Dаz
53/365 # That was SOME gig
I've just experienced one of my top 5 best days of all time.
I went to see a band called Red Light Company last night at a venue called The Cellars in Portsmouth. We battled through traffic and rocked up to said venue with about half an hour to go till they opened the doors and OH MY GOD we could hear the band soundchecking! But couldn't get in.
So we went to the pub next door for a bit and then queued outside The Cellars.
When we finally got in I was a bit shocked to say the least. The place was tiny! And the stage . . . well, I've played on bigger stages and I'm only in a local covers band. It just couldn't have been any cooler. We perched up by the bar and politely watched the support acts. My dad managed to get a promotional lighter off of one of the PR babes doing the rounds the sly ol' dog. After about ten minutes of teasing me he finally gave me the damn thing . . . come to think of it where the hell did I put it? Hang on, I'm going hunting then I'll come back . . .
. . . s'ok, I've found it. Yeah, so we sat through the support acts and then . . . ah, hang on, I need to go back a bit and fill you in on the catalyst for all the cool stuff that happened later on . . .
. . . So yeah, once we'd got our little corner for the night, I went and had a word with the guy on the door who was doling out the tickets to ask if there were any spare posters or flyers doing the rounds, thinking maybe I could grab one of the band after and they might sign it for me. He said to ask again at the end of the gig and I thought fair enough, he's just giving me a very polite "chuff off sonny" so I went back to my place and now I've caught up with my last paragraph. We sat through the support acts politely clapping and wishing, no offence, that they'd hurry up and finish so Red Light Company could start.
With the support acts done, the stage was readied for RLC, and how cool is this - the band themselves were setting up their own gear! I'm not used to seeing bands (other than my own) setting up their own gear so that was cool.
And they played and they were amazing. Small venue but HUGE sound, they really have what it takes to be a big band. Their music would happily fit in a stadium, so I felt really lucky to be seeing them in a pub with about fifty other people.
So the band were awesome. I was made up to have seen them at such close quarters. One happy Daz. We hung around for a bit after they finished hoping to maybe bump into one of the band but they didn't appear so I went to the toilet (sorry to share that but it's an integral part of the story) and there was the guy who'd been doing the tickets earlier. I didn't say anything to him, but when he saw me he said I could take the poster hanging on the wall in the pub - cool! But I didn't touch it in case the bar staff thought I was thieving and beat the shit out of me.
When the door guy (as he'll be known from now on) reappeared I asked again about the poster and he got it for me, then my dad asked for a pen because the guitarist and drummer were at the bar and we thought we might get their autographs.
This next bit ranks in my top 5 moments ever:
As I'm holding the poster in my grubby mitts the sound guy hands me a setlist to go with my poster, I manage to croak 'thanks mate, you're a star' before I turn around and see my dad talking to the door guy about getting hold of a pen.
Next thing we know door guy's called the drummer and guitarist over and asked them to sign my stuff! Which they happily did, and they made sure the rest of the band came out and signed it too!! By this time I'm practically catatonic but the drummer started chatting to me and I had possibly the coolest conversation of my life. I asked him how things were going (really well), what their next single was going to be (not telling! But it's a great song) and when their album's going to be released (End of 2008/beginning of 2009). Also spoke to the singer and I talked to him about the release of their next single Meccano (oops, gave it away).
The drummer was really surprised that we'd travelled from Weymouth to see them and said to drop them an email on MySpace and he'd try and get us on the guest list for the next gig near us!
Obviously I had to do a Red Light Company related shot today and here it is! Not very imaginative but it was the only way I could think of getting my t-shirt and signed setlist in shot. And the face - well, wouldn't you look like this if you'd just met one of your favourite bands? And they'd signed stuff? And chatted to you?
Check this band out, they are AWESOME.
Additional: My brother's just got us tickets to the Board Masters festival in Newquay on 9th August so we're going to see Red Light Company again in a couple of weeks! Freakin' sweet.
Red Light Company Red Light Company Red Light Company Red Light Company
53/365 # That was SOME gig
I've just experienced one of my top 5 best days of all time.
I went to see a band called Red Light Company last night at a venue called The Cellars in Portsmouth. We battled through traffic and rocked up to said venue with about half an hour to go till they opened the doors and OH MY GOD we could hear the band soundchecking! But couldn't get in.
So we went to the pub next door for a bit and then queued outside The Cellars.
When we finally got in I was a bit shocked to say the least. The place was tiny! And the stage . . . well, I've played on bigger stages and I'm only in a local covers band. It just couldn't have been any cooler. We perched up by the bar and politely watched the support acts. My dad managed to get a promotional lighter off of one of the PR babes doing the rounds the sly ol' dog. After about ten minutes of teasing me he finally gave me the damn thing . . . come to think of it where the hell did I put it? Hang on, I'm going hunting then I'll come back . . .
. . . s'ok, I've found it. Yeah, so we sat through the support acts and then . . . ah, hang on, I need to go back a bit and fill you in on the catalyst for all the cool stuff that happened later on . . .
. . . So yeah, once we'd got our little corner for the night, I went and had a word with the guy on the door who was doling out the tickets to ask if there were any spare posters or flyers doing the rounds, thinking maybe I could grab one of the band after and they might sign it for me. He said to ask again at the end of the gig and I thought fair enough, he's just giving me a very polite "chuff off sonny" so I went back to my place and now I've caught up with my last paragraph. We sat through the support acts politely clapping and wishing, no offence, that they'd hurry up and finish so Red Light Company could start.
With the support acts done, the stage was readied for RLC, and how cool is this - the band themselves were setting up their own gear! I'm not used to seeing bands (other than my own) setting up their own gear so that was cool.
And they played and they were amazing. Small venue but HUGE sound, they really have what it takes to be a big band. Their music would happily fit in a stadium, so I felt really lucky to be seeing them in a pub with about fifty other people.
So the band were awesome. I was made up to have seen them at such close quarters. One happy Daz. We hung around for a bit after they finished hoping to maybe bump into one of the band but they didn't appear so I went to the toilet (sorry to share that but it's an integral part of the story) and there was the guy who'd been doing the tickets earlier. I didn't say anything to him, but when he saw me he said I could take the poster hanging on the wall in the pub - cool! But I didn't touch it in case the bar staff thought I was thieving and beat the shit out of me.
When the door guy (as he'll be known from now on) reappeared I asked again about the poster and he got it for me, then my dad asked for a pen because the guitarist and drummer were at the bar and we thought we might get their autographs.
This next bit ranks in my top 5 moments ever:
As I'm holding the poster in my grubby mitts the sound guy hands me a setlist to go with my poster, I manage to croak 'thanks mate, you're a star' before I turn around and see my dad talking to the door guy about getting hold of a pen.
Next thing we know door guy's called the drummer and guitarist over and asked them to sign my stuff! Which they happily did, and they made sure the rest of the band came out and signed it too!! By this time I'm practically catatonic but the drummer started chatting to me and I had possibly the coolest conversation of my life. I asked him how things were going (really well), what their next single was going to be (not telling! But it's a great song) and when their album's going to be released (End of 2008/beginning of 2009). Also spoke to the singer and I talked to him about the release of their next single Meccano (oops, gave it away).
The drummer was really surprised that we'd travelled from Weymouth to see them and said to drop them an email on MySpace and he'd try and get us on the guest list for the next gig near us!
Obviously I had to do a Red Light Company related shot today and here it is! Not very imaginative but it was the only way I could think of getting my t-shirt and signed setlist in shot. And the face - well, wouldn't you look like this if you'd just met one of your favourite bands? And they'd signed stuff? And chatted to you?
Check this band out, they are AWESOME.
Additional: My brother's just got us tickets to the Board Masters festival in Newquay on 9th August so we're going to see Red Light Company again in a couple of weeks! Freakin' sweet.
Red Light Company Red Light Company Red Light Company Red Light Company