Other Stuff: Gigs We Have Known

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(Salvaged from The WayBack Machine, this is some info about a pile of early gigs I did, as documentedon my old website)

Roughly once a month, the VALIDATORS leave the confines of the studio (or whatever) and ply their wares before THE KIDS. This is their story.


June 2nd 1999, The Vic, Derby
The gig that caused us to Get It Together - Tom Reveal was putting on Half Man Half Biscuit, and through the band's Sole Agent Mr Fleay he BOOKED me to play... Rob suggested actually getting round to having a bass player in the band so that the Validators could play, so we asked Ollie and LO! the Rocking Live Outfit was born. It was an ACE gig, we sounded GRATE, people liked us, and then we got to see Half Man Half Biscuit. It is a matter of public record that me and Tim actually SPOKE to Nigel afterwards, and that he WAVED as we left and called us "mate". We were really really really over-excited about it, and giggled girlishly all the way home.

July 18th 1999, Bull & Gate, London
A smashing day out for all concerned, organised with RUTHLESS efficiency on the TRAIN, and involving much Being Really Middle Class when the TUBE tried to FLEECE us. Some "remarks" were made during one of the DELIGHTFUL and LENGTHY between song banter epics which caused UPSET - we say "GOOD." This one felt really GRATE to do, and also ROCKING and there were people there and EVERYTHING.

August 14th 1999, Abbey Park Festival, Leicester
A very long day which involved me getting very very pissed indeed - having been there from 7am, all good intentions started to whither away by about 2pm, and we weren't on until about 9pm... still, people seemed to like "Pebble & The Boulder", and it was very nice to have the whole band playing together at last.

September 12th 1999, LollopaLeicester All-Dayer, Princess Charlotte, Leicester
This one worked out very nicely - a STRIPPED DOWN set involving me, Tom, Rob on trumpet mostly and Tim on Less Drums Than Usual, it sounded NICE. We did the quieter songs that we don't usually do live, and I was very very happy indeed.

October 2nd 1999, Pump & Tap, Leicester
Tim booked this one as an exercise in Doing A Gig Together, but didn't quite work out that way due to babysitters, low-pay for young workers, illness, and broken tendons.i.e. only me and Tim actually got there to play it! Still, it was an excuse for a MASSIVE PISS-UP, and apparently the words were REALLY loud.

February 19th 2000, Boardwalk, Sheffield
The Pop-A-Go-Go Festival! A set all by myself produced SYMPATHY and remarks re. Boo Radleys and Peterborough, while bits in between bands seemed to go better, as COVERS and "Bands From London" fitted the bill. A nice dressing room, LOVELY people, and Actually Getting Paid More Than I EVER Have Before made it into a GRATE day out, if not for all concerned, then at least for ME.

March 21st 2000, Princess Charlotte, Leicester
The first gig on the Players With Words TOUR! Wahey! I have decided to adopt DERBY as my Official Gig Hometown now, because, as usual, almost nobody turned up for this, but STILL it didn't matter, because it was a JOY to play - the Domino were GRATE (altho sadly devoid of Robot Dancing), and made me HAPPY to think i have a month of their gigs ahead of me. We were slightly less GRATE, technically at least, but it was JOLLY good fun. An hilarious start to "Billy JOnes" seemed to take about an hour, and there was HECKLING from within the ranks, not least when it was introduced as a b-side - well, we don't want people thinking we just play the MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL HITS do we? My favourite bit was doing Stop Look and Listen at the end, that was SMASHING. Next stop, Nottingham!

March 27th 2000, Fair & Firkin, Nottingham
A STRANGE one this - LOADS of people turned up (even if Nick The Organiser thought there wasn't many, to us it was a CROWD), and guess what? They didn't like us. AT ALL. We seemed to play pretty well, at least in comparison to the cock-ups of the preceeding week, humourosity was high and we did all the songs that usually ROCK the WORLD, only to have The Chemistry Experiment clap alone while the rest of the room simply GLARED at us. Then the Domino went on and went down REALLY REALLY WELL, leading to people coming over, slapping them on the back, noticing us and then FLEEING. Me, i am USED to this, but everyone else got EXTREMELY down about the whole thing. What we needed next was a BLOODY GRATE GIG...

April 4th 2000, Bull & Gate, London
... and LO! We had one! This was a SMASHING day, starting with another radio session at ICR, with about 10 songs in an hour, 3 or 4 of which might have been broadcastable. A DASH across London to soundcheck, then a POSH(ish) MEAL. The GIG itself was MIGHTY - Ollie couldn't make it, so we sounded DEAD PUNK (i.e. a guitar player playing bass, a bass player playing guitar) and people seemed to LOVE it! Wahey! We could even have had an encore, if i'd realised what was going on, but hey, it's a LONG time since i last had one. The Domino had been POORLY and GLOOMY, but the HEALING POWER OF ROCK even worked its magic on them, and it was a happy band of... er... bands who left London that night, ready for the final challlenge that was Derby.

April 10th 2000, Victoria Inn, Derby
OOF. And back down to earth with a JOLT, as it's another gig to approx 8 people. Four of whome were Johnny Domino. Three of whom left halfway through. The other one was Sorted Supremo Dave Dixey, and we'd brought him with us. Oh dear oh dear, the DOOM descended truly this time, and not helped by Bloody JOhnny Domino being GRATE afterwards. For an HOUR. They must do it on purpose. At least we managed to WANGLE our way onto ANOTHER HMHB support tho, so those gigs at least should ROCK.

April 24th 2000, Star & Garter, Manchester
Feelings of DOOM encroached upon my consciousness for this one, as we waited and waited and waited for things to start. First band on were "experimental" and a bit RUM, and i was VERY hungover throughout. Fortunately the Healing Power Of ROCK worked it's usual magic, and the gig turned out to be SMASHING, and i thoroughly enjoyed it apart from realising halfway through singing "Seymour Stein" that it WASN'T actually quite the Good Idea i'd thought it would be. Afterwards people had LIKED it, and even bought CD's! WAHEY!

April 27th 2000, Victoria Inn, Derby
The long-awaited Biscuits support, and all was EXCITEMENT in the Validator camp, not least from me as i stood around CHATTING with NIgel from them and managed NOT to pass out with awe, tho my legs were shaking. We played at HIGH SPEED, missed out most of Hey Hey 16K, but were Actually OK. The audience, however, just GLARED at us. In SILENCE. It was VERY strange indeed, especially as a couple people afterwards told me everyone had quite liked it... maybe they were saving their HANDS and VOICES for the Biscuits? I know i was, and all things became worthwhile when they came on and were GRATE. It did, however, leaving us feeling trepidatious for Leicester...

May 11th 2000, Princess Charlotte, Leicester
And so we gathered, in FEAR. We had an Actual Practice a few days before, and LARNED UP "Quality Janitor", nervously - expecting the gig to go as well as Derby, we wondered if this would a) turn the gig around and make people like us or b) lead to our swift exit from the stage in a HAIL of bottles. As it turned out, it did neither, for LO! The Gig Went Quite Well! People watched us! AND STAYED! AND EVEN CLAPPED! Oh my Lord - afterwards we all sat in the "dressing room" looking STUNNED saying "What was that about? That noise - could it have been this 'applause' thing we have heard about?" ALSO i got to feel like i was famous,largely due to having someone ask me questions about Obscure TAPE tracks, and afterwards (OH MY) Nigel said he thort "Stop, Look and Listen" and "Born With The Century" were the best things on the album. I was FLABBERGASTED with JOY. Oh, and rather than giggling like a GURL, Tim was DEAD MANLY throughout, he asked me to point this out. A good gig though eh? whatever next?

July 1st 2000, Jug of Ale, Birmingham
Smashing gig this one, just as gigs should be. Slightly SCARY moment at the start though - i went to the door bloke to ask if i can have a guestlist. He asks my name, then writes down "Mark - GUESTS". "Right then," he says, "What's the first name?" SHAKING, i say "It's... Mark GUEST!"

Well, it scared me anyway. Gig was GOOD after that, numerous people said i was "brave" which as usual i take as a compliment (tho hey, if you dear reader ever think of saying this, why not say "You were GRATE and a whole bunch of LOVE" instead? GO ON), then after we went to a PARTY, with FREE BEER! Hoorah for Rock and also Roll!

August 7th 2000, Bull & Gate, London
Another solo gig, done at v short notice because they'd had lots of cancellations, and my dears i think i may do ALL my gigs this way in future. Lots of people were there (including many YOUNG PEOPLE) and everyone appeared to really like it... heaven's i even enjoyed it myself! First showing of "Symbol Of Our Nation" especially was greeted with JOY, and i was happy. The evening finished with an exciting LIFE OR DEATH DASH for the train, and it was a happy Hibbett who got home that night.

October 7th 2000, Scalarama, London
QUITE a day - had Emotional Milestone at the start of the day, almost had a FITE with somebody who was dissing the label, and said "Oh, HELLO!" to lots of people. THE GIG bit was INVIGORATINGLY HORRIBLE - i played, unannounced, to confused drunken people halfway through the football on an open balcony with no PA while downstairs a VERY LOUD band WITH a PA played. The Architect of Romo heckled, and i told him to fuck off, a glass was thrown, no-one joined in the chorus because no-one could hear a damn thing, and oddly at the very end people CHEERED MADLY. People said "You are very BRAVE" and for once i thought "Yes, i am." As i say, QUITE a day.

October 26th 2000, The Boardwalk, Sheffield
November 1st 2000, The Jug of Ale, Birmingham
November 6th 2000, Princess Charlotte, Leicester
November 7th 2000, The Bull & Gate, London
November 9th 2000, The Old Angel, Nottingham

These gigs comprise the TOUR to promote "A Church Hall Of Sound (revisited) and are dealt with in the article On The Road (on broken rails). It's quite jolly, but be warned, it does contain rather a lot of discussion about trains.

December 23rd 2000, Cybershack Webcafe, London
I was really worried about this gig - i thought it'd be a terrifying night in front of hard faced media whores, glaring COLDLY in the face of my fenland charm. It wasn't like that at all, in fact it was rather jolly and friendly, even if i was, frankly, rubbish. Seemed to go OK though, especially "Peterborough All Saints Wide Game Team Group B", and it made me feel MUCH better about my own LIFE to see that there are people who, on a Saturday night, in London, just before Christmas, there are people who will pay GOOD MONEY to log on ALONE. And play SOLITAIRE.

January 19th 2001, Upstairs At The Garage, London
This was LOVELY - gig bit went OK, lots of LOVELY people i knew came, some LOVELY people i didn't know beforehand also came, and it was... er... LOVELY. Not very Rock & Roll is it? Before the gig started i spent an HOUR sat backstage reading a BOOK too, i am thinking of writing to Lemmy and demanding an APOLOGY for MISLEADING me as to the nature of ROCK. ANYWAY, only non-LOVELY thing was Mates Of Other Bloke playing, who talked throughout my set (which i obviously have no problem with), then got RIGHT ARSEY when people talked through his (which i DO). Why do people think that, if they're really rude and unpleasant to people they don't know, then they will stop talking? CUH! Oh, and on the way back i SCARED a whole TRANE load of Opera Goers, simply by drinking HEINEKEN. Now THAT'S more like it.

February 17th 2001, The Boardwalk, Sheffield
It's Pop-A-Go-Go time again, the OFFICIAL start to the ROCKING year, and what a GRATE start it was. We were on first (and i applaud the introduction of this Reverso Headlining... hem hem ... MUCH better to have the ... er... headline... band on first when everyone's sober enough to enjoy it eh? THIS IS WHAT I HAVE DECIDED TO BELIEVE) and it seemed to go fairly OK - "Fat Was A Feminist Issue" and "Easily Impressed" seemed to go pretty well, and we agreed generally that "Billy Jones Is Dead" was one of the best times we'd done it. It was generally REALLY NICE though for the whole Validator POSSE to be In The House (including Mrs Pattison, Dr Brown and Mr Whitaker), and the rest of the day was SMASHING. LOADS of people i'd not seen for AGES, LOTS of wandering around chatting, and a BIT of BEER. It was really good, and i LIKED it.

February 21st 2001, The Jug Of Ale, Birmingham
Back to brum, WINCING my way through New Street, to a really ACE gig. As with the last time, not many people at the start, quite a few more by the end, but i really REALLY enjoyed it. I'm not sure why, but it was the first gig in AGES where i thoroughly enjoyed the singing bit all the way through, without worrying or anything. A few new songs, a few old ones, and MUCH fun all round. HOLA! Afterwards i was AMAZED to see that Bloke From L'Augmentation's new band were NOTHING like L'Augmentation, and then got slightly fed up with Possibly Performing Arts Students last band. Mind you, they did have the good grace to feature several GURLS in their BRAS, so all was not lost.

February 28th 2001, The Interval Bar, University of Sheffield
Bit of a rum old do this one - played in a corner of a big old bar, being pretty much ignored by everyone in there, who preferred to talk REALLY LOUDLY throughout. Unfortunately, after Frankie Machine had played, i had loudly and AT LENGTH given forth my views about how WRONG it is to ask the audience to be quiet, then had to sit through half an hour thinking "Oh, DO shut up for a minute" and not being able to say so... throughout i couldn't hear the PA over the chat, THAT'S how loud it was.

HOWEVER, this gig is Of Note because, after months of talking it up, i DID play "Stan" by Eminem, who had been BANNED by the University Students Union (who were gearing up for the Day Of Action the next morning when - GASP! - students were boycotting lecturers! VIVE LE REVOLUTION!). I was rather hoping to be HAULED off the stage by the THOUGHT POLICE, but instead a security guard just frowned a bit. Oh well, it WAS a statement against censorship, even if hardly anybody noticed.

May 11th 2001, The Bull & Gate, London
A fantastic and MIGHTY return to London for the Validators, this was a BRILLIANT gig. I was really really really nervous beforehand, not necessarily helped by Emma, who was meant to be the New Girl DAMMIT being as CALM as everyone else, making me feel even WORSE. CURSES! "All that practicing" (hem hem) really paid off, and we sounded pretty damn good, and the new songs seemed to go really well (except maybe "The Girl Who..." which is less ROCK than the others). So much so that we got an ENCORE, and a REAL ONE too! Band started off our MASSIVE "Stan" cover, only for me to find out that the mic was switched off as we were overrunning - oh well, it worked out for the best as not only did we get an encore, we also got to not disappoint anyone with how good it was, rather TANTALISING them with What Might Have Been. You can see for yourself how much fun we had by going to http://www.onlinetvuk.com and doing a search for "Mark Hibbit And The Validators" (ho hum). The only thing you won't get is the INCREDIBLE HEAT that we underwent, to the extent that people afterwards thought i had had a post-gig BATH, fully clothed.

June 29th 2001, Princess Charlotte, Leicester
Unfortunately Mr Fleay was ROCKING FRANCE for this one, so although everyone else came along anyway this ended up being another solo gig, at which i EXPERIMENTED by going all electric, instead of using my acoustic as usual. It was an Interesting Experiment - it certainly felt good to be SO VERY LOUD (i realised that the reason so many ACOUSTIC TYPES are that way is NOT necessarily because of any inherent goodliness of the acoustic guitar, but possibly because it means soundmen simply CAN'T make it go too loud), but people apparently couldn't understand what i was saying because it was DISTORTING. Anyway, some bloke came over and had a CHAT halfway through, starting with him saying "you should turn down the vocals, it is drowning out the guitar" (er...), and nearly ending with me saying "i'd love to chat, but i'm doing a gig at the moment." Nearly, because he then said "Oh right, well, have a good one - is that your guitar by the way?" etc etc. All round then it was a Good Night, and i sold a few records after (HOLA!), but not, i feel, one for the GRATEST LIVE HITS.

July 25th, 2001, Chambers, Taunton
An ADVENTURE gig this one - they asked if we had any bands who could come down to Taunton to play, so i raised my hand and said "ME PLEASE!" I got a cheapo SORRY! ticket from Virgin, went down and found my B&B;, and wandered through scenic Taunton (which appears to consist solely of old-fashioned Barber Shops and Music Shops) feeling like i was on TOUR. Unfortunately i ended up playing the entire gig to the three lads who organised it, but HEY! They were dead nice chaps, and i got some free BEER and an argument about Paul McCartney out of it, ALSO an excuse for a day off work, so who's complaining? Actually, i really enjoyed it, this was the kind of daft gig that Serious Types NEVER do, and my dears they are MISSING OUT.

August 3rd, 2001, Jug of Ale, Birmingham
One of my best gigs EVER - this was meant to be a band gig, but COMMITMENTS meant it was me who went all on my lonesome, and thus got ALL the GLORY! AHA! It was amazing - people had actually come specifically to see ME, and had travelled DISTANCE to do so! Early in the set i did "Easily Impressed" and was not a little frightened when the "OI! HIBBETT!" bit was NOT the usual slightly embarrassing mumble but instead featured THE WHOLE ROOM BELLOWING! If that wasn't enough, i later said "And this is called Payday Is The Best Day", and people CHEERED! I spoilt it a bit by stopping and getting them to do it again, but STILL, it was bloody INCREDIBLE! Afterwards i sold some records, had a chat to some people who'd come special like, and general staggered about in amazement. WOW!

September 2nd, 2001, Lamplighters, Leicester
At long last, the POWER of THE VALIDATORS returns to Leicester, in fact to Leicester's own METAL pub. Be assured, the people in their kiddie-metal band t-shirts are even now scrawling VALIDATORS across their naked chests, IN BLOOD, for we ROCKED HARD this night. After NINETY MINUTES watching the PA being set up and then having a "radical" soundcheck (my favourite bit was Rob playing his BASS, and then the soundman going "Can you hear yourself on stage?" "Er... yeah, as I'm the only one playing at the moment"), almost as if the two metal blokes doing it were trying to show off about knowing how to do it, even tho they had no clue. But surely not? Surely checking EVERY instrument, regardless of what band was using them, one after the other in random order, is the NEW WAY?

ANYWAY, after the usual sunny, happy go-lucky set by Frankie Machine (NB SARCASM: It was GRATE, also DOOM LADEN) we played a complete set of ALL NEW MATERIAL - Post-Subsonic Bass, Solicitor, World Go Blind, Merchant Ivory Punks, Fat was A Feminist Issue, Easily Impressed, Symbol Of Our Nation - and GOOD GOD IT ROCKED. I JEST about it, but honestly it felt a little scary to be at the front of such a MIGHTY RACKET. I look to future gigs and the final album with GLEE.

September 14th 2001, The Think Tank, Leeds
My first time in Leeds, and i was THANKFUL to Tony On The Train and also my lovely BURD for heavy directing, as the Think Tank was tucked away rather. Inside tho it was ACE like a proper gig cellar, and indeed when Ricky Spontane came on it was CAVERNTASTIC, they were GRATE. I'm not quite sure about my own bit, i _think_ it was OK, tho was a little scary being SURROUNDED by people, and also featured Odd Heckling i.e. "Get off! Play some Belle & Sebastian!" to which someone did the worst, if well-meaning, anti-heckle EVER! "Go home and listen to your good music!" Yeah, thinking about it it was Quite Good, tho next time i want to take THE BAND!

October 3rd 2001, Victoria Inn, Derby
HIGH ON LIFE after the Lamplighter's gig, i rang Andy at the Vic to get us another chance of ROCK AND ROLL FUNTIME, and this was it. Brief version: We were BLOODY GRATE, the audience (Moo and Anne-Marie) seemed to like it, we did "Give Us A Kiss (for Christmas)" LIVE for the first time, and much fun was had by all. Other events included us merrily discussing just not bothering, as the other support band (Phonotype) went into the second HOUR of their soundcheck, us LARFING at their guitarist going to soundman "Yeah, can you make the vocals a bit crisper?", merrily taking the piss out of them going through all this just to play to three people (and surely tHE LANDLORD should not join in with such things?), seeing TIM get all embarrased when someone from Magoo recognised him from his ROCK PAST, The Rob Fleay Comedy Minute halfway through the set, the idea of emancipation expressed in mime, and a long fruitful discussion about a) future releases and b) how GRATE our Christmas song really is. COOL.

December 6th 2001, The Casbah, Sheffield
Aaaah, Sheffield - home of ROCK! This was CLARIFIED by the last band on, who were EXTRAORDINARY, MAN! did they ROCK, straight Outta 1975, i was REMINDED that Pulp weren't the ONLY famous band to come from Sheffield. It was cool, and The Frightened Prisoners of the Kraken were UTTERLY UTTERLY FANTASTIC, all the songs were EXPANDED from the album version,it was a CRAZY MENTALIST sound of FAIGROUND DERANGEMENT from start tofinish, a bit like the Bhundu Boys, The Bonzo Dog Band, HMHB, Bob Dylan (good electric period) and The Human League. They were COMPLETELY GRATE, one of the best gigs i have seen EVER. My bit was OK i think, but BEST thing about the night was that i got PAID! MORE than it cost for me to - GIRD yrself - stay in a HOTEL! WHOO! ME ROCK STAR!

December 12th 2001, Blue Cat Cafe, Stockport
A GOOD GIG - Stockport is full of people going "Ah, raaaght aaaarrrre kid, geezaaaaah" and walking like MONKEYS, it's a bit DAFT. Apart from that all was SMASHING, my bit was ACTUALLY QUITE GOOD i thought, and the Kraken were FANTASTIC. Unfortunately i was drinking WHEAT BEER, and was pissed enough to think that a MASSIVE PIZZA on the way home was a good idea, so felt QUITE ILL all day the next day. It was COOL. And i stayed in ANOTHER hotel that was ALSO slightly rubbish! HOORAH for THE ROAD!

February 9th 2002, Joseph's Well, Leeds
This was the gogojohnnygo all dayer, and WHAT a fantastic day out it was - loads of chat, loads of people, loads of beer, and loads of FUN. On top of all of that, i had a GRATE gig which i THOROUGHLY enjoyed, it was like one of the IMAGINARY gigs i do in my head when i am practicing, where there is CHAT, and BANTER, and LAUGHS at jokes and EVERYTHING, i was INCREDIBLY chuffed with it. AND, the next week, sales through Amazon ROCKETED by at least ONE sale, beat THAT, post-Live Aid Freddie Mercury!

May 26th 2002, Johnny Strangeway's Living Room, Leeds
This was supposed to be in Johnny Strangeway's Back Garden, but The Weather forced a rescheduling... and what a lovely day out it was, a gentle Sunday train trip Up North, some free BEER and Veggie Burgers, and then a surprisingly LENGTHY set for me in which i chatted perhaps a little overmuch about all the songs with an audience nudging double figures. It was ACE, especially the bit where someone who obviously Wasn't Coming To The Party came in mid-song to look for her keys... ACE! It was all good for ME anyway, as it'd been about 300,000,000 years since my last gigs, and it was nice to know that - hey! - i could still KICK IT.

June 10th 2002, The Lamplighters, Leicester
The first "ordinary" gig in Leicester (i.e. not to get in free somewhere, not for Validators, and not to Promote A Thing) for about FOUR YEARS!! I was amazed too, and it was LOVELY. Several people came, Frankie Machine were LOVELY on first, and i at least thoroughly enjoyed my set, although it might have been better if more people than... well, MAT, had done the Joining In Bit on "Easily Impressed." It was GRATE to be able to walk home afterwards, also to have my delightful friends and beautiful girlfriend at one of my gigs. It was EVEN fun to be dealing with the wankers who run the Lamplighters (this time: they shut the pub downstairs and let a "punk" band practice LOUDLY throughout the gig - well done!) after so many gigs with LOVELY people, and doing the Leicester Tradition of Trying To Make Ian The Promoter Feel Better About It All was a REAL blast from the past.

June 15th 2002, The Charlotte, Leicester
It seemed like a Good Idea At The Time - our Esteemed Producer Mr K Reverb plays in Zodiac Mindwarp And The Love Reaction, and when i saw that they were playing at The Charlotte i thought it'd be GRATE if we supported, as then we could a) play to some new people and b) get in FREE! Well, we DID both of those, but it turns out that our idea of ROCK isn't quite the same as Proper Rockers' idea of what it is... some people clapped politely during the start of the set, but by the end only one person was bravely clapping... and i'm ALREADY going out with her, bless. Apparently it sounded rubbish from out front, but from where we were it sounded BLOODY GRATE, so tho we didn't make any new friends we DID have a lovely time, DID reaffirm to ourselves if no-one else that - hey! - we are a Rockin' Band and DID get in free! We also learnt that, perhaps, after all, we really are a bit more indie and a bit less ROCK that we'd led ourselves to believe.

July 7th, Acoustic Bedroom, London
I was down in That London to see Oasis on the Friday, and when this gig came through for the Sunday i thought "hey hey! let's have a WEEKEND!" So, hotel was BOOKED for three nights, rather than... er... none, arrangements were made, clothes were packed, and much fun was had (including a visit to the British Library Museum, which is BLOODY ACE) until i tried to get to HACKNEY. It took about 90 minutes to get there from central London, it was full of scary people, and ESPECIALLY full of people 24 hours into a "party" when i arrived. It was with RELIEF that i discovered the whole gig was no off, and it was only in the pub later on that i discovered i'd just spent about £100 to hang around for a gig that wasn't happening! Oh well, i DID get to see the British Library Musuem, did i mention how cool that was?

August 31st, Bearwood College, Wokingham
Now here's a story - this came about because Louise (the organiser) wanted to celebrate getting her PhD (which she hadn't actually completed by the time the party happened, but still), and remembered seeing me play at the Bull & Gate. Her friend had bought a copy of the album, so went into the attic and found it... and yes, it does strike me as odd that someone should keep their hi-fi and favourite records in the attic, but still, then contacted me. It was taking place (for complicated reasons) at a Private Boys School, and my dears it was AMAZING - sweeping grounds! private forests! A LAKE! A driveway that took ten minutes to walk up! a TROPHY cabinet featuring The Hovercraft Trophy! It really was astounding to be there, even if the corridors did seem steeped in the sadness of generations of children sent away from their families. Still, the gig seemed to go OK, the acoustics were FANTASTIC, the pea in my pod came along for the ride, and Mr Whitaker was accidentally very rude to someone's Partner. Oh, and someone fell off their chair laughing when they GOT the bit about "there is a river that you're holding back but it's not made of blood". COOL. One day i would like to do a gig where i MADE money rather than losing tons just getting there, but for now these ADVENTURES are GRATE!

September 16th, Bull & Gate, London
ENERGISED by the Bearwood gig i emailed a few places eager to get another one in a.s.a.p., and LO! the B&G; had a spare spot, so off i toddled. It was ODD in many ways, as, being short notice, the Usual Crowd actually had other things to do, but a few people did turn up not least my little brother Paul, who had last seen me play about 10 years ago in Voon, and some of his PALS. The gig itself sort of just happened really, tho everyone seemed to ENJOY and i was pleased to note that, even now, Friends who have come to see Their Mates' Band play their First Gig STILL haven't realised that you can go to the bar when the other bands are on... hey, i'm not complaining, these are the CROPS which i HARVEST! It is, however, perhaps TELLING that i was VERY pleased with myself for getting home before midnight - whither ROCK, eh? Whither ROCK?

November 7th, Railway Inn, Winchester
Well, this was just LOVELY. Everyone in Winchester is BEAUTIFUL, it was like taking the Lots Of Nice People of a MIDLANDS gig and adding the Action Packed Fanzine Type Buzz of That London. Even better, it was with Chris T-T, of whom i have heard MUCH, and we shook hands beforehand, like two FELLOW BATTLERS, meeting at last. My set went OK to start with, seemed to DIP halfway through (i forgot entire VERSES from a couple of songs), then suddenly went WELL at the end, CLIMAXING in "Boom Shake The Room" with i think the LOUDEST response EVER - even including "Pump it up Mark!" UNASKED FOR. Then Chris T-T was on and he was GRATE, especially one called "England's Earth" (i think). Then i went DRINKING with some young STUDENTS, including RAY with whom i was staying. Bless them all, but they are YOUNGER than me and i felt ILL for days after all. OH! The ROCK!

March 5th, Betsy Trotwood, London
Another absolutely LOVELY gig - people i had NEVER MET came, ON PURPOSE, and i had TWO brothers in attendance, one there for the first time and thus doing the obligatory One Of My Brother's At Their First Gig Face (i.e. looking ASTONISHED and RELIEVED that it wasn't as crap as he'd expected). Bless. ALSO i did "The Lesson Of The Smiths" and "Things'll Be Different" for the first time In The Live Environment, and afterwards we DIDN'T need to rush for the old 23.22 back to Leicester, as we weren't going back to Leicester. SMASHING!

April 19th, Betsy Trotwood, London
WALLOP! The run of Lovely Gigs ends, and my WEAKNESS is exposed. Time was when the fact that "only" two people i knew (Charlie and Naomi - thanks!) came would have EXCITED me, GEARING me up to convert some new people but, alas, it seems constant exposure to gigs full of people i knew, who also knew the songs, has made me FLABBY and LACKING in ROCK. Friends, i fear i LOST IT a bit in this gig - NERVES appeared, WORDS disappeared, and it went a bit crap. It's time to get back on that horse and ride back into ROCKVILLE!

May 7th, The Albion, Winchester
And thus i rode right on back into town in TRIUMPH, as this gig was UTTERLY FANTASTIC. Nice Chap owen Tramons lent me his ACE pickup, so it sounded pretty good anyway, and it was a room full of people who'd just wandered in (as it was free, and just in the pub), which is always good, and then it ROCKED from beginning to end. People really got in to it! There was clapping AND cheering! "Boom Shake The Room" went down a storm after about a 40 minute set, then i realised i hadn't done "Easily Impressed" yet and THAT went down brilliantly. I then did a PROPER encore of "I Can See Clearly Now" (first time ever - people sang along!) and "Fly Me To The Moon" (new, lovely version). SOLD OUT of CDs, got asked to go back again, and generally had a FANTASTIC evening. Then went back and got four hours sleep on a lilo on a kitchen floor which i kept falling off due to Various STIMULI. Hoorah for ROCK!

June 14th, The Adelphi, Hull
A triple debut: my first gig in Hull, me and Tom's first gig as a DUO, and the first outing for My New Pickup! This was a party for Eddy the Promoter's 40th Birthday, so we were well aware that people weren't necessary that bothered about listening to us, although a few people down the front seemed to get into it. It was GRATE having Tom onstage, as then there were TWO of us trying to ROCK the house even if, weirdly, and for the first time EVER, Boom Shake The Room FAILED to go down really well. Oddly, about an hour after we'd finished, LOADS of people came up to tell us how much they'd enjoyed it and generally LAUD us. It was strange, but very pleasant!

Friday July 14th, The Verge, London
This was GRATE - my solo part of the set went down pretty well, and when Tom came on to play with me it sounded ACE. I STOOD UP, which is the first time I've done that at a non-band gig for YEARS, and thus got cramp in my feet because I forgot to move around. Oops. I was a little trepidatious about Captain Disco coming on to sing the choruses of "Stan", especially after he asked whether I'd mind if he produced a penis shaped water pistol from his trousers half way through... but in the end he was ACE and even though there was pole-dancing and stuff, he sang the singing bits really nicely, and his mate SNATCHED the water pistol off him before he could utilise it. For some reason it made the whole thing Quite Moving. Then The Lovely Brothers played and were FANTASTIC - they were HILARIOUS, also CHARMING, INVENTIVE and EXCITING and I loved every minute of their set. I want to see them AGAIN! After their massive show of brilliance ANY band would have looked rubbish, but the one after them needed no help... over a "rebelliously" loud tuneless dirge the singer intoned "I'm on a list - a capitalist" and was so pleased to have thought of such a (meaningless) thing to say he repeated it every second line... so we went to the offie for BOOZE, then went home. HOORAH!

Friday August 1st, Upstairs At The Garage, London
After all the EXCITEMENT on Friday afternoon, when I was On The Radio with Mr Steve Lamacq I was gently lowered towards the Earth in the evening. Don't get me wrong, it was GOOD and NICE to play, and it's always LOVELY to go to Silver Rocket gigs anyway (although Rachel Stupidcat FREAKED my MIND with her Animated T-Shirt Sticker - YEARGH!), but the bit where I did my singing wasn't the most fun ever. Partly this was because there was a bit much "Interaction"... the first band were a VERY Local Indie Band type band, and as with all Local Indie Bands they had some RAUCOUS mates who, to be honest, pissed me off. Bad Hibbett, WEAK Hibbett, this is NOT the way forward!



Friday August 2nd, Victoria Inn, Derby
This was the AAS 5th Birthday Gig (Derby Leg), and it was BEAUTIFUL. We had a FANTASTIC day, ALL the bands were FANTASTIC, and our bit seemed to go down RATHER well - especially the presence of Tom, who set the derbymusic.com messageboards ALIGHT with his ROCK VIOLIN SKILLS! It sounded dead good from where we were, I must say, and for a change you could actually hear the words, which made a difference. It felt GRATE to be playing with The Band, let's ROCK!

Sunday August 10th, Ray's Back Garden, Winchester
Originally this was going to be at the Albion again, then at The Railway Inn, but in the end was at a VEGAN BARBECUE, to celebrate the 20th birthday (oh BLESS!) of Ray, whose always put me on in Winchester. It was LOVELY. I did three SETS (two songs for The Parents before they left, later a Full Set in the back garden, and finally a trot through "Boom Shake The Room" before I went) and got paid in BEER. Ray Whose Birthday It Was had read "Hibbett's Golden Rules Of Beer" and applied them to my RIDER, so the next day I felt a little PECULIAR around the innards. Ooh it was lovely BEER though!

Thursday August 14th, The Windmill, Brixton
The London Leg of the AAS 5th Birthday Gig, and again it was a LOVELY evening. We had a good crowd down from Derby, and a good crowd in from LONDON too, so the venue was nicely PLUMP. The people running the thing were REALLY nice and hassle-free, and the whole thing went off very nicely, especially our bit which i THOROUGHLY enjoyed especially a) Rob, confused by BEER, wandering over to the mic b) an impromptu and ROCK version of "Bands From London" c) "Easily Impressed" going WELL and d) STRUGGLING, i say STRUGGLING through the crowd afterwards, shaking hands with THE PEOPLE. It was GRATE!

Saturday September 20th, The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
I was a bit AFEARED to start with, as someone was heckling and a) i couldn't see them b) i couldn't understand what they were saying. HECKLERS! This is the EASY way to throw me, if that is yr DESIRE. Instead of getting into a Heated Debate, therefore, I instead GOT ON WITH IT, and soon things were going pretty well, to the extent that, towards the end, ACTUAL GIRLS got up and started dancing! The last time that that happened was about eight years ago, when my friend Chris and I did our one and only gig as Ernie and Joe. Girls dancing down the front, it's one of the things we get into bands for. HOORAH!

Anyway, GIG went off pretty darn good - played "Born Yesterday" for the first time (was all right), and managed to RESIST calls for "Encore" from a couple of tables... well, actually, just when I thought "Maybe I SHOULD go back?" they stopped, so it was lucky really. In the aftermath I sold TWO CDs, and got QUIZZED about my Political Views. HOORAH! Best of all, the young lady in question was asking with regards to "Graffiti On The Cenotaph" which I hadn't even played, it was ACE. I then LISTENED to a FRIGHTENING pub quiz, got a CHEQUE for sales from Forever Changes (HOORAH!), got confused talking to some people, agreed with some OTHER people that, yes, it had been good, and drank some LAGER. It was LOTS of fun, and then it was home time so HO! for home again.

Monday September 29th, The Social, Nottingham
Anyone who has been to The Social will know that it is a small-ish venue with the PA of a MASSIVE one, which points DIRECTLY at a huge wall about 20 feet from the speakers. THUS it is EXTREMELY LOUD, and so we must have made a RIGHT RACKET. It sounded pretty good to us on stage though, and the whole thing, to me, felt really GOOD and RELAXED. It's nice these days that we all seem to know what we're doing, and the only times I look around at everyone else is to GRIN at them. It was LOVELY. But LOUD.

Saturday October 11th, Derby, Raffles
Back to SOLO Hibbett for this one, and also back to some Dark Days being treated a bit like a Second Class Act because of playing on my own (name spelt wrong, naturally assumed that I'd go on first, The Bands getting paid and not me). STILL, the gig bit was jolly good fun, and I did "Young People Bring Me Your Problems" LIVE for the first time, and afterwards we had a LOVELY curry, so all was well.

Sunday October 12th, Hull, The Adelphi
Eddy the promoter did a FANTASTIC job on this gig, both promoting it AND delivering to us the much asked for TREE on our rider. Possibly as a result of this, the gig was BLOODY GRATE. Amazingly, about half way through, I suddenly realised that some people were singing along, quite a FEW were doing gig dancing (i.e. with shoulders and heads, enthusiastically), and all 60 or so people were GETTING REALLY INTO IT! We were headlining, and we were behaving like a Headline Band. It was FANTASTIC! WORRIED GLANCES were exchanged between us at the Enthusiastic Cheering And Clapping that was going on, but soon we realised that's the noise audiences are SUPPOSED to make!

Tom, I must say, ROCKED OUT on the electrical violin, and the rest of us just plain ROCKED. There was also HILARITY over a Christmas Cake that someone seemed very keen for us to try (it was delicious), and "Easily Impressed" went down GRATE! Usually with the band Emma leads the "OI! HIBBETT!" bit, but as she wasn't there I went all out for the Audience INSTRUCTION beforehand, and it sounded FANTASTIC. We then did an ACTUAL REAL PROPER ENCORE of "Fat Was A Feminist Issue" which was (Warning: Rock Cliche ahead) PULVERISING. Rob LARFED when I acted out the bit about "Perfect Pecs and Six Pack", which made ME laugh and forget my lines, so I GLARED at him so that he thought he'd made a terrible BASS ERROR, and nobody noticed that it was ME who had gone wrong. HA! I have been in this Krazy Business long enough to know a few tricks...

When we came off stage Tim was GRINNING as I came in followed by a BOUNCING ROB, and we were just comparing ASTONISHMENT at how well it'd gone when Tom came dashing in. "CDs!" he yelped. "They need CDs to sell on the door!" I handed him a handful, then a minute later he RAN back in saying "MORE! MORE! They need MORE!" It was very exciting. I then went and said hello to loads of people (including Al McCeachen, who'd done the Cheery Wave fanzine years and years ago) and generally ponced about being WELL CHUFFED and sweaty. Afterwards the chap on the door revealed he'd sold EIGHT albums, which added to the ONE I'd sold myself makes for the rather impressive new totaliser you can see to the right of this screen. We also got PAID, and it was an EXTREMELY pleased band of Validators who set off home. The only down side really was that Emma wasn't able to make it, but hey - ALL our gigs will be like this from now on, right?

Thursday October 16th, Leeds, The Vine
This MUST have been pretty good - usually, after a gig as good as Hull was the NEXT one or two are filled with DESPAIR and DOOM in comparison. The GRATE thing about doing lots of gigs together like this is that we're all Quite Good at it now, and know what we're doing. I don't have to keep looking round in FEAR to check that everyone's OK, and we have Stage Business these days too. It's been YEARS since I last had this, back in Voon, and I'd actually forgotten what it's like. It's brilliant. Also of note, in the Onstage FACTS, is that people seem to be impressed to know that Frankie Machine is in the band - i do Introducing The Band sort of things now, and you can HEAR eyebrows being raised around the room as those in the KNOW realise that the ArchDuke of Anonistic ANGST is on BASS DUTY. Yeah! Said cataloguer of WOE flew off to hit last orders in Sheffield, leaving the rest of us to watch Being 747, who were BLOODY GRATE. Needless to say, this came as some relief...

Monday 20th October, Leicester, The Lamplighters
For this gig Tim was UNFETTERED and UNLEASHED in a totally acoustical stylee - as he is such a HE-MAN of the drums, this meant that everything else had to be turned up DEAD LOUD, which unfortunately was a bit much for the PA. It couldn't cope with the ROCK, and so apparently it sounded a bit messy out front. Oh well - the LOVELY thing about this gig, and the thing I shall RECALL most about it, was the groovy atmosphere, with Being 747 being GRATE again, us remaining a TIGHT UNIT, and all my friends who came to see us, and who I got to see for far too little time around the edges of ROCK. What I very much WON'T be recalling is the rather shameful EGGING ON of people to shout "More" so we could do an encore.

Friday 24th October, London, Bar Lorca
Normally when YOUNG PEOPLE turn up to gigs they don't realise that you don't actually have to listen to the other bands if they don't have too, and sit dutifully through everybody else's set. The young people THIS evening HAD been to gigs before however, and so, quite rightly, had a chat with each other when some old git came on with a GUITAR and some shouting. This made things ACE. It was like MILLIONS of gigs I had done in the past where I had to WORK to get attention, and I think I actually managed it this time. Afterwards a happy excitable chap who looked a bit like a young Mick Jones came for an ENTHUSIASTIC chat, and bought the 50th copy of the album - HOORAH! Also the venue owner came over for a chat, and offered me a spot at one of their CABERET nights, which was very COOL. I would have stayed to chat, but had to RUN down Brixton Road, and only just made it for the last train home. Also of notice to me re. MYSELF in the gig was my DANCING. Oh yes, like the BEATLES returning from Hamburg REINVIGORATED, I have come off the BAND DATES with a new onstage STANCE and an onstange DANCE. Shut up, it IS like the Beatles - I am a-JIGGING about like nobody's business these days. Basically, in my HEAD, i am no longer Paul McCartney going "Whoo", I am John Lennon going "Yeah"!

Thursday 30th October, Bristol, Cube Cinema
The weather here had made the ROOF unstable, so we first of all had to change to venue INSIDE the venue to the bar area - this would be GOOD for me I thought, Intimate is something I can DO! However, just before I went on we reverted to Plan A, and I was in the (actually, really nice) auditorium. However, prepared for a small area, a massive stage made me AFEARED and THUS it was that I got myself a bit NERVOUS again, which I rather think came across, as I FORGOT the words to a couple of songs, and indeed STOPPED "Perfect Love Song" halfway through. ALSO on top of this I could hear people in the bar area talking, and for some reason got EVEN MORE PARANOID and managed to convince myself everyone hated me... oh deary me. Some bits of the set seemed to go quite well, especially "Billy Jones Is Dead" and, for the first time in YEARS, "Born With The Century". I got the feeling that the quiet ones were going better than the LOUD HECTORING songs, for some reason, so WENT with it. However, when I came off I was feeling a bit fed up, which wasn't helped by Chris T-T and co coming on and being GRATE, CURSE THEIR EYES!

Saturday 1st November,Birmingham, The Jug of Ale
This was a Halloween Gig, so the whole upstairs was decked out in Halloween Gear that Dr A Farmer, Bearos Supremo, had spent hours getting together, Grover were onstage doing Scary Songs, and later the other band, Palomar 13, came on stage dressed as Ghostbusters and PLAYED Ghostbusters. I felt like a bit of a pillock for not bothering to learn a scary song myself... HOWEVER, the mighty BRANE got into action, and I started the set with a very unsubtle re-working of "Evergreen" - "Eyes, like a ZOMBIES, like a CORPSE in my GRAVE" etc etc. The set itself seemed to go OK - "Billy Jones" went down especially well, "Easily Impressed" got done GOOD by everyone, and although I DID mess up a couple of words, nothing too awful happened. All in all, it was Quite Good - didn't sell any CDs, but a couple of people did look at me in the slightly nervous way that people who have QUITE enjoyed it do when they don't actually want to talk to The Sweaty Shouting Man about it.

Sunday 2nd November, Nottingham, The Maze
Maybe it was having seen Otway recently, maybe it was feeling GOOD about being told I was good at dancing earlier on in the day, or maybe it was just having done loads of GIGS just lately, but I felt really HAPPY just to be on stage. THUS there was a LOT of talking by me between songs, and people seemed to LIKE it! Everything went down really well, and I was having ENORMOUS fun, even when I COMPLETELY forgot the main chorus words of "insert title here" (and sang "put in the name of your pub here" instead as Emergency Replacement) and repeated the second chorus of "Payday" by mistake. "Easily Impressed" was FAB, and at the end I got all excited and did "Boom Shake The Room" too - for a change i told people what it was going to be before I began singing it, and to my DELIGHT there was a sudden HUBBUB of people going "Eh? but how will he achieve this feat?" SMASHING.

Saturday 8th November, Winchester, The Railway Inn
This was a Bloody GRATE gig, a whole LOT of fun. I was on first, but there was a delightful SET of people who'd come specifically for me, God BLESS them all, and most people who came on the night had already come by then anyway. One of these, a noted dotcom thousandaire, pointed out that the Albion, where I played a few months ago in Winchester, and which closed very soon afterwards, STILL says "Tonite - MJ Hibbert!" on the front. At least they spelt "MJ" right! Anyway, I started off, as is my WONT, with "Things'll Be Different" and "Too Turned On", and things ROCKED from thereonin. The WEIRD thing though was that it SEEMED in places that nobody was listening, and loads of people were talking Very Loudly - although I couldn't SEE anybody so doing, and in-audience reports afterwards told me that people WERE getting into it A LOT. EXACTLY the same thing happened last year at the Railway, it is STRANGE - perhaps it has Bonkers Backwards Acoustics? Whatever, the set went GOOD, with "Easily Impressed" especially going well, and blow me if I didn't get to do an encore again! It was ACE! I did "Boom Shake The Room" and by the end people were singing along with the chorus, it was BRILLIANT.

Saturday 15th November, Sheffield, "Fuzztival" at Sheffield University
METRIC TONNES of really nice people came along to see me in my First Slot position on the day, there was a Veritiable Hibbett MASSIVE down the front during the set, it was smashing, and also The Kids seemed to get into it too - after doing "The Lesson Of The Smiths" (surely in any sane world this has to be my next single?) some delightful youth shouted "You're the MAN! You're the MAN!" I pointed out that I was simply A man, but the thought was nice. Also nice was how LOOKED AFTER I was. Penny, who sorted out the gig, sorted it out BRILLIANT - she used to do Pop-A-Go-Go too, so it was a fair bet all would be ace. Not only did I get paid and not only did i get BEERED, but I got fed too - FANTASTIC! As Mr Chris T-T said afterwards "This is surely the way forward." I concur.

Sunday 21st December, Brixton, The Windmill
I was TERRIFICALLY pleased to get this gig, as I'd learnt up a couple of Christmas songs just in case, and was pleased to find other bands had done the similar, at least whilst I was there. My bit went OK - "Girlfriend Alarmed" went all right (debut performance!), "Billy Jones Is Dead" felt really good (as it always seems to lately), and all in all it was FUN, especially debating whether the fact that I had done my Christmas Shopping or not was of interest to anyone. I think it was. Some mental woman spent the entire gig right down the front with her back to me SHOUTING to her two friends who seemed to be trying to watch, Chris T-T doubted my WORD re. Bands From London, and the TUBE station was closed down, but other than that all was Joy and Delight!

Thursday 26th February 2004, London, the 12-Bar Club
FANTASTIC. The 12-bar is a brilliant place, and i had a BRILLIANT night. It's probably because it's such a tiny venue, but it FELT packed. The downstairs people were WELL into it, and the UPSTAIRS people were, in my mind at least, TAMED and won round, so it was like doing BOTH of my favourite sorts of gigs at the same time. "Breaks In The Journey" appeared for the first time, and seemed to go well, and it was also the DEBUT of the "Hey Hey 16K" t-shirts. LOADS of them got sold, I sold a couple of CDs too, and even got paid!! RESULT!

Friday 5th March 2004, Motherwell, Starka Bar
The first date of the MJ Hibbett/Hector Collectors TOUR! My set seemed to go OK, though I was a bit thrown by "Easily Impressed" - I always say that people have a choice, either to do the Audience Participation and feel GOOD about themselves, or NOT do it and have a cheap laugh at my expense. Nobody has ever gone for the latter option before! Also "Boom Shake The Room" seemed to go down less well than usual, but someone told me afterwards that Alex From Thee Moths played the venue last week, and did the EXACT SAME VERSION of it!!! It was all pretty good anyway, people seemed to like it (especially "The Lesson Of The Smiths"), and then the Hectors were BRILLIANT, as well as being plain LOVELY. HOORAH!

Saturday 6th March 2004, Glasgow, The Captain's Rest
By the time I went to tune up the room was, if not full, then at least PLUMP. I'd had a good long think about my set, especially with regards to several of my songs being pretty specifically English, and made some changed, not least NOT starting with "Things'll Be Different" for the first time in well over a year. It all went VERY well indeed. "Lesson of the Smiths" went down GRATE as usual, and though a few people seemed to be a bit unsure (4 minutes in someone laughed, desperately, at the word "piss", as always) "Born With The Century" went down OK on a rare outing - Mr Sandy Blair, fellow veteran of Belle & Sebastian at QMU, had come and specifically mentioned it as his favourite. You don't get that sort of service with Bruce Springsteen! My favourite bit was an IMPASSIONED pre-amble to "Things'll Be Different" discussing the Scottish Scottish Scotland nature of Glasgow City Centre (I think someone long ago toured the town saying "You're not Scottish at ALL!" and people got extremely defensive about it) and leading that into the need for the non-London English to follow their example, which got plenty much INTERACTION from the audience. It was ACE, and afterwards I sold a LOT of CDs, almost but not quite matching the mighty sales record set by HULL. The sound guy really liked it too!



Sunday 7th March 2004, Edinburgh, Caledonian Backpacker's
I kicked off with "Back Of The Sofa", as requested by Ian and Adam. It sounded all right actually, and the gig itself was FINE, although felt it bit odd to be very much playing to the Hectors, Katie, Martin, and a couple of other people. The Backpackers chose to ignore me completely. Well, they'd got in for free and just wanted a beer, so fair enough really. Feeling moved by the occasion, I made a lengthy remark about "Billy Jones Is Dead" being all about certain times in your life that are incredibly precious and leave a lasting feeling of absence when they're gone, and about how we should appreciate them while we have them - this seemed extremely relevant given that this was the last original line-up gig for The Hectors, so I said so, and felt myself come over a bit unnecessary as a result. I know I'd only known them and their little group of friends a couple of days, but it felt like longer.

Sunday 14th March 2004, The Mist, Derby
A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon slot in the "Yr On Yr Own" all-dayer. I felt relaxed, and there was much jollity in the room. NICE.

Sunday 14th March 2004, The Social, Nottingham
Bit of an annoying one here - things started off running late, then the Promoter's band went on before us, started off even later and over-ran their set, so by the time we went on we were fed up, and everyone was leaving as it was LATE. We got ENERGISED with annoyance and, I reckon, played pretty good, but there was nobody there to see it! Bit of a pisser, but at least the fact that Emma wasn't able to make it due to BabySitter Sickness turned out to be a Good Thing!

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