...not a review...not really......no thousand word essays here....promise....
So I mosied down to Whalley last night to support a venue that keeps trying to stick with live music but with very varying degrees of success but more importantly to support Mick who I keep bumping into "on the circuit". This guy literally will take in at least 2 or 3 gigs in an evening doing his rounds and sure there's an element of "casing the joint out for gigs" but if we're truthful that's a factor for most of us when we go to see a band at a venue where we don't already have bookings.
He recently turned up unannounced at a Stan's Gig to show his support at a time when the band was facing turbulent times and it was great to see his face in the audience.
So I arranged a while back to go to see him at the Whalley Arms and offered to take my cameras down to subject him to the same treatment I gave to those at the Hindley Arms charity do. As a "subject" he was perfect. Very engaged in "the process". Perfectly accommodating in siting and setting his gear so that I could work around it easily and have the minimum amount of interference. He wasn't in the least bit phased when at some points it looked for all the world like I was trying to film up his nostrils (I like to try out extreme angles and can often be found prostate at the front of the stage filming or photographing at very odd angles - though I had warned him in advance!) and consequently I managed to film both sets with a twin camera set up and rattled off over 600 stills.
Here's a very small sample of my initial results. It will take a while to edit the video footage and I will leave it to Mick to air that as and when he is happy with the finished result.
And all this for free.....yes gratis.....on a day where we seem to be in danger of revisiting the "clique" argument and who does what for who I would just say, I'm fairly new here and I've tried to give what I can to the people on this site. I don't have enough disposable income to make the trek from Pendle over to Greater Manchester to support bands or venues apart from a very occasional special occasion. I don't have "favourites" as I haven't been around long enough to get to know people that well. My only concern is "what can I do to help promote live music" and its not much, but I can do this, as I did for Mick, and as I've done for others when they're on my patch or have got me to wherever their patch is.
I don't worry about what I may get in return because at the moment I've got what my immediate desire was - a place in a community. In time I hope people will come to see me in either of my band incarnations (Reload or The Stan's) but sometimes it takes time for the "pay it forward" mentality to work its way back around (if at all) and in the meantime I'm just going to enjoy hanging out with people who I'm increasingly coming to think of as friends. I don't pimp my gigs on the forum (they're in the gig guide) and I don't lose any sleep if there's not a soul in the audience I recognise. Life's too short to take it personally. It's usually not.
Anyway, the pictures
I've still got outstanding requests from the Jackson Kay Band and Call Me Diva which I will sort once I've got a free night when they're gigging locally. If anyone else is interested in "the treatment" let me know. Can't make any promises but I love piddling about with my camera so there's a fair chance you might find me lying on the floor taking pictures up your nostrils.