First Night

Hola,
My first gig for Steve Dowling and The Obliviates was on Fri 27.5.11.
 I had taken the Friday off work so that I could be unsettled all day without other interruptions. The last time I had played out was with my band a long time ago but this time I'm only working the bass [not singing too] so should be able to concentrate better on the task in hand. Nerves still came and went all day though.

I got my things ready and customised by bass with some black and white photos - the recently deceased Poly Styrene, punk siren from X-Ray Spex [so sad] - a photo and spiritual kinda quote too; the mighty Joe Strummer - hard to believe but gone now for 9 years; and a great B & W photo of my mum, looking classicly stylish with flowing 50s style skirt. Got my guitar leads, crib sheets and other odds and sods sorted out ready for the gig. Even got time to get together some words for a song I'm working on.

I put on some tunes for inspiration before I set off  - Chris Mills, The Hold Steady and of course, 'Johnny Appleseed' by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros : 'Lord, there goes a Buick Forty-Nine, Black sheep of The Angels riding, Riding down the line...' brilliant.

Got down to The Creamery at 7.30pm as arranged but no-one was about except Supersid who is playing some tunes first off. I carry in some of his speakers and he sets up quickly and puts on some test tunes at top volume. He thinks it's not loud enough. No, Sid  - it definitely is, honestly. I phone Mr Al Price and he will be here shortly. Huey turns up ready for his soundman duties again - top man and my predecessor. Hope I can do ok. The bossman himself - Steve next, followed by the ever genial Crucial Dave, label manager at Distilled Records, DJ and man of music. Mr Price has also evidently arrived - I can hear him working his harp on stage.

We do a wee bit of tidying up, cleaning the sofas at the entrance and getting rid of some rubbish. Steve says someone tore the stuffing out of the cushions last time - now, now children.
I'm using some house gear tonight - a Carlsbro head and cab, kindly loaned from Huey - thanks. My Orange Crush amp is too small and my Laney is kinda stored away just now. Don't know anything else about The Carlsbro but I find out it's got plenty of poke anyway. Huey is also running it through the PA.

It turns out that guitarist Martin and drummer Laurie won't be at the venue til about 9.30pm so Steve, Al and I do a quick run through without them, and then retire to wait - Dave says we're not on until about 11pm.  Got to be on good behaviour for my first outing so need to ration the alcohol until gig time. Sid is blasting out some tunes but could do with cutting the treble on those 60s Motown ones.

Brought along my Korg effects pedal to use as a tuner, but it's just too complicated and too  much hassle so it's put away. Big Kevin kindly lends me a clip-on tuner but it doesn't work for some reason, so looks like I'm winging it. Tuning by ear with tinitis can be a bit troublesome sometimes.

Talking to Alex about important stuff like stage clothes [vain ? us?] when Martin and Laurie arrive, so we go on stage for a soundcheck but Steve is nowhere around. We play along to some 50s records over the PA by Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Hailey, The Big Bopper, etc but eventually give up on the soundcheck.

I am working my new Epiphone EB3 bass tonight - looking forward to it. Very pleased with it at the practices so far. It's got more knobs, switches than I normally like, but also means I can play about with the tone more than I would normally. I'm left handed, but just work a right handed upside down if that makes sense.

First up is Will Dee's friend ,but I've got to nip out so I don't catch his name or set [ sorry ] - from Helensburgh though I think. I'm back for most of Will's set, which is cool - some inspired cover versions too. Steve is rightly proud of his boy.

11pm comes around soon after, and we're on. Our set is book-ended by two covers. We start with Jazz Instrumental 'Afro Blue' by Mongo Santa Maria, famously covered by Coltrane. No-one mentioned playing Jazz ?The idea is to give it a go as a warm-up/tune-up type thing, for Huey to make adjustments, etc. Next, we're into the set proper with 'Save The World'. I'm surprised I don't get the usual nerve shivers, and am relatively relaxed, but I suppose the song helps. It's a builder, and gives us a good chance to settle into the groove. I like the feel of this, with Steve calling all the changes. At the end, I turn round and see my full can of Stella on the deck, having fallen from the top of the amp - oops. good start.

Before we started, I wanted to swap places with Al, to save maybe hitting him with my headstock, being an awkward left-hander, but we seem to be avoiding each other ok on the stage.Not too many nerve jangles as we go through the songs. Steve drops the odd one or two slower tunes from the set. I get annoyed when I blow a few bum notes, on one tune in particular - not even a usual suspect, but plow on, and hope it doesn't grate on the boss too much.

The on stage sound is ok, but with a bit of weird slap-back from the walls. Can't really hear the monitors and Laurie says afterwards that he struggled with the sound too. Didn't notice  - drums were on the money. The bass sound is rattling my fangs though, so I turn it back a notch. Hope our sound is ok outfront. Al is wailing good style on the harp, and Martin matches him on guitar. Steve is going for it. The set is over too soon. Particularly enjoyed 'Grace Darling' which I've altered the bass on a wee bit, onto more of a reggae tip; the kind of bolero of 'Fool's Gold'; the country implications of 'Angels, Saints & Aeroplanes'; and 'Urchin Child', which on the night has a strangely contemporary rock sound & is replete with dry ice from the wings !  We do our interp. of 'Soul Of A Man' and we're done. More than a few clams, but so glad I made it through.
It's a night of two halves, so we exit stage rear and make room for the bassheads, but looking forward to more gigs and more tunes  in the next few weeks. Playing in a band is one of the finest things on earth for sure. 'I think that I'm living the dream..'