Gig 12, Secret Romance, Sheffield DQ, Sheffield - Final Gig with Secret Romance

Saturday 9th March 2013

Entry 10

This gig was definitely the best gig I've ever played, and it was certainly Secret Romance's best gig.

Less than a week prior to this show, I informed the whole band that this would be my last gig as part of the band. It was, at first, presumed that I'd play a few more until they found a replacement, so though it was meant to be the end of the road as part of my time with these guys, it didn't feel like it much, as I was expecting a few more gigs afterwards. However, this was actually the last one, and I'm glad; because it was such a fantastic gig, fantastic music, atmosphere and the best crowd we could wish for. Also, it was nice to end my time with them at the place we started, at the DQ nightclub, and this time be the headliners.

So, yes, this will probably be the last post on this blog for a little while, and I'll probably be opening a new blog on the same URL for my new band, which I'll inform you of as soon as possible! Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

***

Again, today, I had work before the gig. I was actually fairly nervous for this one, but didn't expect it to be that good, as our previous headliner at the DQ (if you've read that post, which is further down,) left us a bit underwhelmed, as most of the crowd left before we got onstage.

I arrived there, and met my roadie/good friend Callum Longden outside. I placed my equipment down, and then was informed we were going to a pub with the band. However, as me, Callum and my friend Danny were under 18, we got bored within two minutes of entering the pub. We were grateful for the walk in the freezing cold, and ended up in a place far more rock n' roll than the pub; Sainsbury's. What did we buy?

Energy drinks and Easter eggs, of course.

We returned to the DQ, and after standing outside for 15 minutes waiting for someone to unlock the door, we went in, and sat in the cosy seating area, right in the corner so we felt like mobsters. With our Easter eggs.

I started to warm up, playing Megadeth, sat in my corner with my earphones in. Adrenaline started to kick in, and I was starting to regain my energy that I lost at work. I felt good.

The doors opened, and a few people walked in and came to the seating area. My girlfriend and her cousin joined us, we got a few drinks, and relaxed before the first band came on.

The first band were really good, and different. 3 guitarists, a good singer, and the whole band were full of energy. The drummer was topless, and wore sunglasses, and was crazy. It was inspiring. I went to speak to the drummer after to tell him I thought he was awesome, and he looked genuinely surprised, so it's nice to see a band who are crazy onstage, but down to earth and friendly offstage.

The crowd was pretty big by the time the 3rd band came on.

Instead of sitting with the band like most times before a gig, we were all sitting separate, which felt weird. Andy was sat with his girlfriend and her friends, Cameron was with his girlfriend and her friends, I was with my girlfriend and my friends, and as for Kriss, Adam and Kyle, I've no idea where they were. Probably still at the pub!

I was extremely happy at this point, with friends, making them laugh, warming up, speaking to George Thompson (from Planet 9, mentioned in my last post) who did an impression of me, (which involved him picking up my guitar and pretending to shred for about a minute. I took it as a compliment because it was damn funny.) He was there to sing on a few songs for Or Die Trying, (I even bought me and my girlfriend an Or Die Trying shirt, because they put on a really good show, and are cool guys. I felt proud to be supporting the music scene, too).

They came on, and tore it up as always, with violent circle pits, and then people like me doing the Macarena whilst headbanging and playfully pushing people around. The DQ sound system didn't do them justice though, like when I saw them at the O2 Academy and they got the whole room circle pitting, but they powered through and owned it anyway.

My stomach lurched as it was our time to set up.

We were ready to go, and we were extremely happy that the room was full, and that it hadn't emptied like last time.

Now, why were these people part of the best crowd we'd ever had? I think you'll infer this just by reading what happened.

While we played, and more notably for me, when I soloed, there were people cheering throughout, touching me, coming up to me and dancing, stuff like that. I stole a guy's hat and wore it for a while. The best moment was when I was soloing and three guys started unbuttoning their shirts and throwing them away. Gotta love crazy kids at gigs! This inspired me, so whilst I played, I jokingly indicated one of them to unbutton my shirt for me. A girl practically pushed him out of the way to do it herself, (which was awkward), and there I was, playing with my shirt unbuttoned, everyone cheering, dancing, jumping about. The atmosphere was brilliant.

We had people singing along to our cover songs as well, (notably when we finished on Teenage Kicks, but I'll get to that in a bit.)

Now, last time we played our song Lachrymose, I may have mentioned that a couple messaged me after to say that they told each other for the first time they loved each other, as they slowly danced to it, at Corporation. That was a nice feeling, especially for Kriss who wrote it; two people fell in love to his art. However, shortly after, this guy told me he wanted to propose to her to this song if we were to play it at the DQ (this gig,) so of course I was honoured to help this happen. He later told me he had other plans, so that didn't happen, but they slowly danced to it again, and it was amazing, as everyone copied them, grabbed the person next to them, and we had a full room slowly dancing to our song. It felt fantastic!

(The guy later proposed to her that evening, anyway, so congratulations to him and her!)

I also had another guitar solo whilst the others switched instruments, which was fun. Some people in Sheffield seem to dislike the fact that I am "obsessed" with guitar solos, and think I do it just to show off. However, I would just like to add that it's what I enjoy doing. I enjoy entertaining others, and playing the guitar. The cheers and compliments I get afterwards show that it was entertaining one way or another, and therefore I reached what I aimed for. It was also a sort of goodbye to my band, as I introduced the solo I thanked them for a wonderful time, and thanked everyone for coming to show their support, and them wished them luck.

It was time for our final song together. Sentimental that it was Teenage Kicks, the first song we ever played together, the first song we ever played together live, too. It's a good job that we were fantastic.

The crowd went absolutely mental and used their last bits of energy on this song. Diving around, jumping about, singing loudly, screaming. Two guys jumped on stage and danced with us and then I just thought "Why not?" and with the influence of Kurt Cobain, moved my hand once in a "come here" gesture, and suddenly, about 20 people were trying to cram on this small stage, dancing about, touching us, singing. My leads got tangled up, I had to hold my guitar strangely and therefore solo in a weird position, and the song ended. I slowly fell to the floor, laughing with adrenaline and disbelief. I was on the floor, my guitar over my knees, my legs wrapped in wires, sweating, my shirt unfastened, my hair a mess. My girlfriend put the cherry on top of the ending by coming up to me onstage and kissing me.

I went and shook hands with the band, and we all laughed about how awesome it was, that it was our best gig. It was hard to pack up, as my head was still buzzing, and all I wanted to do was talk to people about it. But as always, the security rushed us out.

Strangely enough, this gig didn't make me doubt my decision of leaving the band. Instead, I appreciated my time with them, the fun I'd had, and was grateful that my last gig with them was the best one we'd ever had. We all have to move on, and my time had finally come.

So, I'd like to thank Andrew Hudson, Cameron Murray, Kriss Stainton, Adam Elliot, Kyle Barton, Callum Longden and Josh Kubon for making Secret Romance such a fun era of my life. I hope they continue making good music, and I wish them all the best.

As for me? Well, you'll have to wait and see, but I'll be joining a new band soon to play my favourite style of music. I'll be back soon to melt more faces!

Thanks for reading the Secret Romance Gig Diary, and please keep checking for when my next Gig Diary appears!

Keep rocking,

Take care,

Adam 'ARK' Walton.

Gig 11, Secret Romance/George Thompson (Acoustic Set), Thomas Rotherham College, Rotherham

Wednesday 27th February 2013

Entry 9

I realised I enjoyed writing my last post, as I wrote it as sarcastic as I did months ago. Looking back, the others got a little too serious for my liking, and I'd rather capture the fun and humorous side to gigging than the serious side. My girlfriend called me "Flippant and sarcastic", after reading my whole blog, (I had to use a dictionary for flippant, and then the dictionary again for a word it used to describe flippant, before realising what she meant.) I pretended to defend myself, (By throwing her in a river with bricks tied to her feet,) but I knew she was completely right. So, I decided to honour this, and maintain this flippant sarcasm.

Anyway, this gig was a whole bundle of fun. (No, I'm actually not being sarcastic.) We all kind of thought it'd be awful, as we're proper rockstars, playing stages and stuff like that; so to play in the drama studio of my college, it seemed a large step down. The sound probably wouldn't be great, and the turnout would no doubt be awful. Two of the bands dropped out so that it was just us and then George Thompson from the band Planet 9 doing an acoustic set. Who'd want to see just us and an acoustic set?

Well, it turned out about 30 people, which was a really nice, cosy turnout, so again I was proven wrong.

As TRC is my territory, (well, compared to the rest of Secret Romance anyway, as they'd never been before, and I go everyday,) I felt confident and at home, (Wow, that makes a change,) and walked around like a lion that claimed it's territory with urine and scattered corpses. They all stated at seperate times, (as does every single person who sees my college,) "Wow, it's like Hogwarts!"

We were the first and last to soundcheck, as George Thompson didn't need to soundcheck. We had about 6 large black cubes/boxes in front of the "stage", which we could jump onto if we so desired. (Being me, I was the only one to use these, and I used them for the guitar solos so people at the back could see me play.) Our drummer, again, couldn't show up on time due to work, so my friend Matt Wootton eagerly offered to play with us to soundcheck. The room didn't have great acoustics, but in the end we got a decent sound out of our set.

I attempted to play the drums for a song that Matt didn't know, but due to the fact the guitars were too quiet for me to hear, and due to the fact I'm not a drummer, I failed miserably.

Me and Matt then went to Tescos to buy donuts and energy drinks. (We're too rock n' roll for this business.)

The doors opened, and in walked about 30 people who sat around the room chatting. I jammed a few acoustic improvisations, before we were given the OK to start.

The room was actually great, we didn't actually need microphones to speak to the audience. In fact, it would've seemed a tad patronising to. It'd be like getting on a bus, sitting behind someone, and taking out a megaphone to engage in phatic conversation. Because of this, I did a lot of the talking, as I didn't have a microphone anyway. My voice was still louder than Andy's, who had a microphone, which is worrying. A lot of what I said was sarcastic humour. As I was very relaxed/chilled, I was confident and careless of what I said, which adds an edge to whatever you say, rather than if you were shaking and nervous that what you're saying is rubbish so that you end up mumbling and get the reaction you were dreading anyway. (The Barbra Streisand Effect. Google it.)

It reminded me a lot of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged, in the sense that I'm Kurt Cobain.

No.

It reminded me of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged because it was so relaxed; polite claps and cheers after songs, conversation with the crowd, me saying stuff to my friends who stood at the front, while I was playing. In fact, I even tried asking for candles and flowers, but that didn't happen. Cups of teas would've been nice too, in hindsight.

I had a minute-long solo before the last song of the set, which I thought was awful really, I hadn't prepared anything. I was just so laid back I almost forgot how to play the guitar.

The crowd were overall fantastic, we loved playing there. It is certainly up there as one of my favourite shows.

My next entry marks my last official gig with the band Secret Romance. As a preview, I can say it was the best show I've ever played in my life.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy my blog. If you have any suggestions, feedback or compliments, don't bother.

No, I'm kidding. Just add me on Facebook, "Adam Robert Kurt Walton", and/or follow me on Twitter: "@ARKWalton".

Thanks again, and take care.

Adam Walton

Gig 10, Secret Romance, Corporation, Sheffield.

February 16th, 2013

Entry 8

Hello there, once again.

I would like to start off by quickly pointing out that a few people have been calling this blog "self-centred", and "arrogant". 

I'll just explain that, one: it's self-centred because it's about me. You know, being a diary and all that, about me and my experiences as a musician. And also, if you read it and perceive me as arrogant due to some things I say, then fine, I'm a lead guitarist, commonly associated as ego-kings and arrogance-masters. However, I would just like to say I do not write this with the intent of sounding arrogant, or for the intent of bigging myself up, I'm merely stating what has happened, and what I think about it. I speak about myself and how I play so that I can read back on this in years to come and view my progress. Sorry if anyone's offended by that, I just genuinely don't care. Further, I've decided to make all comments that are "arrogant" appear in red; I do like to make these things as interesting as possible! Thank you, and enjoy.


So, it's been a few weeks since this gig. I've been busy!

This was Secret Romance's second headline, the first time I have headlined Corporation with a band too, so it was all exciting. Afterall, Corporation is popular in Sheffield, and they have billboards around Sheffield City, on trams etc. advertising Corporation gigs, so to have our band name in big letters across these posters was a cool feeling!

We had to be there for around 3-4, but I finished work at 3, so it was a slight rush when I got home. Ate my dinner, had a coffee, and quickly got changed. My equipment was already packed and ready to go, because from past experience, I've learned preparation is key for being on time to a gig. Or to anything, really. I am a genius, I know.

I arrived there, and found out that we had the headliner's changing rooms. This was exciting, as we could only ever glance at this room with sparkling, expecting eyes, as we were dragged by our necks to the smaller rooms that only have a stone hole for a toilet, and we could only feed off grass, and drippings from the ceiling.

I am of course kidding, the other rooms are good, but this one had a fridge stocked with free Carlsberg, and wait for it... A kettle. That's right. (Again with the bold font,) a kettle. 

Roadie #1, Kyle, made us all tea and coffees, (albeit in plastic cups, because well, you know, rock n' roll and all that,) and we sat on the leather sofa and spoke about anything from music, to dressing up like ABBA and playing Dancing Queen, considering just focusing on our careers as ABBA impersonators. (I hear they make millions in hotels across Blackpool and Benidorm.) We were aware that we had about 4-5 hours to wait before going on stage. So we were expecting to become restless. Also, we were expecting a small crowd, as we were headlining, and we aren't so popular. (However, as I'll explain later, we were to be surprised a great deal!)

At one point, I even laid my coat down on the floor and attempted to sleep. However, putting on Anarchy In The UK on and watching Roadie #2, Callum, saying "Right!" in the exact voice of Johnny, at the exact right time, causing the room to erupt with laughter, was much better than sleep. I had a few more beers and teas, and then attempted to warm up my cold fingers by shredding along to some Megadeth and ABBA.

Our drummer didn't arrive 'til about 5:30-6, so we, the headliners, couldn't even soundcheck, which was slightly annoying but we all got over it. Drummers are famous for being late anyway, apparently.

The doors opened, and I went to look at the turnout, expecting to struggle to see anyone, when I was suddenly given a large shock. The room was full, just like back at our awesome gig with Room 94 in August. This was exciting. To celebrate, I went with Callum on a quest to Sheffield to find the perfect kebab.

It was very cold, and after heading in the wrong direction for ten minutes, we were very cold by the time we found a good takeaway shop. We ate on the way back, and luckily they let us back in with the food. The reason I was worried is because earlier on, our drummer tried to get in with a sandwich and two cans of Coke in his bag, and they wouldn't let him in.

"But it's sealed?" He said.

"I said no, throw it away." The woman at the door said.

"We're going backstage, we're playing here. We're like, rock n' roll or something, and we can't have Coca Cola?" I chipped in.

"You don't look very rock n' roll", she added, before the large bouncer of the place said:

"Look pal, don't argue and throw the Coke away right now". So, I imagined setting them on fire with my hidden super-powers, to calm down, but then realised it wasn't me trying to get the Coke in, and so therefore realised I didn't actually care in the first place!

(I would just like to point out that I had my "Kurt Cobainy" jumper on and my new black jeans, so I did look rock n' roll, hmph. Women.)

I sat backstage eating my lovely kebab with the heater on. Callum filmed me as I narrated both the evening and the kebab. I felt like I was Morgan Freeman reading out a book for children. Except, I don't have a voice as nice as his, I'm not black, I'm not old, I'm not an actor, and I wasn't reading a book. So I wasn't Morgan Freeman. I'm Adam.

Anyway, I realised it was not long until it was time for us to go onstage, so I decided to go and join in the crowd to see what band was on. They were on just before us, and were really good. Probably the best band of the evening. However, I won't go into how good the other bands were, because I may end up hurting someone's feelings. 

They were fantastic. Damn, there I go again.

I'm pleased to have the opportunity to play with such bands. Adam, stop it, you're hurting people!

I attempted to join a small mosh-pit for the penultimate band, but having forgotten how to "two-step", (a common Sheffield mosh-pit move,) I decided to give in to the forces from above, and do the Macarena instead. Again.

People laughed at me, and someone was telling me how I looked like I should be famous, that I looked like Owen Wilson, "But not the nose, don't worry." He then asked who I was there to see, so with a brush of the shoulders, I pointed to my wristband that said "Secret Romance", then trying to point out I was the guitarist for them. "Oh, the headline band! So you are kind of famous then!" What a guy.

Stage

So, a part of me thought everyone would have left by the time we got on stage. I walked up the stairs, my guitar in my hands, and got on stage. The room was still 3/4 full, so we had a good crowd!

I tried to switch on my guitar for a quick line check, but for some reason, it wasn't working. For about 3-4 minutes, or eternity, in my mind, it wasn't working. The amp was on, my guitar was plugged in, but there was no sound coming out.

All I wanted to do was do another showy-offy line-check in front of the biggish crowd to show what I'm about, (should that be highlighted in red? Or is it not arrogant to want to show my hard-earned talent?) Time seemed to drag as I panicked, trying to make my amp work. Eventually, after seemingly trying everything, Adam Elliot, rhythm guitarist, came over and moved my "Master Volume" from 0-10, sound coming out, a few cheers from the crowd, and from my heart too. It sounds like I was stupid not thinking to do this, however, there are 3 ways to get volume from my amp. "Volume", "Master Volume" and "Power". I never move the Master Volume. And I very rarely move the volume, but just the power. So I checked everything except the Master volume, naturally.

I then started to hit notes that corresponded with each other, at a quick pace, creating what one might call a "solo", to get the right volume.

We finally kicked off with our new setlist. Same songs, but a different order, really, just to spice things up a bit.  Everything was played well in our standard set, and so it was time for a guitar swap. But because it's a headline, I had a nice solo in between, while the others tuned/switch guitars.

I started with an acoustic tune I wrote months ago, it's actually a beautiful tune. I then switched distortion on, and stood on one of the two large cabinet-like constructs that are in front of the stage, directly next to the speakers, so that I was closer to the audience, and then began shredding, using some new modes in E minor, my favourite key.

There was a nice round of applause, before I attempted to quickly switch guitars while the band started the Drop D set.

Notice I wrote "attempted".

It seemed to be going well. My first guitar was placed down carefully, no loud feedback was created from taking the lead out etc.

But when I plugged a lead into my V guitar, and attempted to join in with the song, once again, no sound came out of the amp. I immediately checked the Master Volume, and everything else there was to check. Finally, halfway through the song, (the song was one of the few without a solo, so they managed,) I realised I had plugged in the wrong lead.

Idiot.

Luckily I could then jump back into the middle of the stage for our heavy breakdown in the song, and enjoy life again.

(I enjoy playing with V guitars too. At the moment, I'm torn between either an ESP Alexi, a Dean double Neck V (Dave Mustaine), or a Fender Telecaster. Yes, that's right. A Fender Telecaster. Why? Because my current influence is Jeff Buckley; (Just listen to Alligator Wine, Grace, or Hallelujah and you'll see why!) and I'm really enjoying country music and jazz music. Can't I just be rich, yet, and have all 3? If anyone has £2200 to spare, please contact me on Facebook...!)

I, once again, tried to get a pit going for us on our heavier song, Last Stand, but half the crowd had gone, (which usually tells you something, right? Maybe there was an alien invasion going on outside, or a boat had crashed outside Corporation, despite the lack of a river, and people went to check,) and so the crowd wasn't big enough. Saying that, more people walked back in from outside when we began playing Fight For Your Right, so that was okay.

We played Lachrymose penultimately, a work of art by Kriss Stainton, and we had my recently good friend Danny Docking dancing with his girlfriend slowly to it, which to me is as good as a pit, to be honest. (He later told me that it made him tell her he loved her, for the first time, so that's a nice feeling for everyone really.)

We ended with the classic "Teenage Kicks", after deciding it'd be a nice, upbeat end to the evening, and then we started to pack up. A man I noticed in the crowd, in his 20s-30s, came up to me while I was on the floor trying to gather my leads, and just shook my hand, saying "You have some hot shit going on there man, my mate is looking for new and upcoming bands, and you're definitely what he's looking for, you were awesome." 

I don't trust anyone, but it was nice to hear, I felt honoured that it was me he came up to to compliment. It's better when a man tells you you're good, than a teenage girl, because though it's nice to have girls complimenting me, a man is more likely to know about music, and because I aim for an 80s style of playing, that's more of a man's era than a girl who wasn't alive then. So the night almost ended on a high.

One little thing annoyed me though, once again, the workers of Corporation. I know it's their job, but they started the club night in the other room, which I need to get through to get my coat and stuff from backstage. Because I'm not 18, the guy wouldn't let me through, despite knowing I was just the headline band, making his business some money, knowing that therefore I would have things backstage. It's not like I was rude, I'm a polite guy, so I tried reasoning with him, like "Move, or I'll force the ends of my V guitar into your stomach!"

(I am joking, I actually tried to explain that I was just onstage and wasn't aware that my items would be imprisoned away from me, that I'd have to embark on a quest to get past Ye Olde Ancient Guardian of the Corporation Nightclub 2K13, in order to obtain my Leather Jacket of the Gods; and that he could even escort me there if he actually thought I was trying to get in to get a beer. Considering they were free backstage, why on earth would I want to buy one? Eventually, the large bouncer who was outside earlier escorted me and Andy to get our things, so my respect for him went up again.)

It was a really fun evening.

My next entry should be on Friday evening, as we also played a gig at my college last week!

And then we have another headline gig at the DQ on Saturday, just a few days away. Looking forward to it!

Preview

So, I went back to college after having been there that day to study French and music, and played a gig and it was fun. No sheeps or carrots were involved. Jeff Buckley also attended, but as a ghost. (Like in Harry Potter and Star Wars, the sort of ghosts that are alive but not physical.)



Thanks for reading, over 1300 views, (1333 last time I checked). Please don't take everything I say too seriously, and yeah. See you again soon!

Adam Walton

Gig 9, A Season Of Secrets, Corporation Mainstage, Sheffield

Entry 7

Happy New Year!

Wow, my first post of 2013, I have just realised this.

2012 was a crazy, important year for me, for many reasons, but most relevant to this blog, my gigging life. My first proper gigs were played in 2012, and we were lucky to get so many good ones.

We ended the year with Gig 8, which was again at Corporation small-stage. I decided not to write about it because although we played well and the crowd were good, it was pretty much "same old, same old" for me. It might sound like I'm ungrateful for it, but it was nothing new. Same set, same stage.

We supported The Famous Class, who put on an excellent show. They really know how to play!

2013

So, the year ended, and a new one started. (In case you weren't aware). Since about November/December we had a gig already planned for the new year, but I never actually believed it would happen. Many times I've been told "Oh we'll be playing with these, on this stage!" And if it was too good to be true, I didn't believe it, and it didn't happen.

So what gig had been planned? We were to support A Season Of Secrets, one of Sheffield's most well-known bands of the current music scene, on the Corporation mainstage. on the 12th January.

The mainstage is a stage that some of my favourite bands have played, such as Anthrax, Sepultura, Atreyu, Lamb Of God, Marillion, Mastodon, Stone Sour and Testament. I even found a picture on the Corporation website of Troy Sanders, bassist and vocalist for Mastodon, playing on the spot I was playing. Exciting times!

So, of course, we did actually get this gig, and we had two practices to prepare for it. We knew we had to step up our game, and be brilliant. To play on such a stage, alongside other great bands, we had to be on top form.

In practice, we finalised our new song What A Night, and Kriss introduced a new song to us that he named Lachrymose. At a first listen, it just sounded like a song with 3 chords. However, when we put it together, with acoustic settings on guitars, slow drums, and alternating vocals between Kriss and Andy, leading up to a loud, "meaningful" solo, and then finishing with a loud, distorted chorus, it became one of our best songs yet. It's certainly my favourite to play.

We only had a 20 minute slot for this gig, and we were first on, so some sacrifices had to be made. Our set usually lasts 25-30 minutes, and as we wanted the two new songs in, in the end we had to leave out 3 songs. I Can See You, all covers, and Vanity. In the end, our set lasted about 22 minutes, so all was well.

Gig Day

Today I had work, which finished at 3, so it meant, again, that I didn't have long to get ready for the gig. I had a new Children of Bodom vest that I was looking forward to wearing, so I already knew what to wear. Luckily, my guitars didn't need completely restringing, so in the end I was fine, and only 10 minutes late.

We had to be there fairly late this time, so it was all good. Soundcheck times were properly given to us beforehand, (it was a 20 minute sound check, which is fantastic. This gave us time to get used to the stage (though we found it hard to get our heads around how big, and excellent it was,) and get a good sound.

Though the sound was overall good, it very much depended on where you were standing, on stage and in the crowd. For example, if I stood in the middle of the stage when soloing, I couldn't hear myself too well. However, if I stood where my Wah-pedal was placed, on the right side of the stage, I could hear myself perfectly.

I arrived at Corporation, however, it was like a totally different venue. Different entrance, different stage. I put my gear down with the rest of my bands and went with Andy to the backstage dressing rooms. Originally, I thought it was O2 Academy that supplied free beer. However, it turns out it was the promoters SB Squared that did this, and as it was a gig they put together, we had free beer here too. So, I helped myself to one to settle my nerves a bit. My fingers were cold due to the cold weather outside, and so I was growing a bit nervous that they wouldn't be able to move as fast as usual when I got on stage.

It was time to soundcheck, and what I loved was how the stage had two side-doors to enter the stage from. It just felt cool opening a door that led straight on to the stage. I set my equipment up, and we individually soundchecked. I decided to play Dave Mustaine's solo from Holy Wars: The Punishment Due to soundcheck, to warm my fingers up, and of course to show off. It was really loud and pierced through the whole room. It felt good. To soundcheck together, we played through our song Just a Boy, and then Teenage Kicks. For some reason, we love to soundcheck to Teenage Kicks, it seems to be a good decider on the overall sound.

It was 6:15, 15 minutes before the doors opened, and we were finished sound checking. We were due to play from 18:40-19:00. We headed to the dressing rooms, and sat down, worked out ticket money, and drank a bit more. My body felt nervous, but my mind was extremely excited.

6:34- we each looked at each other, and decided it was time to head to the stage. We walked together, looking ahead, through the corridor, and walked up the stairs to the stage door. We opened it and walked to our instruments.

Due to the high amount of lighting, and also the smoke machine, we couldn't see the crowd. In fact, when I finally looked through it carefully, I noticed there was hardly anyone there. I was therefore reluctant to start, because I wanted more people to arrive first. However, when I plugged in and we began playing Holy Oath, everyone gathered together, and by about the third song, there were at least 150 people there, our biggest audience yet.

I was very energetic that night, and was very determined to give my best performance yet. I moved a lot, and played well. At the end of the third song, Just A Boy, I moved to the middle, (to Kriss' left instead of his right, in between him and Andy,) and continued to solo after the song finished (this is typical of me now, my band expect it, and as do our regular attendees,) while Adam Elliot switched his guitar. I played fast, and showed off in the 20 seconds I had. I finished, and there was a nice response from the crowd, which by this point was really big. I quickly switched my guitar and we started the heavier half of our set.

We played our new song, What A Night, and it wasn't perfect, probably quite far from it, but it was new, and fun, and energetic, so it doesn't matter. We have a really catchy breakdown section to it, which was fairly messed up unfortunately due to the drums stopping too early, and the rest of us having to quickly respond by playing the breakdown early. But still, it went well, and no one else other than us probably noticed there was anything wrong with it.

We played Last Stand, our usual set-ender, and the stage being so big, Kriss was able to comfortably switch places with me to let me stand at the microphone for the heavy breakdown-riff, in which me and Andy sing/scream: "You'll never take me alive, you won't take me alive," a few times. It felt great stood at a microphone with my guitar, if only my voice was capable of lead-vocal duties. (Though, I am practicing vocals a lot lately, so watch this space, maybe? I doubt it, but hope so!)

We then quickly switched guitars again, (the first time we have ever switched guitars more than once. We usually keep our Standard-Tuning songs on the first half of the set, and then switch for the last half of the songs which are in Drop-D tuning. However, Kriss suggested we ended the set with the slow, new Lachrymose. At first I disagreed, but as it's such a powerful song, with a large build up to a beautiful solo, and loud chorus at the end in which Kriss sings really high pitched, which makes it even more powerful, I agreed to the idea.)

Due to forgetting my switch pedal, which would've enabled me to easily switch from clean to distortion when I needed, I had to ask my roadie Callum Longden, (He joined us at our last gig, and is great company, so I'm grateful he can come with us to all our gigs as Road Crew,) to switch sounds for me. It must have been quite a lot of pressure for him to come on stage and switch sounds at the right time for me, having no previous experience of the song, but he did so brilliantly, so he saved the song in effect!

We began the song, to which the crowd started to sway from side to side without us getting them to. The intro I put to the song, (which I decided to also play in the verses,) is often regarded to as very similar to Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes" intro. I can see why people think this, but it isn't the same, so I still use it, because it sounds great.

The build up to the solo worked fantastically, and I went to the middle of the stage to play it. After the loud solo, there are no drums. It is a quiet verse, with just single-strummed chords, before a nice drum/guitar build up to a loud, distorted, powerful chorus, and then an outro which consisted of a faster solo to end the song, and thus end the set.

There was a loud response from the crowd, as we thanked them and quickly packed our things away.

We got many positive reviews that night, including a few girls from my college stating "I was told you were good, but I didn't know you were that good!" And "Lose the nailpolish!"

It was the first gig where people complimented the whole band to me, instead of them just complimenting me to me.

My friends stated that I should have told the crowd to move, and circle-pit, because the energy was there, but we didn't provoke it. My band told me previously to stop doing this, so I didn't at this gig, and slightly regret listening to them in a way!

Afterwards, I went and watched the other bands play.

Fall Of Empires
These were an excellent band. Their bassist was fantastic, tapping, slapping, the lot. They had, (like every other band except us that night,) screaming vocals, which went well with the Dubstep backing track they had over their set.


Dead Harts
These were the "biggest" band of the evening, with about 16,000 likes on Facebook. They didn't arrive at the venue until five minutes before their set, so I didn't get to see how they were in person. They were really heavy, and the crowd got really into them, including me. (I jumped into a circle pit, and within a minute was kicked somewhere I shouldn't be kicked, and then immediately after, stumbling into the elbow of someone, which winded me. I slowly walked out, unable to breathe, but pretending I could, and smiling my way out, walking like an idiot. Lovely!) They put on a great show.

A Season Of Secrets
These were pretty good. Everyone in Sheffield, (teenagers mainly), know these. It's funny, because their lead singer, Sam Gibson, went to my Secondary School, and seemed all trendy, and he sang in the school band that wasn't mine. Therefore, I was surprised when he did screaming-vocals all night with no singing-vocals. Their guitarists were pretty good, they had a new lead guitarist called Ben Jones. Not many solos, but overall the sound quality was good. The crowd loved them, and they finished, and the night was over.

Many people that night called me the "best guitarist of the evening", because I was not just "showy-offy," but also made each solo matter, and didn't just show off. It feels great to be regarded that, and I'm not sure if it's even true, or if it matters, as every guitarist there had their own styles etc. But still, I feel proud that all my practicing is paying off!

I want to thank SB Squared for putting us on to this gig, to the other bands who did a great job playing, to the audience who were good to us, and mainly to my band - we played awesomely. It's set our expectations really high for future gigs, which might be a bad thing, but this was our best experience yet, our best gig. I loved it, and can't wait to play that stage again.

What a night.

Thanks for reading!

Adam 'ARK' Walton




Me, soloing.

Me and Kriss Stainton, during Just A Boy



Me, (In my new favoured soloing position with that guitar), Andy Hudson (Vocals) and Adam Elliot.



The whole band, my favourite band-shot of us. Look how big and awesome that stage looks.

(For more pictures etc., please like us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/#!/SecretRomance01)

Gig 7, Secret Romance (Headlining), DQ, Sheffield

Entry Six

It's been a while since my last post, I apologise!

There is a reason that this is entry six and gig 7, and that's because our last gig wasn't worth a whole entry to itself, so I waited 'til this one, and I'll write briefly what happened at gig six.

Gig 6, The Ocean's Eyes, Corporation, Sheffield

After how well the last gig went at Corporation, supporting Room 94, our hopes were all way too high for this gig. I was at college throughout this day, meaning I couldn't get to Corporation until about an hour before we played, which meant me packing my things the night before, and getting ready on the journey there.

The R94 gig really hyped us all up, and set our future gig expectations really high, and so this one really dragged us back down to earth from the high that the last gig, over a month ago, was still producing for us.

I got to Corporation and finally got all of my equipment inside. This time, we didn't just have the stinked-out room as a backstage, but the main-stage dressing rooms were available to us, so it was nice to finally see them and use them. They were almost as good as the O2 Academy dressing rooms, except there was no free beer. It was nice to think of the amount of successful bands that will have walked them corridors; Anthrax in particular, apparently.

We got ready a little bit more, a few shots, tuning guitars, me doing my nail polish, and then headed back to the stinked-out room ready to go on stage. We looked through the door to see what the turnout was like.

Ok, so we were prepared for a low turnout, as it was Tuesday evening, but there were about thirteen people stood about the floor.

Thirteen people.

We sold about 18 tickets between us, not to mention the tickets the other bands had sold. The funny thing is, the crowd got thinner further towards the end, so we pretty much had the biggest crowd of the evening.

We got on stage, and I thought, "Well, OK, there's a few, but maybe they will be energetic and enthusiastic!"

We asked them about five times throughout the evening to come to the front/middle, and they just looked at us. At least there were a few claps and "Woos" at the end of every song. But when I play, I usually feed off the crowd's enthusiasm, and amplify it back at them, so as you can probably imagine, I struggled to look like I was having fun. In every solo, I thought "What's the point?" It was the wrong attitude, and I know we'll have more like this, but as I say, the last time we played that stage, the room was full and the ends of our songs were followed by screams and cheers, not quiet clapping.

Afterwards I was in a bad mood, but eventually cheered up as I went and got to know the whole of the audience, which was rather productive in the end.

---


Gig 7, Secret Romance's first Headline Gig

For this gig, we were meant to have had about three new songs to play, but due to time being shorter than expected, (not as many practices as we anticipated), we had no new songs that were ready to play, (one is close to completion, and I have a full song to show them (again)), so just brought back Teenage Kicks and Song 2.

Originally, I wasn't particularly keen on the idea of headlining. We've done 6 gigs, and our small (albeit good!) following are scattered around the country, and Wales. So I said I would be surprised if 15 people turned up.

However, I was proven wrong, as we sold about 80 tickets, plus the other bands sold quite a lot of tickets! So we estimated a turnout of about 100 people. That's a good feeling.

I decided to invite my best friend, Keegan, to this gig. I wanted him to come backstage to see what it's like and everything, and so he agreed to become my roadie. If he enjoyed it, he could be full time. We had to be there for 3. So, I got ready at home, and arrived there at about 3:10.

There was a lot of jungle-like scenery from the night before, as it was a club night, and the DJ wasn't aware that he had to tidy up for a band the next night, so he took about an hour and a half to tidy up, so we were a little bit worried about not getting time to get the sound right. I personally wanted to keep the scenery, but the DJ had to take it and leave, so we didn't have it.

Andy Hudson (our lead vocalist) has recently started bringing cameras to gigs, so not only do we have a written diary of the gigs, but a cool video is made for them now too, our "debut" video being based on the last gig, with our single, "Holy Oath", playing over the top. It is a funny video, and I think this one could be even funnier due to the better enthusiasm.

Soundcheck

We were first to soundcheck, of course, being the headlining band and all. Cameron Murray had to set up his drums, and we all set up our equipment as usual. When I was asked to play, I did my usual showing off, but the sound sounded really clear, and so I sounded even better than usual, receiving a few claps from the bands sat around the venue. I love that my soundchecking is equivalent to a performance, it's almost like my proof that I am worthy of being on stage amongst the other bands.

The problem with DQ however has always been the sound, and though we were told it would be better this time, it wasn't much of an improvement. No, we didn't have to stop half way through our set to sort it out again, but I was quiet again throughout the show. Thankfully, the sound desk has been moved off the stage, so we had more space on the stage to move about, and it was just less messy. So I sounded loud and clear (or, clarion...) for soundcheck, and we sounded good together when we played Just A Boy and Teenage Kicks for soundcheck, so we looked forward to having a good gig with good sound.

So now, instead of preparing to play almost immediately after soundcheck, we went back to our seating area, and started the wait.

The crowd started to enter through the doors, and quite quickly, the venue was getting quite full. I started drinking, and my friends I had invited turned up. I could tell it was going to be a fun evening.

The first act was some guy with an acoustic guitar. He was really good, it was a nice acoustic set to ease everybody into the loud night ahead. He did many covers from bands like Guns N' Roses, Green Day and The Killers. He had a good voice, and the crowd seemed to like him, many loud claps and cheers and singing along.

He walked off, and more people started to enter the building. The next band took too long to come on for my liking, at least 30 minutes, and there didn't seem to be an apparent reason for why they took so long. The funny thing was, this band is the band our old bassist left to join, so he was there. He seems to have held a grudge against all of us, I used to consider him a good friend, but he clearly didn't want to talk to me, so I just stayed out of his way and looked forward to watching his band The Filthy Cavaliers. They played thrash metal/old-school metal, my favourite genre of music, so of course I was looking forward to watching them.

The frontman, (rhythm guitar-not a bad guitarist, and singer, classic metal frontman), had a really good voice, went quite high pitched. Overall the band were enjoyable to watch, amazing bass playing and vocals too!



After...

The next two bands I didn't watch, I was restless now and quite frankly bored. I wanted to be on stage. When I saw that a few people were leaving, and the crowd was slowly thinning away, I got worried.

I had one more drink, and started speaking to more people in the crowd to pass time. They were nice people and it was fun, but I suddenly got a painful stomach ache, and so I didn't enjoy it as much. I didn't think it was nerves, because I didn't feel nervous. I was ready to play, but it was probably concealed nerves mixed with hunger. (I hadn't eaten since about 1pm, it was now 9:30pm.)

Finally, it was time to take to the stage.

I hugged all my friends who all wished me luck, and they went to stand on the dancefloor, forming a large chunk of the crowd.

As I set up my guitar, I looked at the crowd and my heart slightly sank that our crowd wasn't as big as it was for our support acts. It was later than we expected, around 10:15, and so many people had to leave to catch last buses home, or because they had lifts that were planned earlier than we played. (I had been telling people we would be playing at about 9, so I was clearly very wrong. There were too many support acts.)

However, I didn't let this get to me, I was still happy with the 30 people around the room, and aimed to give it everything I had.

We started playing, and got people clapping along and stuff like that, and it was good fun.

Unfortunately, I couldn't hear myself, or see my guitar very well due to the dim (but effective) lighting. Therefore, I felt a little bit like my efforts were being wasted in my solos. The crowd apparently couldn't hear me very well, or see me, (which is part of what I do, I move my fingers extremely fast, and people like that, but if they can't see it very well, it's a bit disappointing), and I even walked off the stage a little to put my head against the speaker to see if I was loud. The sound panel was at full volume, and my amp was full volume, so again, there was no way up, so I had to deal with it.

Now it was time for the halfway point of our set, where we switch to our Drop D guitars. However, as planned, and as I was extremely excited for, I got a solo to myself. It was meant to fill in the time for Kriss Stainton and Adam Elliot to switch their guitars, and so Andy didn't have to speak to the crowd (he had felt ill all week, so wasn't particularly ready for the evening, and it affected his voice a bit too, but still a good performance considering this). However, being me, I didn't just want to be a filler. I wanted it to count. I wanted every note, (all 547 of them, or something), to count. So every night that week, I had practiced...

I've always had a warm up routine, where I would pretend I'm playing in front of 100,000 people at Donington (as most guitarists do, right?) and I use my Wah-Pedal to play a riff I made, and then play an E Chord, switch off the Wah-Pedal, and start shredding. It's always improvised at home, but for the gig, I decided to have a little bit of structure, just in case I had an off day and didn't have much inspiration for playing. The majority is improvisation, but I at least had structure so it didn't get lost or boring.

Thankfully, I was on top form that night, and played it really well, holding my guitar into the air when I played the last chord, and Cameron even slowly brushed the cymbals to add a nice effect to the ending.

I call the solo The First, because it is my composition, it's 2 minutes long, and so it deserves a name. My friend/roadie Keegan filmed it for me, and though it's dark, the sound quality is still good. Check it out below. (If that fails to work, which it seems to be, just click the Facebook link).

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=10151243528936941

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There was a funny drunk guy in the crowd who kept high fiving me after every song, saying how good I was, letting me drink his beer, and I remember before I played The First, he said "you should have a right big solo on your own it'd be right good!" The rest of the band hated him, but I loved him!

We started playing the last half of our set, and we played really well. Everyone sang along to Fight For Your Right by the Beastie Boys, and a group of girls were dancing along, so I walked off the stage and danced with them whilst playing. That felt quite good, dancing to the music me and my band were producing.

It got to our last song, Last Stand. We were playing it well, but what annoyed us was that the lights came up halfway through. Yes, we were on later than expected and the DQ were ready to close up, but they could have had the courtesy of letting us finish. We made them a lot of money, it's called manners. Quite ridiculous really, but oh well, we had fun.

We received a few compliments, but the audience quickly disappeared ready to catch their lifts home, so not as many compliments as usual. There was me hoping for an after-party, the DQ is a nightclub, so I presumed they just shut late. I guess they have beddy-byes themselves.

Overall, we all had a great night, and we had a fantastic first headlining gig, promising the chance of more in the future!

Thanks for reading,

Take care,

Adam 'ARK' Walton

Gig 5, Room 94, Corporation, Sheffield.

Entry Five

Foreword (Sounds fancy, huh?)

Hello to my readers! (Yes, that includes you!) I would like to start off with something that might surprise, annoy, disappoint, or enlighten you, depending how much of these things you've read.

I shan't be writing anything negative about this gig, simply because there is nothing negative to say about it!

Many people tell me, or message me, they like my blogs because of how I always have something bad to say about something, and they laugh at my negativity and bitterness. But anyway, this should be a pleasant read. (I've also added a bit of colour for emphasis, I think it makes it look nicer!) Feel free to leave feedback, (@ARKWalton, Adam Robert Kurt Walton, or just on the comments below). Enjoy!


The Corporation, Sheffield, 12th August 2012

This was Secret Romance's 5th gig. We supported Room 94. Other acts included "Burn So Bright", "The Famous Class", and "Disclosure".

So, I had a really busy weekend. I started to really look forward to the gig on Thursday, I think, but then very much so on Saturday night. I had a really tiring Saturday, which involved catching a wrong bus into a scary place with scary people, and practically begging Adam Elliot (Rhythm Guitarist) to pick me up, (due to the wrong bus, I was going to be late to our pre-gig practice).

We arrived at band practice in Sheffield, and to be quite honest, I felt as if I was too tired to even pick up my guitar. However, playing music is very energizing, so within 5 minutes I was practically bouncing around. We have two new songs to our set list, and had to sacrifice two covers, (my two favourite covers we play), Teenage Kicks, and Song 2. One of the new songs, written by Kriss Stainton (Bassist/Backing Vocals), was to be our new opener, due to its fantastic energy. The second song, written by Adam Elliot, is a slower, sadder song, called "Just A Boy". They wrote these while I was on holiday, and very kindly left spaces in the songs for guitar solos! (I actually put 3 in the opener. That's why I love it so.) We went through the set about 3 times, the third time we stopped halfway through due to Cameron's hands (drummer) hurting, and we were all tired, and so we decided to save the energy for the gig. My ears were buzzing that night.

Anyway, this time, we only had to be at the venue for 4:30, an hour and a half before the doors opened. (We were due on at 6:10) This is good, because, as you've (hopefully) read in my previous entries, the 3+ hour waits get very restless at times.

I restringed my V guitar (successfully, for once!) and one string of my Eclipse guitar. (Using Ernie Ball "Skinny Top, Heavy Bottoms", awesome for shredding on.) I wore my Download 2012 shirt, (sleeves rolled up so it passed as a vest,) black skinny jeans, my custom "ARK Converse", (sounds fancy also, huh?) 4 necklaces, 5 "punky" bracelets, and my crazy spiked up hair!

I got to the venue, and there were people already queuing up outside, (about 20), so I thought "wow! We might actually be playing in front of some people!" (Okay, one little thing, I suppose; we were put first on the line-up, after selling lots of tickets; we were lead to believe we'd be further up the line-up, usually meaning a bigger audience, but this is pre-gig negativity! That's the last of it, promise.)

I took my equipment, (which included my new amp, (literally new, about 5 days old), which reaches 120 watts. (Sure beats my old 15 watts!) I have had many sound/volume issues at past gigs, so I figured a louder... MUCH louder amp would put a stop to that,) inside, and greeted my band mates. Adam Elliot had brough a box of cider, so I took one, (which later he complained to us for not bringing our own), and just relaxed. Took my guitar everywhere with me, claiming "it's part of me, like a limb!" No one argued.

We received our very cool "VIP" necklaces, and walked around a bit, checked outside to make sure our "crowd" hadn't disappeared.

And guess what we got this time...?

A proper sound check! Woo!

It was a really fun one too! I really couldn't wait to play some loud music, so the sound check was like a "small dosage" for me! We did a line check first, (playing individually).

I personally love the line check. Why? Because I get a few minutes to show off in front of the other bands! Kriss played a bass line, then sung into a microphone. Then Adam Elliot played chords for 2-3 minutes.

"Other guitar!"

So I turned my volume up, and just shredded for about two minutes.

When I stopped, my band were laughing at me and called me a show off. Me? A show-off?

Then we played through our opening song, and wow, don't want to sound arrogant, but it was the best song in the world.

Haha, not quite, but it was so energetic, it was a great warm up for when we were due on stage in 30 minutes time!

The sound guy, (who I complained about in my blog about our first Corporation gig), was really good. He asked us who we wanted to hear out of which monitors. I asked to hear myself, vocals, and drums. I kept saying "a liiiiitle louder, please!" For my guitar. My band were laughing at me, saying I was too picky. But I just want to finally be able to hear myself and what I'm playing, and the sound levels were eventually perfect, (for us and the crowd, I later found out!)

We went backstage again, (which didn't smell too bad this time, which is good!) and just relaxed a little more, and then it was time to take to the stage! The crowd had entered, and there were about 150-200 people, barely a single male! My dad quickly handed me my bracelets that I left at home, and I walked up the stairs to the stage, quickly put them on, plugged in, and looked at our crowd. "Woah." I could tell it was going to be fun!

The new song opens with Kriss on the bass, followed by a beat from Cameron, then Adam Elliot on the guitar, and then a big build up, where I join in with the loud main riff!

The crowd, at first sight seemed to just be looking at us as if thinking "Who are these jokers?" But I carried on, we were getting energized, and jumping about a lot. I played my solos really well, (I ran to the front of the stage to play these, for every song, my guitar almost in reaching distance from the audience.) We finished the song, and to my, or our, surprise, the room erupted with screams and cheers! It was almost deafening!

Psychoville time! Again, we performed with the same energy, fast solo, everyone clapping along, loved it!

(I'll not mention some songs, due to not having much to write about them except "We played it really well, lots of jumping, craziness, fast soloing," )

It got to "Just A Boy", and at practices, this is usually my favourite song to solo to. I usually have about 40 seconds to play over these "emotional" chords, and I play it with feeling! Unfortunately, Cameron finished my solo with a drum fill, and Adam was already playing the next bit, earlier than usual. But I still made up for that time at the end on the last chorus, soloing over Andy's vocals.

(Andy's vocals have improved greatly, apparently, too, which is really good, because he always had a unique voice, and now he can control it better; we can rule this world!)

So, what's next? So much happened, I'm still buzzing from it!

Oh yes, time to switch to my V guitar! Plugged it in, turned it up a little, (technical reasons, not because I'm stubborn.) Viva La Revolution time.

Now, this was weird, but awesome. I don't know if it was a coincidence, or if some Greater Power was with us that night...

The song goes, basically, Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Outro. At the end of Chorus 2, it sounds like we've finished the song, we finish on the G chord. The crowd cheered, but then what we do, is play "F" then start a fast "palm-muting" riff, on D. (Think "One", by Metallica, the "heavy riff".) (In English; for none-musicians, it's fast, dirty, and heavy.)

Anyway, this is what I still can't grasp.

After everyone cheered, and we then started the next part of the song, the lights changed from (I don't know, let's say red, none-flashing), to flashy, white lights. They flashed to the beat, as fast as Cameron's double bass drum, perfectly!

 H...How? It was bloody cool!

Anyway, then we played Vanity. On the solo I dropped my pick, which was actually really funny. The girls in front of me were laughing at me, and I was laughing too, playing the solo with my fingers, whilst bending down looking for the pick.

Fight For Your Right was next, our only cover of the evening. Played it really well, but what came next was really cool.

The song, technically, finished. However, I was so full of adrenaline, I carried on shredding! Like at line-check, I just carried on for about 20 seconds. My band, again, were laughing at me, the crowd staring at me, then I finished with a chord, and everyone screamed! Best feeling in the world!

Adam Elliot then joked in his microphone; "he likes playing guitar a bit, doesn't he? I'm better though!" People were laughing, I was saying; "Yeah, he really is!"

Whilst at the microphone, and buzzing with energy, I decided to do what I've always wanted to do.

"HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN IN A CIRCLE PIT?!"

Everyone I could see put their hands up and screamed.

"THEN I WANT ONE, RIGHT THERE! RIGHT NOW!"

To my complete surprise, a big circle of empty space formed!

I had a 'pit'!

I laughed, and started the last song "Last Stand", and at the most we had about 4-5 girls in the circle pit, which isn't many at all, but it was still a really cool moment for me. (And for the rest of the band, I think/hope!)

We finished, and I just wanted to play another song, but we couldn't, so we thanked the fantastic audience, and packed up. I went backstage to put my stuff down. A guitarist from another band (The Famous Class) was telling me "how good I was" and stuff like that. He was a really nice guy, I really appreciated it.

I went back into the audience, and people started talking to me! Lots of people! It was really cool, and I loved every minute of it.

Some girls wanted photos with me, and some asked me to sign their arms! A night of small fame, and hopefully many more to follow!

Burn So Bright

These had a female singer, and they were really good. Good melodies, played a Paramore cover, and the crowd seemed to enjoy them. The girl was really nice, too, I spoke to her after for a minute, telling her she did well.

The Famous Class

I wanted to listen to these, mainly, because of their lead guitarist, who complimented me earlier. At first, the band started with simple chords, very pop-punky. Then the guitarist did a solo, and I was amazed, he was fantastic. Sweep picking, tapping, all the complex stuff. These are a great band!

Disclosure

These have their own tour bus, which is cool. They also have a female singer, who wore leather trousers. They were good, and I even joined a mini-circle pit during their set!

Room 94

I was restless by this point, I just wanted to talk to everyone in the entire room. However, I watched most of their set, clapped along etc. Afterall, they gave us this fantastic opportunity. The girls absolutely love these guys! Screaming very loud, singing along, reaching for the band members, trying to catch guitar picks. They are quite a popular band, and I think they'll go further!




I stayed for an hour after the show had finished. All the girls who stayed went round asking for photos with all band members, and for hugs, and signings. It was fun!

So, an end to a pretty perfect night. I'd like to thank everyone who came, and a big thanks to Room 94 and the other bands!



I would also like to thank:

Lexy Hulme: It was Lexy's birthday, I even gave her a birthday shoutout on stage. She brought a poster with "Secret Romance" on it. Thanks for being our first, and best, dedicated fan!

Laura Sullivan: Laura brought Lexy, and she was a very cool girl. Glad to have met her! All the way from Hull!

Robynn Gilder: "Exotic and hot!" (She forced me to call her this, honest.) Robynn was our first ever Circle Pit Veteran. A very cool rock n' roll fan, her friends telling me she "fancied" me, how childish?! Haha! All the way from Wales; glad to have met you! "I'll try to be positive, but I doubt it'll work!" -Made me laugh so hard!

Jessica Bedda: Spoke to Jessica a bit after the show, and during one of the bands, I got her doing the Maccarena with me! Thanks for coming!

Megan Lindop: Friends with Jessica, also did the Maccarena, at speed, to one of the bands! Very cool! Thanks for coming Megan!

And to anyone who enjoyed our show, and everyone who complimented my guitar playing skills! It's appreciated greatly!


(Photos to follow later, all of them are already on my Facebook.)


Thanks for reading!

Hope to see you at our next gig!

Adam Walton.




ADDITION :

Hello again, a few professional pictures taken from Malcom White Photography on the link below of the gig. Enjoy! http://www.mrwhitephoto.co.uk/s/?album=21&gallery=173
(I saw him at the side of the stage pointing a camera at me, and I felt so rock 'n roll holding up my rock hands and pulling a face at him, to pose for a photo, and it's up there now!)

Gig 4, Without Our Crowns, The DQ, Sheffield.

Entry 4

The DQ, Sheffield, 23rd June 2012

This was Secret Romance's 4th gig. We supported Without Our Crowns. Other bands included Volumezero, Find Me On Broadway, Reaching New Heights and Permission On Standby.

Well, I'll start from before I got to the gig. Because THAT was fun... (That sarcasm was intended to be that sharp it cuts your throat.)

So, "arrive there at 3" I was told. OK cool, no problem.

Listened to Billy Idol and Megadeth all day, relaxing basically. I also went to teach a guitar lesson at 12, skipping half of my dinner expecting it to be preserved for when I returned.

It got to about 1:30, so I decided it was probably time to get ready. I wanted to restring my ESP LTD V200 guitar, (mainly because the E string was still snapped from the O2 gig, and I hadn't used it since. (Which astonishingly, I've just realised, means that the last time I had played with Secret Romance was at the last gig. No practices in between.)) (I also planned to change the B string of my ESP LTD EC-1000 Deluxe due to it being a bit... Weak, as if prepared to face is imminent death anytime soon, probably on stage I thought.) Practice-wise, one of the band members (not naming names) kept organising practices during my working hours (yes, I work now. Oh what fun.) And got angry when I didn't turn up. Oh well, I still played perfectly well. As expected. *Arrogance - Off.*

(Technical Guitar Stuff, it will get more interesting further down.)
So yes, I was to leave getting ready "image" wise until about 5 minutes before we set off, and spend most of the time cleaning my guitars. I noticed, before restringing the V, that the Bridge pickup was far down, and therefore a screw was missing. I decided to take a screw out of the Neck pickup (as I don't use the neck pickup much/at all) and put it in the missing slot for the bridge, expecting this to solve the problem and hurrah I can move on!

BUT NO.

Look; it makes me uncomfortable thinking of the stress this guitar put me through that day, so I'm going to skip the details about the pickup thing for your benefit and mine. Basically, an hour and a half was wasted and nothing good came of it. The pickup was in the same position as I started trying to change, I lost a screw so the neck pickup is now wonky too. Those who can do maths/tell the time, you will realise that it was then 3 o'clock and I was meant to be there. I texted and apologised to the band that I was to be late, and tried to remain calm (Billy Idol helped me here).

Then I tried to restring the V, got to the highest string, the one that actually snapped, and basically used 3 different strings on it, (One from my Schecter Damien FR, one from my sisters guitar, and a B string (thus meaning I didn't restring the EC-1000). They all snapped. I had to resort to leaving it at home to go dusty.


Ha. Serves it right.


So yes; I just used one guitar for the gig. I was worried about this, as my EC-1000 is harder to tune, it requires allen keys as well as fingers, so to do this on stage seemed impractical. But, as I'll explain, it worked really well.


Anyway. I wanted to go for a 70's/80's punk look. (Think Billy Idol early-days (yes, I have a new obssession,) or Spike from the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer,) so I got all of my old studded bracelets out. (At this point, my mother was rushing me as she wanted to go out herself, I apologised for being late, but tried to explain it wasn't my fault. Loud voices were used.) I recently had my hair cut short, so I spiked it all up, threw a bit of foundation on; (stage make up. Nothing against transvestites, just pointing out I am not one.) Would've actually liked a bit of eyeliner and black nail polish but unfortunately, I had 2 minutes to get ready. Got my leather jacket, Megadeth shirt, skinny jeans, and surprisingly looked very punky to say I got ready in a few minutes.


I was very hungry, if you remember I hadn't eaten my dinner due to being a dedicated guitar teacher, I went to look for my dinner in the kitchen and it had been thrown out. I was very annoyed. I could've grabbed a rifle and hunted for food. I could've quickly made a sandwich. Maybe take some fruit.


But no: I took a packet of Jammie Dodgers, and some Hula Hoops. That was my dinner for the day.


So, I'll skip to "I arrived at the DQ for the second time in my life, and my equipment was taken upstairs into the venue.".


Today was the first day I met our new bassist, Kriss Stainton. Our original bassist, as you can probably tell by me mentioning "new bassist", was removed for "certain reasons" I shall not write in words.


He was wearing a shirt and tie, so at a first glance I was like; "Oh."


Two words to describe him after five minutes of conversation, (Coincidentally about Megadeth);


"Bloody awesome."


This guy, (he's 22, and I thought he was about 17! HE HAS ID!) really is a nice person, he had that confidence about him when he spoke, he knew what he was talking about, and it wasn't awkward at all for a "first meeting". Especially when I had missed 3 practices in which I was to meet him, where my band probably called me many bad things for not being there; (again, not my fault), (I'm actually a negative, paranoid person. If that wasn't obvious. In my head I picture them telling him "Oh, he couldn't be arsed to get here, he's not dedicated enough. Let's vote him out, OK?")


But he did seem really cool, and we spoke for a while, he bought me a drink. (Coca-Cola and nothing else in the drink to make it alcoholic). I still hadn't heard him play. "He'd better be better than our original bassist" I thought.


Anyway, we waited for hours, like you do before a gig. Get told to be there for 3 for a sound check. Obviously we now go there expecting not to have a sound check.


We didn't have a sound check.


Cameron turned up about 6, when doors opened. (Our drummer).


(It's time for a new format I think here, let's see how it goes- I try and keep all my entries to a similar style to the previous, this is something I'll try out.)



(Review is here, from my O2 gig. "Good solo work on guitar for Last Stand". *Holds head high, like a Lion who has just slain his victim to feed his two children for the next day.* http://www.thesheffieldscenester.co.uk/#/sbsquared-presents-12512/4565212666 )


Find Me On Broadway


This band had a female singer, as well as a guitarist who did some vocals too.


The sound was so bad that night; until the last song or something, you couldn't hear the vocals. Just the loud drums, bass, and guitar. When we could finally hear the vocals, they were out of tune. I don't say this to insult the vocalists, I say this to blame the sound. When you can't hear yourself, it's very hard to sing in tune. I'm sure they're perfectly good singers, but that night, the sound didn't help.


Secret Romance


So... The moment we waited for, for about 5 hours. We set up in front of about 50 people. Some girls stood near me at the front; this always encourages me to play my best. *Lead Guitarist Mode: On.*
Basically, this was our sound check. Our opening was our soundcheck.


OUR OPENING WAS OUR SOUND CHECK.


Thanks, cover band. Thanks a lot.


So, we played Teenage Kicks. My guitar was actually loud, I could hear i- wait, nope, can't hear it ag- Oh! I can hea- Nope gone...


That was my mind for the first two songs.


It was turned up and down, and I was looking at the sound guy/the organiser Matt Crowder, (who I have great respect for; he got us our first gig, and this gig, and goes through all this hard work and stress for us, but this doesn't mean I wasn't mad at the time at him.) and was trying to get him to keep my volume up.


We got to Song 2 (our third song, the song is actually called Song 2; if this is my first entry that you've read, O' Glorious Readers,) and we had to stop... to sort the sound out.


WE HAD TO STOP TO SORT THE SOUND OUT.


Wow, we were pretty mad. In the end, it turned out there wasn't enough power to keep us all as loud as we liked, so when mine was loud, someone else had gotten quieter. I then was mad at the power, not Matt Crowder. (Apologies again for being mad at him, (I didn't take it out verbally or anything. Just a mental thing.)


I eventually plugged into someone elses louder amp, and that amp was standalone, it was that loud. Didn't need mic-ing up.


So, we finished "I Can See You", (this is a link to us "debuting" this song at the O2 Academy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwY-5D9prQ ).


It was now time to rapidly Drop-D tune my guitar. First time I've had to do this on stage. First time I'd Drop tuned that guitar. Nervous.


I did it in about 10 seconds; it was beautiful. I managed to get into the mood of playing again, after my anger about the sound. I enjoyed playing; got very hot and sweaty. It was a shame about the sound, because I was really enthusiastic about playing that night, and that would've been the best we played.


Kriss Stainton was excellent. He didn't stand there looking like he had "peed" his pants, and he didn't just play single notes/wrong notes. He actually played proper basslines and added his own thing to our songs. He was enthusiastic on stage, and seemed hyped about it afterwards too. He was only meant to be temporary, (I was told afterwards) but we all want to keep him. "Please mommy can we keep him?"


To be confirmed, I believe.


No strings snapped.


No drinks spilled.


Awesome. We finished, packed up, talked to some girls for a bit (you know you're a rockstar when you're talking to girls after a gig...! All in good time...)


Then I went home! Had a curry, played Guitar Hero, you don't care about that stuff. Sorry I cannot review or say how the other bands were. One of my colleagues inform me that they all sounded the same to him. So I guess they did OK.


Thanks for reading, a big gig coming up in August supporting Room 94 again at the Corporation. They have a music video now. Come and check us out 12th August 2012 Sheffield Corporation!

***

(The new format was actually giving bands a title to themselves).

Smallprint
(I do not hunt. Not for fun, not for sustenance.)

(The drink Kriss bought me was Coca-Cola. I couldn't buy it myself due to a lorry parked between where I was sat and the bar. Kriss is immune to lorries and HGVs.)

(Any opinions expressed by the individuals are that of the individuals and not of the Adam Walton Company.)

(I do not slit people's throats with my sarcasm. This was a metaphor.)

(I do not slay victims in order to feed the two children I pretend I have.)

(All of this small-print is because of how strict the government are on blogs nowadays.)

Yours truly,

Adam Walton.