4th July? First gig in 10 years? Must admit I was really nervous about this gig. Thee Strawberry Mynde hadn't played live since our gig at The Studio, Hartlepool way back in November 1998.
Anyway, on Friday night we were back in Tower Street only this time it wasn't The Studio but it was across the road at The Clarendon. Had to laugh at the local newspaper the Evening Gazette who called us "re-formed rockers" in a plug about the gig. Me & Tall Paul got to The Clarendon at around 6.45pm only to find that the upstairs room was locked and there was no soundman in sight! Our drummer Ian turned up a few minutes later as did one of the support band 2 Many Units. All hanging around waiting for the soundman. The other support band Last Rough Cause turned up a bit later and finally so did the soundman. Soundcheck over with I left the venue for a (soft) drink down the road at The Jackson Arms. Yep I was that nervous that I was on cokes all night before our set.
Back to The Clarendon a little after 9.30pm and 2 Many Units were on stage. Had caught this band at this years Middlesbrough Music Live festival and enjoyed their set. They are a young indie/emo band from Darlington and seemed to go down well with the crowd. The drummer even swallowed a sword half way through their set :-/
Next up were Last Rough Cause. Another band from Darlington and like Thee Strawberry Mynde they had just reformed this year. I had worked with Last Rough Cause bassist/singer Andy & rhythm guitarist Phil before in my studio band The Che Men but had never seen them play live before. But they played a great set full of original punk numbers plus a couple of covers thrown in by The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers. It was the first time they had played all of their tracks from the 'Skins N Punks' album and I was really impressed with the band, well worth looking out for if they are gigging near you.
Then the moment had arrived, it was time for our first gig in 10 years! Tall Paul had got some red striped tops for the gig, supposed to be XL but I think they were made for an Action Man as they were very, very tight! Too tight for Thee Strawberry Mynde's drummer who opted for a black top. The striped tops got a few comments from the crowd before we blew away the cobwebs of 10 years and opened up with a cover of The Electric Prunes 'Little Olive'. The nerves seemed to go away as the gig went on and I don't think there were too many errors apart from me standing on my lead during 'My Flash On You' and unplugging myself! We ran through a blistering 30 minute set and ended with 2 brand new Tall Paul originals 'Oh My' and 'Hidden'. We went down far better than expected and even got called back for an encore. Something we hadn't prepared for as we had ran out of songs! We never got called back for an encore back in 1998. But we eventually came back to re-play 'Word Girl' and 'My Flash On You' this time without me unplugging myself!
Thanks go out to Charlie for the great photos of the night, Last Rough Cause, 2 Many Units, Bri, Shrug's Rob Nichols, Spid, Dee, Kev, Lefty, Gary Powell, Lisa, Micky Corr and everyone else who turned up to make it such a top gig. All in all a great night and I hope it isn't another 10 years before we gig again!
For all you train spotters here is last nights set list -
1. Little Olive
2. She Sets The Scene
3. My Flash On You
4. Word Girl
5. The Difference
6. The Witch
7. Can't Don't Want To
8. You'll Find Out
9. Don't Break My Laws
10. Oh My
11. Hidden
Encore:
12. Word Girl
13. My Flash On You
