So anyway, to the news. Hmm... where to start? I might have to break this up into a few posts (a-ha! That automatically gives me more material for the next article...) so let's start off with gig news:
We've only played a couple of shows that I haven't blogged about. First off, we played at the Cobden Club on April 28th as part of the BMI Sessions/Hit Sheet showcase night. The Cobden is a funny old place. I know the area fairly well as it's just down the road from Eastcote Studios, where we recorded our album, and I love that part of London. The night, however, was a bit odd. As an industry showcase, we knew it wasn't going to be a night where a sea of appreciative audience members whoop delightedly after every song, but even so it seemed a very staid and somber affair. Unfortunately, everything over-ran. So much so, that by the time we got on stagewe were told to keep the levels low, and the sound man turned everything down. Not ideal for a band like us... Quite how many 'industry' people stayed to listen to us I don't know, but we played pretty well so I hope anyone that did bother to stay enjoyed it.
Whilst flyering around the local area before the gig, we bumped into Tim Brownlow (of Avatars and Belasco fame). we had the opportunity to work with Tim's 'voice' when we remixed Avatars forthcoming single 'The Air', so it was great to put a face to the name. He's a top guy too - we ended up hanging out in the pub with him much longer than expected - so long, in fact, that the label ended up calling us from the venue asking where the hell we were!
So yeah, a good night all in all, and a venue I'd like to play again - although maybe not quite so late next time!
On May 20th, (me with bleary eyes and a lack of sleep) we were back at the Hatfield Forum. JamJar is the student-run monthly event at the Forum which we played back in February and I raved about the show and the venue then. This time it was a 'best of' event, showcasing the best bands that had played at JamJar nights during the year. I don't need to say again how amazing a venue The Forum is - my previous blog post says it all - but I will say that if I could play venues like that every week, I would be the happiest gigging musician on the planet.
Anyway, the night was topped off by the audience cheering for the band they thought were the best of the 'best of' show. We won this hands down and were blown away by the response from the crowd once again. We even managed to shift a few albums! (More about the album to follow - that's a whole other blog post...)
Once again big thanks to the Forum for having us, and to our artist liaison, who managed to track down some headache pills for Andy and was still there to help us load out after all the other artist liaisons had left hours ago!
My last blog post was short but sweet - Glade Festival was cancelled. This is a real shame. We loved the experience of playing at the Rabbit Hole Stage at Glade last year, even though we had to perform without our drummer Alex, who was in the US at the time. Glade's organisers' statement alluded to problems agreeing policing arrangements, etc. with the local authority which is such a shame. Unfortunately, it highlights the fact that cancellation can happen to any festival, no matter what its size, at any time - even well established ones.
Nevertheless, we plough on and we currently have a few dates on the horizon. First up, we're at Hamswell Festival near Bath for the third year in a row. Early bird tickets are still available for £35 for the whole weekend and you can click here to buy them. This is a proper grassroots, up-and-coming festival, featuring a fantastically unpretentious line-up and about the best atmosphere you could hope for in a small festival. Hope to see you there!
The week after Hamswell we're off to Spain, for two gigs in the North-West. On Thursday 19th August we'll be playing at Le Club in La Coruña, then on Saturday 21st we'll be at the Festival Independente de Vilalba. We're really looking forward to this trip - it'll be fascinating to see how we're received by a completely impartial crowd. I'm also looking forward to hearing Andy's Spanish banter!
The build up for these gigs has included some features in the Spanish press and on local Spanish radio, so hopefully there will be a few people there to support us!
Along with all of this, we're hoping to do an online streamed gig on the 4th August - details of this to follow. There's talk of some other exciting venues coming up as well, but with nothing confirmed, I'll leave you in suspense for the moment...
Right - I think that's us all up to date with the gig news now - I'll be back soon with the other news!
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