It's been a bit of a while since the last time the band gigged. David Goo is starting to feel like a distant memory as we head down to Penzance for the opening night of 'G-Bar' (formally known as 'Q-Bar' - so top marks for creativity!) On the same bill as heavy rockers Sinpusher and the high octane Gary and the Minefield, we're a bit of an odd choice for opening act tonight. Picture an episode of Mr. Bean as the opening vignette before a Vin Diesel film and you're getting close to the mark. Do films even have opening vignettes anymore? It's been a while since I've done that, too...
Nonetheless, here we are. It's a pretty itchy feeling during soundcheck... singing the chorus to Lillipad Lover over and over (La la la la leap and sha la la la sleep together, ad nauseum) to a room of vaguely violent looking types feels both dangerous and humiliating in equal measures but you know, we're nothing if not soldiers! Soundcheck eventually finishes and we have a little downtime before playing.
It's during this rather uneventful downtime that I notice the bar is outfitted with an army of barmaids. It seems unfeasable the amount they have stood there waiting to spring into action... at this point, aside from the bands the staff probably outnumber the patrons significantly. Images of the six of them passing a single drink down a line to the end of the bar are particularly enduring and it's a little bit of a downer to think that this has probably been the highlight of the night so far.
Still, slowly the place fills as we stagger on through our set. As things move on, the fact that we haven't played a gig in a while slowly becomes apparent, for me at least. My vocals degenerate from a beautifully clear tenor into a series of grunts, growls and squeaks that I fight to form into cogent sentences. Business as usual, you might say... but please don't! In addition to this, the words to 'Too Late to Mate' are lost in the ether completely... I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to be singing and to be honest, at the stage we're at it probably doesn't matter.
Our main sources of comfort are the appearance of some familiar, more than welcome faces and the fact that our selection of covers all go down amazingly. Wait, is that a source of comfort or is that actually kind of bad news?
Post-gig pizza all round it is then. How's THAT for comfort?
Setlist for 5/4/12:
Hey Ya
Chad
Lillipad Lover
El Miedo
Inspector Katz
A Miskito Called James
Mr. Dinosaur
D.U.I.
Too Late to Mate
F**k You
Quickstep
Herb the Taxi Driver
Bonkers
The Rules
