So, usual stuff to start with......Ben picks me up, we then pick up Kat. No, hang on.......Kat, Tall George and I stand in her living room aimlessly watching 'Hollyoaks' (oh, the shame !) while Ben splashes his boots. Then, we're off ! No, hang on........"Puttenham, that's in London innit ?" says Ben, "Nah mate, it's the uvvver side of Godalming" say I. It turns out we're both wrong because 'country-bumpkin' Kat reliably informs us it's just off the Hogs Back on the way to Guildford. She knows, her and her mum used to stop at the pub we're going to for cucumber sandwiches, apparently.
We pull up at said pub and straight away I feel right at home. Having played probably a 'million' gigs in my 'career' I don't really get nervous anymore but to walk in to a pub like this with such a great vibe instantly makes me relax somewhat. We saunter in and Aimee's (more on her later) dad Kev spies me and offers to buy me a beer. Nice ! "Errrr, that one" I point, I really am starting to feel at home with the excellent selection of real ales on offer here. Nice. Duly watered we say hello to organisers Anthea and Ian who inform us we're the headline act and as such will be on around 10.15pm. Cool.
We pull up chairs. Usual pre-gig shenanigins take place. Kat and I smoke intermittently, Ben doodles idly on flyers, Neil makes us all laugh with his quick wit and Mark (who has since turned up to cheer us on even though he's not actually playing with us tonight) sits uncomfortably squashed inbetween Ben and Kat. Cosy pubs, you can't beat 'em. This one is very cosy too, especially as the pub has now become packed with punters and performers alike. A real result for a Monday night.
The format of the evening is a few 'open mic' performers and then 3 'feature' acoustic acts. 'Phoenix' start us off. '3 Style' follow (confusing punters and host alike by there being only 1 of them, normally there's just 2, surely there should be 3), Steve Grattan plays a set (he was/is in 'Phoenix' too) and then Lesley Spiers takes to the stage. I really liked her voice and was glad to hear she was giving away free cd's, so I nabbed one......although I've yet to listen to it as it is only 6.50am the following day and I don't want to wake the neighbours ! Sleep ? Pah !
Then it's the turn of the feature performers. First up it's Aimee. She's chuffing amazing, a 13-year-old singer-songwriter with lyrics beyond her years, tunes that others would kill for and a no-fear attitude that will surely take her places. Now, as a lyric writer meself (like ! innit !) I am amazed that someone so young can write deep, intelligent, clever words. She does though. Hat's off to her, she even played my particular favourite 'In The Shadows' (I hope that's the right title !), you know when she plays this she means every word she's singing. Class.
Next up, it was due to be 'Inimitable Dragonfly', but, no hang on......what's this ? Kat's come back from a smoke with a story from a member of 'Phoenix' saying how he had to leave the band because he was/is in love with the lead singer and now, here they are getting up to play a song he's written, just because he happens to be here watching his old band mates !! 'Spinal Tap' anyone ? So, off they go, and me being me I start to listen to the lyrics when suddenly it all clicks in to place. She's reading the words off of a music stand (must be fairly new words then) and it's blatantly obvious that he's written this song about her and he's making her sing it ! This has made my evening ! (It's given me ideas too, so it won't be long before I bring my new song to a 'Brassneck' rehearsal. It's called 'I Want To Give You Oral Pleasure'......for Kat to sing naturally !!;-))
Anyway, next up go 'Inimitable Dragonfly' who have double-bass, authentic 50's microphones and vintage Gretsch guitars for a fantastic vibe that is all-too-lacking in modern music.
Then, finally, it's our turn. Although it's only a 4-piece acoustic set we still turn out to be the 'soundman's worst nightmare'. I'm not sure why though, there is only 4 of us. Once we're in our stride though there's no stopping us and we work our way through a very nice 30 minute set (including rare outings for oldies 'Set My Alarm For 7' and 'My Chemistry') and then we're done. The crowd have loved it and are clambering for copies of our EP, Ian the organiser has jumped on stage and declared us the best band they have seen down here and we're all looking at each other going "Wow, was it really that good ?". That's just something I get from acoustic gigs, I can never tell how well we're coming across out front, but judging by the reactions we get at the acoustic evenings then we're obviously coming across just dandy. Get in !
A cracking night. Lovely venue, great real ale, great atmosphere, friendly hard working organisers, oh, and they raise money for Oxjam too. Quality. Thanks to Anthea, Ian, Tom the photographer, Chris the soundman and everyone esle involved. We shall be back, no doubt about it.
Sid.
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