LAZY MAD FERRET IN LAST CONN

It's Friday 8th May and we return to our spiritual home, the Mad Ferret Preston. On the same day across the road at 53 Degrees, the NME Radar Tour is in town.

We arrive at the Mad Ferret at around 6.30pm for sound check. We are met by the sound engineer and Uncomfortables front man Richie 'The 'Tash' Lomax. It was going to be a challenging night for Lomax as he had the unenviable task of mixing the experimental/medieval/ jazz infused/progressive rock/seven-piece, that is The Laze!

The line up for the night was:

Pencil In
The Laze
Jelly's Last Jam
Gideon Conn

Unfortunately, Pencil In couldn't make it. It got me thinking; maybe that isn't the name of the band after all? Maybe they just said "Pencil us in, and we will let you know!". Hmmm.

After sound check Andy gets onto the phone to his sister Victoria, who just happens to be marketing supervisor and show rep at 53 Degrees. Visit Victoria's Blog.

"Vicky, do you think that it might be possible to get Paul and me on the door for the NME Radar Tour tonight?" There is a long pause as he listens intently, then finally bursts out with "Great! Thanks Vic."

Andy turns to me with a massive grin on his face, "Fancy watching the Chapman Family? Eh? They're on in a minute and Vic has put us on the door."

I had seen the Chapman Family a couple of years before at the Kolor bar and they were outstanding. Now they're on the NME Radar Tour and are obviously getting the national recognition that they deserve. "Yes, I'm definitely up for that mate."

The Champman Family's set was absolutely brilliant. An extremely theatrical, high-energy show that included; guitar smashing, bass playing with a with a beer bottle, and strangulation! I mean, what more do you want? Their heavier-than-expected sound uses extreme distortion and strong, aggressive vocals to force the audience stand up and listen.

Feeling fired up and ready to go, it was back to the Mad Ferret to get ready for our set. The place was really filling up at this point. On stage The Laze were setting up. They have unique sound that is mainly instrumental, it playfully and skilfully transcends jazz through to progressive rock. An extremely tight band, they draw you in, then take you off to surreal fantasy world. Although not to everybody's taste, they certainly won over the crowd on the night.

We were up next, and by now the place was packed out. We had two new songs in the set, and to be honest I was little anxious to see how they would be received.

Here's the set list:

The gig went really well, and the crowd's reaction was fantastic. Lots of positive feedback mixed with the odd gripe about not playing some of the old favourites, but that's to be expected. Thanks to those of you who came to support us on the night; Mike, Claire, Natalie, Gerner, Antonia, Rachael, Barry and Penelope, to name but a few.

The final act for the night was a real favourite of mine, the stunningly unique Gideon Conn. Trying to describe Gideon is a difficult task. He stood alone with just his guitar in a bar packed full of people, mesmerising the crowd with his particular brand of comic hip hop folk music. He invites you to join his surreal world of 'pylons and wires', making child-like gestures that you can't help but join in with. Then I turn away for just a couple minutes, and who is up there accompanying him on drums? Only our very own Andy Lyth! What is he doing up there? The cheeky monkey. I had to take a picture...

Gideon had asked Andy prior to his set to accompany him. Andy, having never heard the song before said in usual Andy Lyth style "Yea why not?", made it up as he went along and got away with it! Talented b*stard, I hate him ; )

A fantastic night had by all a big thanks to Ed for having us.

Due to the cancelation of Thurday's Manchester gig, our next gig is at Coda, Preston, on Friday 29th May. Hope to see you there!



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