Dave's Gig Guide
Raid on the Road, 23rd March 2000
After Alfa, we went to ground and hid for a while. Do you blame us?
A few months later, the three of us got together in a bar in Sunderland called Baroque and got deliciously drunk. Then someone, Dave I think, decided it would be fun to have another go, to see if we could do a live gig and enjoy it, this time without all of the bastards in the UK scene constantly snapping at our heels. The result was this support slot at the R@id on the Road series fronted by the sadly defunct North East band Zone where we were booked to support Cryogenic, a band who were tipped to be the next hot thing from the North East of England.
We didn't promote the event to the usual EM crowd. We kept them at bay, told just a handful of close friends and then settled back to enjoy ourselves. On the other hand, the gig promoters did a good job putting the word about. I remember being completely thrilled to bits when I saw the band's name in the "Events" section of the local rag and on a billboard in a shop doorway. That felt good.
I do remember the trip to the venue. Dave asked two of his roady friends to do the driving and, whilst there was plenty of room in the back for the gear, there was virtually no room up front for people. Dave and I settled on the bare floorboards in the back of the van with the gear sliding all over the place whilst Jules settled down in the front - under the watchful gaze of the two roadies, who were thrilled to have a young lady in her "rock-goddess" outfit up front with them. Jules, ever the professional, just looked politely amused. Climbing the Houghton cut on the A690 was particularly memorable. The van just didn't have the stones to get it up such a steep incline with so much gear in the back. Dave and I offered to get out and push.
I can't remember much of what we played - mostly our standards, I think. Love song, a reworked version of Tranquillity Bass and an improved version of A Question of Time. I know it was only a short set - around 40 minutes, and nobody remembered to record the gig as far as I'm aware.
Without all of the pressure from a scene determined to tear itself apart, the gig was a lot of fun, the band were brilliant and I, personally, had a great time. The crowd were fantastic - very enthusiastic and with loud, vigourous applause. Sheesh! We even made some money from the door tax!! What more could you ask?
Alas, with the exception of their keyboard player, who seemed like a fun guy and not one to take himself overly seriously, Cryogenic were actually just arrogant little tits. They tried to come across as coke-fuelled Rock Gods but actually came across as just the next set of wannabe Oasis clones, complete with a ridiculously crappy LA drawl and an attitude that was as laughable as their fake sneers. They were particularly rude to Dave when he congratulated them on their performance though I suspect that this was because Dave's guitar work simply blew their own guitarist off the stage and made him look like the amateur he was.
As far as I was concerned, this gig meant that we were back in the game. The reviews that followed were good and I felt that we'd redeemed ourselves a little and that we were ready to move on to the next stage.