I'd Like to Thank my Buddies
..and so it ends. I think I can say, without fear of hyperbole, that this has been the best trio of gigs the band has played so far. On a personal note, it's almost certainly the most fun weekend I can remember having (well, intermittently remember anyway)
Soo, where was I? Oh yes. Got picked up about 9ish to rendezvous with the rest of the band (and the gear etc), and found kmrikky seeking the best oddball techno remix on YouTube. Best so far is Cillit Hardcore Bang..
We were all understandably hyper during the loading and stuff, so it was a surprisingly quiet first half of the journey to London - think we ran outta energy. Once we'd stopped and eaten though (service station finest, as always seems to end up being the case on these multi-date weekends) things rapidly got back to their normal, surreal level. I'll post a collection of finest quotes from the weekend later.
Once again, we arrived way earlier that we were needed, and once again we found we really don't know what to do when there's time in hand. Ended up meandering aimlessly round Camden for an hour, but managed to stay our of Resurrection Records (I've spent too much on this weekend already!)
Back for soundcheck, plus we found we have our own band dressing room! I was amazingly impressed (considering at Corp we get that little side room by the stage, and I think Ashbury Heights had to share with us). On the other hand, walking backstage and seeing this staring at you is a bit unnerving..
Oh yeah, there was a gig too, wasn't there? :) What can I say? Un-be-fewkin-lievable.. I thought London crowds were supposed to bit a bit reserved, slightly diffident? Not this lot - they were leaping and cheering pretty much from the first song! We were in the Electric Ballroom too (a truly massive venue), so there were about as many folks for our set as there were at the height of Combichrist in Sheffield. Truly awesome - I think Sheffield's reception did just pip this one and Edinburgh for sheer 'batshit mental' magnitude, but it was close.
Ashbury Heights also delivered their top performance of the weekend, to even bigger applause. I enjoyed them more than ever this time, and I'm really hoping I'll get to see them again in the future.
Of course, there was only one band tonight was about though. If I thought we'd done fairly well with the audience.. well, let's just say we could barely hold a candle to the Combi boys. A bigger stage than ever, no pesky curfew (at least, not that they were going to take any notice of!) and a room absolutely rammed to its capacity, every one of them hyped up beyond words. I was pretty much down the front for the entire set, and they truly are the standard-setter for any band in this genre - nothing I've seen before comes close.
Check out the videos - two here and here. Yes, those are stage invaders at the end of the second, and yes, he did push her off into the audience (they caught her!)
Alas there was no partyage afterwards - the other bands had to be in Cologne bright & early next day, and plus it was a Sunday - so we had to make our own entertainment on the way back. How? How else.. ROLLERCOASTER!!!
So that's it, I've done three dates and survived (even though London did leave my hands in a bit of a mess. Now all I have to get through is Andy birthday outing to Corp tonight...
Soo, where was I? Oh yes. Got picked up about 9ish to rendezvous with the rest of the band (and the gear etc), and found kmrikky seeking the best oddball techno remix on YouTube. Best so far is Cillit Hardcore Bang..
We were all understandably hyper during the loading and stuff, so it was a surprisingly quiet first half of the journey to London - think we ran outta energy. Once we'd stopped and eaten though (service station finest, as always seems to end up being the case on these multi-date weekends) things rapidly got back to their normal, surreal level. I'll post a collection of finest quotes from the weekend later.
Once again, we arrived way earlier that we were needed, and once again we found we really don't know what to do when there's time in hand. Ended up meandering aimlessly round Camden for an hour, but managed to stay our of Resurrection Records (I've spent too much on this weekend already!)
Back for soundcheck, plus we found we have our own band dressing room! I was amazingly impressed (considering at Corp we get that little side room by the stage, and I think Ashbury Heights had to share with us). On the other hand, walking backstage and seeing this staring at you is a bit unnerving..
Oh yeah, there was a gig too, wasn't there? :) What can I say? Un-be-fewkin-lievable.. I thought London crowds were supposed to bit a bit reserved, slightly diffident? Not this lot - they were leaping and cheering pretty much from the first song! We were in the Electric Ballroom too (a truly massive venue), so there were about as many folks for our set as there were at the height of Combichrist in Sheffield. Truly awesome - I think Sheffield's reception did just pip this one and Edinburgh for sheer 'batshit mental' magnitude, but it was close.
Ashbury Heights also delivered their top performance of the weekend, to even bigger applause. I enjoyed them more than ever this time, and I'm really hoping I'll get to see them again in the future.
Of course, there was only one band tonight was about though. If I thought we'd done fairly well with the audience.. well, let's just say we could barely hold a candle to the Combi boys. A bigger stage than ever, no pesky curfew (at least, not that they were going to take any notice of!) and a room absolutely rammed to its capacity, every one of them hyped up beyond words. I was pretty much down the front for the entire set, and they truly are the standard-setter for any band in this genre - nothing I've seen before comes close.
Check out the videos - two here and here. Yes, those are stage invaders at the end of the second, and yes, he did push her off into the audience (they caught her!)
Alas there was no partyage afterwards - the other bands had to be in Cologne bright & early next day, and plus it was a Sunday - so we had to make our own entertainment on the way back. How? How else.. ROLLERCOASTER!!!
So that's it, I've done three dates and survived (even though London did leave my hands in a bit of a mess. Now all I have to get through is Andy birthday outing to Corp tonight...
