Orange’s Bar, Canterbury
Orange’s Bar, Canterbury, 27th November 2001:
My second crack at the monthly showcase. There was a pretty full bill and the pub was very busy, which can make things quite scary as unlike Simple’s or The Smack, it’s very well lit. You can run but you can’t hide…
The variety on offer was impressive, but unfortunately I don’t know the names of half the acts. Wasp Juice were back again in good fettle (and with their own guitar cases). Malcolm Moss seemed (unusually) nervous, but played with good humoured candour, though no Chaucer this time. Organiser Stuart Avery book-ended the evening with two very solid sets, and there was also a trio (names unknown) who managed to incorporate guitar, bodhran and violin to great effect, without once sounding like a grisly Irish tourist board advertisement. Hurrah! As well as regulars Chris Banks and Jamie McDermott, there was yours truly.
Time constraints didn’t allow a longer set (as hoped, by me, anyway) but I started with “A Million Platitudes”. Despite much planning this never seems to quite work as a solo song, but crowd reation was good and the electric twelve-string seemed to intrigue a few people. I then went straight into “Cocoon”, followed by “What’s Under The Stairs?”, which seem to be two of my most effective songs in solo settings. Eight out of ten punters who expressed a preference seemed pretty chuffed. I was still nervous (why must the gods mock me so?) but I definitely played a lot better than last time, and no flu or AWOL guitar cases this time, either.
Set list:
Punter 1: “I enjoyed that!”
Punter 2: “Where did you learn to play like that?”