Penny Theatre, Canterbury
Penny Theatre, Canterbury, 4th November 2003:
Well, I always said we’d return to this once auspicious venue. I never thought it would take nine years! Much has changed for me: different band, different songs, and not having to go to school the next day! Sadly much has also changed for the venue: no longer a proper venue, gone is the rather nice in-house PA and monitoring, and the steady rotation of veterans and hopefuls that would play night after night. Instead we have “It’s A Scream”! Yup, it’s a chain pub: over-priced fizzy beer, televised football and all the other crap! That said, they haven’t killed the atmosphere completely. The vibes are still there, in the walls!
After some three years, a band night has been revived at the Penny (only one night a week, mind) under the auspices of the mysterious Geordie. Now, don’t get me wrong he has been welcoming and enthusiastic and has organised the whole night, but it quickly became apparent the night is essentially a vehicle for him and his ego. He doesn’t have the first idea about band logistics. Little things like sound-checks and having sufficient space on stage for your equipment (so don’t put the table football up there!), and not having more acts on in one evening than can be reasonably accommodated. The set-up is woefully amateurish. The stage lights are gone, leaving just a couple of decidedly vulnerable pool-saloon type lights a-dangling from the ceiling (just the right height to swipe with your guitar!). The bum-fluffer lackeys in charge of the hired PA were conscientious but clueless (even being bamboozled by a tape deck!). Still, despite the problems and a murky sound we attracted a good crowd (not just the dedicated hardcore!) and delivered a set I was particularly pleased with. Phil and Mik really pulled it out of the bag, especially on newer material like “Barking Up The Wrong Tree”. The Rickenbacker/Laney combo positively sang! It wasn’t long before Geordie bounced (!) back on stage to resume his irony-free club compere routine (he’d been making “one more” gestures for a good ten minutes). I chose to bamboozle him with some random guitar noise (just enough to enjoy the look on his face!) before we vanished into the night…
Set list:
- Cocoon (Williams)
- ES-40 (Williams)
- Kinky Afro (Happy Mondays)
- Force Of Nature (Williams)
- Barking Up The Wrong Tree (Williams)
- In Your Head (Williams/Croft)
- What’s Under The Stairs? (Williams)