So, Saturday October 1st finally came around. The night that would change the world. The night that we played our first gig as SCRAT. The night we've been working towards since December 6th 2004. It was wicked! Despite being slightly worried about how many people that had 'promised' to turn up would actually turn up it was full steam ahead. We loaded in set, set all our gear up, had some very kind help from a number of friends who provided both equipment and their time and before long the venue was ready for us to rock. We had a great lighting rig, bubble machines, smoke machines, empty Whiskey bottles, inflatable dinosaurs, costume changes, intro tapes, toy rats, DJs, soundmen, stage techs, a tour manager, photographers, cameramen....the works! Everyone sat and waited nervously for people to show up...and then at 8pm on the dot, people started arriving. As they did so Dicko began pacing up and down the venue, wearing large holes in the wooden floor and his feet (he managed to give himself a blister!). Fortunately almost everyone that said they would come turned up, so we had a great turn out totalling around 70 people, which we were very pleased with. As 9pm approached we decided to put our stage time back to 9:30pm. This was to allow people to mingle and chat a little more before the show. For Dicko this meant more stress time! But before long we were changed and waiting behind the stage backdrop, ready to rock. With the intro track introducing us, SCRAT took to the stage. The soundcheck had gone fairly well, so luckily there were no extra worries about not being able to hear properly. We started stongly with 'Party Hard' and once we got going there was no stopping us. There were no major cock ups, everyone played/sang really well and the crowd were great. Our self-penned hometown anthem 'Walsall Girls' went down a storm, definitely the most talked about track after the gig and we are seriously considering entering the studio to commit this song to tape. We can't wait. As the gig finished and we all left the dressing room (Men's toilet) to go and see our adoring fans (friends) I had a familiar feeling come over me that I'd not felt for a long time......so long in fact that I'd forgotten what that after-gig buzz felt like. Which is a little weird because I still go to lots of gigs and work at gigs with people who play gigs, but it's not quite the same unless you've been up there and the adrenaline is pumping. It felt great. I was really happy with how the gig went. We headed off into the night with a few friends to celebrate at our after-show party. The next evening after meeting up earlier in the day to load the gear out we met for a post-gig Curry where we recalled the amusing events of the previous night (there were many!). All in all everyone had a great time, band and audience. We are all amazed that in 10 months we went from being a bunch of friends whose musical experience/ability ranged from zero to professional and that had never played together before......to rocking as SCRAT like we did. Now we have to plan our next move - be afraid! Photos and video from the gig will be online at www.scrat.co.uk very soon!