Just going to jump to the present day for a moment to talk about the nicest gig I've done for as long as I can remember (or since 2006 at least). It was at the Wish You Were Here festival - a one day thing across four or five Cambridge venues featuring local acts and some slightly more famous bands (Alessi's Ark, Wilderness of Manitoba, Cate le Bon was meant to play but didn't). I thought I was going to be on at 6.30, and was a bit worried nobody would be there, but the publicity changed to 7.30 with a few days to go (I suspect because of Cate le Bon, and then in the event I seemed to have swapped with Karmadillo and got an even better slot. Anyway I turned up at 6 or so to see Tom go down really well in a pleasingly busy Portland. I caught about half of Steve's set at the Boat House, where I was due to play, and the atmosphere was a bit odd - nobody was really there and all the lights were on, giving it the ambience of a youth club. I went over to The Portland to see Wilderness of Manitoba, who I'd missed at End of the Road (which I'll talk about another time) and they were great for about 10 minutes, but went far too Fleet Foxes for me (i.e. slightly Fleet Foxes) so I went and lost money on the quiz machine instead.
By the time it was my turn the Boat House had filled up a bit (and Rishi had apparently gone down very well in what would have been my slot) and by a few songs in there were people out the door and halfway down the stairs. They were nice to me too, and I did play about as well as I can I think.
Setlist: The Ghost of Paddy's Night Past, Muscle Memory, Watertight, You Won't Break My Heart, 60 Miles With a Slow Puncture, A Folly Or a Fortress, So Finally a Love Song, Soaked to the Skin
I very nearly had tears in my eyes at the reaction at the end of it. The whole event had a really nice feel to it - everyone was there to enjoy themselves, so every act I saw got a warm reception. It made me want to try and get shows again rather than just grudgingly accept anything that falls into my lap and assuming it'll be discouraging.
After I'd calmed down I took my stuff home and went over to the Haymakers, via Mr Burger, to see Lonely the Brave who are apparently looking like being the biggest thing to come out of Cambridge(ish) since... I dunno. It seems a shame to say Pink Floyd because they're so unremittingly dreadful, but who else actually made it? Anyway. I always thought Lonely the Brave were good, but they've really stepped it up since I last saw them - they sound huge, and committed, and the songs are nice enough that lots of people will like them. If you hadn't heard it somewhere else, you heard it hear first. Apparently they supported Lostprophets the other week and I can only assume they blew them off the stage.
In other news, Small Town Boredom's second album, "Note From The Infirmary" (which I mastered for them) has finally come out. I can't take much of the credit, but it sounds really great. I imagine it's a beautiful thing to look at too.
I only seem to get time to write these in the departure lounge at Heathrow these days. A lot of cool stuff has happened that I've not got round to writing about. I hope I do - it's nice to read these things back and remember that the last few years have been pretty fun, even if it didn't always feel like it.