Picture from Wow247
I missed the eclipse this morning because I was facing the wrong way and as such have written a stern letter of complaint to Bonnie Tyler about her bad advice, turn around right round indeed, stupid woman.
This morning I felt better than I have done all week apart from a slightly blocked nose, this could have been a result of the smog although as I only found out about it today that might be a little psychosomatic. As usual I pumped myself full of medication all day and rather idiotically drank alcohol last night at a gig, three cans of Red Stripe to be precise. The mixture of tablets and alcohol did funny things to my mind as I started hallucinating in Jam Cafe, at one point I was sure I had seen local TV presenter Mark 'literally' Del in attendance (there were perhaps more people in Jam Cafe than have ever watched Notts TV, but then again there more people behind the bar). There wasn't a mass media interest in this gig so this wasn't one of the gigs he would usually leave the house for in his capacity as one of the Nottingham music scene's goal hangers. He seemed to be enjoying himself in the unusual surroundings of a live music venue so hopefully he will start to practice what he preaches about spreading the love. It is much better than sitting at home clicking 'like' on Facebook and listening to SoundCloud.
As I have said before, I have never met Mark 'literally' Del so am not qualified to comment on him personally, neither is he qualified to comment on me personally. As much as I admire what he does regarding the Nottingham music scene, my only criticism of him is that he never goes to gigs. Perhaps last night was the turning point, in which case I look forward to seeing him at Notts In A Nutshell and various other events. I could have been the bigger man last night and introduced myself, bought him a drink, and made an effort to get to know him and perhaps given him advice on dealing with being slagged off; I could have done that but I was overcome with shock at seeing him at a gig so somehow convinced myself that it couldn't possibly have been him.
It was a lovely night spent in great company, Gary and I joined Jim and Rosie from Wild Man Of Europe in watching the acts, although anyone who follows us on Twitter might have wondered if we were paying attention. I was paying attention despite the fact that there was a huge amount of talking going on in the seating area, (we were standing in the lay line between the front of the stage and the seating area - you need to be familiar with Jam Cafe to get this) and at one point I could hardly hear the music. During the first set I made a sneaky video intending to shame these people but it didn't come out very well due to not even realising that you could record video straight to Twitter and not really knowing what I was doing. Then I realised that I had not yet used the AudioBoom app on my phone so recorded the sound of where I was standing and tweeted it in the hope of raising awareness to this epidemic. My friend Andy Haynes commented that it's a shame Jam Cafe isn't in an area populated by bars (for none-Nottingham residents, it is, he was being ironic) and suggested we open a venue with cardboard cut out musicians and play CDs to see if anyone would even notice.
I think I might start using the AudioBoom account to highlight this problem and try to find a way to stamp it out. (Yes, I am aware that I have written about this before). Talking during gigs is disrespectful to musicians and a pain in the arse for people who like to listen to live music. Venues need to start to take some of the responsibility for this and politely (at first) ask offenders to keep it down. Thanks to the passing of a stupid law in 2007, people have to go outside to smoke in between the acts so if customers are so keen to pay attention to this rule then another one needs passing which requires people to go outside to have their conversations, or preferably fuck off somewhere else. If the venues worked together with the promoters, DJs, podcasters, the local writers and movers and shakers this is a problem that could be stopped. Now that he knows what a gig is like maybe Mark 'literally' Del could mention it on his podcast and telly show? That handful of people could make a difference if they tell enough of their friends and family. This is just as big a problem as the closures of music venues up and down the country because it threatens live music; the message is clear - shut the fuck up and listen to the music. How would you like it if a musician turned up at your place of work and got in the way of you doing your job?
I should mention the artists from last night; it was my first time seeing Daudi Matsiko and I was extremely impressed and will be watching out for him playing again. Jamie Moon and Molly & Jack were great but for me the night belonged to Keto. As the only non-acoustic act on the bill I was surprised they weren't headlining, but I don't make the rules. Apart from the rule about talking at gigs, I am going to make that rule and hope that my dying legacy will be the end of talking at gigs.
Listen to this week's edition of The Sunday Alternative here.
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March housekeeping
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