-
- Setlist:
- Gravity
- Care
- My Bumper Book of Lies
There were a lot of cameras. Not all going at the same time, but that was quite an instructive thing. In fact there's now a video of me on YouTube, singing Care, which is where most of the bummers I made are. I've linked it, anyway. Instructive, in a horrific way. Shoulders look terrible - all hunched. Perhaps not the most flattering look, but I'm not sure what that would be short of total darkness.
If you do watch the video, there's a bit of banter at the beginning - a bit NSFW, by the way, I didn't know at the time it was going to be put on YouTube - and what I'm talking about is an area of ceiling plaster that had fallen off, which I was standing under. Everywhere else there was still plaster on the ceiling, so it could, theoretically, fall off.
As usual, it was a very informative way of discovering new mistakes and things that escape my attention - a couple of "where on earth am I?" moments, and I have a clearer idea of the sorts of songs I need to have, though whether I can write them to order is another issue entirely.
Still, free pizza.

- The Ship
- 171 Kennington Road
- SE11 6SF
-
I've been thinking for a while - since Another Time was released last December, actually - that the site should match it, so here it is. There have been rejiggings, and the downloads have been whisked away.
In particular, after many years of trying to roll my own audio-playing, I've given in to the urgings of sanity and am currently using Bandcamp - there's only Plucked, The Secret Agent's Dream and Another Time on there at the moment, but I'm sure all the other stuff will creep back at some point. How could it not?
-
- Setlist:
- Gravity
- The Secret Agent's Dream
- Learning to Crash
- My Bumper Book of Lies
- Logodaedalus
- Bagatelle 3
- 100 Horses
- Iodine
Tonight I'm on first, supporting Teppei Tanino and Jude Edwin-Scott, which means that after my bit I can have a beer and enjoy the rest of the show.
The proper classical still being down (I've addressed this problem since, and it wasn't the loose wire everyone thought, but something stranger), I took the Godin and the VG88. On the one hand this was a bit excessive for the room, on the other hand it did sound very nice and gave me access to things like reverb and effects - mild for Iodine, strong for Learning to Crash, over the top for Bagatelle 3.
Also, the concert was streamed, so theoretically people around the world could watch (or at least hear) the proceedings. Some of them - from as far afield as Wales, Scotland and Camberwell - did so. How very Modern.
One problem I had was sweating on the ends of my fingers - just enough that they stuck to the strings. This often happens, but I'd left my talcum powder in my other bag, and didn't remember until I'd started playing and found the stickiness occurring. What then happens is that I need to play with the tips of my fingers rather than the nails, which can make the faster passages trickier and a bit drunken, and of course distract from the other places that need attention (like singing, lyrics and left hand). It's curious that the things that go wrong, and the chords or lyrics that I forget, are never the things that go wrong in rehearsal. Always, on stage, I'm faced with a completely new set of difficulties. I suppose that's why I do it. That and the adoration, of course.
Special mention should go to Janeen, who struggled up from Sussex and reached the venue when I'd just finished.

- The Perseverance
- 11 Shroton Street
- Marylebone
- London, NW1 6UG

- The Battersea Barge
- Nine Elms Lane
- (behind the FedEx building)
- London, SW8 5BP
-
... not only have I not uploaded anything for a couple of weeks, but I won't be uploading anything for a while as there's nothing finished, and I'm really busy at the moment.
There is the Jeays gig on Wednesday (I should put an entry for that, actually...) and a new CD of my favourite of this years uploads around the same time. Check back for details.
-
- Setlist:
- Déjà Vu
- Care
- Gravity
- Iodine

- The Perseverance
- 11 Shroton Street
- Marylebone
- London, NW1 6UG
-
- Setlist:
- Gravity
- Nothing But Green Grass
- Learning to Crash
- River Rise
- Iodine
Lot of fun - very supportive crowd. I go fully a capella for the first verse of River Rise, and they seem to be with me.
I do a lot of mad banter. I wish I could remember half of that nonsense. Also plug the track-a-wee-upload concept. Perhaps I'll get downloads from someone who isn't a Chinese search engine bot. I seem to be very popular with Chinese search engine bots, though I doubt they count as an untapped market.

- The Battersea Barge
- Nine Elms Lane
- (behind the FedEx building)
- London, SW8 5BP
-
OK, after a weird phase, it seems that the download link is fixed, the RSS feed for the new tracks is fixed, and it plays nicely with iTunes. Unless I'm dreaming it, which probably explains why whenever I run I find I can't move my feet.
I hadn't realised they weren't working until someone mentioned it in passing. And whenever I fixed one thing another went haywire, a bit like trying to level out the legs on a table by sawing bits off.
So, even if they haven't worked for you before, what the hell. Give it a try.
-
I'll post a review of this soon, and a recording! I set up my Zoom H2 on a Gorillapod on a table and plugged my minidisc player into the mixing desk, and both recordings mixed together sound pretty good. However, I'm going to cheat a bit and cut out some false starts and crappy banter. It still won't be 100%, but still. Audio demi-verité.

- The Perseverance
- 11 Shroton Street
- Marylebone
- London, NW1 6UG
-
I realised that there was no email address or other way of contacting me on the site, so I've added one (the link to the right, under where my name is. Contact Me. That's it)
Don't know that I expect many people to use it, but it's there now. So.


