Sheffield Corporation, Sunday 25th March 2012
Our, Secret Romance's, 2nd gig. We supported Room 94. Amongst the other bands were Destine, (as big as Mcfly are in England, but in Holland, as one of the backstage workers informed us). They were very good, great stage presence and frontman had a great voice. Then us, then The Ocean's Eyes, (they were cool, they mentioned us and everyone cheered. Awesome). Then 8th Time Lucky played before the headliners- Room 94.
So, I'll begin The Olde Tale from the beginning. Obviously.
And then I went home! What a night!
Oh.
Again, Sunday morning, I wasn't nervous for the gig. I was slightly looking forward to it, but the clocks had changed, so I was tired, and my dad (hello) had kindly scheduled a walk for the day that was (apparently) only 7 miles. (It was actually 10)
"Ok, as long as I get to Corporation on time", I quote.
So we set off on the walk at 8:30, to the Peak District. It was a beautiful day.
Until I was informed that I wouldn't be back whilst 5. Bearing in mind the gig started at 6... Well, you do the maths.
Adam Elliot (Rhythm Guitarist) kindly informed me the night before (at 11) that we had to be there for 3:30 and that he'd confirm it in the morning. The 8 hours' notice, and the fact that he didn't confirm it the following morning, didn't help matters. Luckily, I managed to get home for 3:30-4. Adam rang me and tried having a go at me for being late, and "don't my parents realise how important this is? We have to sound check". Fair enough I guess, but a longer notice would've helped. And besides, there was no sound check, which I'll kindly comment on later on.
So, I got home, rapidly brought down all my equipment for my Dad to put in the car (I even have a checklist so as to not forget anything to avoid panic). I then threw myself in the shower (yes I exaggerate a lot for effect. OK, I stepped into the shower at a quick pace), and washed my hair. Ran the towel through it for about 30 seconds as fast as possible and just left it how it was, "placed" my clothes on quickly and we drove. I rung Cameron (drummer) to explain I was on my way.
We got there, (after trying to find the place through lots of one-way streets), and the guys helped me take my gear inside to our "backstage". I quote backstage, because for one, the word may give you the impression that it was behind the stage. So that I don't cause an uproar, I will quote the word and explain it was in front of the stage and to the right through some doors, next to the audience.
To say I was informed of a "free bar" and "our own room" you will understand my disappointment. (Also of wireless guitar leads, which I didn't get either).
We shared a slightly large room, that was painted black with poor lighting, with all the other bands. The room stank awful. Not of anything particular, but it was horrible. But I got over it, and accepted that I was lucky to have somewhere to put my equipment safely, and somewhere to talk. This is where we were introduced to Destine. They were awesome people, again, from Holland. They shook our hands and we spoke a bit. Adam Elliot tried asking for vodka that they had, to which their keyboard player replied; "One thing you should know about the Dutch; we don't share our alcohol." We were pretty disappointed but it was funny.
We were then given backstage passes which we wore around our necks. This made us feel slightly more important, and, as Adam put it, "our sexiness has gone up by about 10 points".
10 points, as there is no known scoring system related to sex appeal, that I know of, is probably quite a large amount of points. (Later on when I left for fresh air, as the room was, as I said, horrible, I was asked for my ticket to re-enter, to which I flashed my backstage pass and he told me I could go in. I felt very cool.)
Then, as we did at Gig 1, we just walked around pointlessly. I was armed with my guitar and playing things to warm up my fingers, until told I should probably put it down so as to not snap a string. We listened to Destine sound check, and we were impressed.
Then we went outside for a bit after been told "There's girls lining up outside".
Now I began to get nervous. Not about playing, but about the fact we didn't have a soundcheck, and because I hate setting my equipment up on stage in front of people.
"No soundcheck? What?"
"Oh don't worry, you'll get a line check, so you just play for 10 seconds and we sort the mix out."
"Ah, ok that's not too bad".
(A sound check usually consists of playing one or two songs, in case you were unaware of the difference.)
"When do we line check?"
"In your set."
Wonderful. So we basically were mixed whilst playing our first song to the audience; but I trusted the sound guys new what they were doing and that we would be balanced very evenly. Ha, that went well. (I'll come to it later).
The doors were opened and girls started to come in. There were about forty to start off with, about ten minutes before Destine played. I was very nervous, and started to tune my V guitar after realising it was badly out of tune. I greeted two girls I invited, and also my parents. (And grandparents, who kindly decided to come.) I stood with the two girls for a bit, nervously chatting. They informed me my hair looked like Kurt Cobain. I always take this as a compliment, and here it every so often. But I was called it throughout the night. I was far from insulted.
So, after running backstage and back into the audience a lot, undecidedly, because I was restless, it was time. I picked up my two guitars and headed up the stairs that lead to the stage. This time, we actually had a high stage, not just a step.
I awkwardly stood with two guitars, waiting for the keyboard that was in my spot to be moved so I could place them. I set up my amp- putting it atop a massive amp, and placed my KH Wah pedal in the desired spot.
I noticed the crowd. I couldn't see a single male, with the acception of my step-father and grandad. And there were about 100-150 people. That's a lot of girls.
I plugged in my guitar, and played a bit, turning my volume to full on the amp. Now the volume was in the sound-crews' hands. I wonder if they even had hands...
And now, it was time to play to all these girls, my two friends, the bands that were listening, and my family.
We played the same set list as we did the DQ, (we will have more songs at our next gig, yay.) So I began Teenage Kicks and we played it really well, the crowd singing along to it quite loudly so we could actually here. However, my solo wasn't loud and even I could hardly hear it! (The people I spoke to afterwards said they could hear it, but only slightly.)
Next up was Psychoville, we played that fine.
Then Song 2, which I actually have something interesting to add. We played it really well, the crowd even sung the "Woohoo" bit, and I could hear them. This must mean loads of them sung it, because to sing "Woohoo" you have to use a falsetto voice- male or female- which is a lot quieter than one's ordinary voice. It got to my solo and as I stepped on my Wah pedal, my guitar strap came off at the bottom of the guitar. I was very annoyed, and embarassed. But still, the song went on, and I played an improvised solo as usual, and even managed to do it with speed, whilst trying to balance the guitar on my right leg. I felt, and looked awkward, but managed to finish the song well!
I took my strap off and switched guitars. The strap played up a bit more, but I managed to keep it in position. I also went to the amps to make sure my volume was at its highest. Unfortunately it was, so I couldn't go any louder. Whilst doing all this, and the band/crowd waited for me, Adam said down the microphone "Hey guys, it's Kurt Cobain!" People cheered and I felt happy, and laughed. Plugged in my guitar and finished Viva La Revolution next to my amp, getting wonderful feedback. (On purpose, I even pressed my guitar into the amp.) People sung along to Fight For Your Right, and then we just had Last Stand to play.
I played it all well, and then it got to the end of the bridge, the bit before the final chorus, where we have a quick drink for effect. As my can was in my hand, I took a swig, but as I did this, Cameron-unaware that I was drinking- counted in to the last chorus. So I missed the first chord. I had to look cool and not panic, so I continued to drink whilst he counted, sacrificing the first chord and then threw the drink onto the floor.
We had a large round of applause and cheers, and we began to pack up. All of my stuff put in the backstage, I then went to go and talk to my family and two friends. Apparently Andy (vocals) was a bit out on some songs, but his voice was perfect in Teenage Kicks. Also, apparently Josh Kubon (Bass) looked terrified throughout the whole set. Haha, he was terrified, but he's getting more confident, and he's a great guy.
My stuff was taken to my mum's car, as was my grandparents and the two girls, and I was left with my Step Dad. He was quite drunk, but he bought me beer and let me talk to people for half an hour before we had to go.
In this half an hour, I felt like a "rockstar".
I wore my hat (briefly, people kept putting it on their own heads and passing it around- I even put it on people's heads. It was like pass the parcel,) which meant people recognised me, if they didn't recognise me by my "Kurt Cobain" hair already. I had girls saying "hi" to me, and Josh introduced me to his girlfriend and her two friends. I spent the rest of this time mainly with them, drinking beer, and sitting on the floor next to the bar with a girl (I won't mention names). Others joined us, but they felt awkward and in the way of people trying to buy drinks and so left. Me and the girl didn't care and just sat there, talking to people who just stood next to us. We couldn't talk much due to the loud music, but when the band stopped we talked a bit.
8th Time Lucky came on, and Cameron shouted, (5 minutes before I had to go annoyingly) "Adam, that girl wants your pants off!" (I'm sure he didn't mean literally, but I got it.) "Good one!" "No seriously, she said!" So I was like... Wow, I'm actually liked here!" (In the gigging scene, not just Corporation) (At school I'm not the most popular kid, so this is a big contrast of course). Apologies to the girl if the girl is reading it that I mentioned what Cameron said, I don't know if it's true of course. But I haven't named names so no harm done.
Then I had to go, I was really sad, but optimistic and bloody excited for our next gig (May 12th O2 Academy Sheffield).
We each got paid £10 for doing the gig, and also Room 94 were wondering if we wanted to support them on their UK tour in August, (TBC).
Life's good. This life is, anyway.
So yeah.
And then I went home. What a night!
ARK. W.
\M/
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| Josh Kubon with two girls- notice my hat? |
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| The only picture of me and a girl that was taken on my phone. |
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