Acoustic Underground

2001-06-28

A bit quiet, but then it is a Thursday afternoon. When I arrive, one Stuart Blance is playing – it's 2:30, and I'm on at 5:00. I sit and check out the various performers, and go on to an audience of four, inlcuding one paying customer. It's fun, though. I enjoy it. I suppose I do about an hour altogether. Merri-May Gill, who's the next act, arrives about three-quarters of the way through the set with her manager and percussionist.

M-M G is a bit of a whirlwind. I'm so glad that I didn't have to follow her. Actually, she's a reminder of how complacent I can be in terms of the being an entertainer thing. Being a nice middle-class English boy, I suffer from the "I'm going to play a few songs now, if that's alright with you chaps" inferiority complex, which (although it's nothing compared to the local Edinburgh Calvinist "This will probably be crap but I'll give it a try" inferiority complex, which is absolutely crippling) does me no favours. People actually want to be entertained, and Ms Gill (in common with a lot of Australian performers) goes out and entertains them. It does give me a lot to think about, on top of the laughing and generally being entertained.

I slip away to get a pizza around the corner (all the take aways here do pizza, which is dead civilised, I have to say, because it means that you can get some decent veggie take-away food. Contrary to popular belief, these are not deepfried, even if this is Scotland) and run into a couple of Peggy Vestas on the way (they played on Tuesday). Nice to meet them again - the last time I saw them was backstage at the Ross bandstand last year.

I stay for a few more acts and then get back to the flat (just a step away, as it turns out) where I go comatose.