The weather was on our side too, and as such the beer garden was soon full of people waiting to see a show. Due to a clash of ideas when it came to organisation, the performers on the outdoor acoustic stage went on without introduction, making my job as compere a bit redundant. I managed to take the mike to make a few announcements, but didn't get the chance to get comfortable in my role.
The running order didn't quite go according to plan either, due to the couple of drop-outs, and the arrival times of certain performers. This meant that due to him actually being present, the opening act was Josh Wheatley.
If you live in Nottingham, then you will have heard Josh on NottinghamLIVE a couple of weeks ago, or seen him out and about playing acoustic nights such as Under The Tree. He is incredibly talented, and at seventeen years old has his whole life ahead of him, the lucky bastard. Josh's opening set got everyone in a good mood, and immediately the audience were on side.
If I'm perfectly honest, (which I always try to be) I can't remember the exact order of proceedings. But the gig was divided into two stages, one indoor and one outdoor. The original running order that was published on Facebook (remember Facebook? It's coming back) suggested alternating stages, which would have been a pain in the arse to pull off. The sun was shining so obviously people wanted to be outside. It was decided that we would run the outdoor event first, until we had to finish by six due to the licencing, and then try and get everyone in for the rockier indoor stuff later. Unfortunately, this wasn't adhered to. Lucky Fate had been scheduled to play inside at two o'clock and wanted to stick to it as they had people coming specifically to see them. In my opinion this was a rather selfish attitude to take, as their fan base could easily have waited to see them later in the day and enjoyed a drink and some acoustic acts outside, but no dice, Lucky Fate were playing at two. What was also unfortunate, is that nobody seemed to understand the 'don't' part of 'don't put any other outside acts on until they've played inside', and the acoustic stage carried on regardless.
Meanwhile outside, Anwyn Williams and Matt Blick played to a far more appreciative crowd. Matt appeared on the first edition of the return show of The Sunday Alternative, we have yet to have Anwyn on either show but her performance put her on my want list for a radio session. Matt played his own brand of dark love songs, interspersed with a cover of 'I Want You Back', and a brilliant bit of whimsy (that I sadly can't remember the title of) about the progression of boy bands from clean shaven to bearded via the moustache phase.
I took a picture of people taking a picture of me. I saw Robbie Williams do it once.
The Fade also insisted on playing their indoor set in the face of our agreed outside during the day set up, due to their rather precious guitarist wanting to get it over with. A few people filtered in to see them, but they would have had more if they had waited. They are a great band so it was a shame that they didn't play to everyone who should have seen them.
We finally got people to agree on the fact that no further performances should take place indoors until the acoustic stage was finished. This meant that everyone was free to enjoy the sunshine, a barbecue, and the chilled out summer sound of some fine acoustic performers.
I was the first person to play Matt Humphries on the radio, which I'm sure is something that I'll be able to boast about one day.
Emma Bladon Jones has appeared on my show, unfortunately it was during one of my London absences. She performed another brilliant set of her own compositions and a few covers, which seemed to be the pattern of the afternoon. It actually works quite well in that it keeps the attention of those who don't particularly want to hear original songs. I get the impression that we were invading a local pub for local people, as there were times that this event wasn't going down awfully well with the regulars who wanted their usual Saturday afternoon pint. Fuck them, it's for charity.
Marc Reeves had been doing the sound for the indoor stage, but still found the time to perform on the acoustic stage. He is one of the hardest working musicians in Nottingham after all, and probably stopped off at an open mic on his way home later that night.
The final act on the outdoor stage was Alexa Hawksworth, who was meant to be playing indoors but quickly replaced Georgie Rose who had got lost on the way and played inside instead. I've always loved Alexa's voice but somehow have never managed to see her playing live. I've been told that she is a bit difficult to work with, but I can honestly say that I didn't see any trace of that with her during the show. She was one of the few acts to actually stay until the end.
I've often been irritated by bands who leave after their bit, and this event should have been a community gathering for the musicians to enjoy the day. I understand that a few people had gigs, or parties, it was Saturday night after all, but hardly any act stayed on for very long. Gary and I had suggested an ensemble 'Hey Jude' to close the show, but had envisaged the entire line up squeezed onto the stage at the end of the night.
Magdalla didn't impress me much. They were polite and everything but didn't have the right attitude to the occasion, swearing on stage despite there being children present. Musically they are so-so, and I've seen them do better than this on stage at The Lacehouse.
The CTRL are a band that I have given my support to since they got in touch with me, and are one of the most exciting young live bands around. They write all their own material, but had a little fundraiser going in which everyone paid a pound to choose a cover song from a list. The crowd lapped up their set, especially when they went walkabout during the show.
The final band of the evening had a bit of sadness attached to it, but fortunately not from the audience who were none the wiser. This was Prefontaine's final performance under this line up. More about that in a moment.
It is thanks to Gary, (front centre) that this whole event happened in the first place. For months he has been fretting over bands and organisation and he did get a well earned bottle of wine at the finale presentation as a thanks. He is also the driving force (along with his brother Craig, right) behind Prefontaine, and has worked hard to build the profile of the band. Internal shit behind the scenes has driven a wedge between the members, and now the Prefontaine name belongs ( thankfully) to Gary and Craig. The drummer, Nick, can be forgiven for some of his issues, as he does have a wife and kids to think about (although surely career is more important?) but it doesn't excuse him not replying to text messages and phone calls, turning up late to gigs, and generally being unreliable. Jamie, (left) on the other hand, has proved himself in my eyes at least, as a bit of a tool. Since Prefontaine played their first gig in March this year, they have continued to rise. Not only have they had extensive airplay on my shows NottinghamLIVE and The Sound Of Nottingham UK, they have also had a feature about them in The Nottingham Evening Post (as I still call it), (alright I wrote that too), and have been offered some higher profile gigs. That is all on hiatus at the moment thanks to the selfish actions of these two people. Gary and Craig have sweated blood over the band, only to have all their hard work thrown back at them.
Jamie has thrown some frankly ridiculous accusations at Gary, including that he 'promotes the band too much'. I am not the best music manager in the world, but I know that keeping it a secret isn't how a band achieves success. Also, his friends don't get the fact that Prefontaine don't have a dedicated lead singer and that it doesn't work having all three of them taking different songs to sing. It doesn't work, maybe that's why The Beatles didn't get anywhere!
Gary and Craig are now looking to the future, and looking for a new guitarist and drummer. I for one really hope that something gets sorted soon, as they have become genuine friends and I know how much Prefontaine means to them.
It is against the law for a charity gig to end without a finale performance of 'Hey Jude'. We went one better and did 'Wonderwall' too, after the triumphant jam on last week's NottinghamLIVE. The CTRL joined Prefontaine, Alexa Hawksworth, Sam and Alex the organisers, and myself and Darren Sansom to close the show in style. Nobody filmed it, which I am pleased with as it keeps it special for those of us who were there.
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