Tour pt 4 - The Lansdowne.

THE LANSDOWNE // 24 MAY

Briscoe, Tales In Space, Capitol + The FireTree

A few of us had been sick all week and between soundcheck and the gig, I lost my voice.

Byron duo the FireTree had been shoehorned into the bill by the venue the day before and they Matt Corbied their way through some Angus and Julia Stone territory. They were sweet but played too early to make an impact. 

Capitol came next and didn't play my favourite Capitol song Velveteen. I was very cross, but they did Let You Down and their cover of Rebel Yell so I forgave them. 

LEEEEEEEEEEE!

Capitol hold a special place in our hearts because they were almost the lone witnesses of our first ever gig. Before Briscoe had even thought about gigging Yak, Dee, Dave, Kate and I were playing a Dusker show (the other band we are all in) in Katoomba with Capitol and a band from the mountains. The mountains band pulled out at the last minute and early evening contentment with a 2 band bill gave way to 11pm drunken insistence on a third - the outrageously under-prepared and drummerless virgin Briscoe. 

The pub was changing owners the following week and the bar staff apparently didn't care for the incoming administration enough to bother with tedious things like commerce. They emptied three bottles of tequila into us for free. Then we played. For an hour maybe... we don't even have that much material now that we've had a rehearsal, I shudder to think what the hell we were playing back then. This guy (left), Lee was his name, kept assuring me afterwards that we were artists, but I think I overheard him later assuring a chip in the table laminate that it was an artist so, we're pretty much artists. 

In the end both Lee and Capitol were just as trolleyed as us so the reality of the gig died that night along with most of our brain cells.

It was around the middle of Capitol's set this time around that I realised my voice was disappearing. 

Luke, Pieman and Bambi (TiS)

Tales In Space were next, an electro-pop rockin 3 piece fronted by Luke Bertoz who mixed the Briscoe record. Jesus they were good. They have been around for a while but I don't think I'm being overly biased when I say they have what it takes to make it, if that means anything whatsoever. For a small electro outfit they've struck the perfect balance between live playing and backing track. They are slick, busy and engaging on stage and the songs (especially their new ones) are fucking undeniable. 

We got on stage and while the others tuned up I strummed the first verse of the first song desperately to myself, trying in vain to squeeze out something resembling the melody. I had nothing. I was shitting myself. Jacob started the song, I started to sing, the sound guy started to turn down my mic. It felt like my voice was sandpaper being dragged up past my larynx, I definitely did some permanent damage but apparently this is what rock n roll is made of yes? Yak and Dee and Kate stepped up the backing vocals and Yak even covered a few guitar parts that he could see I was gonna be too preoccupied to bother with.

Man it sucked but I'm glad it happened - I've always feared this kind of thing but at least I know what to expect now - I know my kick-arse band will fill the gaps, I know that the people in the front will still clap despite their true feelings, and I know that most people will be listening only enough to know that we started and we finished.

"Good set man"
"Ha, thanks that's kind of you"
"Whoa are you losing your voice?" 

READ PART 5 HERE