...So we enjoyed our first gig, but we realised that we needed to step up our game a little to gain the sort of RAPTUROUS response we KNEW we deserved. Godamnit. Mike's mate Suggy had been in the audience at the Duchess, and was quite impressed. He was a bass player, and Mike said he might be interested in joining.
Sug came down early in March and fitted in really well - we asked him to join pretty much straight away. He was an amazing bass guitarist, much better than me or Mike, and the songs instantly sounded better. Mike was also a more accomplished player than Leigh and, by changing to rhythm guitar, freed Leigh up to concentrate entirely on his singing.
Leigh once again did the honours - picking up flyers for the show from Flatnose John. Partly because John genuinely liked us as a band, but mostly because a) he didn't have anyone else to ring and b) we'd brought a lot of people to our first show, John had taken to calling Leigh a fair bit. The rest of us thought this was good, as being friendly with a promoter made future gigs more likely. I'm not sure Leigh shared our enthusiasm, as he was the one who had to listen to John's rambling tall tales about how he owned an E-type Jaguar (he didn't), how he'd booked Oasis during their first UK tour (he hadn't) &c.
Having played a solitary show, we considered ourselves VETERANS OF THE SCENE. We knew where to park outside the Duchess, we knew the best way to load our gear into the venue, we knew about the hike in beer prices once the doors opened at 7.30 pm... We'd even been moved up to second on the bill. Boom.
After soundcheck we watched the other bands and waited for the doors to open. It seems kind of quaint looking back, but there was always a queue outside the Duchess, with punters patiently waiting for the doors to open. I imagine it was because supermarket-bought alcohol wasn't as cheap in those days, and people were more inclined to 'go out' earlier in the night. Or maybe they were just ITCHING to see the actual Cream on top of the UK-shaped Unsigned Talent milk bottle i.e. Nova-Freakin-Cain. Yeah, it was probs the lack of cheap booze in supermarkets...
The appallingly named Hot Yogurt began the night in a slightly lukewarm fashion. I seem to remember them playing to a small crowd and maybe having a saxophone. I don't think they were, as the poster had promised, particularly "in yer face". But then my face was busy getting drunk.
22 Blue were up next, performing their brand of vee '90s indie-lite pop. They were kind of ok, without being great. One didn't feel the need to leave the room if they were playing, but then one didn't feel the need to be in the room in the first place either. They were a nice enough bunch though, which was lucky as we ended up playing on the same bill as them several times over the next few years.
My friends arrived while 22 Blue were playing, much to the delight of Flatnose, who positively gleamed as he collected their money, like a ponytailed Shylock in fingerless gloves.
Although we were keen to make our debut as a five piece, we thought it was too short notice for Suggy to learn the entire set and step in for this show, so Mike played bass for the last time, with Sug watching from the crowd. We dropped the jam from our set (fans = gutted), and also brought in a new song called "Take It Back" in place of "Yes I Can". "Take It Back" was another example of Leigh's emerging songwriting talents - a dark minor-key rock song, influenced by 'Bends'-era Radiohead.
Even though I was drunk, yet again, the show went well. The monitor mix was much better than it had been the first time we played, which meant Leigh sang much better as he could hear himself. Even so it was slightly strange... We were itching to play live with Suggy and saw this gig as a bit of a nuisance - a commitment that we had to honour to ensure that we'd be offered more opportunities to play for John in the future. The crowd were a bit more responsive than they'd been a month earlier, and Flatnose was effusive, but we still hadn't got the sort of stunning reception we were hoping for.
My flatmates left again after we'd played, but I stuck around this time to watch the headliners, Inertia. On the posters for the gig John had pointed out the "Kippax 4-piece" were led by the "charismatic singer/guitarist Dean". Wow. They were actually pretty decent though. I seem to remember that they played catchy Neil Yong-ish, poppy rock tunes, in an acoustic stylee. Mike was certainly keen on their bassist - he devoted a considerable amount of time to chatting her up after the show finished.
Before leaving we talked to Flatnose John. I think we brought even more people to this gig than we had the month before, which prompted him to ask us to play an all-dayer he was putting on at the Cockpit in May. We were STOKED. Although we'd been together in one form or another for well over a year, we were still pretty wet behind the ears, having only played two shows in Leeds. To a certain extent we let ourselves believe that we'd hit the big time; by being asked to play a venue like the Cockpit, which had a capacity of around 500 and attracted larger touring acts than the Duchess, we'd moved up a level. It surely wouldn't be long before football stadiums beckoned. Six months tops. John also suggested that he might be interested in being our manager. Cor blimey. The slight disappointment we'd felt after coming off stage had quickly left the building. Being in a band was easy after all.
After soundcheck we watched the other bands and waited for the doors to open. It seems kind of quaint looking back, but there was always a queue outside the Duchess, with punters patiently waiting for the doors to open. I imagine it was because supermarket-bought alcohol wasn't as cheap in those days, and people were more inclined to 'go out' earlier in the night. Or maybe they were just ITCHING to see the actual Cream on top of the UK-shaped Unsigned Talent milk bottle i.e. Nova-Freakin-Cain. Yeah, it was probs the lack of cheap booze in supermarkets...
The appallingly named Hot Yogurt began the night in a slightly lukewarm fashion. I seem to remember them playing to a small crowd and maybe having a saxophone. I don't think they were, as the poster had promised, particularly "in yer face". But then my face was busy getting drunk.
22 Blue were up next, performing their brand of vee '90s indie-lite pop. They were kind of ok, without being great. One didn't feel the need to leave the room if they were playing, but then one didn't feel the need to be in the room in the first place either. They were a nice enough bunch though, which was lucky as we ended up playing on the same bill as them several times over the next few years.
My friends arrived while 22 Blue were playing, much to the delight of Flatnose, who positively gleamed as he collected their money, like a ponytailed Shylock in fingerless gloves.
An aside:
March and April '99 were a busy few months at the Duchess. Alongside the usual local bands were a handful of touring acts like Chris Helme (former singer with The Seahorses), Add N To (X), punk band The Vandals and The Clint Boon Experience. Bizarrely Status Quo also played, after a Duchess regular won a competition for them to come to the venue during their 10 date 'pub tour', in support of their latest album, 'Under The Influence'. I mention this purely as an excuse to post this PHENOM video, featuring buck-toothed Quo fans, Look North presenters 'getting down' and footage of the Duchess in ALL her late '90s glory.
March and April '99 were a busy few months at the Duchess. Alongside the usual local bands were a handful of touring acts like Chris Helme (former singer with The Seahorses), Add N To (X), punk band The Vandals and The Clint Boon Experience. Bizarrely Status Quo also played, after a Duchess regular won a competition for them to come to the venue during their 10 date 'pub tour', in support of their latest album, 'Under The Influence'. I mention this purely as an excuse to post this PHENOM video, featuring buck-toothed Quo fans, Look North presenters 'getting down' and footage of the Duchess in ALL her late '90s glory.
Although we were keen to make our debut as a five piece, we thought it was too short notice for Suggy to learn the entire set and step in for this show, so Mike played bass for the last time, with Sug watching from the crowd. We dropped the jam from our set (fans = gutted), and also brought in a new song called "Take It Back" in place of "Yes I Can". "Take It Back" was another example of Leigh's emerging songwriting talents - a dark minor-key rock song, influenced by 'Bends'-era Radiohead.
Even though I was drunk, yet again, the show went well. The monitor mix was much better than it had been the first time we played, which meant Leigh sang much better as he could hear himself. Even so it was slightly strange... We were itching to play live with Suggy and saw this gig as a bit of a nuisance - a commitment that we had to honour to ensure that we'd be offered more opportunities to play for John in the future. The crowd were a bit more responsive than they'd been a month earlier, and Flatnose was effusive, but we still hadn't got the sort of stunning reception we were hoping for.
Novacain - Thank You
Even though it was still pretty new, I think this show at the Duchess was the last time we played "Thank You" live. Which is weird, because it's an ace tune. I've got a vague recollection of us dropping it from the set because Mike wrote the bass line and Sug couldn't get his head around it... but that seems very unlikely, as Sug can get his around pretty much any bass line. Anyways, this is a version we recorded at Cherrytree at the same time as "Slipstream" and "Cyanide". Leigh and I both played rhythm on the track, with me overdubbing baddass lead at the end. Boi.
My flatmates left again after we'd played, but I stuck around this time to watch the headliners, Inertia. On the posters for the gig John had pointed out the "Kippax 4-piece" were led by the "charismatic singer/guitarist Dean". Wow. They were actually pretty decent though. I seem to remember that they played catchy Neil Yong-ish, poppy rock tunes, in an acoustic stylee. Mike was certainly keen on their bassist - he devoted a considerable amount of time to chatting her up after the show finished.
Before leaving we talked to Flatnose John. I think we brought even more people to this gig than we had the month before, which prompted him to ask us to play an all-dayer he was putting on at the Cockpit in May. We were STOKED. Although we'd been together in one form or another for well over a year, we were still pretty wet behind the ears, having only played two shows in Leeds. To a certain extent we let ourselves believe that we'd hit the big time; by being asked to play a venue like the Cockpit, which had a capacity of around 500 and attracted larger touring acts than the Duchess, we'd moved up a level. It surely wouldn't be long before football stadiums beckoned. Six months tops. John also suggested that he might be interested in being our manager. Cor blimey. The slight disappointment we'd felt after coming off stage had quickly left the building. Being in a band was easy after all.
Set list (Novacain)
- Running
- Slipstream
- Find A Way
- Thank You
- Take It Back
- Airflow
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