Remember That Film ‘Face Off’?
Well, uh…it just HAPPENED!
Let It Snow.
So it’s now Tuesday evening and the last time I posted was last Wednesday according to my blog. Where did the last week go exactly? I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that I have to look back through my diary to remember what I’ve done in the past week? (*See last post for explanation on my memory/posting madness)
I’ve had a relatively quiet week, doing the usual work stuff. Last night we had our first Scrat rehearsal since the gig on Oct 1st and it was really good to be back playing again. Non of us had played together since the gig and apart from the few hours I spent recording drum tracks for our upcoming EP, I hadn’t played drums since Oct 1st so I was a little worries I might be a bit rusty, as that was the longest lay off we’d had in the last year. Surprisingly everything came back together quite well. We all managed to remember what we were playing and there were only a few missed beats, chords and words. We were bass-player-less though, so the real amateur in the band wasn’t there letting the side down ;-)
By the third song I had cramp in my hands and arms…I think I maybe played a bit hard to start with just because I hadn’t had the chance to unleash for a while! It was great fun though and we ran through a new cover we’re thinking of doing and it seemed to gel really quickly, so I think it could be a key song in our next live set. We’ve also been thinking about some other covers to do, and Dicko has been busily writing lyrics for more original numbers, so there’s lots of work to do in the coming months….I can wait!
The only downside to rehearsing after not having done so for so long is that my hands and arms have been aching all day today. My hands are also covered in blisters! But that’s ok – well worth it for the fun I had! And (touch wood) my back seems ok, which is very good.
As you can see from the photo above we had some snow yesterday, this first of the winter….fortunately it was enough to make everything look nice, but not enough to stop us getting to rehearsal. It still amazes me how crap this country is when we get any type of unusual weather! In most countries people just stick their snow chains on their vehicles and go about their normal business even if there’s 3 feet of snow. Here we get 5 inches over 24 hours and the whole bloody country grinds to a halt! People are stranded in freezing cars on moors and motorways! Public transport grinds to a halt and leaves the public stranded in freezing bus stations (unlucky Steph!) and generally everything goes to shit. What a shambles!
To end on a more positive note; The last few days have found me re-visiting some albums and bands that I’ve not listened to for ages…things I own but never listen to and maybe should to more. People such as, Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Talent, Extreme, Faith No more (live), assorted punk covers and also Skunk Anansie – a band I used to love and haven’t listened to for *so* long. Their first two albums are really great – such a great sound and upon reading a song title on the back of their debut album (before even listening to it) I had the weirdest flashback to doing my paper-round when I was 15 and listening to that album on my cassette walkman. When the hell did 1995 become TEN years ago?
Oh, and I ended up going for a drink with Steve on my own on Sunday night in the end – was good to see him though. We set the music world to right.
Bored.
*This was written on the 27th, but I just found it in my ‘drafts’ folder today, the 29th. This would explain why in my next most recent post (above this) I was wondering how it was so long since I last posted…..it wasn’t!
I have had a largely uneventful week since Monday/Tuesday. Been working and not done anything out of the ordinary. Took my little bro too see Alkaline Trio last night as he had no one to go with…he really enjoyed it. I’m not a big fan and found it a bit samey, but it wasn’t unbearable, so I didn’t mind giving up my Saturday night as it meant I’d be saving money anyway!
I’m currently waiting for Steve to call as we’re supposed to be going for a drink in Walsall this afternoon, possibly with Miss Jennings and Miss Lister….but being at the mercy of Steve’s time keeping is never a good thing, so who knows if it’ll happen…..
I Am A True Professional.
Some little prick just tried to get arsey with me after I stopped him from illegally requesting an mp3 of an unreleased track by someone I work with. He sent me a really arsey message trying to get clever on me….I could have ripped him to fucking shreds in a second, just like Tiff the Axe Maiden would have done…made him feel about an inch tall, and eat his words. But I didn’t.
I refrained, stated the facts, put him in his place without being rude, offensive or belittling, pressed ’send’ and smiled smugly at my level of self control.
Twisted Firestarter.
Had a busy couple of days. On Monday I went down to London for Immi’s Bush Hall gig – arrived at the venue about 4pm after Chloe cancelled lunch cause she didn’t get out of bed in time – lazy student! (Only joking Clo ;-)). When I got there Immi was already there along with Kumar, Ingmar and Matt of Fruit Pie fame – all very nice gentlemen I have had the pleasure of spending many hours on tour buses and at gigs with, so it was nice to catch up with them. A whole host of other people from the London crowd that I only ever see when I go down there showed up too, so it was extra-nice to see them all. Hung out with Mr Mills of The Lucky Nine and assorted other people….always good to catch up with friends you don’t see very often.
As I was there and had my hands free I ended up being trusted with the job of ‘candle technician’ (or ‘twisted firestarter’ as I preffered to call myself) and was left in charge of placing and lighting candles on stage for Imogen’s set. Now, being the highly experienced and fire-safety minded professional that I am – I had no problems doing this, I knew all about the health & safety laws and everything. Honest. I said beforehand I’d happily do this, but wouldn’t take responsibility if the venue burnt down mid-gig! I knew where the fire extinguisher and nearest fire exit was though, so everything was under control.
Luckily all the candles I’d melted/stuck onto cdrs and placed on various flight cases around the stage survived the show without falling over and setting fire to anything, or melting hot wax onto any important equipment! Looking at a few photos from the show afterwards the candles looked pretty ace too – so top marks to whoever came up with that idea, even if it was me that implemented it and ended up with hot wax all over my hands and clothes! The photo above is a shot someone in the audience snapped of me ‘tech-ing’ the candles during change-over…my friend’s like to call me ‘Doug The Roadie’ – my gig alter-ego.
The show was brilliant – with Immi switching between a grand piano on the floor in front of the stage and he full-on high-tech space-age set up on the stage. She played a mixture of songs spanning her entire career, which seemed to go down well with the crowd who she had in the palm of her hand from the second she took to the stage. I’ve never been to a gig where EVERYONE was absolutely silent for the duration of every single song – no chatting at the back, or clinking of glasses throughout, just silence – it was very special! The crowd were also like-minded enough that when Immi suggested the first few rows sit while she played the piano (so those at the back could see) that they ALL sat down – all 400 people sat and watched her playing the big old grand piano. I can’t wait for the next London show at The Scala on Feb 7th – it’s another great venue, very different to Bush Hall and I think the whole set up for the show will be different, but it’ll be just as good I’m sure!
After leaving Bush Hall I got a lift over to Saint Paul’s Cathedral where I met up with my good friend Jo. She was staying in a hotel right by the Cathedral while she was working in London, so I had a place to stay and got to see her too which was most pleasant! When I awoke on Tuesday morning I realised I was very near Fleet Street and thus very near ‘The Temple Church’ that I’d been reading about in ‘The Da Vinci Code’ the day before, so I whipped out my A-Z of London and set off in search of the Church (nice rhyme there!). I found the Church/Temple via Starbucks and a Vanilla latte (Mmmmmm) and took some photos while looking around the outside of the building. Unfortunately the Church isn’t open to visitors on Mondays & Tuesdays so I wasn’t able to go inside, but it was still cool to visit somewhere I’d just read about in a fictional book!
Shortly after I jumped on the tube to Euston and got on the train back to Brum. I’d had the worse night’s sleep I’d had for ages for some reason, so I’m still feeling warn out now….think I’m going to go and watch a documentary about Churchill’s bodyguard and then go to bed.
Oh – I posted photos of my adventure on my moblog, check ‘em out…
