Tuesday 1st of August, 2000
two temperatures for pizza
There only seem to be two temperatures for pizza - hot enough to take the roof off your mouth and stone cold. I'm a greedy boy, so I don't see a lot of stone cold pizza. Pete H. arrived with his healthy eating habits (mainly fruit, as far as I can tell), and I just went out and got pizza from the takeaway where I got junk food last year. I'm falling back into my bad habits - I'll be walrus-sized by this time next week.
Or I would be if it wasn't for my secret weapon - I have a bike. I seem to have bought it, at least on the expectation that I will sell it back at a reduced rate. What will happen if I want to keep it hasn't been covered. But, wow, cycling really needs heart-'n'-lungs. I took it up Pleasance on the way back, and was wiped out in an exhilarated sort of way. Hopefully, Dave will be able to help me sort out the saddle and handlebars and so forth when he arrives. I also need a helmet and some lights.
I got way over to Leith Walk to collect the corrections from Ness for the Nick Sharratt book I'm working on at the moment, did bits of money stuff, and work stuff (checked out a local Mac bureau), and bought some clothes at the charity shops that line Nicholson Road, trying to piece together some stage clothes for the Jeays extravaganza, and did some more flat stuff. So I spent most of the day walking around. So I am knackered.
That's about it.
What?
The gig?
My gig?
Um, okay.
Look, nobody came, but I didn't expect them to, because I hadn't promoted it, and the festival hasn't really started yet and yadda yadda yadda. Pete came - I put him on the guest list, and an australian student wandered in and there were some ESS members. About ten people altogether if you include the bloke behind the bar, although the band who were on after me wandered in and out. Nobody paid. I should have done it as a free preview - that might have got bums on seats. I did my hour, and then they asked for an encore (and made a fair amount of noise), which was nice. I played quite well, but with a few glitches that I'd like to ireon out - in particular, my voice kept breaking, which was a legacy of my feeling tired. It was very useful for me - a sort of dress rehearsal for the other two gigs (which were the only ones I had any chance of attracting anyone to), and now these people, at least, know who I am and what I do. And a gig is a gig - it's not really the number of people in the audience, but what's in your mind. I just had to try to keep the people who were there from feeling uncomfortable, and I think they enjoyed it, even if they thought I was mad to play a concert to an empty room. I, myself, did feel a bit uncomfortable, but I didn't want to mention it to Ruaridh (the sound man, and a performer in his own right), because it wasn't his responsibility. It was to do with trying to get used to the room, and the chair I was sitting on (which was about 5cm higher than I would have liked). Hopefully, if I can get some time at the ESS nights (at the same venue), I'll be more comfortable next time (a fortnight today, the 15th). I have to do something to stop the guitar slipping off my leg. And sort out a proper set-list, at least in my mind. And find ways of promoting myself. And practice, practice, practice!
And next time, I'll try not to tire myself out on the day of a gig.