Gig report: Charity Festival @ The Mad Cat, Pidley

Bands: Flaming June, The Trevor Jones Band, The British IBM
Venue: Outside at The Mad Cat, Pidley
Date: 21/04/2012
Audience: Due to the unpredictable weather throughout the day it was either really busy or not so many of them, but whoever was there were fantastic and looked like they were enjoying it
Sets: Flaming June: not sure; Trevor Jones Band: All I Am, Shine A Light, Badman, Alive, Old Fashioned Woman, Roll On The Rain, I Don't Wanna' Talk About It, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling. Encore - Solid Ground; The British IBM: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Cannibal, God's Front Porch, Animal, Not Your Day, The British IBM, 3 Years, Washing Machine
Notes: That was a busy day, but a bloody good one. The event was organised by my mate Jon from LoveSongwriting, and it was for the Pidley Mountain & Rescue Team. Three of my bands were booked to play this intimate outdoor festival, which was in the sizable pub beer garden of the Mad Cat and it was just a really good day. Flaming June are perfect for this kind of gig, and despite the bad weather really held onto the audience we did have, this whole slightly angry folk thing the band does is incredibly endearing at times and I think FJ are very much a festival type of band. We played all of the usual stuff, one song we hadn't played for a while, and Louise played one solo too, all of which went down well. Next up was The Trevor Jones Band - not being arrogant or anything, but I felt (despite Trevor's throat going near the end) that this was the best we've played in a long, long while...probably something to do with the fact it was our second gig in two days so we were pretty tight, and it just all felt so comfortable, this kind of band often finds me drumming the way I know I want to sometimes, silky and jazzy, all wrapped up in a nice pop quartet. With The British IBM it's where it all went rock and roll, and where the excessive drinking began. We seemed to be hotly anticipated at the venue ahead of our set - people talk about things they've seen, and people had been talking about 'Washing Machine,' so we hit the stage in good spirits. Played well I think, Dave was allowed to smoke on stage and sambuccas were poured down my throat as I was playing, and it was nice to play 'Not Your Day' again, it was very much a mix of old and new material but it worked well. We were so looked after at this gig - people seemed so grateful that we did this for their local charity, and all the staff at The Mad Cat were lovely to us, with free food and drink. We drank a lot. I wasn't going to drink, but somehow ended up downing various shots with Aidy and Jon (Dave had to go back to work - they even had a whip round for his taxi) in the bar and crashing out in Warboys. The day after, Sunday, was tough at first. Self-inflicted of course. I would say I'm too old for this, but we all know a good night is always worthwhile and of course - it's all for charity...