Glynde Hotel 10 Sept 2005

This was our first gig at the Glynde. Sox did the organising with the venue, I think he used a form letter we have to kick off negotiations on behalf of The Negotiators. Set up was pretty straightforward, we being at ground level in a corner in the main bar, in front of the bingo and shooting game machines. The room was fairly large and open, making a pleasant change from the Glandville ‘play past the pillars’ style of audience interaction. Carpeted, low ceilinged with styrofoam tiles, no unbaffled panes of glass, and a heavy drape covering part of one side of the room (shielding the TAB section of the pub – otherwise would have played to a ‘L’ shaped room) together combined to create a different acoustic environment to what we were used to. Hard to find a balance between grungy-muffled and harsh-choppy.

We also had to do things a bit different in terms of stage space, with my amp going onto the back wall between Steve’s gear and Sox on the drums. I must ask Sox if it was a help or a hinderance. We had to do it this way because it was a narrowish corner and we were already projecting a fair way out into the room (we can take up a lot of space). Sox and Steve were backrow, Me and Terry in front of them, Nancy up front. Seemed to work okay in terms of dynamics. It took a bit for me to get used to having my amp out of easy reach, however, and to be so far forward from it. I think it gave me a better understanding of the mix of the guitars and keyboard.

In brief, the gig was okay. First set was too quick in tempo to play comfortably, just enough that it felt forced. Second set we had Rob on his sax up with us (he played with us at the Glanville first time there also). Between him searching for the right key and Steve (I think) off tune with some of the vocals (and loud, at least through the foldback), I didn’t think it was that good, despite the music pumping along. Several of the audience, however, swore to me afterwards that they thought it was the best set.

Third set cranked up nicely. We opened it with a couple of our own songs (Never Wanted You and Fucked Decisions), so that set a solid platform. ACDC in fact sounded a bit dull after the later piece, but we got it on track by the first chorus. Final set was a bit different as we didn’t know how long the publican would let us keep playing. Started with Killer in a Frock (haven’t played for ages, me on the lead). Was told it was ‘haunting’ later. Closed with ‘Little Aeroplane’ at 1.30 am, probably best we’ve played that for a while (all played riffs right through). Only played around half of the new batch of songs.

Audience was okay for the evening, had between twenty five and thirty people in audience half way through the first set. Knew most of them (in fact, were almost the same mobs that had come on the first Friday we played at the Glanville). This number didn’t go down until near the end of the third, still nearly twenty when we stopped. Not bad, considering it was Crows playing Port in town in a televised knockout hometown semi final for the Australian Football League, the pub up the road (The Alma) being a centre for celebrations for the Crows victory, the 5th Test was on the telly as Australia struggles to retain the ashes, and it was a windy and wet night on top of that. The publican and a handful of locals seemed happy, especially with Johnny Cash. He (the publican, not Johnny Cash) offered us another gig as soon as we could fit it in, straight after the show.

Terry Sox and Nancy each put in solid performances. I think Steve was a bit fast to start with and, because of his volume, that pushed all of us. Into the third set though, was keeping the momentum up neatly through the songs. Once he got rid of the muffled sound on his amp was when things improved. As for me, for the first set and a half I was in a reactive mode, just trying to fill the gaps and keep to the beat. Then I decided to turn up a bit, and used the pick up lever and volume on the guitar itself to modify sound to keep a relatively constant level from where I was standing out front. I kept good focus on my sound and tried to ease it in and out around the various leads (vocal, bass, Steve), picking simple riffs to further add another element to the rythmic passages I was doing. Also used the distortion pedal more than usual, mainly to boost my sound with the gain when I was emphasising individual strings and runs. Through the third and fourth sets I was pretty happy, although it was still pretty experimental. I am, however, starting to critically approach the task of placing arpegios and simple runs in as part of the sonic palette that I see it being the job of the rhythm guitarist to maintain and vary.

In other words, the Negotiators came out of the night ahead, and looking forward to the next two private shows (a netball club function and a fiftieth). Then we’re back at the Glynde for Nancy’s birthday.

Last Gig at Glanville? (26 Aug 2005)

The publican at the Glanville has sold his license and new owner was soon to take over. All future bookings at this pub were off. We didn't know what the new owners planned. This was thus possibly our last gig at this place, which we have played good gigs at for awhile now. On the trip there, this realisation made the coming night all the more 'real', the vibe was good.

Only about three people in our part of the pub when we started at 8.30, sox's friends I believe. Maybe about a dozen at the end of the first set. Double that at the end of the second. Peaked at thirty to forty in the third set. Still over twenty when we finished at 20 to 1. Only familiar faces were Sox's friends (first time these women had come, I think) and, after nine, the hard core of our Peterborough comrades (Jo and her manfriend and Natalie). Everyone else who was there wondered in. Of those that wandered in, all stayed at least a while.

We had a ball! Steve is relaxing more often into his lead guitar role, and when it happens it's pretty good. Sox just develops week after week still, or so it seems, always solid and pushing his boundries. Terry is always inventing further and playing games in the bass. Nancy continues to develop a capacity to give herself to the music. All came to the fore on this night.

And me? Working in large variations to the role and sound I assign my guitar, very little lead but now actively searching out patterns in the music deeper and less cereberal than the beat and the count. Hopefully never losing these in the process, of course.

In other words, it got a bit psychedelic at times on stage, and the sound we generated was hypnotic music on occasion. I haven't before heard this happen for more than mere moments (with the memorable exception of one of our Gaslight shows) in a show. It was what I always used to search for when we was into seeing bands a lot, and here we managed to play it for extended periods to a small and appreciative audience in a pub that we always seem to sound alright at anyway! Magic, in a very real sense. And none of the band even frowned when I described it as psychedelic at times. I think we all knew that we sounded good - particularly in the second set.

We introduced quite a few new songs also - The Wild One, She's so Fine, Shout, Summer of '69, Waterloo, and Speak to the Sky, and all of the previous six we've learnt (first time at the Glanville) Good Golly Miss Molly, Travelling Band, Oobey Doobey, Da Doo Ron Ron, Rock'n'Roll is King, and On the Prowl. The newest ones fell a bit flat, but that was mainly that it still felt all a bit discrete and mechanical. This is common until we 'internalise' a piece - and that is as much a function of time as practice.

It was a wonderful gig at the Glanville, a great Requiem.

On September 10 we play at The Glynde Hotel, our first foray into the NorthEast since playing at Athelston Footy Club a couple years ago (as 'Requiem').

The name seems to have taken, by the way.