Songwriters Evening
Last night I toddled up to Manchester to go to a Songwriters Evening at Gullivers.An intimate evening of Country, Roots, Americana & Folk and an insight to how each song was written by 4 songwriters
One of those little back room of a pub gigs with 20 people and I know most of the people on stage types. There was a girl I didn't know called Laura Oakes, then there was Jess Roberts, Luke & Mel, Hannah Jane Lewis and Gary Quinn..
Yup, my 2014 stalking of Gary has commenced *grins*
Work yesterday was hilarious. So, because of the epic fuck up that was discovered on Thursday and knowing I was leaving early to go to Manchester, I toddled in early. I was there just after 8. Only the network was down, and IT don't start til 9:30. I sorted all the paperwork I could, did my filing, that kind of thing. IT were all 'yeah, it'll be up by 10'... 10 comes and goes, and then they decide it'll be up by 1... i just look at my boss T and am 'wtf?' - see other people can do their jobs not using AX but me? My ENTIRE job is on AX. I spent a lovely few hours reading my book and playing Flappy Bird (OMG SO FUCKING ADDICTIVE!).
It was however confirmed the fuckup was nowhere near as epic OR fuckedup as had been originally thought. Which was a relief.
The system eventually came back up at 2 and I crammed a ridiculous amount of work into an hour and half before leaving for my *coughdoctorsappointmentcough*
I got to Manchester about 6:30, parked up in my usual car park, checked where Gullivers is (same street as Night & Day Cafe and The Castle Hotel, and just around the corner from Band On Wall and Ruby Lounge!), then went and had a burger cos I was starving!
Got back to the venue about 7:15, entered to a lovely hug from Gary, before meeting up with E, L & N - and can I say there is nothing better than being wrong about people. I'd always associated them, especially E&L as 'crazies' but have been chatting to them both online for a few months and getting on really well and it was FAB to meet up with them.
First up was Jess Roberts. I've seen her before, just the once at the Fort San Antone festival last year and I talk to her online all the time. She's got a beautiful voice, but NO confidence on stage. Her body language is so closed off and she looks terrified. If she relaxes she'll be amazing.
The night ended up being a bit of the Luke Thomas show, as he was on stage playing guitar for most of the artists - he started off on stage with Jess. And bless him, as he was setting up, he just stopped and came over to give me a hug and his 'now usual' greeting of 'oh its you' *grins* He does give good hugs.
The second act was 'Luke & Mel' which, I realised that no matter how many gigs I've been to and spent time with them both, I've never seen them actually play so I was curious. They were AWESOME. They totally deserved the BCMA they got. I will be looking at their tour dates and seeing if I can catch them again. I know they're at the C2C on the pop-up stages though, which is awesome.
The third act was Laura Oakes. Wee slip of a girl, who took a couple songs to get into her groove but she was good. The kind of good where I've bought her song. I didn't get chance to talk to her but yes, thoroughly enjoyed her music and will be checking her out again if I get chance to.
Gary was next. He was of course absolutely amazing, and even though I've seen him like 11 billion times in the last year, he still blows me away, and I love that I still react to all the songs every time. I laugh, I cry, I sing, I want to get up and dance.
I dunno, his music just makes me happy, and even when I'm sitting there crying my eyes out over Rewind, I still have the biggest grin on my face. And I'm always 'nope, not gonna cry this time' and oh look, tears happen and I'm resolutely Not Looking at him. And he always says he can't look at me during it cos he knows I'll be crying. Which is funny cos most of the time he's looking over at me grinning cos I'm there grinning and singing LOL
He did a new song last night too 'Clocking Off To Start My Shift' which is apparently MY fault he's writing new songs so I don't get too fed up of the same old songs... bless him. He is amused by the fact I'm basically reciting the intros to his songs along with him though!
There was a bit of a break between Gary & Hannah's sets. E went to get me a drink from the bar and I went over to chat to Jess and Mel (and Wayne from Fort San Antone). Luke's recently proposed so I had to have a nice look at a very shiny ring on Mel's finger and we were just chatting about music and driving and dogs, perfectly normal conversations. I love the girl (and it's entirely possible she has amazing legs and a fab ass hehe)
Hannah and her band were last up. I swear other than her family I was the only person there who knew who she was. So I'm there, chair dancing and singing along happily. And she's there grinning at me, and I'm grinning back and it was so much fun. SO MUCH FUN!
I've only seen her twice before, but I've got her EP and have apparently learned all the words. Even to Tailored To You, which isn't on the EP but I have heard twice. Which, to me, is a sign of damn good music - when you've only heard it a couple times and can sing along. Like, the first time I saw her, I was singing along by the 2nd/3rd chorus. But yeah, she gets better every time I see her, more relaxed and confident and I can't wait to see her again, keep seeing that progression.
I didn't just get a hug from her. I got a fully body hug and we chatted a while and she was SO pleased that I knew the songs and was enjoying myself. She said it was nice that there was someone there who knew her music and it was good to see me again. She's such a sweet wee thing!
So yeah, absolutely awesome night. I'm so fucking glad I went - with the crap couple of weeks I've had with my legs, it was nice to be able to just kick back, relax and have fun. I just tuned everything out and enjoyed the music and let it transport me to that plae where nothing else matters for a few hours.
Hannah and Jess are playing up in Preston tomorrow. At Fort San Antone at lunchtime, and then at Mad Ferret at 7pm. So tempted, SO TEMPTED to go up. It's one of those where I'm torn between what I want and what I should!
One of those little back room of a pub gigs with 20 people and I know most of the people on stage types. There was a girl I didn't know called Laura Oakes, then there was Jess Roberts, Luke & Mel, Hannah Jane Lewis and Gary Quinn..
Yup, my 2014 stalking of Gary has commenced *grins*
Work yesterday was hilarious. So, because of the epic fuck up that was discovered on Thursday and knowing I was leaving early to go to Manchester, I toddled in early. I was there just after 8. Only the network was down, and IT don't start til 9:30. I sorted all the paperwork I could, did my filing, that kind of thing. IT were all 'yeah, it'll be up by 10'... 10 comes and goes, and then they decide it'll be up by 1... i just look at my boss T and am 'wtf?' - see other people can do their jobs not using AX but me? My ENTIRE job is on AX. I spent a lovely few hours reading my book and playing Flappy Bird (OMG SO FUCKING ADDICTIVE!).
It was however confirmed the fuckup was nowhere near as epic OR fuckedup as had been originally thought. Which was a relief.
The system eventually came back up at 2 and I crammed a ridiculous amount of work into an hour and half before leaving for my *coughdoctorsappointmentcough*
I got to Manchester about 6:30, parked up in my usual car park, checked where Gullivers is (same street as Night & Day Cafe and The Castle Hotel, and just around the corner from Band On Wall and Ruby Lounge!), then went and had a burger cos I was starving!
Got back to the venue about 7:15, entered to a lovely hug from Gary, before meeting up with E, L & N - and can I say there is nothing better than being wrong about people. I'd always associated them, especially E&L as 'crazies' but have been chatting to them both online for a few months and getting on really well and it was FAB to meet up with them.
First up was Jess Roberts. I've seen her before, just the once at the Fort San Antone festival last year and I talk to her online all the time. She's got a beautiful voice, but NO confidence on stage. Her body language is so closed off and she looks terrified. If she relaxes she'll be amazing.
The night ended up being a bit of the Luke Thomas show, as he was on stage playing guitar for most of the artists - he started off on stage with Jess. And bless him, as he was setting up, he just stopped and came over to give me a hug and his 'now usual' greeting of 'oh its you' *grins* He does give good hugs.
The second act was 'Luke & Mel' which, I realised that no matter how many gigs I've been to and spent time with them both, I've never seen them actually play so I was curious. They were AWESOME. They totally deserved the BCMA they got. I will be looking at their tour dates and seeing if I can catch them again. I know they're at the C2C on the pop-up stages though, which is awesome.
The third act was Laura Oakes. Wee slip of a girl, who took a couple songs to get into her groove but she was good. The kind of good where I've bought her song. I didn't get chance to talk to her but yes, thoroughly enjoyed her music and will be checking her out again if I get chance to.
Gary was next. He was of course absolutely amazing, and even though I've seen him like 11 billion times in the last year, he still blows me away, and I love that I still react to all the songs every time. I laugh, I cry, I sing, I want to get up and dance.
I dunno, his music just makes me happy, and even when I'm sitting there crying my eyes out over Rewind, I still have the biggest grin on my face. And I'm always 'nope, not gonna cry this time' and oh look, tears happen and I'm resolutely Not Looking at him. And he always says he can't look at me during it cos he knows I'll be crying. Which is funny cos most of the time he's looking over at me grinning cos I'm there grinning and singing LOL
He did a new song last night too 'Clocking Off To Start My Shift' which is apparently MY fault he's writing new songs so I don't get too fed up of the same old songs... bless him. He is amused by the fact I'm basically reciting the intros to his songs along with him though!
There was a bit of a break between Gary & Hannah's sets. E went to get me a drink from the bar and I went over to chat to Jess and Mel (and Wayne from Fort San Antone). Luke's recently proposed so I had to have a nice look at a very shiny ring on Mel's finger and we were just chatting about music and driving and dogs, perfectly normal conversations. I love the girl (and it's entirely possible she has amazing legs and a fab ass hehe)
Hannah and her band were last up. I swear other than her family I was the only person there who knew who she was. So I'm there, chair dancing and singing along happily. And she's there grinning at me, and I'm grinning back and it was so much fun. SO MUCH FUN!
I've only seen her twice before, but I've got her EP and have apparently learned all the words. Even to Tailored To You, which isn't on the EP but I have heard twice. Which, to me, is a sign of damn good music - when you've only heard it a couple times and can sing along. Like, the first time I saw her, I was singing along by the 2nd/3rd chorus. But yeah, she gets better every time I see her, more relaxed and confident and I can't wait to see her again, keep seeing that progression.
I didn't just get a hug from her. I got a fully body hug and we chatted a while and she was SO pleased that I knew the songs and was enjoying myself. She said it was nice that there was someone there who knew her music and it was good to see me again. She's such a sweet wee thing!
So yeah, absolutely awesome night. I'm so fucking glad I went - with the crap couple of weeks I've had with my legs, it was nice to be able to just kick back, relax and have fun. I just tuned everything out and enjoyed the music and let it transport me to that plae where nothing else matters for a few hours.
Hannah and Jess are playing up in Preston tomorrow. At Fort San Antone at lunchtime, and then at Mad Ferret at 7pm. So tempted, SO TEMPTED to go up. It's one of those where I'm torn between what I want and what I should!