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.

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