Gig Review - The Old Red Lion, Leeds, 2nd March 2006

A Thursday night in Leeds at a pub we’ve not played before – fingers were crossed when we arrived and it has to be said, stayed crossed for most of the night. This kind of gig does not appeal to my better nature. I'm fine with a small audience (see Cranmer Bank Hotel gig review), providing they show some courtesy and acknowledge there's some live entertainment on. However - blatantly ignoring you for the best part of 2 hours, and then shouting for more at the end is not my idea of audience participation! I know I need to work on this attitude and promise I will - however, on this night I was "a bit off" which probably accounts for me dropping my sticks one too many times. We did manage to please one punter with a request for Teenage Kicks (The Undertones) so that was alright. Ironically, we played pretty well all round and live recordings back that up with some belting guitar work from Nick in particular. I can tell I was pissed off by some of the ropey drum fills where I was quite obviously wishing I was somewhere else. Again - need to work on this attitude!

We’ll probably go back to the pub (if asked) as there aren’t too many Thursday night gigs around – hopefully we can bring along a rent a crowd next time to liven things up a bit and I can bring along my better attitude.