by Chewbacca on Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:30 pm
I first heard the band on the excellent Planet Rock in 2006, and was blown away instantly, on the strenth of one song (Come Follow Me) i thought these guys were good, and ordered Rise pretty much straight away.
Unfortunately due to various work commitments, holidays etc, i only saw the band live for the first time in July 09, would of been eight weeks sooner had someone not broke their arm!! Nottingham Rescue Rooms was the venue, i had also dragged my girlfriend and a couple of mates with me, after trying to get into Rock City, we eventually found the right spot, Swanee River was just getting into their stride, the place was crammed, and sweaty as hell,
"we'll never get to the front" i told my mates after getting the first round,
"feck that, watch this!" as the shortest of my mates charged to the front, and found a spot on the barrier for all four of us, just to the right of the stage, it was a perfect spot, (i knew i took him for a reason!), as Swanee River drew to a close, i was so pleased with our spot that i refused to go back to the bar for my next round in case i lost our place, so sent the missus!, when the lights were on i couldn't help notice how many people had Answer shirts on, i felt left out! then the lights dimmed and the guy tuning the guitars put his hands in the air, to signal the bands imminent arrival,
"GOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN" after three songs, i had lost my voice, my beer and my missus, the band were on fire, i had dreamt about it being this good, and boy did they live up to it, i found the missus again in the same spot we had from the start, great timing because Cormac had just jumped down from the stage, after a bit of pushing i got to hug and high him, the guy was getting pulled about all over the place, but he looked like he was enjoying himself. When it was encore time i could barely speak, Under The Sky was last, and was the only song one of mates had heard, so he was made up, the band then kicked some beach balls into the croud, one of which i caught, and nothing was gonna make me let go of it, i got to the barrier and held if over the side, so no one would steal it, and i could attempt to deflate it!
It was an awesome gig, the band were electric, not only did i get a beach ball, i got a shirt, and was given a poster as a thanks for coming despite the delay.
As we had to head straight back to yorkshire, we didn't meet the band, i've seen them twice since and still haven't, something i'm looking forward too!
This gig blew my mind, and my friends were very impressed also, both times i've seen the band since the same two mates have come with me, we're always down front and each time i've held Cormac! Once he let me hold the mic while we both sang On and On! Every time has been awesome, i can only hope i go to more gigs.
I'll be whatever i wanna do, people said i was dumb but i showed them.
)
Sue is a long-standing Led Zep fan, so my only question to her was "Remind you of anybody ?" She nodded, and grinned back at me. We were both instantly hooked.
) and was laid out on the grass listening to some great music in the distance...not knowning...who it was,
