Our last gig of 2013.
It was a surreal night in the city of Glasgow, it was the night after the tragedy at the Clutha yet there was the normal hussle of Sauchiehall Street. We parked up at the back of the venue, climbed up several flights of stairs past the bigger and more impressive stages until we reached the Attic. A smaller, darker room in need of a little love and attention. I must confess I like the little run down places to play gigs there is something ‘underground’ about it.
We had reservations about tonight. Our fans have dug deep this year to support us at other venues, Christmas was on the horizon and well we didn’t push it as much. When I saw the venue I must confess to being spoilt by the recent adventures at Oran Mor and ABC2. The sound would confirm this. I believe it sounded good to the audience but on stage it was no where near the crispness of the aforementioned venues.
We set up our sound and belted out a sound check in minutes. (I have no idea why it takes so long for bands to sound check) It was at this point we were asked for money to pay for the hire of the drum kit. There were four different reactions to this request. Stu went a bid red, (seething anger) Greg went quiet, (how to I sort this), I sighed,( why are we doing this) and Derek went into full blown Kirk rage ( Khaaaaaaaannnnnn, the older folk will get this). He said no to the promoter and we left to get a pint.
During our rather lovely pint and the effect it was having on me I had a conflict of thoughts. Do I really want, after 18 years of getting f**ked by promoters, to keep doing this. However I love it, sitting with guys pre gig, meeting our crowd and belting out our tunes. Why does playing live have so many pitfalls? I concluded I wanted to do this for as long as possible (although perhaps not as long as the Stones). I still love the whole scene.
Greg snuck off and paid for our share of hiring the kit… Stu and Derek were livid, I was angry but I could see where Greg’s heart was and gave him some money to put in his lighter pocket’s.
So we’re all a bit angry, the venue is lite on crowd and we’re about to go on. I looked at our faithful friends who came to see us. I thought, this is for them. The last time we played angry was at the QMU.
Set list
1. Deliverance
2. Speak
3. Ms Asphyxia
4. Wonder
5. Steel
6. Wait
7. Joker
Angry gigs are amazing, we play hard and fast. Our 30 minute set felt like 10 minutes. I had had a few beers and we were loving it. Every song merged into each other, I didn’t say much to the crowd which is not like me. The sound on stage was poor though. I was distracted by feedback throughout and that really annoyed me.
I enjoyed the night. It was a fitting end to an amazing year for us. Perhaps the next time we play live we’ll be showing off new songs, oh and we won’t be paying to hire a kit!!
I must mention Cicero’s Secret. They were brilliant live. The sound was a bit of a mash but the energy was incredible and their crowd were a delight to watch. Yes we were the oldies up the back foot tapping to the tunes! I wish them the best of luck.
Pabs.
weirddecibels.com 