Well, another long break since our last performance - September in fact and in true tradition, we were rusty! We did however, give it our all and changed the set list again adding in a couple of new numbers that we had learnt.
Already being in the vacinity, Andy was the first to arrive leaving Beanz, Harley, Jock & Dan to load the van and transport the equipment. Credit where it's due, the journey to the pub was bang, clonk and rattle free - maybe Jock should supervise the loading more often!! We arrived at The Chase a little past 7.30 and upon opening the rear doors, everything was exactly as loaded - note it in the diary people, after twenty gigs, we've finally managed to load the van in a manner that was pleasing and stress free! As usual, before starting to unpack and set up, we walk into the pub to suss out the atmosphere and check out our area. We all looked at each other through intimidated eyes. There were four people in the pub and two of them were staff! "Oh my God, they're gonna kill us!" We didn't expect to be playing to a packed pub as it came across as a "local pub for local people" How wrong could we be. We started to unpack and set up and without noticing, the cars kept coming and coming. By the time we had finished setting up, the car park seemed full and the atmosphere inside was no different to any other pub we have performed for.
Using their second to none sparky skills and unlimited use of tools from the emergency kit bag, Harley and Jock repaired a damaged plug on the amp with no more than a beanie hat and a swiss army knife! Well done boys! Andy (with the most to erect) carried on in his usual quiet way putting his drum kit together, Beanz, suffering from "Manflu" did the front of house equipment and Dan proceeded to set up the mixing desk. We were short of space in this pub so decided (wrongly) not to bring any lights and stuff with us. Dan also set us up differently this time by not MIC'ing all the drums up. Subsequently, there was a lot less spaghetti to be mindful of in the stage area, allowing us to concentrate on getting the music right!
We started with a classic rock song this time instead of punk, kicking off with "Can't get enough" by Bad Company. From the off, the pub made us feel very welcome and applause followed every song played. We are all in agreeance that The Who's "Seeker" was probably the best we've ever played it whilst other songs seemed not to be quite up to spec. Whilst we still practise on a weekly basis, we utilize most of our time learning new material and seldomly review the ones we know already. We've agreed that they are as important as new stuff and will commit to revising them on a more regular basis. By the time the first set was over, which seemed to be appreciated by us as a band as much as our audience, more people from the back bar came forward to watch us perform.
As always, it was nice to see our regulars out front, supporting us as they have consistently and unconditionally done since we started - these people deserve another mention - thanks to Wayne; Gayvid; Dil; Rupert; Sam; Donk & Lionel (who left after the first set with his new hobby, a new non-radio controlled girlfriend! Don't blame ya fella, know what I'd rather be doing in that situation too!!!!) We would also like to mention a new groupie to our entourage who we think was press ganged into coming. Nevertheless he came and the nodding head and foot tapping throughout the evening gave off signals that he enjoyed us - Welcome to the club Stewie!
We took quite a few of our regular songs out of the set this week and we're glad we did. We have now put ourselves in a position whereas if people keep shouting "more" (which we love by the way) we have enough material to keep going. We finished this gig with one of the new songs, "Down Under" by Men At Work. We put a lot of effort into making this song our own due to the major difference in instruments and vocals. Criticised at the initial idea, it turned out that a few people commented and thought our version was better than the origional?? The bass line provided by Jock, the guitar rifts by Harley, the vocal key by Beanz and the tempo and rythum provided by Andy was all our own doing, making the song different yet recognisable. By the time we had finished this song and the set, it was both satisfying and pleasing to hear the crowd shouting for more. Our initial thoughts of them "killing us" for being crap soon turned into "they're gonna lynch us" if we don't carry on! At the end of the day, if only by buying pints, these people have paid to see the performance and who are we to deprive them of getting their money's worth?!
We played three more that we had in reserve and when that came to an end, we retired outside to cool off. Beanz and Jock could hear the shouting for more whilst standing against the urinal and decided to give them one more before finally finishing around midnight.
We finished the whole evening with "American Idiot" by Greenday and left it at that - still with the crowd shouting for more. Seriously guys, despite my previous comment about encores, we do still have another two hours work when you've all gone home!!!!
Before starting to pack the gear away (thanks again Donk, but the journey home was clonkier than a bolt ina biscuit tin!) we all sat together over a drink whilst waiting for the pub to empty out. Whilst at the bar, numerous people local to the pub and not of our own group patted us on the back for a job well done and we were assured that we would be returning there in 2010.
We'd like to thank Alberto at The Chase for giving us the opportunity to play despite letting him down previously, and all the people regular to the pub for making us feel welcome and appreciating what we set out to do at every gig - have fun!
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