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It’s a gig
diary! I know, I know, it’s been a while. Just a short one. I promise.
Over the
course of some ‘prog curries’ (yes, that’s a thing) and a few gigs here and there
over the last year or two, I have had the pleasure of getting to know one Mr Mark
”drawings, songs… and envelopes” Buckingham, comic book artist extraordinaire.
Once I’d got over the initial amazement of knowing someone who has his own
Wikipedia page, it was great to get to know Mark as he often joined us on The
Mighty Handful’s weekly sojourns to the pub/studio.
It turned
out that aside from his frankly astonishing skills with pens and paper, Mark
has a knack for writing lovely melodies and accompanying them with lyrics. By
the time I met him he had been working with a couple of prog luminaries on an
album called “Jigsawman” to accompany a graphic novel of the same name. Within
no time at all we were collaborating on some of that (and other) music and,
before you know it, there was a gig in the calendar. Mark asked me to accompany
him on keyboards for a slot supporting The Fierce And The Dead at their ‘The
Euphoric’ album launch; Mark had already enlisted the services of TFATD
loop-meister Matt “tomorrow I’m switching my ‘phone off and playing Sonic 2”
Stevens for the show.
In March this
year we hit the Mighty boat studio to write and record a couple of tunes which
we had hoped to have available for sale at the gig. Sadly, due to other
pressing commitments that release has yet to see the light of day, but I’m
rather hoping we’ll be back at it soon; it was a pleasure to share the studio
with Mark and Matt and, of course, with fellow Mighty Messrs. Matt “This is
DEFINITELY gonna work!” Howes and Gary “Chris Isaak and a beatbox” Mackenzie.
We managed
a couple of rehearsals in the week prior to the gig, which was salve to the
nerves of Matt and Mark and an all-round exquisite experience for me – there really
is nothing better than playing music when its going well! Mark has a lovely
voice, and Matt really does get some great noises out of guitars. On the day I
rocked up early and helped TFATD with the load-in and enjoyed their sound-check
immensely. The merch arrived, and after a quick pint downstairs the doors
opened and we were off!
Photo by Rosamund Tomlin
Set list
- Pitter Patter
- Jigsaw Man
- Lost Piece
- Little Glass Heart
- Shards
Our runs of
the set during rehearsals and sound-check had been perfectly gig-ready but, in
all honesty, I think the performance actually went better than any of our
previous attempts. It really made a difference having such a receptive, warm
and friendly audience to play to, and having some good-natured banter from
stage and crowd in-between songs. There’s no substitute for gigging it! Mark
had designed stage gear bedecked with jigsaw motifs and had made himself some splendid
light-based props for use during the show to illuminate the themes of the
songs. We seemed to go down well; there were lots of really enthusiastic and
encouraging comments from punters as we swilled round the crowd afterwards.
TFATD were
magnificent. The fans in attendance that evening were a fantastic bunch; it all
felt extremely inclusive and as if everyone was a friend of everyone else,
including us! The band were on fine form (“Tight as a witch’s cleft”, as you
might say) and tracks from the new album were received just as well as their
more well-known tunes. I bought myself a copy of their stonking new album and a
print of Mark’s art for it, which will find a home in my new home somewhere.
At the end
of the night I felt all loved-up and confident; a feeling that lasted right up
until I ran in to a spot of bother trying to open the kebab shop door….but that’s
another story!
Here comes
the thanks list:
- To Mark for
asking me to be involved – it’s an honour and a privilege!
- To Matt for
being such a talent and an easy guy to work with – it’s been an utter pleasure
making a racket with you. I see more interlocking guitar parts in our future…!
- To TFATD
and crew for having us – they and their crew really are among the loveliest folk
I’ve met in fifteen years of gigging. I hope we didn’t get in the way too much,
and hope to see you all again one day! (You can check them out at http://fierceandthedead.com/)
- To Kunal, Alan,
and all at Chaos Theory for making the evening go so smoothly.
- To Mighty
Matt and Mighty Gary for coming along to support us
- To everyone
who came along, bought merch, showed support and took the time to tell us their
thoughts – you’re all wonderful!
- To Roland (endorse
me, please! Go on, you know you want to…)
- To Rosamund
Tomlin for the photograph - I hope you're off those crutches in no time!
Until next time...
Chris "If you're not on Wing Fortress Zone yet, you're doing it wrong" Harrison
x
