Blog: Cambridgeshire And Kent In One Day

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Flipping heck I had a REALLY busy day on Saturday. It began, as many Saturdays do, with a trip to Peterborough for the football. The talk before the game was all about how rubbish it was going to be and so, of course, it ended up being an explosion of SEVEN GOALS with Posh winning 4-3 after a great deal of running about, hoofing, indelicate passing and shouting. Pretty much THE USUAL for this season, in fact.

Normally that would have been enough for one day, but this time I was also booked to head down to deepest KENT to play a gig for the lovely chaps of Careful Now Promotions at The Oasthouse in Rainham. THUS once the football had finished I nipped back to the nearby Premier Inn Peterborough where I had STASHED my guitar (using an APP to book it, for I am dead modern like that), did my usual trip back to old London Town, and then hopped on a High Speed train down South. I had spent AGES planning the whole thing out to make sure I could get there at a reasonable time but in the end I got different trains for pretty much every leg of the trip, just getting whatever was available. To my surprise this all WORKED!

Once in Rainham Kent (it feels wrong just sating "Rainham" as there's ALSO a Rainham in Essex and everyone seems to say "Rainham Kent" like that's the full name) I made the 2 minute journey round to the Oasthouase and said hello, did a quick soundcheck, and then wandered back out to the chip shop which, last time I was there, did HUGE portions of chips. They did again!

Back at the venue I was VERY SENSIBLE, as is my WONT these days, and stuck to alcohol-free beer before going on, and watched the EXCELLENT Sassyhiya who were on first. One of the many things I liked about them were that they LOOKED and SOUNDED like a band i.e. always looking round at each other, INTERACTING, and clearly having a GRATE time of it. I thought they sounded a bit like PO! but that may be due to my somewhat limited mental library of bands who sound a bit like that, but either way they were GRATE.

Then it was my turn to go on, and I did THIS:

Bad Back

AI Guy

The Peterborough All-Saints Wide Game Team (group B)

Clubbing In The Week

I'm Doing The Ironing

In The North Stand

Chips And Cheese, Pint Of Wine

20 Things To Do Before You're 30

It Only Works Because You're here

The Lesson Of The Smiths

As you can see I was VERY BRAVE and committed myself to doing a new song, AI Guy, which went down pretty well. I was not, however, sufficiently brave to debut a live version of Moshi Twistmas, as heard on the Joyzine Advent Calendar. I'd practiced it a few times, and had stuck the KEYWORDS to my guitar to remind me of the order, but I was a bit too NERVOUS to try it out. Maybe next year!

I think I might have slightly MISJUDGED the setlist too. Usually these days I find it's better to do the SLOWER songs and so did - including a somewhat slowed down version of The Peterborough All-Saints Wide Game Team (group B) - but this time I think more FAST ones might have been better. Still, it all seemed to go all right and I might even say that, once we'd all got past my terrible whistling solo during In The North Stand, it built up to a pretty good finish!

After that it was time for some ACTUAL BEER before settling back into watching Swansea Sound, who are not only an INDIEPOP SUPERGROUP but also a group who are... er... SUPER at indiepop (they can use that on posters if they like)! They sounded fantastically PUNCHY and POPPY and generally ACE, and it made me think once again what a difference today's modern PA systems make. Back in the dark days of the 1980s when this sort of music first emerged it was played through RUBBISH systems managed by generally unenthusiastic and/or inept soundmen, but nowadays we can hear what it was always SUPPOSED to sound like, which is GRATE!

I also really enjoyed some of the Advanced Stagecraft which went on, including getting the Careful Now chaps to REENACT the video for Marking It Down. Excellent work one and all!

Soon however it was time for me to dash off and get my train back to London, and then onto the Not Yet Officially The Night Tube version of the tube and home, seeing a) a Pearly King and Queen and b) the local Actual Fox on the way. I had a fab day but this final bit of the journey did remind me how I used to do gigs like this ALL THE TIME, sometimes 60-70 times a year, and I must admit that I was glad I don't do that anymore. I had had a lovely time, but I was flipping knackered by the end of it!

posted 15/12/2024 by MJ Hibbett

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