When my daughter was down for the week a little while ago one of the things I had decided to do was take her to her first gig, obviously I couldn't buy her alcohol but having checked first I took her to Jam Cafe to see a brand new act doing what I think (but am not sure) was the first show. Will Jefferey and Kim Bignell, two established singers in their own right, have formed the duo The Girl and the Stone. The combination of their two voices is a perfect match and I hoped then that they were going to continue with this project. Emily enjoyed it too which was a bonus, so hopefully we'll get to do it again soon.
Today is Emily's birthday and I can't believe she is now seventeen years old, surely I am not old enough to have a seventeen year old daughter who goes to college, has a job and a boyfriend. Although we were not together for the occasion I told her (we talk on the phone almost every day) that I would have a drink for her tonight when I went to a gig. At the Jam Cafe we were sitting behind the stage and our view was of the back of their heads. I took the above photo and sent it via Whatsapp to Emily with a message saying that this is what the gig I took you to looks like from the front. Just in case you think that my use of Whatsapp is down to the influence of my teenage daughter, you're wrong - it was actually my 60 year old mother who got me using it.
Also on the bill was The Idolins, a brilliant band I have had the pleasure of working with on a couple of occasions (I did the broadcast on NG Digital for their album launch and they played The Random Saturday Sessions last year) and again soon as they are playing my stage at the Hockley Hustle. I haven't been to the Malt Cross for a while and it seems to have got its feel back. The last (literally the last time) time I went in there was just after the refit and it seemed too sanitised for an old music hall, maybe it needed to settle in a bit. Sound wise it is one of the best live music venues around because of the way it was built for performers without microphones, this means that those ignorant pricks who talk all the way through can be zoned out.
It wasn't until later that I realised the coincidence of watching the first band I took Emily to on her actual birthday. Maybe it was planned?
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