive which made me smile and we played with plenty of confidence. Hungover from the office Christmas party the night before (free bar, oh dear) I was a little sluggish at times, but the rest of the guys seemed in good form. Shame I couldn't stay to watch headliner Tom Copson play (my old mucker from Under The Streetlamp, Jess, sings with him) but had to dash off to Eureka Stockade-Andy's birthday curry just down the road. Nice evening, knackered.

The Twelve Monologues Of Christmas

Well that was a nice little challenge, mission accomplished and all that. Writing 12 monologues in four days looked easy enough to me, but then other things (play rehearsals, band rehearsals, beers with friends) suddenly got in the way and I wasn't so sure it was going to happen. Anyway - we have the site courtesy of Steve, we have a logo courtesy of Chris, and we have 12 monologues all nice and ready to be heard. Steve rightly pointed out that to end on Christmas Eve we'd actually have to start on Tuesday, not Monday, so that did give us an extra day, and I felt a bit silly regarding my lack of numerical ability.

Although most of it was written late at night, I'm really happy with a majority of the pieces. Izzy came over on Saturday to record the first seven - she's such a professional, I'm baffled as to how fluent she was with the material having not read it before, her range of voices is fantastic and she did really well bringing some of the 'lesser' pieces to life. Grace came over this evening to record the other five - there's a reason why I want to work with more with Grace and that's not just because she's the most enthusiastic and happiest person you could ever work with - it's because like Izzy she's a top-notch pro and tonight's session was so easy (in fact we finished so early we ended up reading through some other material I've been working on recently with 2012 in mind). Working with actors like this allows me to experiment - I know that a majority of 'The Twelve Monologues Of Christmas' is really twee, really gentle, but it does go dark (monologues ten and eleven, to be precise) - with lesser performers this wouldn't have worked, but my pieces 'The Silent Night' and 'The Silent Night 2' are not concepts I would have dared try before. Grace's performance of both of those this evening almost shook me up a bit, I was sat next to her during the recording of them and really believed she was an upset/nearly grieving girlfriend, shivers down my spine and all that, I nearly fetched her a tissue. Obviously as soon as she pressed stop she was back to her normal chatty self, these actors are clever, you know. And as for 'The Christmas Singer' - this is potentially the most uninteresting piece I've ever written but it sounds wicked because Izzy added a million new to dimensions to it with her performance.

Both days recordings were short (Izzy around for three and half hours on Saturday, Grace around for about two and a half tonight), it's hardly the most professional environment - a fancy dictaphone and my little flat which currently has a heating issue, but in a rough and ready, raw theatre kind of way I'm proud of this. Anyway - check it out - http://www.12monologues.co.uk/

Right, no more projects this year, I sense that could have been one too many, it worked out well and I'm glad I've done it, but no more. We've got the Christmas show next week which is looking brilliant (Heather's directing is top-notch), and before that the Eureka Stockade/Aidy/Flaming June festive party-gig, and before that two parties in a row which are likely to utterly destroy me. And then next Sunday it's Christmas. Where has this year gone?

My final challenge of the year

See, I often have ideas about projects I'd like to work on, but often I then go to bed, wake up, and decide they were rubbish. But I've had an idea tonight that I'm so keen on I've decided to write a blog post about it - because the chances are if I go 'public' with an idea I'll actually force myself to go ahead with it...

The other day I purchased an mp3 recorder off a mate, it was cheap and quite shiny. It's speciality is recording voices, and driving back from a Christmas show rehearsal a few nights back I joked to Izzy that I had a spare afternoon on Saturday 10th, shall we record a sitcom? As she's as nuts as I am, she said yes, and then I asked Grace if she too wanted to be involved, she also seemed keen, so we were going to spend some hours this weekend trying out my mp3 recorder on a new radio sitcom ('Technically Single') I've been working on the last few weeks. Tonight though I've had a better idea; sod the sitcom, let's do something festive... THE TWELVE MONOLOGUES OF CHRISTMAS.

12 festive monologues, released as a free download, one a day, in the run up to Christmas. Some short, some longer, some witty, some completely and utterly heartbreaking, but all very Christmassy. Having had this idea whilst eating my dinner, I looked at my diary and realised that if we get the first one out there on Monday, one monologue a day for twelve days means the final one will be released on CHRISTMAS EVE. PERFECT! I like writing monologues, I like analysing people, and Christmas is a perfect time for that - from the childish enthusiasm of a youngster to the anxiety-ridden fears of an old skinflint, there's plenty of stories to be told.

Anyway, have just had a nice chat on the phone with Grace and she's coming over on Monday evening to record six of them. I'm hoping that Izzy is still free on Saturday to record a good few then - hopefully the other six, and we can get moving with this, she may be reading this blog, not sure, but have emailed her as I think that's a more acceptable way of communication.

Right, I need a website for it now, a logo for the project, and...er, the scripts themselves. I'd best get writing then.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Sun Inn, Stockton-on-Tees

Band: Aidy
Venue: The Sun Inn, Stockton-on-Tees
Date: 03/12/11
Audience: Venue half-full, enthusiastic crowd
Set: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Dirty Little Cannibal, Not Your Day, Edinburgh, Washing Machine, 3 Years (encore)
Notes: Following our success earlier this year in Stockton, we headed back up north for another performance in the town where we seem to be building quite a following. It's not that long a journey to be honest - just under four hours, and I think we were all happy to get back on the road again, personally I'm bogged down in projects here and welcomed the opportunity to get away for a day and a bit. Having checked in at the Middlesborough Travel Lodge as before (I swear it was even the same room, then again they all do look the same), we made a quick visit to the stupidly cheap CD store we found last time we were there (my purchases this time were mostly Britpop-based, with two albums from Space and one from Catatonia, plus a much sought-after Christmas compilation, the criminally underrated album from The Holloways and, ahem, the best of Simply Red as we like to listen to that in the Aidy car, ironically, of course, the whole lot came to £9 - as I say, ridiculous, in a good way) and grabbed a couple pints in a local pub with our Stockton friends whom we met for the first time at the last gig. Back to the hotel to dress and look like a band, and then we were picked up to make the fifteen minute trip down the road to the venue. The Sun Inn reminds me a little of The Portland Arms in Cambridge - it's a lively bar, with the music in a separate back room, perhaps slightly bigger than the Portland, but with an equally nice vibe. We were the opening act which, even though we have a nice little following in the area, we were happy with considering we're still an out-of-town band. The headliners, The Lemondrops, kindly let us use their drums and bass amp, and the kit itself was lovely - a nicely tuned Pacific set-up that was so comfortable to play. Having performed acoustically the last time, it was nice to rock out with an electric set this time, and that aspect of our set has really started to gel. The thing is, as well as becoming good friends over the year, Aidy, Dave and I have really got used to each other's playing too, not wishing to sound arrogant or anything but last night we were effortlessly tight and played as a unit, a real force, this is no longer just Andy and a rhythm section, this is a band. New song, 'Dirty Little Cannibal' - which we're currently working on ahead of recording the new album early next year (which is to be called 'The British IBM') was really good fun to play, and the whole set was generously received by new and old friends alike. After doing the mailing list round with Aidy (in which once again my cuddles are pimped out in return for an email address, one woman hugged me three times which I swear was against the rules), we drank the local beer and enjoyed the other bands before politely declining the kind offer of a trip to a late night rock club because we were tired and slightly jaded. A long day, but a most enjoyable one, and we felt incredibly welcome; I have no doubt whatsoever that we'll be back up that way again very soon.