Life can be both brutal and incredibly beautiful, often delivering servings of both in nanoseconds of time.
Steve Sound Engineer was a fixture in the Prince Albert, and it was very odd to walk in and find that someone else was doing it. Steve died suddenly last year and took a lot of musicians off-guard: he was an absolute dude. But I knew the new guy- from gigs at the Con Club in Lewes, and he was very good at his job too. The dial of life has turned one turn, and the machine still works...
What a coincidence!
Asides aside, when we got to the pub, Rachel and her boys were just finishing their sound check (see pic). Even informally, they have their own bubble of reality that makes them transcend just songs and guitars'n'things. I love Rachel's songwriting, whether there is an audience there to love it with or not. They live up to their name, in more ways than one.
After a nice dressing room catch-up with Caryne, Dave, and Mark from Asbo Derek, it was time for me to get on stage. Argh- dark! I couldn't see my guitar neck. I played three songs from the new album and had some bar chord near-misses (sorry for the guitar player jargon), but was delighted by the reception, especially because I could hear someone laughing at the funny bits in Three Cheers For Toytown (mainly because I'd forgotten they were funny). Remembering lyrics is such a trial- a bit like Maths homework, and that laugh was a welcome reminder of why I wrote the song.
Hooray for Sunday afternoons!
All sorts of pals came along: Sally and her daughter and partner, Andy and Jane (so nice to see them after so many years!), Jonathan from Assistant (he had thought he was going to still be in tiger makeup from a children's party, but he looked normal), Lorraine Bowen (wouldn't it be nice to do a couple of gigs together? I sang the praises of Amy Rigby, same), Dorothy Max Prior and her partner Foz, Stephen Clements, and of course Mark. And Hester, who I haven't seen for ages!
There was a baby in the audience too.
Then it was time for Rachel. You must just listen to her songs. The harmonies are divine, the chord sequences are just so gorgeous, and the set is full of surprises, with some spiky stuff in there alongside the very poignant paeans to her late partner. No two songs are alike and the band are ultra-tight; they completely transport you away from gloomy November to somewhere light and full of dreams and imagination. Oh, we so need that right now!
Come to see the same line-up in Bristol at the Thunderbolt next Friday, or at the Betsey Trotwood on the afternoon of Saturday the 23rd, which will be my own last gig of the year.
(photo of Rachel by me, photo of me by Jane )
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