In Which The Bands Had As Much Fun As The Audience

I don't know how we pulled it off, but we managed to play I set I felt really proud of last night- the Horns were almost note-perfect, better than they were 25 years ago in fact, and the Daintees' audience were very kind to us (and we had a few people to see us too, thank you for coming along to support us!). I LOVED it- I made a few mistakes as I got distracted by enjoying it so much but I don't think anyone really noticed and I have learned not to draw attention to these things. The Horns loved it too, I could tell by their playing and by the energy on stage before we even came off.
The the Daintees (version 50!) played an absolute blinder of a set. Chris Mordey (bass) had come down from Newcastle, had never met John Steele (guitar) or Kate Stephenson (no relation, on drums) but everything just fell into place and they played a rocky set that showed Martin's songwriting off to a tee. I have never heard so many people in the audience singing along before- some people always do, but last night there were a lot of people who sang every song from beginning to end. The highlight was the walkabout section where Martin, John, Kate and Paul Sax disappeared up the stairs and out into the street, leaving Chris behind patiently playing bass. The audience suddenly started applauding him and he looked up, puzzled at being the centre of attention, then walked to the centre of the stage to take his applause, then down the stairs came the others to finish the song with a bang. It was a fantastic atmosphere, a really happy night with an incredibly friendly audience.
At the end, Diana and myself were frantically selling CDs before the nightclub started up. I lost 3 pens, Diana lost one and Martin lost one (signing CDs), but we did sell a lot of albums and we ate a lot of nuts (they were on the rider) and talked a helluva lot of talking.
What a night!