We were invited to play our third Hathersage Gala Finale Party back in May. We love this gig. Hathersage is nestled in the beautiful Hope Valley. It has quite a young demographic that, I can only assume, don’t have a regular opportunity to cut loose to live music. I only mention this because every time we play this event they go absolutely Tonto. From the opening bars of Song 2 we are confronted by a writhing mosh pit of enthusiastic teens. It’s like our very own Glastonbury.
This year we were also providing the PA for a couple of local bands. One of the bands was called Figure it Out and the other was called, No It’s Gone.
No seriously, I can’t remember what the other band was called. But they both consisted of very talented local teenagers. No It’s Gone had nine members, and to be honest dear reader, I could have done with out having to sound check a bleeding orchestra. A couple of the guitarists hadn’t brought their own amplifiers to boot, which meant plugging them directly into the desk. I had a box that let’s me do that, but it’s only down to luck that I had it with me. Hopefully a lesson has been learnt by these aspiring artists. Theses plucky teens covered loads of stuff from Abba to Oasis but by far my favourite was their version of Celebrity Skin by Hole. Not an obvious choice, but such a great tune.
Once they’d left the stage I launched the auto-DJ and started setting up the headliners. Drum kits, amps and keyboards were replaced other drum kits, amps and keyboards as we transitioned.
By the time 9pm rolled around the audience where very up for it and the mosh pit was lively from the first song, which was Song 2. We rounded it off with Dakota and took a quick break. Set two starts with Take Me Out and by this time it was getting pretty lairy out there, and we enthusiastically encourage. Like a crazed conductor, Ben whipped the crowd to a frenzy. Our young audience showed boundless energy as they savaged the chunks of 90s and 00s ephemera being slung to them.
It’s one of the best gigs of the year. Such energy and enthusiasm. We love it. I hope the videos do it justice.
