OMG Acoustic Band Night

Photographs by Dom Cusick
Where to begin on this one!?

Last week I said The Cavern was one of the best gigs I've ever played. This week it was most certainly the best all round night I've had in the band! In fact it'd be in my top 10 nights of all time. It started off without me driving! Instead I just stayed at my house in Stoke and waited for the lads to come to me.

It makes a nice change...
... to be able to drink. I sometimes feel like the wet lettuce when the band and people around us are having a few drinks and I'm just chilling with a lemonade. But not this time! Together we got all the alcohol we could muster up (none of us have any money) which was; a bottle of rum; a bottle of Jack Daniels; half a bottle of Teacher's Whisky; a bottle of Rosé; some beer and a bottle of White Wine. 

I knew it would be one to remember!
Me and the band, plus legendary harmonica player, Guy, all went to the sound check. They weren't ready. So we went to ASDA and bought more pizza than any man could ever wish to consume... In the morning there wasn't a single piece left (except Phil's half eaten, half trodden meat feast next to the sofa!).  


The sound check...
Was actually the first time we've ever played acoustically as a whole band. I start to wonder if we've bitten off more than we can chew as we stumble through the cover of Layla... At least the sound engineer seemed chirpy - and by chirpy, what I actually mean is, I've seen more cheer in a graveyard.  If looks could kill then he would have committed genocide during that soundcheck. What do manners cost anyway? Well I guess it is the recession... 


Nothing like being prepared!
So after the soundcheck we decided to have a practice for the gig! Matt got lumbered with wearing a bright orange vest with the Charity's name on that we were playing for. He loved every second of it. If he could put in a transfer request to Take That, he wouldn't think twice! I ate some pizze, played some songs for the first time and learned some lyrics and then it was time to go to the LRV to play...


I think we got away with it...
Honestly? I think we killed it! Considering people weren't there just to see us, people really seemed to enjoy the gig! Altitude with Guy was a mint opener - I cannot wait to get that track out to people so they can listen guy all day long! The crowd seemed to enjoy Layla and Molly's Hangover (slow acoustic version of Molly's Chamber) the most. I even caught sight of a few people attempting to sing along to our own songs. I think it was the happiest gig we have done together - probably because we were so relaxed and were literally having a jam on stage!


The aftermath.
After the gig most of us went back to my student house. We nearly got started on by two big scally scumbags but all in all spirits were high! And spirits were also what was running through our bodies by the end of the night! Phil strolled in on his own at some point and Ben and Pete came shortly after. We also seemed to gather people along the way including my housemate's (Dom) girlfriend's brother! And his mates! They passed out, Phil was found face down in the garden at one point, and we carried on playing acoustic guitar and singing until the sun started to come up! It was truly magical. 


The morning...
I was awoken by Matt asking permission to make us a cup of tea... Well there are worse ways to wake up! The house smelt very stale though... 11 people in total stayed and it is a house no bigger than a pea. Phil was still rather merry and Pete went before I had a chance to wipe the sleep out of my pink and sore eyes! Ben's enthusiastic playing on the wooden box the night before meant his hands were killing and I woke up with a curious cut on my face - I soon remembered that Phil had given me a loving chew on my face... nice! My favourite quote from the morning, once again, went to Guy who half way through Fleetwood Mac's 'Don't Stop' chorus (yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone) sang in a angelic voice "unfortunately". 


Amazing!
All in all, it was a fantastic road trip for the band and another stamp on the map where the Marivaux have been and left a good impression. For an unprepared, under-rehearsed, first acoustic gig, I had an amazing time and so did everyone along with us! 


This summer is going to be special...

The Cavern Club

Possibly my favourite gig of all time...

The Cavern. Just saying those two words conjures up images of John, Paul, George & Ringo making a name for themselves amongst other acts like the Rolling Stones in the 60's. Of all the gigs I've ever played this was the one to put on the CV!

Start at the beginning

It's Friday and for the first time ever Matt is early for a band practice (even though it was his Birthday the night before and he guaranteed he'd be late!). Phil and myself pack the guitars into the car and head to the 'shack-like' Bolton studio where we record/jam. We get to grips with a Beatle's medley and get the harmony sounding sweet. Three hours later and we're feeling ready.

Quick bite then back in the car...

Road trips are usually special in the band because it gives us time to talk to one another without a clatter of drums or a drone of bass or a twang of guitar like in our normal rehearsals. I'm driving (as ever!) with Phil and Matt for company next to me. To begin with I disagree with TomTom's directions and believe I have a much faster way... Never mess with TomTom.



An hour and a bit later...

And we're parked up and walking down to find the famous Cavern Club with guitars on our backs and nerves in our stomaches. Nothing that a cheeky beer on the docks won't settle! For a fairly sunny day it wasn't half cold - lets just say if I'd been 'bagged' then it wouldn't of shown me in the best of lights!

Inside the venue

As you walk up to the club itself you see a busker singing Beatle's tunes and foreign looking people taking pictures next to a statue of John Lennon (Phil immediately feels at home and starts to sing with the busker as we pass... what a man!). We go down a few flights of stairs and into the famous setting of arched brickwork, accompanied by the sound of 'Love Me Do'. Unfortunately this wasn't our room and we ventured past the bar and into what can only be described as a scene from CBeebies.

14 Years Old!

I know rock and roll begins at an early age. I mean, I played my first 'gig' at 11 in a high school talent contest with Matt. But to play an over 18's venue, with more musical heritage then any other venue, when you are 14, is a bit of a piss-take. Especially when they are on after us! To top it all off the opening band arrives and they're not much older, at a premature 15! I wouldn't mind, but they didn't even offer us one of the cans of Foster's that they'd stole from their Dad's fridge!

Pre-drinking - friend or foe?

Now, as you will have gathered, I am usually the designated driver. This gig was no different. Yet, for about 3 hours before we were on, we went to numerous pubs where the band were getting steadily merrier and less coherent! When we we're in one Karaoke pub we all wondered what we'd done to end up in a place like this... Still, our friend and harmonica god, Guy, was enjoying himself, playing along to every tune under the sun!

The Gig.

8.45pm and we begin the set. I can't hear a thing except bass and rhythm guitar. The crowd don't seem to impressed by the attempt at harmonies that me, Matt and Phil have... But, luckily they are distract by the sweet sound of harmonica that Guy was throwing at them! A few tunes later and things seem to settle down. Cue our Beatles melody that we'd practiced earlier that day... at 100MPH!! I've never heard a band sing "beep beep, beep beep, yeah" so quickly! Seemed to go down well though!

10 minutes later and its all over

The gig was good. Not great. It was a bit too loud and as a band we'd probably been to too many pubs before hand, but all in all, it was good. People seemed to enjoy themselves and I'd had a good time on stage with the lads. Unfortunately our good friend 'Mule' couldn't be there as he'd crashed on the motorway on the way down. He and his passenger, Ash, were fine but nonetheless they should have been there and we're sorry they weren't.

Time to go...

We left half the band in Liverpool (the Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle is a 24/7 job you see) and I set off with Matt, Guy and our fantastically drunk friend Aron in the car. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life! The conversation between Aaron and Guy in the back was priceless! Aaron, "how's your KFC guy, is it nice?" Guy, "it was at first... but now I'm just used to it" - was a particular favourite of mine!

A lot of fog and a weird route home later (TomTom's revenge)...

And we were back in Manchester. We had a brief stop off where Aron was staying and had a sing-song with the guitar and harmonica. Aron sang a song about a man whose uncle died. Matt cried. The whole day had been a wonderful experience and all in all it was probably the most fun I've ever had with the band. Now though, it was time for bed...

We played The Cavern. 

The Ram & Shackle

No matter how well you play...
You can still sound as terrible as a one man band falling down a staircase if the set up is terrible. And on Monday night the set up was terrible; no monitors to hear ourselves; no microphones for the guitar amps or drums; and no stage to give presence to our set. 


And yet, I still had a good time. Even more surprising was the fact that the crowd seemed to find us bearable if not actually good too! 


The moral of the story is...
...as long as we're enjoying our playing, people will enjoy our gigs... even if it doesn't sound great!


Although it just might've had something to do with the amount of alcohol consumed...

War of the Bands

Last Night...
It's 9.30pm and we are waiting to go on. My fingers feel cold and my throat is tighter than normal. I look around and only see Matt who seems as cool as a cucumber. We're at Dry Live, the poster in the corner reads 'War of the Bands' and the band on stage finally finish with an over-enthusiastic clatter of drums and guitar that lasts for nearly 3 minutes. 




Four people clap. 


I need the loo but it doesn't look welcoming... ah well, when duty calls...

I finally spot Phil and Ben who both look how I feel, nervous. The 5ft 2" host reads our name out "...the ma.. the... matrix? ... how do you say it lads?" - good start! However, he has been a controversial figure all night with comments aimed at the crowd, telling them to "cheer the fuck up". It didn't work. This announcement just adds to a long run of blunders that have prompted jeers from a bunch of lads near the stage. 
Probably had too much to drink. 




Just for the record, it's pronounced "Ma-ree-voe". 

Plugged in and lit up, we wait for the compere to stumble off the stage and then we begin. The nerves immediately turn into adrenaline and we are doing what we love to do. The crowd cheer and we all smile. It was a good performance - even if we were cut short by the sound engineer. People start chanting 'one more song'. Good gig. Cue the drunk midget. 




Slight downer on the night...


All the money made went to charity. That's not my complaint. What I took issue with was when the venue said we'd taken £50 for ourselves. Phil and Pete sort it out but there is a slightly sour taste left in our mouths. 

It's now 11pm and the winner won't be announced until 2am. We did our best but now it's time to leave. I go to get the car - now £15 lighter in petrol - and pack the up the equipment. Home time now and I look back at the venue with a feeling of satisfaction. The drive home is calm and quiet - I enjoy night drives. Quick stop at McDonalds and then to bed.






By the way, at 3am they announced the winner... we won!