Water Rats, London, 2005
The latest Scarlet's Well gig was really fun. We played so many songs - about 16! I had some difficulty at the start of the set - for some reason I couldn't hear my bass drum pedal and thought it was broken, but it just must be my hearing! Note to self: put a tiny bit of BD in the drum monitor. But there was a drum monitor! I thought I was in heaven when I realised I could put the guitar in the drum monitor and thus not have to worry about any playing together or speed issues like the last Debutante gig. Then, aside from my snare stand collapsing in "Mr Mystery's Mother" (which seems to happen a LOT in that song), my kit held up just fine. I was going to surprise the band with a secret fill in a song we didn't get a chance to do, oh well, that will be for the next gig. We played a few new songs - one, Mermaid, is mid-paced rock and I get to do big fills in it , which is nice. And the other is, I suppose, reggae-ska-jazz, and I'm often playing it with my eyes squeezed shut, desperately counting to make sure I play with all my limbs in the right order.
The only drawback I suppose is being hidden behind many people - I'm still missing the drum-riser treatment I got in Germany. I would have loved to drum to people at this gig - I was feeling very cheerful and smiley - but I don't reallly get a good view of the aundience. The rest of the band did their best to entertain me - with silly sunglasses, funny fills, raised eyebrows, amusing banter, that kind of thing.