Dave's Gig Guide
SkinMechanix Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 11th February 2005
The first Skinmechanix gig and my first solo outing, supported by Steve Munslow aka Hyper Ex Machina.
As a safeguard, Dave Gurr, an ex-nightclub bouncer, was asked to keep a discrete watch on my gear for the whole evening, just in case anyone tried to monkey on with it. I was kind of disappointed that they didn't because I'd just love to see what Dave could do to them.
I set up the gear and got myself into the right state of mind for the performance but, straight away, we ran into a problem with the mixer - exactly the same problem we encountered at the National Space Centre. However, the sound guy, John Sherwood, just said "Ah. Okay.", and 'click', the problem was solved. If only someone at the NSC gig had known to add a small 'pad' into our signal then maybe we wouldn't have looked like dickheads.
This was an enjoyable event, with some nerves starting off and a few clumsy mistakes but a good debut. I have to admit that the absence of the band on stage left me feeling more than a little isolated. I really did miss the interaction with Jules and Dave.
I played a broad mix of styles - some SkinMechanix, some Berlin School and some T-Bass. The SKinMechanix stuff went down okay but the Berlin School track, The Journey Home, which I only threw in because I was short on the running time, earned strong and steady praise. The surprise was the T-Bass track, Before We Forget, which drew some incredible feedback, with fans raving about the delicately layered tones, the Chris Franke-style sequencing and the precision screaming solo.