gig diary

The Socials played their first gig at Behind the Wall 20th September 2024′

Words Pabs.

I’d literally just unlocked the front door to the house when the phone pinged. Greg would be kindly picking me up in thirty minutes. I dropped the works bag and the laid the laptop down, another week done.

With this much rushing about I didn’t really have a chance to think of the night ahead. Social Dancing’s debut gig, Greg and I’s first gig for some two years, and we hadn’t played in Falkirk since 2017 (again at Behind the Wall) and Kevins for two decades! I guess I was nervous but I felt prepared, the biggest worry was playing as a three piece, with me on guitars and vocals mistakes would be noticed.

Of course, there is an advantage to being an unknown band, no one knows your songs. If I forget the lyrics? Who cares! Just make them up! (and I did, a little)

Behind the Wall has recently been synonymous with the local music scene, many nights have been set aside for cover bands during the early 2000s, then progressing to some fantastic nights, including RiFF, a short-lived rock night that Weird Decibels were part of. Some notable acts have also graced the stage, King Creosote springs to mind (incredible to think, as the last time I saw him live he had sold out the Queens Hall and this year plays the Usher hall).

To really cement our rock and roll credentials we had some hard coffee (no milk), then gulped down some pizza (BTW do good Pizza, really fresh). Soundcheck followed, It was great to be back on the BTW stage.

First up was Adam Donaldson, who has taken some of his solo work and developed it with the band ‘An Opening Lie’ featuring Dario Palazzo, Gavin Paterson & Julián Pombo.

I really enjoyed these guys, there was a real energy to their set. Well-paced set with hints of Doves and the grittiness of Mastersystem. Thankfully the crowd had arrived on time and these guys enjoyed a god crow who lapped up their music.

After their gig I nipped back up to the greenroom, I enjoyed the moment of quiet, grabbed a few bottles of water then headed downstairs back into the bustling crowd. It was then that I realised how busy the place was, I was really pleased to see family and friends, it was the first time that many of us were in the same room at the same time.

After a quick tune up I laid the setlists down.

We played.

Little Kingdom
Mark as Read
They Asked You a Question
Dracula
You Can’t Have It All
Turn to Glass
Breathing

I was nervous playing Little Kingdom, a couple of weekends before we were recording at Studio257, my playing on Little Kingdom was all over the place (thankfully the first take turned out well, it was the rest that were a car crash.). I lowered the tempo a little bit and it seemed to work fine. Mark As Read went down well I think, by this time I found myself really getting into the gig. Greg as usual, looked calm, taking things in his stride. Looking back Kevin seemed to be enjoying it, but there was a hint he was holding on for dear life! He nailed it though and our confidence grew.

We stumbled on They Asked You a Question, coming back into the second verse after a pause we tripped up but after a little laugh it was all good. Dracula is fast becoming my favourite. It’s strange, if you play and write music for years there is an urge to write ever complex chord structures that take you further from your early ideas (and playing). Sometimes however, its good to let the song come alive on its own. Dracula is one of those songs. A possible crowd favourite could be You Can’t Have it All, it was my turn to hang on for dear life, as the only guitarist, one slip up…and the chords fall apart. Just got through it. Turn to Glass is our moment to breath, my inner Belle and Sebastian coming out. It felt like seconds had passed and we were on our final song Breathing. To have the crowd still with us as the end felt great.

Headliners Aretsan which includes Ronnie Bisset on vocals alongside son Bryce on guitar, on Bass Dickson Telfer who recorded both Kevin and Weird Decibels for his late lunch series which aired back in the mid 2000s, so we did a little reminiscing in the green room. I enjoyed a few beers listening to the tunes of Aretsan, really nice mix of rock and alternative, they fling in a few different instruments for a bit of texture. Really enjoyed their set.

I had some time to catch up with friends, family and neighbours, it felt like a real community gathering. Our Derek was there, it was great to see him. Of course, our thoughts turned to Weird Decibels and getting the tenth record recorded. I alter caught up with Greg and Kevin, we had some photos taken. It just felt good to be playing live again. Long may it continue.

A huge thanks to all that paid a fair sum for a ticket. The place was busy, we met some news friends and re-connected with old. We decided that night (we had been talking about it for a while) that all profits from the band will go to charity. Thanks to you guys we have some money to give back to the community.

Gig Diary: Bannermans Edinburgh 11/6/22

Pics Juls Sampson

It was a normal practise, the four of us had finished our set, brushing off the cobwebs that had gathered after months of lockdown. We enjoyed playing ‘February’ live and as we started to pack up Derek grimaced in pain.

We all looked, concerned that he was trying to stretch out his upper back, he had had physio but judging by his resignation, it seemed as through his drumming days were coming to an end.

‘That’s it’ I selfishly thought, finally that’s the end of the band. We can’t go on if one of us can no longer play.

However, there was a bright spark of hope, Derek had heard of a back support that may just hold him together, it came with a caveat, it could not be worn for long periods of time, or it would disrupt his posture. This didn’t sit right with me, but he wanted to give it a try.

A few weeks later we were setting up. It felt like our last chance if this doesn’t work then Weird Decibels is finished. Then Derek asked me to lift him up, “You sure” I asked tentatively, “yes” came the reply. So, I did.

And his back went pop.

A few minutes later he adorned his new armour, he looked like a contestant from the 90s classic gladiator. He sat behind the kit, clicked his sticks and we rocked out like we had always done. Full throttle.

Later at break, we were all looking at him. “Well?” we collectively asked.

“It works.” He replied, smiling.

Months passed, we practised whenever we could but its normal for us to miss weeks due to shifts and family life. It’s a rhythm we have settled into.

February live

Back in 2019 I was amazed when we manged to get away and record February. Once we had finished that, well, we all know what happened.

Time passed, all those live casts, yeah, they were fun, but it wasn’t us together on the stage. As the lockdown eased and bands started playing again, I wondered if we would return to the stage. The local scene, our peers included all started to post about gigs they were playing, We were going nowhere, and I was getting frustrated.

Greg was trying, he books most of our gigs. We were offered a cracking event, but it fell through as for various reasons we couldn’t commit.

The phoned pinged, it was the band chat, it had fallen a little quiet, so I wondered what was happening. To my delight Greg had secured us an offer of a gig at Bannermans, a great wee rock bar in Edinburgh.

After a few details were ironed out (we don’t do pay to play, and thankfully nor do they) we confirmed that we would be playing alongside punk funk rockers Radiofury and metal veterans Rhabstallion on June the 11^th 2022.

It was only a few weeks’ notice; we managed a couple of rehearsals but these days its fair to say we practise separately then bring it together. It seems to work. We finally had a set list and within that were songs from February that we had waited two years to play.

Bannerman’s beckons.

After nearly four years we were back on the live scene. Greg and I arrived at Bannerman’s, the pub was bustling, a mixture of punks, rockers and everything in-between. Thunderous music blared from the darkest corners of the stone walled building. The atmosphere was lively.

I now remember the wait to play, we had arrived for the load in at half six, there was to be no sound check, which was a little disappointing. However, we’ve been there before! Derek and Stu arrived, advising me not to look at the latest Scotland score…

I cracked and had a beer; Derek was amazed at how slowly I was drinking it. Time continued to crawl, I wasn’t nervous, after all we had played many gigs before. ‘Always get the first line right’ is what I always tell myself.

We watched Radiofury, loved that band. Tight, energetic, superb live and their tunes flew by.

We were up, James the sound engineer was helpful, we had to use the backline of the venue, which was handy for us, no lugging amps tonight.

We had just a few minutes to get ready, would the amp work? Stu’s was…mine? Phew yes, we were on. Derek did a roll of the drums, lovely deep kick reverberated through me as I stood on the stage, that feeling of playing live is hard to beat.

I flung the set list around the stage, and we began.

Not Giving Up opened, according to our stream count this is by far our most popular song. Its hard to tell if we have written everyone’s favourite after 25 years, many of our songs were released before Napster was even a threat. Still, it went down well and will probably open many future sets.

I somehow fell half a bar behind the rest of the guys in Stranded but got there in the end. The nerves were surprisingly bad…it had been too long.

We dug out a few older tunes, Its Who You Knows is always a pleasure and it went down well with your ever loyal crowd. It was great to see some of our pals, some who, have followed us from our first nervous steps on stage at the Martell back in the 90s.

Angry was tremendous to play live, sure the lyrics went awry, sometimes it’s nice to sing what you’re thinking at the time. This could be another live favourite. Some songs work recorded; some work better live, Angry very much falls into the latter.

Speak is staple…possibly our most played live track now. Written back in 2008, it’s been in our sets ever since. The drum intro just gets the heart beating faster.

Then came The Ability. We had avoided this ever since we put it to record. During the recording we nailed it, but it had been a horror to play live at rehearsal, in particular the ending.

I was desperate to give it a try, but I will say a little annoyed as I thought we were going to avoid it. However, to be fair to the guys we tried it at practise, and it clicked. Instead of counting the bars, I just sang, Stu kept his eyes on the drums, and it just worked. I could hear Stu cheering, what a moment. It just blew me away. So much fun to play.

Before we knew where we were it was time to play our last song Protein Shaker, probably our new closer! What a gig that was…

Rhabstallion played some amazing rock and metal. Solo after solo bounced off the cavernous walls. And it was loud. You can tell these guys have played for years together, it just looked effortless.

Before long and after a few welcome IPAs the night was ending. I got a good catch up with the guys from Radiofury. After a stressful night behind the desk James looked a little calmer now that the job was done. The sound was excellent it was surely a challenging room.

The music scene is struggling, especially at grass roots level. Its rare to make money these days, and our concerns were confounded by the reduced train services which has wiped out a few of the last trains.

Derek had ordered a bus, we had a little wait in the street, it gave us a chance to catch up with some of the people that came through to see us. Eventually we were safely on the bus and on our way home. Singing started, then came Kirsty’s crisps, she had bought a bag full! That silenced everyone, all that could be heard was rustling and munching of hungry drunk folk.

Once we were dropped off, Kirsty and I walked off into the stillness of the night towards our home. My ears were ringing, and I was a little tired. But I was buzzing.

Thanks to all our friends and family for coming through, hopefully made some new ones!

Words Pabs