Glanville Wharf - 18 Mar O5

Glanville Wharf Gig – 180305

Requiem played at the Glanville on Friday night, show started at 8.30 pm and went to about 12.45 am. We played four sets, plus a couple songs tacked onto the end. Had about 3 dozen people present from midway through the first set ‘til after the last song. Everyone was happy with the performance, audience seemed very excited. Got another gig booked at the same place for the afternoon of the Sunday after Easter.

This is the third show we’ve played here, and all have been good or better. I know that for some reason I feel quite comfortable playing at this place, both in myself and as a member of the band. Which is strange because, ‘objectively’ speaking, as a venue, it has no outstanding positive features, and quite a few negatives. There’s something to ponder about here…

We had a bit of a scattered arrival time, and Sox was the last to turn up which is unusual. Playing on a Friday night could have contributed to this, as we all have occupations that keep us busy during week days. Perhaps Sox was last to arrive because he had furthest to travel (work – home – gig)? In our stage layout we reverted to having me front left/centre and Steve rear left. That worked fine. Apparently the sound was evenly mixed through the pub, and I know the beat was strong and steady.

We didn’t have any set lists drawn up fifteen minutes before the show. Instead, we (Nancy) put them together in the breaks and wrote out copies of each list for the band. It worked well, but would be too exhausting to do every gig as it means that some of us don’t actually have a break during the ‘breaks’. Gigs are hard enough to get through as is (just learnt from a TV show where a sports physician speaks of ONE song in front of a big crowd putting a singer through physical stresses (respiration and heartrate) equivalent to an endurance runner on a five km run).

Our truest fans were already there, eating, when I arrived. God bless them, they always stay as long as they can (usually till after we’ve packed up), drink lots and thoroughly enjoy themselves. They also listen closely and give us feedback if we want to listen. Including band members, we brought in a dozen meal orders for the pub.

First set was unusual in that, of eleven songs, over half we haven’t played publicly for at least six months, and about half were first made famous by Austalians. Although there weren’t many punters there yet, it was good to dish these songs up to those who have seen us rotate a fairly steady song list for six months. People were rocking up through the first set - a handful of locals, around a dozen people connected through Adelaide University, or through the women who had come up to Peterborough. There were even a couple fellows from the Mid North! Great crowd, most of them stayed all night and those that left did so because they had a long way to travel. Fair enough, was good to see them.

Second set was different in that we had a sax player who Steve knows join us. I’ve never played with brass before. I liked it, but it certainly is easier to fit five on stage than six (for a couple years we were a six piece). The sax player’s name was Rob, he hadn’t much experience with bands before. He loved doing it. Hope we see him again.

The rest of the night was cool. Everything went smoothly with a high energy level. We all raised quite a sweat (necessary, this, for a good gig – don’t know why). Tempos, leads, rhythms and memory all worked well, and audience got right into it. Had dancers for much of it (including a very martial scotts dance to ‘500 Miles’). The best thing about this good gig was that there was no ‘vibe’ that night except that which we brought on, it was due to us playing great rather than us playing on a great night. If you know what I mean.

Next Sunday we’re at the Cumberland again, and then return to the Glanville the Sunday following.