The whole day even before I arrived at the venue was jam-packed with busy-ness, as I got cds ready, photocopied flyers for the table and generally got ready for the evening ahead.
As The Railway Hotel also does vegan and vegetarian food, we decided to have our dinner there before soundcheck at 6pm- We had the delicious Crass Burger with homemade chips- if you're ever in Southend and fancy a bite to eat- I give the Railway Hotel a very high recommendation- the food is delicious, portions are generous and great value for money.
Anyway, Rock in Your Pocket were the first to arrive, followed shortly by Le Monnier, the We Rock Like Girls Don't and finally Deathline. Everyone I met from the bands were very lovely and friendly. Duncan, the sound engineer was also very friendly and nice.
When we got upstairs, the first thing we did was get the entrance table set up and a table ready for The Dove Project. As usual you think you have everything but no- we had forgotten a tub for money on the door, blu-tack and headphones! Then we just had to wait as the bands did their soundchecks. As usually happens, I started to panic as the soundcheck was running late and I thought we could only go till 11pm. Eventually we opened the door at around 8pm as people were starting to queue! The ladies from The Dove Project also turned up, so we got them set up on a table in the corner with leaflets and donation pots. I soon found out that the license had been extended till midnight, so I felt much more relaxed!
RxKitten did the first round of djing before first band 'Deathline' came up, the people that had arrived weren't really warmed up yet so a lot of people were sitting around on the side, but I managed to get a few people up to dance to their electro fused punk- the lighting was pretty dim and nearly all you could see was their very bright pink guitar!
When they finished, the lady from the Dove Project did a very brief speech before RxKitten did some more djing.
Next up was Bristol band Rock in Your Pocket who I was really looking forward to seeing and they didn't disappoint- they were super energetic and played all my favourite tracks off their debut album 'Gutterdub' including singles 'Doubtbox' and 'No-One's Bitch But Mine' (which singer Charlie said was for anyone that had ever been oppressed- I think I just love everything about this song- possibly a new feminist anthem)! and also 'Only Love Me When I'm Drunk'
Now it was my turn to dj- and it made me realise how much I've missed it!- I can't remember everything I played and when but it included tracks by Garbage, L7, Bikini Kill, Gossip and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Le Monnier were the next band to play and I was so pleased to see them play a full set this time- including dedicating 'Con Amor Siempre' to Duncan the sound engineer and my personal favourite 'Mediocre Me' to me- as I like fast stuff :) They also said one of the songs was a cover- which I have but never realised it was a cover-'Fall Away' and I don't think many people did as when they asked 'Who was that then??" only one person replied- "Katy Perry"- ah that explains why I didn't know then :P
More djing from me and then the final act of the evening- We Rock Like Girls Don't- sadly the audience had thinned out quite a bit by now, but they still played the most blistering rock set and another song dedication for me!- 'Queen of Heavy Metal' and they played most of my favourites including 'I Just Wanna Stick my Head in the Bass Drum' and 'Something Out of Nothing' (which I woke up with stuck in my head the following day)- if you ever get the chance to see these ladies- then I urge you to- as they are ten times better live than recorded (and recorded is damn good). When they finished, we helped them to take their stuff down before getting a taxi home as were very drunk and tired!
Overall I think the night went quite well, the bands played their full sets and all played brilliantly, we made about £70 for the charity and I got a lot of positive feedback from people afterwards- so maybe the room wasn't packed, but we put on a damn good show and there will be a next time...just not yet!
Thanks to Noisy! for the videos!
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