I thought I would do a write-up on last night’s gig as it is hopefully our last socially distanced gig ever, although I am becoming less hopeful every day with cases beginning to rise every day again with the new Indian variant now sweeping through our communities. We have only played two socially distanced gigs since live music was in effect banned due to the covid-19 pandemic, the last once was in Ipswich for a Deadsoul promotions show and the one last night. Last night’s show was meant to be a full-on, regular gig until the Government extended restrictions and it was moved outside.

My day was fairly tiring, I got up at 7am, went to work for a full day, and then at 5pm I hopped in Isaac’s car and we made the long trip from Essex to the Leicestershire. We were further delayed due to Isaac’s satnav not being fully updated with the new Cambridgeshire roads, and it was sending us in random directions so I had to whip Google Maps out to get us back on the right track.

We arrived after 7pm, Stonedead Villains had already started. Generally, I always like to watch all the bands on the bill, but we missed the start of the set loading in. Toby, Liam along with Alex had arrived ahead of time as we had brought our own drumkit. However there wasn’t any space at the venue for the gear and the gig was being held in the pub’s beer garden so storage was limited and with it raining and limited cover, the gear was at risk of being damaged. Rhabstallion were, fortunately, kind enough to lend us their drumkit and cabs, which meant the changeover was smooth and we were able to set up and play relatively quickly once Stonedead Villains had finished their set, which I was able to catch the end of.

We had been asked to play an hour by the promoter however timing-wise it was just too tight, so we cut our set in half to ensure Rhabstallion got enough time to play a full set. I felt we played relatively well, although the stage wasn’t big enough for a four-piece band so I had to stand in the audience area with the guys remaining on the limited stage space. It’s the first time I have played inside a beer garden myself, so I can add that to an empty Skatepark and a Football Stadium as stage venues to play! I was also happy with how well my voice held out as I have been very much out of gig practice with my singing since the pandemic hit, I have only had to sing live three times since last March! A few people commented that we were very good on the night and asked why we weren’t playing bigger venues and festivals which is always a tough question to answer.

Rhabstallion then came on after and finished the night, managing to get the full set and encore to enable the gig to finish exactly at 11pm, so well organised all around. Liam got progressively more drunk throughout the night until the point we had to pack his gear away as he’d started walking into things and forgetting what he was doing, at one point he had two pints and was arguing that he hadn’t ordered one of them, but was still annoyed when he managed to spill the spare one everywhere! I enjoyed both bands on the bill, and the audience seemed to have a good time also which is the important thing. However turnout was much weaker than expected, we had promoted the show heavily before the restrictions being extended and something like 300 people in the Coalville area had shown an interest in the gig, however, there couldn’t have been more than 20 people there on the night including the bands, so I do think the restrictions and apprehension about the virus did hurt the event.

We had a great time throughout the night catching up with those who had come to see us, enjoying the bands, and generally had a lot of fun. Rhabstallion were kind enough to give us a share of the money on the night, and we sold a few CDs as well.  I think I got home about 3am, I dread to think what time Toby and Isaac got home!