Richard Masters: Gigs

Met and played with the most excellent Old Lost John from Sweden - a troubadour of the twisted soul and a bloody nice bloke.

Listen to his album, go to his website:
www.oldlostjohn.com
Take off your shoes, take up your drink you're going on a journey.....

Had an enjoyable gig at the Winter Gardens in September - replete with fauna, flora, free wine and two women wearing underwear and suspenders who walked by during my set. I'm sure they were wearing mortar boards as well - it was a stiff test of my musical concentration. If you want to know if I passed then you'll have to accost one of the members of the audience, though I'm not sure they'd be reliable witnesses.

A dream come true - I played a solo gig at the Lantern Theatre, Sheffield.

A beautiful venue - a miniature theatre nestled in the middle of a bunch of gangling, rambling buildings in the Nether Edge region of Sheffield.

Yes I played on stage, no mics, just lights looking at me hiding the audience in a thick dark velvet blanket. Again, I have to say: loved not performing through a P.A.

I was bricking it - just thinking of doing a living room gig made me lose my nerve under the sofa. I've played large venues to large crowds, I've played Lost Vagueness at Glastonbury for goodness sake but the thought of playing in someone's living space with no mics or glitter set me a jitter.

I was nervous, for the first time in a long time. As I played the energy, thankfully, went into my fingers and voice and suddenly it all felt natural and as I performed I kept asking myself why on earth haven't I done this before? When can I do it again?

It didn't feel like I was just standing in front of a bunch of people ranting songs across the tops of their heads, it felt like an event we were all involved in. The set changed with the mood of things, feedback for once wasn't a god awful high pitched squeal but a feeling from the audience/participants that I was on the right track doing the right thing. Nice.

I tried to set up a world tour of Sheffield living rooms but, well you know......