Going Live

This gig forms the grande finale of the theremin shindig I mentioned a while ago. I'll be part of the 'UK League of Thereminists' playing a few structured improvised pieces as part of a 'theremin orchestra'. There are a number of very good thereminists going to be attending, so well worth the money if you are in that neck of the woods this coming Sunday. Book soon, though, by clicking on the picture here.

More daunting for me will be the post-concert wind-down party, for which I'll be providing some of the music...

This will be the first time that the Lunacy Board material has been played live, albeit in a somewhat more spartan form than usual, as it will just be me playing guitar and singing with a looper and theremin to make things more interesting. The original plan was to use the yobstick as well, but I might limit this to just one or two songs due to the way the looper works, as the rhythm can become a bit too repetitive.

I have also dusted down a couple of old Deserters' numbers to include in the set, which will be fun, and for a few songs I will be joined by special guest stunt thereminists.

The whole event is being recorded and videotaped, so watch this space for more news early next week...

Electronics + Beer = Not Good

We had a bit of a crisis at our latest gig... The mixing desk made a rather loud bang and stopped working just before the start of the 2nd set. Everything was lit up, but not a whimper of sound came through. All was not lost and our back-up plan for just such an event came into action, but it was a pretty embarrassing, annoying and uncomfortable half-hour to get back into action. Now we can, with a small degree of certainty, put our finger on the culprit.

Beer.

Beer and pubs and music go hand in hand - without pubs and beer there would be a substantially smaller consumption of live music in the world. However, pouring beer into the mixing desk essential for presenting that music to the audience is not a wise plan, and a couple of clues (not least of which was the liquid seen pouring out of the desk earlier today) suggest that is exactly what happened.

Such are the risks of sitting the desk in the midst of the audience, especially in a fairly cramped venue.

Amazingly enough, after a spell drying out (rehab?), the desk seems to be performing as well as it did before - no noticeable difference, so our wallets can breathe easy for a while longer.

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