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Great Gigs & Great Venues


Bluewine

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Playing The Rebellion Festival in The Winter Gardens in Blackpool for the first time in August 2015. When we started out our aim was to try and get on that festival, being the biggest punk festival in the world. Our set was at something like 1:15pm on the first day for 25mins in The Arena, and the room whilst not completely full must have had about 800 in there (capacity is 1000). The set flew by, was well received, and we were all on a high for the rest of the festival, we`d achieved one of of our aims and unlike many things in life, it was actually better than we had thought it would be. We`ve now played there 3 years in a row, and are booked for this year as well but I look back fondly to my first Rebellion.

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High Barn in Great Bardfield, Essex.

Stunning music venue and recording studio, now it is just a very classy wedding venue.

Played there in our Free tribute band, all ticketed and sold out.

Brilliant gig, our best ever and well worth the 140 mile round trip.

Edited by steantval
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A small cellar bar in Midsomer Norton which years later I would go on to own. What made the gig special? We played a set of all original material we'd written together as a band, the place was rammed and people were standing on the tables around the edges of the room the whole crowd singing my own lyrics back at us so loud they were competing with the band. It was spine tingling.

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I remember bits of different gigs that, if they had all happened on the same night, would be a truly memorable gig. With The Wirebirds, we had an unexpectedly good gig at a bike rally in April last year. We'd already played two sets in a social club, then driven an hour to a remote field only to be told we would be on late as they were behind schedule. Managed to sleep in the car for an hour or two (missed the burlesque though) and went on after midnight. Proper stage, PA and lights run by people who knew what they were doing, and despite, or maybe because, us all being knackered, we played a good set, everyone dancing (including the girls from the burlesque show), that was a night to remember.

 

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Hard to choose really, it's between two gigs though :

Gig 1 : Cerberus Cell - Melodic Death Metal

I organised the gig, rented the venue, got the support act sorted, organised and ran the lights and PA system.  It was held in what is now my home town, the crowd went absolutely NUTS! Mosh pits, walls of death and a stage invasion.  I was buzzing for days!  If I remember correctly @Thurbs was there :)

Gig 2 : Faint Lines - Indie

A small venue in Bedford, was actually the second gig of the day (the first being on the list of the worst gigs I've ever played).  The band were absolutely note perfect and everyone was buzzing.  People coming in off the street, paying the entry fee just to watch us.  Incredible night :)

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Two great ones that spring to mind.

Depping on bass for a cool blues guitarist/singer called Aynsley Lister at the Suwalki Blues Festival, in Poland, in 2016 - big stage in a park, awesome onstage sound, probably 1,500 to 2,000 people turned out to watch us, and we got treated like royalty all weekend by the promoters, which was amazing ha ha!

Also remember doing a lovely wedding gig at a farm in Mid Wales with my band in summer 2015 - a sort of marquee made from interconnected teepees in a field, with cocktail bar etc in it, which was all lit up and night and had a real little festival atmosphere on a hot summer night.

I was on lead guitar and vocals, and everyone was right up for it as the climax of the day's celebrations. The energy was incredible, as was the hog roast and real ale on tap, and the band played brilliantly. Remember utterly buzzing listening to Tom Petty on the long night drive home back to the East Midlands afterwards.

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Several, but one that stands out was the day before my 50th birthday, on the back of a truck in a field in somerset overlooking a large valley. Went up there and my daughter turned up for my birthday that I wasn't expecting and really happy to see.

We had a large red velvet cake that there was so much lots of people shared, and there was food and drinks from the venue. 

We played as it was getting dark, the previous group flounced off as noone was paying them any attention, so we went up, played a gig with another singer, had a few problems at the start but it sounded good, it wasn't that cold other than it being end of may, the crowd wasn't big but it was responsive, we could only see the people who were dancing in the lights. The stage looked across the field and down the valley, lit up with the tail of the sun and then the moon, pointing straight at a perfectly clear sky with a really bright Jupiter and Mars. Kind of lost myself in the moment - I have had funner more interactive gigs, but I don't remember one where I was more content!

 

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We did a gig at the Catapult Club in New Cross. The bill was set up like Later, so the headliners went on first and did half a set etc, then finished the evening. It was well rough for 3 lads from the sticks but we had everyone dancing. My more current function band have just done the Courtyard in Hereford- went pretty well. 

CEF70147-0AA6-446B-932F-B97B29B0A871.jpeg

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11 hours ago, stewblack said:

A small cellar bar in Midsomer Norton which years later I would go on to own. What made the gig special? We played a set of all original material we'd written together as a band, the place was rammed and people were standing on the tables around the edges of the room the whole crowd singing my own lyrics back at us so loud they were competing with the band. It was spine tingling.

Wunderbar?

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2 hours ago, scalpy said:

We did a gig at the Catapult Club in New Cross. The bill was set up like Later, so the headliners went on first and did half a set etc, then finished the evening. It was well rough for 3 lads from the sticks but we had everyone dancing. My more current function band have just done the Courtyard in Hereford- went pretty well. 

CEF70147-0AA6-446B-932F-B97B29B0A871.jpeg

That's what I call packed.

Blue

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Had a solo gig at a ski resort here in Maine 17 years ago.  Played on the mountain at the main rest/bar Fri. and Sat. nights all winter.  They comped me supper and a ski pass but not a room.  I had done a lot of winter mountaineering so would sleep in a bag in the back of my truck with the back open.  Woke up one night to see a lynx pacing back and forth,  eyeing me to figure out if I was it's next meal.  Would ski all day Fri and Sat and leave on Sun to return home.  On reggae weekend that spring got to hang with members of the Wailers.  

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3 hours ago, Yank said:

Had a solo gig at a ski resort here in Maine 17 years ago.  Played on the mountain at the main rest/bar Fri. and Sat. nights all winter.  They comped me supper and a ski pass but not a room.  I had done a lot of winter mountaineering so would sleep in a bag in the back of my truck with the back open.  Woke up one night to see a lynx pacing back and forth,  eyeing me to figure out if I was it's next meal.  Would ski all day Fri and Sat and leave on Sun to return home.  On reggae weekend that spring got to hang with members of the Wailers.  

Was Al Anderson with them at that time?

Blue

FB_IMG_1503335274572.jpg

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It was New Year’s Eve 1999/2000 for me probably. Local town put on a free outdoor event for the millennium and we played the night on a stage in the square. The police thought there were 4500+ people there and it looked like it from the raised stage. It was a pretty incredible sight and sadly I have not played to a crowd that big since.

We played covers so it was easy to get people singing along, and as much as I loathe the song now, having 4500 people sing Angels with you is pretty mind blowing and I won’t forget that volume, power and sound of that many people singing.

Edited by NJE
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