Fringe previews

We previewed two of our three Edinburgh Fringe shows this weekend. One of them, ‘Some Plays By Paul Richards’ we’ve had for a while now so I wasn’t worried about this one at all – Hind and I know this show inside out, she’s one of the most reliable actresses you could ever meet, which is needed as I sometimes go off on one and her reliability is essential for the stability of the piece. ‘Redundancy Club’ was a worry though – the rehearsals were a slight concern, Sarah is a remarkably good director who is intricate enough to give us plenty to play with but also doesn’t put too much pressure on us – she accepts the odd bit of paraphrasing, but at the same time runs quite a tight performance ship. I’ve worked on shows with Izzy for many years (three) now and the rapport on stage I’d like to think is obvious, but we still went into these performances more than a bit unsure about this one, purely because of the timescale we’ve had to work with due to other projects. On Friday both shows were performed twice – so I was on stage for nearly four hours. The first performance of ‘Some Plays…’ was a tad caffeine aided, not my most composed performance but with enough energy to keep people amused, ‘Redundancy Club’ worked – true, it was fidgety and the ending was a bit messy, but we exceeded our own expectations and we were greatly relieved. By the time of the second run of both shows, both of them were really hitting a decent gear – the slightly tired me seems to be actually be more suitable, if I slow down a bit it works. “I know a lot of you have seen Some Plays before…I’m sorry, but it probably won’t be any better than last time,” was how I introduced the show to Saturday’s audience, knowing there was a lot of my regulars in who had seen the first piece on the tour, but ironically it was by far the best I’d ever done it – slightly tired from 3 gigs that day, but this was the best this show has ever looked. ‘Redundancy Club’ didn’t quite flow as well though on Saturday night, the heat in the small Cambridge venue felt unbearable, I was below par – the show was starting to feel strong enough now to work even if one of us isn’t having the best time on stage, the audience still reacted positivity but still – I was annoyed with it. On Sunday we found ourselves in Great Massingham for the final preview, this one at the wonderful Dabbling Duck. Possibly my favourite venue, the library/dining room is a cracking space, the audience were lovely and this performance of ‘Redundancy Club’ (no ‘Some Plays’ for this one as the locals had already seen it on the tour) was by far the strongest – both Izzy and I were getting comfortable with the piece, it flowed at great pace, people praised the ‘substance’ of it…we went home in very good spirits. Both of those shows will be fine at the fringe, you know, more than fine. ‘Some Plays’ is intimate, ‘Redundancy Club’ is full-throttle, fast comedy…but they both work, in very different ways. I’ve now got until Wednesday to learn the solo show. Easy. Hhhhhmmmm....

Gig report: Ickworth Race For Life Festival

Bands: Trevor Jones, Flaming June, The Dowsing Sound Collective
Venue: Ickworth Park, Horringer
Date: 27/07/13
Audience: Plenty of them, quite a few of them running around
Sets: Not sure. 

Notes: In between a weekend of fringe previews, I had the opportunity to drum a bit in a field on Saturday and after all the theatrics it felt much needed too. This is the third year in a row I’ve had the pleasure of playing at the Ickworth Race For Life festival – organised by the wonderful Lorraine Cockerton (from The Dowsing Sound Collective and the mother of our musical director, Andrea) and it was lovely to be back on the grounds of the historic Ickworth House. Whereas a lot of festivals seem to air on the side of corporate, this event is pretty much the opposite – a genuine family event, in aid of Cancer Research, with a small but very helpful team of volunteers who made life very easy for us. I played this with three bands; Trevor Jones, Flaming June and The Dowsing Sound Collective. It was incredibly humid and I had a very red face throughout most of it. Trevor’s set was particularly enjoyable because he writes very summery songs, the set was relatively without structure with every track chosen to fit the mood, and the three of us (Trevor, Tony and myself) did what all bands need to do more often – we enjoyed ourselves. The Flaming June set was as a duo with just Louise and myself firing through our most ‘family friendly’ material – a couple new-ish tracks (including the brilliant, ‘In Pursuit Of Happiness’) found their way into the performance, people seemed to appreciate just how exhausting it must have been for us up there. A scaled-down Dowsing then hit the stage for my third gig in as many hours, this was the ‘original’ choir (with the ‘new’ choir playing the Cottenham show recently and obviously both combining for the huge Ely Cathedral gig) and sadly Amira’s last show with us – she’s one of those relentlessly positive people so will be missed. Musically it was just Andrea (piano/guitar) and myself (percussion), and it was probably the most laid-back, easiest Dowsing set I’ve ever been a part of. We eased through a selection of songs we all know so well now, pressure-free and with lots of smiles, my energy levels were being tested (these three gigs were in the middle of my fringe previews and also a house move…it was a manic weekend) but when there’s so much joy on stage it’s difficult not to feel energised. Fantastic day, remarkably hassle-free, my only regret being that I couldn’t stay for longer.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ Secret Garden Party Festival

Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Secret Garden Party, Abbots Ripton
Date: 25/07/13
Audience: At the festival itself - thousands, in our tent - minimal but enthusiastic
Set: Speed Of Sound, Without You, If, Caught In A Fire, This Vow, All Alone, The Drinking Song, Through Every Darkness, Violence
Notes: After playing a few smaller festivals recently, last night was my first 'big' festival of the summer - Secret Garden Party. You know it's a big festival when it takes the best part of an hour to get signed in, and then you have absolutely no idea where your stage is (luckily I have band mates who are aware of my lack of navigational ability and who were able to find me). And the people...there's thousands of them, just everywhere - SGP really has turned into a major festival, which I found strange having first attended it about six years ago when it was much quieter. But by the time I did make it to our backstage area I was reminded why I like big festivals - you do get treated very well; top-notch house kit making it very easy for me, nice chill out/last minute rehearsal space, fantastic sound crew. This was our first Eureka Stockade live outing since 1st June (Strawberry Fair), and we hadn't had a chance to have a full rehearsal before this show, a show which was being recorded for BBC Radio...but we did okay, it took a few songs to really feel comfortable but by the time we were on, 'Caught In A Fire' we had completely hit our stride. A small but happy audience made it to our stage to watch Rob, Andy, Claudia, Anna and myself rattle through the tunes, it's good to be playing those songs again. Then had the expected delay in finding my car (downloaded an app for my mobile which is supposed to tell me where my car is...of course it didn't) but home comfortably before midnight.  

Gig report: the British IBM @ The Portland Arms, Cambridge

Band: The British IBM
Venue: The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 24/07/13
Audience: Happy enough
Set: Washing Machine, Cannibal, 3 Years, Animal, Sugar Water, Bob Noyce, Feeling, The British IBM
Notes: We're quite open about the fact that we're not overly fond of playing in Cambridge; it's our home town, we've played here (in various forms) over the years and the plan is always to play out of town to reach new audiences when possible. However, when German touring band, Come Back Harriet, asked us personally and so nicely to support them on their Cambs leg it felt like a worthwhile show. And it was; nice atmosphere, great to catch up with good friends who came down, top opener (Holden Girls). We were tight, solid, on good form, the headliners were excellent (what I managed to see of them), we enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Writing the solo show

Last week I finally nailed the script for my completely solo show, Things Could Be Marvellous. I've often billed my recent tour show, Some Plays By Paul Richards, as being 'solo-ish' - for it's largely just me on stage, but with that show the little scenes where the actress (in the second tour and for the forthcoming fringe run, Hind Shubber) enters it's my benchmark in the play, a chance to get back on track if things are getting a bit wobbly. Which they do, quite often, but nobody notices. Ever. But now; completely solo - nobody to stop me spiralling off on a tangent, nobody to be my wingman/woman if it just isn't working. It's tough writing a solo show, hence why it's been so close to the fringe before actually nailing a decent draft of it (that, and the fact I agreed to the show only a few weeks back, and that I've been gigging/recording/rehearsing like a possessed man recently), but I'm really happy with the script now. It's a solo show - but definitely not stand-up, it's a theatre piece - but definitely not theatrical. My fear is losing the audience half way through, it's a danger when there's only the one voice for nearly an hour...the chances are I'd get bored of watching me for an hour. The story itself tells two connecting tales, running simultaneously. Different scenes are told from different areas of the stage, Britpop music showers the piece and I play a couple songs on the keyboard. There's (intentionally) bad drawings, there's quite a bit of shouting. It's an ambitious piece of writing, it could be my finest hour (okay, 50 minutes), but could easily be a shambles...but it's completely in my hands, all of it, nobody else to blame.

Now I just need to learn it - it's 50 minutes of dialogue, ahead of the friends/family invite performance next Wednesday (it opens at the Edinburgh Fringe 4 days later). I could really do with learning my lines for Redundancy Club, that opens in Cambridge this Friday.This week I'm performing plays 7 times, I'm playing 5 gigs and I'm moving house.  I know I leave things till the last minute, I have something of a reputation for doing so and I get a strange buzz out of it, but even by my standards I know I'm pushing it a bit. I could do with a rest, a nap would be nice. He says, booking a post-fringe UK tour...

Gig report: Fred's House @ Hare Fest, Leighton Buzzard

Band: Fred's House
Venue: Hare Fest, Leighton Buzzard
Date: 21/07/13
Audience: Relaxed, rapturous by the end 
Set: Looking Glass, I'm Not Saying, Wrong Time, Face In The Water, Last Thing I Wanted, Take A Ride, Fine Life, Too Late To Go Home, Marathon Man, Beautiful You, Twist & Shout (encore)
Notes: It's amazing how the mood of a day can change sometimes. Despite being quite close to Luton, Leighton Buzzard is surprisingly nice - and Hare Fest, a small festival in the grounds of a pub, felt very friendly and the people were so nice. We headlined the final day of this cracking little event, the other acts were awesome - but due to the heat and the fact we were there for a long time (early soundchecks) we all felt more than a bit drowsy (I think I was even a bit grumpy) during the six hours before our performance. Walked on stage feeling a little flat, but it literally took seconds to 'feel' it - what a great little band Fred's House are you know. Brilliant set, you could just sense that everyone - the band, the audience, were on the same page by the end, my fourth gig with these guys and I feel it's the tightest I've played with them since joining. The unplanned encore was Twist & Shout, unrehearsed and played with plenty of humour, people danced, we felt very good indeed.

Jazz

Started recording some jazz tunes last night with guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Rohan Leach and bassist Chris Lawrenson. It was a lovely session; I've known these two chaps for a while (and played, for what feels like many years although it was only a couple) with Chris in Under The Streetlamp - the songs were half improvised but with a very defined structure, live but with re-takes and overdubs. This is one may take a while - not only because the three of us have very demanding schedules - but also because we're doing our best to create the best release possible. Tight but with soul, the first track we've recorded as a trio, 'Leah' is already sounding lovely, and we also demoed 'Gabriela' - which is a tricky beast but is already showing signs of being a bit awesome. A perfect way to spend a Monday evening, rather looking forward to working some more on this somewhat out of the blue project.

Gig report: Flaming June @ Willow Festival, Peterborough

Band: Flaming June
Venue: Willow Festival, Peterborough
Date: 14/07/13
Audience: Incredibly responsive
Set: Rejoice, Stop The Ride, Rumplestiltskin, Nerves Of Steel, Those Were The Days, Little Love In A Cruel World, Wednesdays & Weekends, In Pursuit Of Happiness.
Notes: Back at the Willow Festival for the second day running, this time with Flaming June. A different stage to yesterday - on the acoustic stage today, but run as equally well, I'm really impressed by this festival...I almost struggle to believe it's in Peterborough. Big audience, really loud applause - some actually genuine FJ supporters there. Like yesterday it was hot - almost unbearable, and playing congas in those conditions was a real struggle, especially when every song in this set is super fast. But we got through it - and it all felt worthwhile by the end. Great gig.

Gig report: Fred's House @ Buckfest, Buckden

Band: Fred's House
Venue: Buckfest, Buckden
Date: 13/07/13
Audience: Busy - capacity full
Set: Looking Glass, I'm Not Saying, Wrong Time, Face In The Water, Take A Ride, Fine Life, Marathon Man, Beautiful You
Notes: Fresh (okay, sweaty) from the last gig - I found time in between the shows grab a quick summer drink on Parker's Piece with Julia (who is about to move to Australia, we discussed the idea of me bringing a show out there next year) - our drink cut somewhat rudely short by the fact my parents had locked themselves out so I had to go back to the family home. Still, it's quite near Buckden, where the second gig of the day was. A small, well-run festival, with a capacity of 500 - and they reached that amount so had to turn people away. One or two sound problems, possibly because they didn't expect us to have full drums, and a very small stage, but really enthusiastic audience - Fred's House seem to attract enthusiasm wherever they go. Played quite well, everyone came away in a good, if tired, mood. Really great to catch up with my old mucker Rob, back in the country for a week, the man is the definition of legend.

Gig report: Fred's House @ The Willow Festival, Peterborough

Band: Fred's House
Venue: The Willow Festival, Peterborough
Date: 13/07/13
Audience: Busy, relaxed
Set: Looking Glass, I'm Not Saying, Wrong Time, Face In The Water, Take A Ride, Fine Life, Too Late To Go Home, Beautiful You
Notes: My second gig with Fred's House, and at a festival I haven't played at for ten years. It's changed a lot since then - it's grown into something rather wonderful, which it certainly wasn't all those years ago. Big stage, outstanding soundmen - and brilliantly organised, we were looked after so well, and having a 40 minute changeover/soundcheck at a busy festival is practically unheard of. The only problem we had was the heat - it felt like it was the hottest day of the year, we all seemed to be practically giddy with the humidity. That seemed to reflect on the audience too, for, although there was plenty of them, you couldn't help but notice the summer drowsiness. Still, played really well and the response was fantastic all the same.

Gig report: Fred's House @ Tudor Thai Restaurant, Fenstanton

Band: Fred's House
Venue: Fringe In The Fen - Tudor Thai Restaurant, Fenstanton
Date: 08/07/13
Audience: Packed, lovely
Set: Looking Glass, I'm Not Saying, Wrong Time, Face In The Water, Marz (no drums), Last Thing I Wanted, Take A Ride, Closer, Fine Life, Too Late To Go Home, Marathon Man, Beautiful You, Twist And Shout (encore)
Notes: Fresh (okay, still rather knackered) from the Dowsing show on Saturday - which was still a remarkable feat in retrospect, I was back on stage last night, this time with Fred's House for the Fringe In The Fen festival raising money for the MacMillan Cancer Support. A band I've admired for a long while now since first seeing them a couple years ago, I've been in the studio with them recently and was very pleased to be asked to join them for a run of live dates. Alongside being the loveliest people you could ever wish to work/hang out with, these guys write simply brilliant songs - big melodies, strong choruses, they're a joy to play. They also work incredibly hard too - you can just feel the effort that has gone into the harmonies, they perform like a finished product. Which is why suddenly having a drummer on stage with them must have felt strange - but it worked, it really worked, we were all buzzing off each other. My main priority was to not disrupt too much from the very polished sound the band have, to add a groove but not intrude...you could just feel it working during the gig, it was a lovely thing. It probably helped that it was a brilliant setting for a show - outdoors of a very nice Thai restaurant, decent-sized stage, great professional soundmen, really enthusiastic and cheery audience, good support act...the encore - an unrehearsed and unplanned cover of Twist & Shout was understandably a little ragged but played with energy and a smile on our faces, a nice end to a cracking little gig. I keep stressing how important July is to me, but it's started rather well. Already looking forward to my next Fred's House adventures - that will be two festivals this Saturday (Peterborough and Buckden) and back in the studio on Sunday morning. Happy times.

Gig report: The Dowsing Sound Collective @ Ely Cathedral

Band: The Dowsing Sound Collective
Venue: Ely Cathedral, Ely
Date: 06/07/13
Audience: Packed (sold out?), joyous
Set: First half - Us Against The World, Higher Ground, Soul Of A Man, Riverside, Innsbruck, Under African Skies, Mercy Street, The DSC Mashup, Marry You. Second half - White Sky, Madness, Extreme Ways, Winter Song, Ho Hey, Who Wants To Live Forever, Breaking, In Trutina, Shackles, Radioactive, You Can't Always Get What You Want. Encore - Ho Hey
Notes: We've been talking about this gig for a while now, with slightly dangerous and expectation-enhancing statements such as, 'the biggest gig of my life' being banded about on a frequent basis. I knew it would be big, but perhaps the fact that my head is spinning by a million other projects meant I couldn't quite get as anxious about this one as I normally would have done. Then I turned up at the venue for the tech set-up on Friday night...reality kicked in. Sat down behind my drums, I couldn't actually see the back of the venue - it seemed to go back forever. Equally, looking up at the ceiling, the beautiful, beautiful ceiling, it's difficult not to feel just a bit dizzy. The scale of the gig soon hit home, yet the way Dowsing is run is like a military operation - so organised it's almost frightening, and the tech, and then rehearsal yesterday afternoon ran without any hitches. These soundmen were excellent by the way, my good friend Paul (who was at the gig) knows them well and had been singing their praises for a while - but I was sceptical given the size of the building. It soon became apparent though that - fittingly for the most incredible of venues, Andrea and Nina had managed to get the best sound company in the business. I do like Dowsing very much you know, I may have found the run-up to this show a little stressful but that was purely my own doing for taking on so many projects at the same time, all of which are colliding somewhat at the moment on a frequent basis. But yesterday was just a reminder as to why Dowsing is such a special thing; aside from the gig itself, it's the people that make it, the continued words of encouragement that are exchanged before this epic event, the pizza and whisky pre-show, the lying in a field during the blazing sunshine and relaxing - it's these little moments that help make days like these memorable.
So - the gig itself...a lot of people turned up. Myself and my drums were restricted to a small Perspex box due to sound control - drums are loud as they are, in a cathedral they're just ridiculous - bit of a shame that I couldn't actually see the choir but these are the sacrifices that have to be made in situations like this, and the monitoring system inside my little box allowed me to have full control on what I wanted to hear, instrument by instrument. A bit of a luxury, but also essential for this type of performance. The first half was a cracker - unlike last year's Corn Exchange gig where we seemed to need time to warm to the situation, we hit the ground running. Very last minute changes (such as switching from drums to congas on 'Soul Of A Man') kept me on my toes, the band felt really tight - which is amazing because we haven't always been in rehearsals recently, the choir - from what I could hear - were on top form and really enjoying themselves. 'The DSC Mashup' - formally known as 'Notches' and one of the tracks we recorded earlier this year, allowed us to really go for it, my drum solo was perhaps bordering on over-enthusiastic rather than the classy 4 bars of sophistication I had promised myself, but I managed to at least hit a lot things very quickly. The second half was always going to be musically a lot more challenging - sure; there were a few sure-fire successes in there ('White Sky', 'Ho Hey') hut also some real banana skins from a band perspective. Gav (our incredible bassist) and I chat grooves a lot - and decided shortly before the gig to simplify the rhythm on, 'Extreme Ways' - it worked a treat, it gave the whole track a little more space, we doubt anybody else would have noticed actually but it made it all the more easier to hold it together. I won't lie here, 'Who Wants To Live Forever' didn't work out drum-wise, it was a struggle in the rehearsals but it felt like we had it nailed in an earlier run-through, but the odd communication issue (the difficulty of us all being so far away from each other on stage) meant we seemed to start on a wrong footing and it was a near miracle it didn't just crumble - but the confidence of the choir saved it, and ironically a lot of my friends have been hailing it as one of the highlights of the evening so maybe, outside of my little box, things weren't so bad after all. By the final three tracks - the home straight as it were, confidence and dignity very much restored. Although I couldn't see the choir, I could feel their warmth and enjoyment by 'Shackles' - I could also tell by the smile on Andrea's face that it was all going to plan. By the time we'd reached, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' the floor in my little box was full of empty carbonated drinks cans, it effectively resembled my car...but we could really let go on this one, I actually did feel like a caged animal by the end - all gig the focus is on being tight and focussed, by the double-time conclusion of the final track I could put every last ounce of energy in; heartbeat thumping away, bits of stick flying everywhere, some very strange facial expressions. The audience could vote for the encore track, I'm so glad they chose, 'Ho Hey' - selfishly I was happy about this because I was exhausted and it's the easiest song in the world to play.
The choir have doubled in size, over a hundred of them now, the band have grown, yet somehow Dowsing just gets better and better. Andrea's ambitions seem to be without limit - last night was another leap forward, the visions of our remarkable founding member and musical director once again realised, and in return everybody on stage - whether they be in the choir or the band, shared a magical moment that will stay with us forever.
The evening ended with a rousing standing ovation from the audience, and the buzz word afterwards seem to be 'amazing.' There were tears of emotion, of joy, of relief, that somehow we managed to pull this one off again. A show - an actual proper show not just a gig - of such epic proportions that shouldn't work, but did. The comedown from this show will be heavy; I was more than a bit jaded in my fringe rehearsals today (as much as I'm loving playing the character of Max in 'Redundancy Club' - there's something about leaping around and saying, "we're a crazy office, we eat hummus" that makes me happy), Dowsing takes up so much of our lives - and that's not just physically being in rehearsals - but on a day-to-day basis it's at the forefront of our minds.  I'm forever grateful to be even associated with The Dowsing Sound Collective, let alone have the responsibility of being the drummer - it's a privilege. An exhausting, sometimes stressful privilege, but I wouldn't swap nights like this for anything.

July

Well July has popped up a bit quick, hasn't it? I kind of wish it hadn't, ideally we'd still be in early June by now and I can pause for breath, but instead I'm looking at a to-do list for the week and quickly realising that a lot of the things on there take more than a week to actually do. Such as, 'write solo show' - it opens a month today in sunny Edinburgh. No, actually - it opens 3 days before that in an 'invite only' Cambridge show. Not written a word of it yet, but in my head it's pretty clear - and in my scrawling notes I have enough content to write two shows. Now there's a thought...no, stop it. And that's my problem, see, I just get a bit carried away.

Anyway, July is an important month for me - it's the month before the Edinburgh Fringe and there's still so much to do - I've got 3 shows going up there as you know ('Some Plays By Paul Richards' with Hind - that one is tried and tested and will work, 'Redundancy Club' with Izzy - which is the best script I've written in years, rehearsals are perhaps a tad behind schedule at the moment but at least we are actually rehearsing it, and the solo show - which excites and scares the shit out of me in equal measures), flyers need to be designed and printed, press releases need to be written, preview dates need to be publicised - thank god our accommodation is sorted, and that's purely down to the fact that I wasn't left to deal with it and Izzy took charge.

Edinburgh shows aside, this Saturday it's probably the biggest gig of my career as a drummer. The latest Dowsing event will see The Dowsing Sound Collective perform at Ely Cathedral. There's now 110 singers in the choir, I was a bit slack in one or two of the rehearsals recently and really had to raise my game to get back up to scratch, but the dress rehearsal was superb. The set is also superb. It's a complex mix, it's in a huge cathedral - in terms of size this is perhaps not my biggest gig, but in terms of importance I feel like it is. Every Dowsing gig feels like a cup final, this could be my last cup final, we'll see - I've got a lot on my mind at the moment about what I want to do and where I want to be, but this gig on Saturday is - in simple terms, fucking huge.

I've not long got back from rehearsing with a band called Fred's House, I've been recording with them recently and on Monday I'm playing live with them for the first time. More learning then - learning my lines for the fringe show, continually learning my parts for Dowsing...but with Fred's House I can't stress how much pleasure I've been having in learning these songs - I was sent the mp3's and sat at my little desk all day listening to them...it's a bit of a treat. The rehearsal tonight was great, they're lovely people but also incredibly hard working, intense infact, and I like this a lot.

I've also got gigs with Flaming June, The British IBM and Eureka Stockade this month, a fine selection of festival dates included in those, most of which are around the time all three fringe shows preview. And I'm also moving house at the end of the month, days before the Edinburgh Fringe. July feels like an important month - if I do everything right - if I get everything right on Saturday night, if I write the best solo show ever and nail the other two, the rest of my year should see me leap forwards with confidence and swagger. And if I don't? Well, I'll be sure to blog about it, at least.

Gig report: Trevor Jones @ The Dragoon, Brampton

Band: Trevor Jones
Venue: The Dragoon, Brampton
Date: 29/06/13
Audience: Sporadic - sometimes busy, sometimes a little empty, but always into it
Set: Not sure.
Notes: I really liked this one - playing in a small but friendly and spirited pub, I'd dashed over from the Flaming June gig - where I had been playing percussion - to play full drums for Trevor, who had Tony on bass. A long gig, playing all of the original material we know (and in some cases, don't know too well) and plenty of crowd pleasing stuff. A few select members in the audience were really into it - so enthusiastically so, and that kept us going as we eventually wrapped up the set just before midnight.

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Black Bull, Godmanchester

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Black Bull, Godmanchester
Date: 29/06/13
Audience: Busy enough, enthusiastic
Set: Not sure.
Notes: The first of my two gigs that evening, in different venues but conveniently close at least. This one was with Flaming June (line up being Louise, Diane and myself) in the main bar bit of The Black Bull. Very intimate setting, audience very close to us, Louise as fiery as ever - we bashed through 8 songs in just under half an hour, a nice pacy gig that went down well enough.