Gig report: Flaming June @ Oxjam, Bedford

Band: Flaming June
Venue: Oxjam @ Esquires, Bedford
Date: 27/10/12
Audience: Hardly any at first, but plenty by the end, some big applause too
Set: Rejoice, Stop The Ride, Rumplestiltskin, Those Were The Days, Nerves Of Steel, Little Love In A Cruel World, Pyscho, Wednesdays & Weekends
Notes: Our third and final Oxjam gig of the month - having now done Bury, Cambridge and Bedford, I've enjoyed them all - mostly because each gig has been so different. This was our third gig with Alyssa on violin and you can just see her confidence growing, perhaps helped by the fact we've played an identical set for three shows in a row now which is virtually unheard of for FJ gigs but this one works and we're relaxing into it nicely. This was my second gig of the day, having played with Dowsing For Sound in Cambridge earlier that day, and I left in plenty of time. Esquires in Bedford, although a nice enough venue when you actually get there, is a real bugger to find. I was literally driving around for ages...about half an hour on the street the venue is supposed to be on, only to realise it's just a bit hidden away. On arrival it all looked a bit empty, it didn't look like being a great gig - but then it turned into one, audiences trickled in until we had a reasonable crowd who seemed really into it and by the end we were really flying. Saturday was a strange day - I played two gigs, but was home having done both of them by 5.30pm. As much as I really, really enjoyed the party I went to in the evening (dressed as a skeleton wearing a cape...slightly concerned about the many pictures which were taken, especially any shots of me 'dancing'), I can't help but feel I could have done a third gig on Saturday. Two just doesn't seem enough somehow, I was just hitting my stride.