2nd gig since we formed, the venue The Station in Ashton-under-Lyne. Smith suggested the venue after our gig at the Hare and Hounds, Mossley.
We set off with plenty of time to spare, until we hit the M60. Standing traffic for miles. Steve and I took a gamble and left at the Bredbury turnoff, but so did a million other drivers. What should have taken 30 minutes ended up nearly an hour and forty five …. Ahhh!
The Station is only a small pub, but Andy, the landlord is doing a great job. He has his faithful 'locals' who come from miles around for the music.
When we arrived the playing area looked quite tight, and after we had brought in the gear there was not a lot of space to move never mind set up the gear. No matter, we did it with 10 minutes to spare, although nobody was in any rush, so a pint was the call of the day.
We started the first set with a great crowd shouting encouragement, and lots of other things !!!!, we cruised through with everything running smoothly. The best track for me in the first set was "When a Blind Man Cries", the classic Deep Purple track, we really got it spot on. Unfortunately the video camera ran out of battery just after we had started it.
I found a lead in the car, the camera plugged in, and the second set was taped, see the videos at www.massiveelectricstorm.co.uk
The second set started with Steve doing a Brian May thing before we all came in with "Don't get fooled again" the Who anthem. The second set really rocks and it didn't seem that long (nearly and hour and ten) till we launched into LA Women to end the gig.
Everybody said they enjoyed it, Andy must have been impressed, offering a return gig Dec or Jan, diaries at dawn required there.
Over all it was a really great gig, we seemed to play well, Steve did some superb guitar solo's and Charlie was excellent playing, singing and as the front man. Meanwhile Ken kicked out the rhythm that was a solid as a rock. It really is a pleasure playing with these guys, I'm glad Ken talked me back in to starting up again. To top it all the crowd was great and the M60 was clear all the way home…. And I had a cold beer waiting in the fridge.