The Tup, Guildford, 11/03/09. Sid's Tour Diary.

So, we arrive in Guildford thinking we’re knowing where we’re going. But….we can’t turn right where I want us to go ! Rats. Now we end up going round and round (and round) in circles trying to find somewhere to park. This we eventually manage to do but we’re not sure exactly where the venue is, everybody’s bearings are shot to pieces ! We stumble out of the car, unload and trudge in what we think is the right direction. It must be, we bump into Neil driving the other way !

Upon entering ‘The Tup’ seems like a lovely venue. Candles adorn the tables, very relaxing. But wait, there’s football being shown on big screens ! Important European football match on TV versus intimate acoustic music. This could be interesting. All initial worries soon pass though, it’s not a rowdy venue and nobody seems to actually mind too much when the screen behind the ‘stage’ is switched off. We say hello to the event organiser, the lovely Susie, who informs us that we get some free drinks. Very nice. We settle down.

Now, normally I’d ask for us to get a middle slot at most gigs (some punters and some other band members do tend to drift away from gigs as evenings wear on and ultimately we want to reach as many people as possible) but it appears I missed out on this and Susie says we’re going on last. That’s not a problem though, we always stick around to the end of gigs anyway. It’s not (and never will be) our style to turn up late, play and then go straight home.

Natalie Ross steps up first. She has a loop pedal and a very endearing quality to her on-stage persona. She’s quite scatty. I like this. The songs suffer from being a little bit samey though, but still, she makes us laugh.

Second up is ‘All Things Considered’. We’ve gigged with these guys a few times before but not as a full band, tonight we get the full ‘ATC’ experience, bassist and everything ! They’re pleasant but I can’t help wondering why they don’t actually play full electric gigs, with drums and everything ? Acoustic gigs are great, don’t get me wrong, we like playing them as much as the electric ones but if you have a percussionist why don’t you make the most of it and make it in to a full electric band guys ? Just a thought…..

Then, it’s our go. See earlier paragraph regarding the last slots. People start to leave. Not everybody, but a few. Slowly. Even some of ‘All Things Considered’. We rattle on through our set though, quite literally in places. We’ve started to relax and we’re a bit shambolic. It doesn’t matter. It kinda adds to the performance. Banter and personality comes to the fore. We don’t take ourselves too seriously (which gets remarked upon by a punter asking for a free cd afterwards, just before he offers us a gig……. in Oswestry !). ‘Nil By Mouth’ gets a debut acoustic outing and it goes pretty well. Until Ben fluffs up the ending. All-in-all though, it’s a good fun set. With character.

So, we pack-up, have a little dance with Natalie Ross and her friends to the music from Susie’s ipod, say our goodbyes to Susie, who is smiling profusely (so we must have done something right) and then head off. The last to leave. Susie says we’re welcome to play gigs for her anytime. I think we just might.

Sid.