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.
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