Playing at The Stables

The Stables gig was a joy. It lived up to its reputation as being a top place to play. Thanks to everyone who came: I really enjoyed meeting people at the end and having a bit of a chat. As in some previous gigs, there were also some old faces there I hadn't seen for a very long time. Which is always a treat. Courtesy of Facebook. So it does have something going for it. Speaking of which, if you are on the infamous FB and would like to stay in touch, please join the fan page. It's still in its infancy, you might say, and very open to newcomers :-) Muso contact is best left to MySpace - because there are so many portals, music platforms and other technological vices - or virtues, depending which side of the fence you sit on - it's hard to keep up.

Back to the gig - we were, unfortunately, unable to take photos during the performance, but there are some rather rough 'n' ready shots of us setting up. So instead of the usual close-ups of yours truly oohing on the piano or keyboard - which are becoming a little ubiqitous, it has to be said - there are some rather interesting - one might even say arty - shots from before the gig... Here they are. Don't say I didn't warn you ;-)


Me warming up


The band in full sound check!


Andrew (bass) tries out his piano chops

Feeling groovy

Brighton last week was a most refreshing experience. Lovely theatre room, warm audience, great location (near the sea) and friendly promoters!! You may shrug at this last point, but it makes all the difference from feeling OK, to feeling really excited about playing somewhere. It's not that I constantly encounter weasly, cold-hearted bastards who really couldn't give a toss about your performance ... although, if I put my mind to it, I could drudge up a few. But a little bit of enthusiasm goes a long way.

I'm told this is a Brighton thing. Chatting to the bar manager afterwards, he informed me the stereotypical image of Brighton as a happy-go-lucky, chilled out paradise is "120% true". So. You heard it here first.

Hopefully I'll repeat my experience at The Stables in Milton Keynes this Saturday, 18 April. It's a top venue, and I'm very chuffed to be invited there. Other artists on their upcoming programme include the likes of Georgie Fame, Ruby Turner, Imelda May, Show of Hands and, oh - Julie McKee! - would you believe. It's definitely worth a night out - a post-Easter soiree, if you like. 'Cos you're worth it :-)

I'm also feeling slightly buoyed after seeing a top gig last night at the Troubadour in west London. I hadn't been to a gig for ages, with one thing and another, and this time it was my turn to be a groupie - He-Man was drumming with the melodramatic pop combo of crooner Orlando Seale. And very engaging and enjoyable it was, too. Not only that, all the other acts I caught were really high calibre - gorgeous vocals and serene soundscapes from Rachel Wright, funk grooves from Miss P and a set from Mano de Dios that had me smiling from start to finish. They rocked the place, with in-your-face flamenco, punk and rockabilly grooves, and the Spanish songs took me right back to my student days in Barcelona ... ahh. Those were the days.

Incommunicado and lovin' it

My mobile's broken. The charger's bust, it's out of juice - in short, it's kaput. I really should get round to rectifying the situation, but the last few days have been bliss. No more cranking it up first thing out of bed, awaiting intrusion from the outside world. No urgent safe-keeping in my pocket as I pop out to the shops for 10 mins, because somebody might call or text. No putting it on silent while I'm out with someone (but keeping a sneaky eye on it) or monitoring it in the movies in case something oh-so-important crops up. What a relief.

Maybe there's a lesson for me in all this. A chance to create a little bit more space in my life. Hell, I even sat down to finish a song - twice - in the last few days! Now that's gotta be good.

I heard about last week's Earth Hour too late. So I didn't switch off my lights - that is, if they were, indeed, on at the time. I just checked onto the Earth Hour website to see what it was all about. Some of its suggestions, apart from switching off your lights for an hour, included taking a photo and uploading it to Flickr, taking a video and uploading it to YouTube and writing a live blogpost about it. Er, doesn't all that add up to a lot more energy consumed than an hour of lights-off?

I'm not knocking it, but I'll stick with the broken mobile for now. There'll be less brains and thumbs fried. And I may even finish that song.