Tuesday 1st August Gareth and I played our second gig as the Tom Slatter Duo (no, that really isn’t what we’re called). We were at The Horns in Watford, supporting The Far Meadow, a proper prog band with keyboards and everything.
This was the last week at work for me before a well deserved two weeks off. Working in an education related charity as I do, the period after school exams is incredibly busy and I was at the end of a month of total madness. Before the gig I was therefore mildly dreading it. I assumed I wouldn’t have the energy to perform even slightly well.
Thankfully that’s not what happened. By the time we were on stage adrenaline had kicked in and I had all the energy I needed.
This was also a better gig than the previous one in Darlington. We missed out So Far From The Shore, for time reasons (and cos it’s a bloody difficult song. Why on earth did I write it?) so the set included:
- Happy People
- Satellites
- Some of the creatures…
- Flow my tears…
- Self Made Man
- Black Water
- Wizards of this Town
- Set light to the Sky
It being a hot night, my guitar went slightly out of tune on Satellites which was annoying, and I think Gareth wasn’t 100% happy with the solo on Flow my Tears. Nevertheless the rest of the set went swimmingly.
It was a pub gig, with lots of the crowd (a very healthy 40-50 people, pretty good for a Tuesday in August) there for The Far Meadow. Therefore there was plenty of chat and we didn’t have the whole room paying attention for the whole set. I don’t mind this at all, that’s part of how pub gigs work. I regard it as a bit of a challenge to get them all.
On Self Made Man I think we did get them. That song is a bit different, and with the second guitar part it really works. I felt a definite change in the audience once we got there. The same was true of Black Water, particularly the end section which is a proper singalong bit (not that anyone sang along this time). I think we kept them to the end for the most part too.
What helped, and what really made this a great gig for me, was the presence of a few of the denizens of The Tom Slatter Immoral Support Group. Andy, Andy, Spike, Mark, and Matthew (Oh god, I bet I’ve missed someone off. It’s inevitable isn’t it that if I write a list of people I want to thank I’ll miss people out cos I’m forgetful and rubbish with names. I’ll just throw a few random made up names at the end of the list to cover myself), Charlie, Nancy, Imhotep and Phil all came down to see the show.
I am genuinely rather chuffed that people seem to be liking my stuff. I might have been recording for a while but putting effort into live shows is something I’m only just starting and having people come along who like the music is a really lovely thing. Makes it all worthwhile.
Although there could have been more heckling. Come on guys.
Anyway, we headed home happy, although how happy Gareth was sleeping on my ancient second-hand sofa, beset by my cats who were rather miffed at being kicked out of the front room I’m not sure. He’s says it was fine, but he might just be being polite.
Anyway, here’s some video, and yay for gigs:
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