Gig Review - The Cranmer Bank Hotel, Leeds 25th February 2006

Two nights in a row – this is almost a tour! However – this one could not have been more of a contrast than the previous night at the New Roscoe. A new venue to us – and a new live band night to the venue – resulted in a disappointingly small crowd. At one point there was a serious possibility the band would outnumber the audience. Anyway – professionals that we are, we went on and gave it everything as usual. In some ways, this was one of our best technical performances yet – although Fin’s bass transmitter packing up halfway through a song wasn’t totally planned! Despite the crowd being small (and we’re talking somewhere between 6 and 10 here), they were really appreciative and clapped and cheered after every song. I've got to be honest I almost lost the will to live during the second set and made enough mistakes to last me for the next couple of months. I also broke two sticks for some reason and got very cross at the end of the Elton John/Rock'n'Roll medley and did a completely ludicrous end fill round the kit that lasted far too long! This wasn't being cross at the punters who were there - after all, they'd stayed, listened and clapped and cheered after every song. It was just frustration there weren't more people in what could be a decent live venue. I hope it works - but it's going to need some promoting to get people in.