First Ever Secret Romance Gig- DQ Sheffield

Entry One

DQ Sheffield, 17th March 2012

This was my, and Secret Romance's, first proper gig. The DQ is a nightclub in Sheffield, with quite a small dancefloor, a big bar, and quite a lot of extra open space. We were asked to support Planet 9. Amongst the bands were Epitaph and Glacier. Personally, Epitaph were my favourite. Being a massive Metallica/Thrash Metal fan myself, why wouldn't I like Epitaph more? They played Seek and Destroy and Enter Sandman brilliantly. The frontman had a superb voice.

I only started to get nervous about an hour before we were due on. We arrived 4-5 hours before the gig was due to start. Planet 9 got the first sound check, and then the plan was that the band before them were to be next, and then Epitaph and then us, so in reverse order basically so that we were set up straight away to kick the night off.

Of course, nothing goes to plan.

Planet 9 took about 2 hours to sound check due to some technical fault. We grew worried that perhaps we wouldn't be able to even get a sound check. We weren't scared of screwing any songs up, but our last practice was the week before and everyone can make mistakes.

Then the drummer from Planet 9 kindly informed us that we weren't going to get a run through a set before the gig. Great.

So, hours passed, and we started to get restless and bored. Excitement, fear, and caffeine from my Monster Energy Drink created a strange mix leaving me in a strange but hyper active mood. I walked around with my guitar for two hours, randomly playing songs. To try and calm down, I sat in the little Lounge Area with my earphones in and played to some Megadeth. Me and Josh Kubon (Secret Romance's bassist) jammed a little bit unplugged, (therefore we went out of time and looked at each other confused a lot as if to say "What bit are you on in this song?!") to bits of our set list.

Finally, it was time to take to the stage!

We set our amps up, mine was micced up and stacked above some other band's amp (partly for the image, partly so the mic could reach it) and my Kirk Hammett Signature Crybaby Wah-Wah pedal was put on the front of the "stage". (I quote the word "stage" because it was actually just a step above the dancefloor, and then more room for us.) I placed my ESP LTD V200 (Signed by Children of Bodom (Alexi Laiho is, in my opinion, one of the best guitarists alive)) at the back of the stage, ready to pick up midway through the set to play our Drop-D songs. I plugged in my ESP LTD EC-1000 FR Deluxe in See-Thru black, and was asked to just make a noise so that the sound could be changed acoordingly. I nodded, and looked over to Epitaph.

"Hmm, I wanna show off to them. They're all wearing Metallica shirts..."

So I played some Metallica solo (One, I believe) before halfway through I realised I was been asked to stop playing. Yes, I am known for going too far!

OK, so, the gig is due to start in about thirty minutes. We were allowed to play one song to warm up and to check that the sound was the correct balance. So naturally we just played the first song from our set-list which was actually the first song I ever played with the band when I joined back in Autumn/Winter last year- Teenage Kicks.

We actually created our own little intro which consisted of me strumming the D chord a few times whilst Adam Elliot (Rhythm Guitarist) begins to palm mute D quickly in time to Cameron Murray's hi-hat. We tore through the song, and then we were done.

Fifteen minutes.

I kept my Eclipse with me as I went to stand with my Dad who had just arrived with my sister. There was no crowd yet, so I just went and talked a bit, still nervously strumming random chords.

I was beginning to get nervous, not because we were due to play our first ever gig and because I wanted to make a big impression to an audience, but simply because I was afraid there was not going to be an audience to make an impression with!

There was literally about thirty people stood around the edges of the place. Twenty of them people being the other bands. Come on people... The doors opened thirty minutes ago!

Two minutes to get on stage...

Finally! A few more people came through the door and stood near the dancefloor. Someone told me at some point there were going to be 400 people there. I could see about forty, all of them stood in different places, scattered around the nightclub.

We got on stage, I plugged in my guitar and we were all smiling at each other. Andy Hudson (Lead Vocals) was clearly nervous, as was Josh Kubon. Me, Adam and Cameron seemed fine though. All eyes were now on us. The guys nodded at me, and I turned my volume up and strummed the open D chord.

Let the fun begin!

Andy sung it really well, and there were no mistakes. There has been little greater pleasures for me than standing on my Wah pedal for the first time in front of a proper paying audience and improvising a solo to an upbeat song such as Teenage Kicks. I loved it, and I think it sounded pretty awesome. (Hey, Lead Guitarists are known to compliment their own work. Shush.)

Next up, pretty much instantly from the ending of the first song is Psychoville. This was the third song I ever played with the band on the first day I went to audition. I think this was the song that got me the spot as lead guitarist. They basically told me the lyrics, and the key of the song, but didn't really know how the guitar part went as their original guitarist left. So naturally I just made it my own. The introduction I thought of straight away, inspired by Megadeth. (Whether you think it sounds anything like Dave Mustaine or not, he was in mind when I said "What about something like this?") The verse I made just to be quick and energetic, and the chorus was slightly (apparently) similar to the original chorus that was meant for that song. The solo is improvised every time, but I have my own routine. (Start off Phrygian, end up Pentatonic, play as fast as possible.)

Again, I think we played this really well. We've probably played it better before at practice, but nonetheless, it didn't suck. The crowd (mainly girls, which I'm not complaining about) clapped along to the introduction. (This made me feel excellent. Girls, about thirty of them, clapping in rhythm to a tune I wrote? Yes please.) Adam also yelled down the microphone asking everyone if they would kindly step into the middle of the dancefloor. This made more of an audience out of them, they were no longer scattered around but now actually in front of us, participating.

Then we played Song 2, by Blur. This has a drum introduction, which (I suggested, but I don't know if it was because of this he did it) Andy introduced us to. Then I come in with the riff, with my guitar turned down slightly, before we all shout "Woohoo!" and my guitar is then full volume as we all blast out the song. Again, another improvised solo using my Wah-pedal.

Now we were halfway through our short set, and we went to switch guitars. This was really awkward. It was dark, and there were wires EVERYWHERE. If I tripped over or knocked something over, I feel that life would just end. (I am of course kidding, but I would still be embarassed nonetheless).

I picked up my V, plugged in again, and then we began Viva La Revolution- Adam Elliot's song. (To say he likes McFly, this is actually an awesome tune. I love playing it, despite the lack of a guitar solo. The break down (similar to One by Metallica) is epic.) Throughout this whole set I wore my "stage hat" as I call it. The reason I decided to play the guitar was because of Slash, so it was natural that I wanted a hat for the stage too. The first time I played on stage and everytime after I wore a similar hat, so I thought that traditionally, I should for my first proper gig. This is the song however, where the hat comes off. As soon as the "Break-down" kicks in, the hair HAS to be released, so I throw down my hat when we rapidly palm-mute the low D string, and let the hair out, so to speak.

Next up was our final cover of the evening- (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) by the Beastie Boys. It's fun to play. In this song, I remember, I couldn't really hear my own guitar for some reason. But I still played. It came to my solo, and I like to add harmonics to the start of the solo, so I literally ran my finger up and down all the strings without pressing down so as to create a weird harmonic solo before shredding in G-Minor. Fun!

Then, Andy addresses the crowd as if sad, to announce that "This is our last song, this is Last Stand!"

I LOVE this song. It's our own. I didn't write the main riff, it was actually Cameron's riff and chords. But this is the only song where I actually sat down and created a fixed solo. And again to compliment my own work, I love it. It even looks good! (Watching it back on YouTube, you can actually see my fingers moving really fast, and I don't often see myself playing guitar from any other position than looking down on my fingers, so it's great to watch). The heavy riff that follows was created purely by accident.

It was at a practice once, we were working on the song and I said "I want a long solo for this, the chords are awesome to jam to." I didn't get the length I wanted for it, but still, I am happy with the outcome. Anyway, I finished the solo (back when I improvised it still) and then we looked at each other as the D chord just rang in the background and we didn't know what was next, so I slid down the strings and just improvised that exact riff that we still use. I remember Cameron laughing at how he liked it, and so it just stuck. Andy improvised the vocals too; "You won't take me alive..." When i do backing vocals for that part, I like to put what I call my Dave Mustaine voice on. Whether it sounds anything like him or not, it does in my head, so I use it.

We finished the song, Cameron hit the drum kit as quick as possible and I just shredded as quick as possible (dedicated to the girls in the crowd) until we finished. The end was slightly sloppy as you can see on the recorded video, simply because I could've happily hit more notes for longer, but Cameron ended the set quicker than I hoped, so I just looked at him and awkwardly hit the D chord.

And then we were done. We packed up our stuff, got off the stage, and let Epitaph thrash on.

It was a great night, I enjoyed it.

Yes, I seemed to have written a lot, but afterall, first gig, lots of memories. I want to keep the memories for future years. The future blogs may be shorter due to the fact that I won't be explaining where songs we made came from etc. and maybe because the excitement about writing about the gigs may evaporate from my being. But yes, our next gig is Sunday 25th March at the Corporation. To me as I write this, that's in four days. I look forward to it.

Now I will sign off. Freezing cold hands, and World of Warcraft to get back to. I mean, um, something cool. Nevermind.

Thanks for reading, if you did.

AW (hmm, or ARK. Whichever's coolest).