I was back at my old stomping grounds* down Liverpool’s Lark Lane to do a set at Pros & Coms. It’s a gig I have a long history with having compered it regularly for 2 years and it being my home gig. It’s moved venues since I performed there regularly to a bar called Milo Lounge. I have to admit, I was nervous in the first half. Not least because there was an audience of 4 of which 3 had said they “had to go at the interval”. I was on second after the break. So the break arrived, they promptly left leaving one, slightly bewildered audience member. Yet all was not lost, George, the promoter, had been raiding the street and brought in 14 willing audience members for the second half.
So how did it go?
Well, it was good. I used this as an opportunity to try 2 new bits and a regular callback of which all three worked well. The song, Finger Up My Bum, has audience participation potential and could maybe be a closing song. The call back, a repeated song called 70s TV Star which is mixed with me making comments about “them not all being guilty”, until it reached the 3rd time, I was pleased with a structural device.
It was a little odd having that structural device when I messed around with the order of the songs. So much, I realize, relies on understanding of pace, dynamic and ensuring that it has peaks and troughs**. The better and more intimate I make the drops*** then the bigger return I get from the more filthy or silly songs. I think I did around 10, aware that I didn’t want to overrun.
Did a bit of audience control which resulted in a drunk girl crying. She kept chatting, like when someone’s in the cinema and asking questions about what they’re watching and also saying things like, “it’s a song about sex”. So I shouted, comedically, this sounds bad, everyone laughed, and then she cried, but was very drunk, so although I don’t feel (too) bad about, I wonder if I should have put her down more musically rather than just yelling “shut up” like a deranged psychopath.
However, all in all a nice return to the old stomping grounds*.
Gig rating: 7/10 – tried new bits
My Performance: 7/10 – trying new bits so not a planned performance, but okay.
*the phrase “stomping grounds” makes me sound like such a prick.
** this is the wrong word for this… I mean the quieter bits.
*** by which i mean troughs**