performance on saturday

On Saturday (7 December) I'm opening proceedings on the second stage at Islington Mill, for their Terminal Cheesecake/Xmas at the Mill extravaganza.

This is totally no stakes for me. As the opening support on the second stage, there just won't be many people there. Since very few people have ever seen me perform, and everyone is there for other bands, pretty much no-one who is there will be interested in what I do.

Honestly, I expect to perform to about a dozen people, some of whom might even be hostile.

So naturally I'm planning to do something I think is a little outside my ability.

Specifically that will be a new song I've written, learned, rehearsed, and abraded over a few weeks. The song isn't the problem, it's what I'm attempting to do with it. I'm trying to do two things which I think may be irreconcilable by me at present.

The first is to sing the song, albeit it in an extreme and raucous manner. In itself not a problem. The second is to apply extended vocal technique and improvisation to the song. Again, not in itself a problem. 

The difficulty comes in trying to combine the two things in a way that feels like it works. This is where most of my rehearsals have collapsed. It either becomes too conventional of a song, and one unaccompanied at that, or it threatens to get shapeless and lose energy.

Which means when I get on stage all I'll have is my song, my voice, some seriously messy rehearsals, and a bunch of unresolved ideas bashing off each other.

And that's exactly how I want it.

In case you're there and feel moved to sing along, the words I'll be yelling at a reluctant room are below.

1934

1934

Cranes over the city.

1927

Stop for the cashpoint.

1986

Ladybird in flight.

1942

Piss in the churchyard.

1825

Traffic lights change.

1979

Tickets on your phone.

2013

University buildings.

1964

By the canalside.

1892

Cranes over the city.