Bad Habit + Novacain / The Railway Tavern, Hensall

Dad's/Mike's Dad's band, Bad Habit, had helped Novacain out when we were booked for a birthday party in November and didn't have enough material to play all night. It was the first time Leigh and Win had seen Bad Habit and they were really impressed. As a result we decided to have a Novacain outing to see them at their next gig in Hensall. As usual we didn't all go in the end, with Win and Sug bailing at the last minute.

I'd been to watch Bad Habit at The Railway Tavern a few times while I was in the sixth form and I really liked the place. It was a great traditional pub, with a friendly atmosphere, cheap beer and the all important log fire. Mike was already there when we arrived, being Bad Habit's regular sound tech, as was Mum who'd saved us some seats near the front. As we sat down Mum gave me a copy of that week's 'Morley Observer' and directed me to page 12...

Win's girlfriend at the time, Sarah, had started a journalism course in September and had secured some work experience at Morley's premier newspaper. She promised us that she'd write an article about Novacain before Christmas, and we even staged an amateur photoshoot on Ilkley Moor, which saw us WALKING AROUND, trying not to look at the camera. Because we were Moody Artistes. Obvs.

Outtakes from the LEGENDARY Ilkley Moor photoshoot.

The article never appeared and we’d all forgotten about it by March. But there it was, a half page spread on the band, with a photo of Novacain staring awkwardly into the middle distance. Wow. Except it wasn’t really about us at all, it was a rather primitive investigation into the music business. According to this hard-hitting exposé, “record companies look for some good tunes on demo tapes – if they don’t like the tunes then the tape will be rejected”. If bands wanted to succeed, the article advised that they should be “original and not too much like the bands which are already about”. In amongst this breathtaking piece of iconoclasm were a couple of random quotes from Music for Nations’ Ross McDougall about nothing in particular, and a few sentences from Winny (which he later told us Sarah had made up) about the potential pitfalls of band members not believing in what they are doing – “it could cause arguments and a possible split”. Awesome. Of course, it was Sarah’s first assignment, and we should probably have been grateful that she chose to write about us at all. But still.

The article. In ALL its glory.

Back at The Railway Tavern, Bad Habit had started their first set. As usual in those days, they were a tiny bit sloppy, but really good fun. After 45 minutes or so they took a break and invited a few of the folkies in the audience to get up and play a few songs while they had a rest. We hadn’t planned to play but Dad really wanted us to perform a short set and Leigh and Mike were keen so I grumpily acquiesced. We’d written a couple of new songs since our last gig at Abrahams in January and played both for the first time, in between “Quick Release” and “End Of The World”. Neither of the new tracks were particularly suited to acoustic guitars but they seemed to go down well. Or as well as could be expected to an audience who were there to hear Irish drinking songs.

Bad Habit ended the night with an extended second set, with songs such as “Black Velvet Band”, “Irish Rover” and “Whiskey In The Jar” sparking drunken audience singalongs. Dad was on top form and the compliments and free beer flowed long after time was called at the bar.
 

Set list (Novacain)

1. Quick Release
   
2. Echo
3. Now You've Got It, Use It
4. End Of The World