Day 15

So D-Day for the gig had arrived and I spent most of the day holed up in my Uncle Eddie's flat trying to rehearse a little more, in between facebooking people back home. Every time I hit a bum note, I got pretty frustrated with myself. I wanted to give a good account of myself, the band and some of the songs I'd written for my family and friends who were coming along. Fe was off work today and spent most of it online with me in the front room. That said though, she was also making that classic Scottish dish of mince 'n' tatties (pictured below)! On one hand it smelt really good and I could tell that she had lobbed some carrots and onions into the mix. On the other hand I was worried about smelling like vegetables tonight—I used to work in a kitchen and came home smelling like that most nights—so I made a mental note to at least have a Glasgow shower before I headed to the venue. I phoned my Da as well and we chatted for a while about the football and the fact that they were having the upstairs rooms painted. My Ma was out, but I caught her on facebook later on for her own unique take on family problems! I managed to shift the conversation into something else, had had enough of that nonsense yesterday.


I wanted to play a gig in Toronto for family and friends who can't see me play normally, but also since our singer, and my best mate Michael, emigrated to Australia, I took over the singing mantle and I wanted to put myself to the test a little, vocally, musically but also from a confidence perspective. It's a right of passage, if you will, and harder when you're on your own. The venue was pretty cool, lit up by a funky neon sign outside (pictured below). It seemed a pretty typical rock venue, situated above a very packed restaurant —with a great reputation for nachos—with posters and stickers all over the place, sticky floors and an assortment of stools all along the bar and walls. I met the headline act, The Gay Blades, who were in soundchecking as I arrived. They were all really nice fellas, from NYC and signed to a label—triple crown records—too so their tour was paid for! I soundchecked shortly after them, on a very wobbly chair, which only took about five minutes. I played a bit of Sister I'm A Prophet, then quickly set about finding a chair that was on an even keel.


My Uncle Eddie's friend Roger came in before they started taking cash at the door and promptly started to unload all of his CDs onto me, which seemed to have a plethora of songs with the suffix 'blues' in their titles. He was clearly a soul who had suffered a lot in his life. He was trying to explain to me the meaning behind some of them, but the other band were soundchecking by this point and were drowning out much of what he was saying. He's a nice fella but I was kinda glad of that and even more glad to see April and her sister Trish arrive, along with my Uncle Eddie, Fe, my Da's cousin Lorraine and her husband Jamie, his other cousin Sylvia and her daughter Katherine, so I had a bit of a posse, which was cool. Was onstage at 9.45pm and I don't mind saying, I was bricking it a bit. I was a little ropey on the first two tracks, but by the time Sister I'm A Prophet came around, I found my form and grew in confidence. One thing I was conscious of was the fact that a lot of the time, I sing with my eyes closed. Maybe that was just a subconscious protection device, or maybe it's just me getting lost in the song. Yeah that sounds better I'll go with that.

Was buzzing by the time I came offstage, but was a bit embarrassed at signing autographs as an unsigned act and posing for so many pics, though I know that this is not a regular occurrence for my family here, coming to see me play that is. Was happy to talk to them all though, I'd like to think I'm shy but sociable and was even more delighted to get a few beers down my neck! My Uncle Eddie wasted no time in sampling Sneaky Dee's famous nachos and ordered a gigantic plate of them stacked high. I was too full of adrenaline to eat but everyone else attacked them at vulture speed. I made sure that the other bands, promoters and bar staff had a copy of my band's CD—best letting as many people as possible hear it. I bought one of The Gay Blades' t-shirts that read 'Your Band Name Sucks!' (pictured below) and told them to get in touch the next time they were playing in the UK and headed home with everyone for a nightcap at Uncle Eddie's. It was a great night!