Sunday, 31 July 2011
Filming with Fred's House
Got back about an hour ago from the Fred's House film shoot; Fred's House are a brilliant (and I mean that genuinely) band from Cambridge who write lovely songs, and today it was the filming of the promo video for their new track, 'Someone Else's Road'. When I signed up originally I thought it was to be an extra, but a couple days back it turns out I had one of the 'bigger' roles. Like it or not, I'm somehow, accidentally becoming an actor, there just seems to be a need for awkward people in my age group at the moment. It's a great track - it's basically a story, I don't want to spoil it too much because the video will be out soon and there's some nice moments in there, but my likable loser character, Naughty Billy, gets his girlfriend pregnant, her mum goes mental, there's a nice ending to it all. I enjoyed being 'in character' today, and even though I only had about four hours sleep inside me after last night's gig I felt inspired by the quality of people I was working with. Let's be honest, I turned up looking and feeling like shit, but as soon as things started moving it was brilliant fun - even if a lot of my scenes involved being hit reasonably forcefully by a handbag. Things kicked off at about 9.30am, and finished at 6pm, it was a strange way to spend a Sunday, especially as my character seemed to be one of the main points of focus, but I enjoyed every second of it (despite the marks and minor cuts on my arm from the handbag hits), people are just so nice. All of Fred's House are just so nice, and decent musicians too. I found it brilliant to watch Kate Madison and Emily Blickem team up (with Martin Galvin and Jerry Leeper on hand) as they're outstanding film makers and they just work so hard to get every shot perfect. I loved working with Katie Barton (who played Kathryn, the girl my character gets pregnant) and Angela Rowland (who played Kathryn's mum). It's a great tune, they'll do well with this one. I'm genuinely exhausted now, just going to write my newspaper column, nail the final draft of the Edinburgh script then I'll chill out with a beer and mediocre TV I think, but that was a really nice way to spend a day.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Gig report: Relay For Life show @ Ickworth Park
Bands: Dowsing For Sound, Flaming June, Trevor Jones Band
Venue: Ickworth Park, Suffolk
Date: 30th July
Audience: Packed at times, gradually going throughout the day
Sets: Dowsing For Sound - Alive, Mercy Street, The Book Of Love, You Are My World, Storm Coming, Terrible Love, White Sky, Let It Be, One Day Like This; Flaming June - Rejoice, Under My Skin, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Rumplestiltskin, Stop The Ride, Wednesday's & Weekends; Trevor Jones Band - All I Am, Badman, Shine A Light, Alive, Roll On The Rain, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Old Fashioned Woman, She Was Me, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling, Solid Ground.
Notes: It's 2.27am. I've just got in. I should have got home sooner as I got off stage just after midnight and Ickworth isn't that far away, but for some reason I had great trouble finding the A14 tonight and drove around for what felt like a lifetime whilst swearing a lot to myself. I'm up in five hours time to be in the Fred's House promotional video - that's something like seven hours of filming, I'm playing a chip shop bloke. I can only hope it's a chip shop bloke who has massive bags under his eyes, because that's what I'll have in the morning. I should be sleeping but at one desperate point in my journey home in which I felt I would never get out of Suffolk I pulled into a layby and opened my fifth can of Red Bull equivalent of the day, assuming I would never get home at a reasonable hour. Half an hour later I'm home, but there's no chance of me sleeping for hours. I'm rambling a lot about the insignificant things here I know, I should probably chat about the gig...it was a good day, at times absolutely jaw-dropping; the ceremony was amazing, the commitment of people to do the walk around the park was incredible - even as I left they were still doing laps, in honour of those who have died of cancer. This is a charity which means a lot to me on a personal level, I'm really happy to have been there today. Outside gigs are always strange though - the sound can never be right somehow, despite the hard work of those trying to make it happen. Ickworth Park is probably the most beautiful location I've ever played in, but part of me wanted to be a spectator today and enjoy the site rather than have to worry about my equipment all day. The last time we played as Dowsing For Sound it was in an indoor venue where the sound was much more controlled and we had in affect a 7 hour soundcheck. Today we were outside to a backdrop of perfect sunshine with about 20 minutes to get ourselves ready, it was a different kind of gig altogether, which was probably a good thing because nothing could really replicate the magic of that January show. That's not to say we didn't rock though - we certainly did, it was a little nervy, my own personal performance was a little stilted at times, nothing the general public would notice but nowhere near as technically sharp as I can be, the choir were in fine voice when they really got going ('Book Of Love' for example was fantastic), although there was a real sense that they couldn't be heard as loudly as they could be on occasions which was a shame. We went down very well though - the audience, all very chilled, took to us, it'll go down as a success but I just can't wait to do it all again as I personally didn't really feel 'on it' at times. Dowsing For Sound is special - the people involved are special, really looking forward to the next adventure with them all, I consider them all to be more than just people I drum for now, I consider them to be friends. I then quickly found myself on stage with Flaming June - it felt nice to be playing songs that I was really confident with , especially considering we had a warm-up show the night before. Nice big stage too, we could really go for it, we did, I think that's the best we've played in ages, FJ are just a band that really hits the mark on such a regular basis, such a nice confident performance. A few hours and a can or two of naughty energy drink later and I was back on stage just after 11pm with Trevor Jones Band - by now a lot of the audience had gone, it was dark, it was late, sometimes I hate being the headline band - but despite our reservations walking on (there was a general vibe in the band of 'well, we're here now, we might as well just get on with it') the grounds seemed to be buzzing again - although there wasn't much of a crowd left, those who were there leaped about, cheered enthusiastically, really made their presence felt. A couple songs in and we actually started to enjoy ourselves again and put on a decent show I think, some of it really, really worked big time - 'Can't Take This Anymore' has grown into a beast of a track, our now song - 'Solid Ground' - was a little too loose but it was the last song of a very long day so I guess that can be forgiven. Massive thanks to Marcus, Will, Vicky, Louise, Gav, Andrea and Lorraine for staying out that late to watch us, it was completely appreciated. It all became a totally enjoyable experience, I really enjoyed today, I was in the company of some exceptional people (friends, bandmates, family), it was a wonderfully organised event, when I wake up a bit tomorrow at some point I'll appreciate just how great a way that was to spend a summers day for such a worthy cause. And, as I finish typing this, I can feel the caffeine gradually starting to wear off, and I think I may actually still get a good four and a half hours sleep in tonight, huzzah.
Venue: Ickworth Park, Suffolk
Date: 30th July
Audience: Packed at times, gradually going throughout the day
Sets: Dowsing For Sound - Alive, Mercy Street, The Book Of Love, You Are My World, Storm Coming, Terrible Love, White Sky, Let It Be, One Day Like This; Flaming June - Rejoice, Under My Skin, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Rumplestiltskin, Stop The Ride, Wednesday's & Weekends; Trevor Jones Band - All I Am, Badman, Shine A Light, Alive, Roll On The Rain, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Old Fashioned Woman, She Was Me, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling, Solid Ground.
Notes: It's 2.27am. I've just got in. I should have got home sooner as I got off stage just after midnight and Ickworth isn't that far away, but for some reason I had great trouble finding the A14 tonight and drove around for what felt like a lifetime whilst swearing a lot to myself. I'm up in five hours time to be in the Fred's House promotional video - that's something like seven hours of filming, I'm playing a chip shop bloke. I can only hope it's a chip shop bloke who has massive bags under his eyes, because that's what I'll have in the morning. I should be sleeping but at one desperate point in my journey home in which I felt I would never get out of Suffolk I pulled into a layby and opened my fifth can of Red Bull equivalent of the day, assuming I would never get home at a reasonable hour. Half an hour later I'm home, but there's no chance of me sleeping for hours. I'm rambling a lot about the insignificant things here I know, I should probably chat about the gig...it was a good day, at times absolutely jaw-dropping; the ceremony was amazing, the commitment of people to do the walk around the park was incredible - even as I left they were still doing laps, in honour of those who have died of cancer. This is a charity which means a lot to me on a personal level, I'm really happy to have been there today. Outside gigs are always strange though - the sound can never be right somehow, despite the hard work of those trying to make it happen. Ickworth Park is probably the most beautiful location I've ever played in, but part of me wanted to be a spectator today and enjoy the site rather than have to worry about my equipment all day. The last time we played as Dowsing For Sound it was in an indoor venue where the sound was much more controlled and we had in affect a 7 hour soundcheck. Today we were outside to a backdrop of perfect sunshine with about 20 minutes to get ourselves ready, it was a different kind of gig altogether, which was probably a good thing because nothing could really replicate the magic of that January show. That's not to say we didn't rock though - we certainly did, it was a little nervy, my own personal performance was a little stilted at times, nothing the general public would notice but nowhere near as technically sharp as I can be, the choir were in fine voice when they really got going ('Book Of Love' for example was fantastic), although there was a real sense that they couldn't be heard as loudly as they could be on occasions which was a shame. We went down very well though - the audience, all very chilled, took to us, it'll go down as a success but I just can't wait to do it all again as I personally didn't really feel 'on it' at times. Dowsing For Sound is special - the people involved are special, really looking forward to the next adventure with them all, I consider them all to be more than just people I drum for now, I consider them to be friends. I then quickly found myself on stage with Flaming June - it felt nice to be playing songs that I was really confident with , especially considering we had a warm-up show the night before. Nice big stage too, we could really go for it, we did, I think that's the best we've played in ages, FJ are just a band that really hits the mark on such a regular basis, such a nice confident performance. A few hours and a can or two of naughty energy drink later and I was back on stage just after 11pm with Trevor Jones Band - by now a lot of the audience had gone, it was dark, it was late, sometimes I hate being the headline band - but despite our reservations walking on (there was a general vibe in the band of 'well, we're here now, we might as well just get on with it') the grounds seemed to be buzzing again - although there wasn't much of a crowd left, those who were there leaped about, cheered enthusiastically, really made their presence felt. A couple songs in and we actually started to enjoy ourselves again and put on a decent show I think, some of it really, really worked big time - 'Can't Take This Anymore' has grown into a beast of a track, our now song - 'Solid Ground' - was a little too loose but it was the last song of a very long day so I guess that can be forgiven. Massive thanks to Marcus, Will, Vicky, Louise, Gav, Andrea and Lorraine for staying out that late to watch us, it was completely appreciated. It all became a totally enjoyable experience, I really enjoyed today, I was in the company of some exceptional people (friends, bandmates, family), it was a wonderfully organised event, when I wake up a bit tomorrow at some point I'll appreciate just how great a way that was to spend a summers day for such a worthy cause. And, as I finish typing this, I can feel the caffeine gradually starting to wear off, and I think I may actually still get a good four and a half hours sleep in tonight, huzzah.
Friday, 29 July 2011
Gig report: Flaming June @ Club Uniquity, Somerlayton
Band: Flaming June
Venue: Club Uniquity, Somerlayton
Date: 29/07/11
Audience: Packed, enthusiastic
Set: Rejoice, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Rumplestiltskin, Wednesdays & Weekends.
Notes: I'm knackered, that was a long night. Didn't realise Somerlayton was that far away, but thanks to my brilliant navigator (Mr. Steve Megson) we arrived in reasonable time. Club Uniquity is a great venue - it's a barn at the back of a popular pub, it's decor suggests individuality, warmth, and the flashing lights with smoke machine on stage suggests excitement. Whatever, it's far from the average run on the mill venue, which instantly made me happy to have made the journey, there's too many clone venues around at the moment, so even if I had to drive through three counties to get there I was very happy to play tonight. We were the fourth band on out of five, it was all slightly rushed, it was all very hot, the venue was packed with a genuinely enthusiastic audience who wanted to listen to live music. Despite a couple issues with the sound at first (the danger of doing line-checks instead of soundchecks) by the third track we seemed more comfortable. Aware of the time constraints we had to be more fiery than ever, I use the word fiery a lot when describing Flaming June, but FJ are a very consistent band - tonight we bashed out the songs, they went down very well with the really nice crowd. 'I Know What It's Like' was genuinely piogniant tonight, even the people chatting at the back of the room went quiet for that; in a situation where we were having to play quickly and keep their attention I felt it's inclusion in the set was a brave one but it worked a treat, I know it's a regular track in the setlist but tonight it took the whole performance to a different level and after that we we seemed really comfortable. A good night, a long drive, and I've still got tomorrow's (well, today's now I guess) big gig constantly at the back of my mind, and if it was a rubbish gig in front of 4 people I would have been annoyed but it wasn't, it was top-drawer at times, I'd like to go back there at some point.
Venue: Club Uniquity, Somerlayton
Date: 29/07/11
Audience: Packed, enthusiastic
Set: Rejoice, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Rumplestiltskin, Wednesdays & Weekends.
Notes: I'm knackered, that was a long night. Didn't realise Somerlayton was that far away, but thanks to my brilliant navigator (Mr. Steve Megson) we arrived in reasonable time. Club Uniquity is a great venue - it's a barn at the back of a popular pub, it's decor suggests individuality, warmth, and the flashing lights with smoke machine on stage suggests excitement. Whatever, it's far from the average run on the mill venue, which instantly made me happy to have made the journey, there's too many clone venues around at the moment, so even if I had to drive through three counties to get there I was very happy to play tonight. We were the fourth band on out of five, it was all slightly rushed, it was all very hot, the venue was packed with a genuinely enthusiastic audience who wanted to listen to live music. Despite a couple issues with the sound at first (the danger of doing line-checks instead of soundchecks) by the third track we seemed more comfortable. Aware of the time constraints we had to be more fiery than ever, I use the word fiery a lot when describing Flaming June, but FJ are a very consistent band - tonight we bashed out the songs, they went down very well with the really nice crowd. 'I Know What It's Like' was genuinely piogniant tonight, even the people chatting at the back of the room went quiet for that; in a situation where we were having to play quickly and keep their attention I felt it's inclusion in the set was a brave one but it worked a treat, I know it's a regular track in the setlist but tonight it took the whole performance to a different level and after that we we seemed really comfortable. A good night, a long drive, and I've still got tomorrow's (well, today's now I guess) big gig constantly at the back of my mind, and if it was a rubbish gig in front of 4 people I would have been annoyed but it wasn't, it was top-drawer at times, I'd like to go back there at some point.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Theatre, gigs, and the magic of Dowsing For Sound
I know I've got too much on. This is made evident thanks to various things; the flat is more than a bit messy (although I did clean the bathroom the other day, standards, see?), my car is rattling again thanks to the empty Red Bull cans behind the front passenger seat, my snare is still not tuned to my liking but I don't have a spare two hours to do it justice, I've not been out with my non-bandmate friends for a while (although the last time I did I fell down a ditch whilst drunk so maybe this is a good idea anyway), but perhaps even more important/worrying is that I'm starting to get behind with things. Like the final, final draft of the Edinburgh Fringe script. Obviously we've done Oscar Pike already here in Cambridge a few months back and technically speaking it was a hit (people laughed, we sold out all four shows), but there's a few things that need to be worked upon urgently we feel (we being myself and Michelle, our outstanding director) to raise the quality even more ahead of the forthcoming Edinburgh run. I really should have nailed the final, final draft by now but time is trickling away, I'm hoping to have it done tomorrow lunchtime - they're just tweaks after all, but important tweaks, and I can't leave the poor actors hanging like this. Other Edinburgh things need to be sorted too, just about there with the accommodation which was cutting it fine but it looks like we're okay now at least, need to sort the flyers, need to find out more details about our actual venue. And at some point I really need to get back into daily line revision sessions (probably with Jessica from work in the staff room as she's very good at these things), I looked at the script the other day, it all came back to me which is a relief, but I need to be in good shape for audiences that aren't littered with friends.
But these are good times, I came straight off the Aidy tour into rehearsals with various bands, and I'm excited by everything. I really need to lose a band or two at some point, but it's near impossible because all of my 'working' bands are really in good shape at the moment, I LIKE EVERYTHING, I'm going to do everything, it can be done. Eureka Stockade were brilliant at the Secret Garden Party I thought - the new songs are our best yet, the live album will be fantastic. Aidy seems rejuvenated thanks to the many successes of the tour and we've got more out of town gigs now booked up as well as a festival next week. Flaming June are consistently good, and the new forthcoming EP (which we recorded a while back) is sounding awesome. Trevor Jones Band continue to be one of those bands that actually play music that I really, really enjoy drumming to - big grooves, big spaces, room for Latin funky bits, top quality musicians, it excites me. And now there's even a gig coming up with Under The Streetlamp, a band I consider to be my 'baby', the band I decided to form all those years ago - it never worked out, but I can't wait for our little August gig, they're good tunes, I love drumming to them. I can't drop any of these projects, I just need time somehow to go a little slower for me, please? Ah, thanks. Before the Secret Garden Party stuff I managed to spare a few hours to record percussion for the quirky and charming Emily Blickem for her forthcoming EP, looking forward to that, and today we've just agreed vague times and dates for the recording of Laura Tapp's full album following the success of her EP earlier this year - she writes brilliant songs, I can't wait for this (and the gigs to go with it). As a musician alone I'm probably stretching myself a little, but surely adrenaline is enough to keep me ticking over?
As a writer things feel just the same - as well as finalising the Oscar Pike script, I really need to crack on with my projects for the Lodestar Festival - re-writing my new play, 'How About You?', and also finishing the musical, 'Relationships, Eh?'. Those make up numbers 3 and 4 on my to-do list (there's 18 things on that list at the moment, number 16 is 'sort my life out'). I've recently finished the lyrics for a spoken word album called 'High Casualty Route' and I genuinely feel it's the best thing I've ever written - now just need the right people to do it with, and to do it properly so it's not another rushed Richards production that 'had potential'. Yet whilst I'm supposed to be doing all these things (numbers 1-4 on the list), for some reason I've been working on my collection of short stories ('Money & Women') and working on a few skeleton (ie rough) scripts with actress Grace Williams in mind as she was so good in 'Probably The Greatest Goal...' the other day and we've been chatting on email about working on a YouTube series together. Sometimes it just feels like you can't control the creative side of your brain, and I never seem to be working on the project I'm supposed to. Which is a bit crap, really, because if I carry on like this things could get messy.
But then tonight, slightly tired, awkwardly early, I arrived at the Dowsing For Sound rehearsals for our dress rehearsal ahead of Saturday's big gig at Ickworth Park. Everything Dowsing For Sound do is big because things only really happen once every six months, and there's loads of people in that choir, and it's all very special. Last week the band and choir met again for the first time since the gig in January (which was one of the best evenings of my life, let alone one of the best gigs). The band has had just a couple rehearsals since reforming ahead of the next show, the choir have been rehearsing weekly, so as a result, somewhat predictably, it was a little nervy and I came away feeling a little uncomfortable. Tonight is started the same way - on a personal level I felt self-conscious that my drums are so loud and really struggled to hit my natural groove with a self-imposed restriction on my volume, and some of the new songs were a bit shaky. The choir sounded beautiful - as they always do, but it took an hour or so for us all to click with each other. But then it did - on the final, 45 minute, run through of the evening. Fuck yeah. That magical moment when it all falls in to place. Like the gig in January, I nearly forgot to play during 'The Book Of Love' because those voices are heartbreakingly good and I just want to watch and admire all involved, not drum all over it. The whole run-through felt electric, yet ironically it's the most organic we've ever been, I forgot about the stresses of my many other projects and got lost in the music. Yep, Paul Richards is full of cliches, but Dowsing For Sound is something special, and when it works like it did tonight, there is nothing like it, I wouldn't swap this for anything. One more rehearsal with just the band on Thursday to nail a few endings, and then it's the gig on Saturday, at a beautiful National Trust park - I never expect much, but I expect this to be one of those nights.
Currently listening to: Emmy The Great - Virtue; Randy Newman - Harps & Angels, The Dears - Degeneration Street
Currently reading: Grow Up (by Ben Brooks)
Currently watching: Him & Her, Not Going Out
But these are good times, I came straight off the Aidy tour into rehearsals with various bands, and I'm excited by everything. I really need to lose a band or two at some point, but it's near impossible because all of my 'working' bands are really in good shape at the moment, I LIKE EVERYTHING, I'm going to do everything, it can be done. Eureka Stockade were brilliant at the Secret Garden Party I thought - the new songs are our best yet, the live album will be fantastic. Aidy seems rejuvenated thanks to the many successes of the tour and we've got more out of town gigs now booked up as well as a festival next week. Flaming June are consistently good, and the new forthcoming EP (which we recorded a while back) is sounding awesome. Trevor Jones Band continue to be one of those bands that actually play music that I really, really enjoy drumming to - big grooves, big spaces, room for Latin funky bits, top quality musicians, it excites me. And now there's even a gig coming up with Under The Streetlamp, a band I consider to be my 'baby', the band I decided to form all those years ago - it never worked out, but I can't wait for our little August gig, they're good tunes, I love drumming to them. I can't drop any of these projects, I just need time somehow to go a little slower for me, please? Ah, thanks. Before the Secret Garden Party stuff I managed to spare a few hours to record percussion for the quirky and charming Emily Blickem for her forthcoming EP, looking forward to that, and today we've just agreed vague times and dates for the recording of Laura Tapp's full album following the success of her EP earlier this year - she writes brilliant songs, I can't wait for this (and the gigs to go with it). As a musician alone I'm probably stretching myself a little, but surely adrenaline is enough to keep me ticking over?
As a writer things feel just the same - as well as finalising the Oscar Pike script, I really need to crack on with my projects for the Lodestar Festival - re-writing my new play, 'How About You?', and also finishing the musical, 'Relationships, Eh?'. Those make up numbers 3 and 4 on my to-do list (there's 18 things on that list at the moment, number 16 is 'sort my life out'). I've recently finished the lyrics for a spoken word album called 'High Casualty Route' and I genuinely feel it's the best thing I've ever written - now just need the right people to do it with, and to do it properly so it's not another rushed Richards production that 'had potential'. Yet whilst I'm supposed to be doing all these things (numbers 1-4 on the list), for some reason I've been working on my collection of short stories ('Money & Women') and working on a few skeleton (ie rough) scripts with actress Grace Williams in mind as she was so good in 'Probably The Greatest Goal...' the other day and we've been chatting on email about working on a YouTube series together. Sometimes it just feels like you can't control the creative side of your brain, and I never seem to be working on the project I'm supposed to. Which is a bit crap, really, because if I carry on like this things could get messy.
But then tonight, slightly tired, awkwardly early, I arrived at the Dowsing For Sound rehearsals for our dress rehearsal ahead of Saturday's big gig at Ickworth Park. Everything Dowsing For Sound do is big because things only really happen once every six months, and there's loads of people in that choir, and it's all very special. Last week the band and choir met again for the first time since the gig in January (which was one of the best evenings of my life, let alone one of the best gigs). The band has had just a couple rehearsals since reforming ahead of the next show, the choir have been rehearsing weekly, so as a result, somewhat predictably, it was a little nervy and I came away feeling a little uncomfortable. Tonight is started the same way - on a personal level I felt self-conscious that my drums are so loud and really struggled to hit my natural groove with a self-imposed restriction on my volume, and some of the new songs were a bit shaky. The choir sounded beautiful - as they always do, but it took an hour or so for us all to click with each other. But then it did - on the final, 45 minute, run through of the evening. Fuck yeah. That magical moment when it all falls in to place. Like the gig in January, I nearly forgot to play during 'The Book Of Love' because those voices are heartbreakingly good and I just want to watch and admire all involved, not drum all over it. The whole run-through felt electric, yet ironically it's the most organic we've ever been, I forgot about the stresses of my many other projects and got lost in the music. Yep, Paul Richards is full of cliches, but Dowsing For Sound is something special, and when it works like it did tonight, there is nothing like it, I wouldn't swap this for anything. One more rehearsal with just the band on Thursday to nail a few endings, and then it's the gig on Saturday, at a beautiful National Trust park - I never expect much, but I expect this to be one of those nights.
Currently listening to: Emmy The Great - Virtue; Randy Newman - Harps & Angels, The Dears - Degeneration Street
Currently reading: Grow Up (by Ben Brooks)
Currently watching: Him & Her, Not Going Out
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ The Secret Garden Party Festival
Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Secret Garden Party Festival, Cambridgeshire
Date: 24/07/11
Audience: Hungover, but plenty of them, very appreciative
Set: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, Been There Before, Caught In A Fire, Without You, All Alone, Sharks
Notes: I love the Secret Garden Party. Okay, so I lost my car for a day and got a bit flustered, okay, so it rained a bit and they don't make it easy for you to get a taxi there, okay so it feels a little overcrowded these days and I can't help but remember the good old days when it was a bit smaller, okay so Alabama 3 were a bit rubbish...but it's the Secret Garden Party, one of the most exciting things to hit Cambridgeshire in my lifetime, a big whopper of a festival with some incredible bands, incredible people and a cheery vibe that is relentlessly addictive. We were playing in the Living Room tent, which is the best tent of the festival and don't let anyone tell you otherwise - it's decor, it's choice of bands, it's quirkiness kind of sums up the whole festival in one medium-sized tent. We were the first band (on at 1pm) of the day, following a cool DJ bloke who played vinyl from the '60's. Sunday is the hangover day - the audience, whilst many of them attractive, looked drowsy and sleepy. It doesn't matter though because the band were too, as we all had a tipple or two last night watching Blondie and other such treats, so we were all pretty much in the same boat. We played well today - acoustically but with guts and passion, and it was great to have the always fantastic Anna Scott with us on cello, she fills in the gaps nicely and adds a whole new dimension to the sound. We went down very well, and gave away a massive pile of CD's, we're happy to be at the festival, it was nice to give some stuff away. Eureka Stockade works acoustically - I think I'm starting to prefer us slightly stripped down but still with a full kit, we're recording a live album in this format at High Barn in September and I can't wait for that. Today in the meantime was great - I wish I had the energy to write more about it, but it's been a long three days of watching some outstanding bands and drinking too much and I need sleep.
Venue: The Secret Garden Party Festival, Cambridgeshire
Date: 24/07/11
Audience: Hungover, but plenty of them, very appreciative
Set: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, Been There Before, Caught In A Fire, Without You, All Alone, Sharks
Notes: I love the Secret Garden Party. Okay, so I lost my car for a day and got a bit flustered, okay, so it rained a bit and they don't make it easy for you to get a taxi there, okay so it feels a little overcrowded these days and I can't help but remember the good old days when it was a bit smaller, okay so Alabama 3 were a bit rubbish...but it's the Secret Garden Party, one of the most exciting things to hit Cambridgeshire in my lifetime, a big whopper of a festival with some incredible bands, incredible people and a cheery vibe that is relentlessly addictive. We were playing in the Living Room tent, which is the best tent of the festival and don't let anyone tell you otherwise - it's decor, it's choice of bands, it's quirkiness kind of sums up the whole festival in one medium-sized tent. We were the first band (on at 1pm) of the day, following a cool DJ bloke who played vinyl from the '60's. Sunday is the hangover day - the audience, whilst many of them attractive, looked drowsy and sleepy. It doesn't matter though because the band were too, as we all had a tipple or two last night watching Blondie and other such treats, so we were all pretty much in the same boat. We played well today - acoustically but with guts and passion, and it was great to have the always fantastic Anna Scott with us on cello, she fills in the gaps nicely and adds a whole new dimension to the sound. We went down very well, and gave away a massive pile of CD's, we're happy to be at the festival, it was nice to give some stuff away. Eureka Stockade works acoustically - I think I'm starting to prefer us slightly stripped down but still with a full kit, we're recording a live album in this format at High Barn in September and I can't wait for that. Today in the meantime was great - I wish I had the energy to write more about it, but it's been a long three days of watching some outstanding bands and drinking too much and I need sleep.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Probably The Greatest Goal Ever Scored @ The ADC Theatre Bar, Cambridge
My very latest play, 'Probably The Greatest Goal Ever Scored' was performed for the first time tonight by WriteOn at the ADC Bar in Cambridge. I wrote it a couple months back, 15 minutes before the deadline on a Friday evening, and kind of forgot all about it. It's late, I'm still hungover from last night (in which, on a rare break from anything I met up with friends Andy and Marcus and went to a local festival, where we got drunk and I fell into a ditch on the way home), but I'm actually buzzing about how well tonight went. People continually accuse me of being modest, but in all truthfulness I wasn't sure about this script - it's long, it's rambling, I got bored reading it again the other day. But this cast and director are awesome - Grace and Alan were perfect for the roles and really gave the whole thing a sense of life, Jenny is an outstanding director with frightening attention to detail skills. It worked, it was the closing piece to the current WriteOn season and it went down remarkably well - better than a majority of my stuff does by some distance. A lovely sold-out audience who laughed at the right time, understood the subtleties, the feedback session was largely positive, my ego was enhanced considerably. The slightly fluffy ending was warmly received thanks to the beautiful way in which it was performed, I had genuine doubts but it was just one of those lovely evenings when things work out. It just goes to show that I'm not really a good judge of my own work at all, but I'm happy tonight. I want to write more for these characters, I want to work with Jenny, Grace and Alan again as, apart from one small monologue of mine ('Slow Puncture') that Alan performed last year this is the first time I've had the pleasure of working with these people. And it was a pleasure. Maybe a 6 x 10 minute YouTube series for the characters of Lucy and 'My Beloved Nigel'? My head is buzzing with ideas, which is annoying because I could really do with some sleep. It's evenings like this though that gives me faith that all this constant working on new material does sometimes lead to fun times.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Gig report: Emily Blickem @ The Man On The Moon, Cambridge
Band: Emily Blickem (with myself on percussion)
Venue: The Man On The Moon, Cambridge
Date: 12/07/11
Audience: A few friends, and a bunch of slightly confused exchange students
Set: Not sure, 4 or 5 originals and some covers
Notes: I'd been meaning/promising to play percussion for Emily for a while now, she writes really nice songs and is keen to get out there (for further proof of how good she is check out the video for her track 'Butterflies' on YouTube). She recently launched the open mic night at the Man On The Moon venue in Cambridge, a venue I know well from over the years, and she's genuinely trying to start something good for the local scene. This is the second week it's run, and it's not really kicked in to life just yet as there was barely any audience, and apart from us the only other performer was a man who played instrumental guitar for about three minutes. But the effort is there, and I'm certain it will take off, it deserves to. We were the house band for tonight, but as nobody else was really playing we ended up playing for quite a long time, starting with Emily's originals, and then branching into cover territory to keep things ticking over, doing songs by the likes of Loudon Wainwright, The Cure and some film soundtrack stuff. It was good fun, the 5 audience members joined by a sudden influx of foreign exchange students, who looked confused at first but despite the language barrier they became really enthusiastic so our extremely unrehearsed set went down very well. As a result, it was a surreal but nice enough evening and we'll do it all again in a couple weeks time.
Venue: The Man On The Moon, Cambridge
Date: 12/07/11
Audience: A few friends, and a bunch of slightly confused exchange students
Set: Not sure, 4 or 5 originals and some covers
Notes: I'd been meaning/promising to play percussion for Emily for a while now, she writes really nice songs and is keen to get out there (for further proof of how good she is check out the video for her track 'Butterflies' on YouTube). She recently launched the open mic night at the Man On The Moon venue in Cambridge, a venue I know well from over the years, and she's genuinely trying to start something good for the local scene. This is the second week it's run, and it's not really kicked in to life just yet as there was barely any audience, and apart from us the only other performer was a man who played instrumental guitar for about three minutes. But the effort is there, and I'm certain it will take off, it deserves to. We were the house band for tonight, but as nobody else was really playing we ended up playing for quite a long time, starting with Emily's originals, and then branching into cover territory to keep things ticking over, doing songs by the likes of Loudon Wainwright, The Cure and some film soundtrack stuff. It was good fun, the 5 audience members joined by a sudden influx of foreign exchange students, who looked confused at first but despite the language barrier they became really enthusiastic so our extremely unrehearsed set went down very well. As a result, it was a surreal but nice enough evening and we'll do it all again in a couple weeks time.
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