T.C. Folkpunk: Gigs

Freaking cold. I was worried that the -30 windchill was going to crack the tubes in my amp during the 5 minute walk to the gig . Note to self: all future January gigs are to take place in the Caribbean. At least there was a small dedicated (and warmly bundled) crowd of Folkpunkateers on hand, huddled together pondering whether we should all camp out at Grinder until April.
And as an added bonus, our three year old jumped up and loudly announced "I'm gonna dance my ass off!" as I started my last song. What was it W.C. Fields about working with children?

The band I was opening for let me use one of their amps which was nice of them, but I can say with some certainty that the Ashdown Peacemaker 20 is probably the worst sounding amp I've ever plugged into. I had the treble turned all the way off and the bass turned all the way up and it still sounded like a tin can in a box. I kicked some Sunday afternoon butt anyway, and the peeps seemed to like it.

Trying to describe the experience of standing on arguably the most famous music club stage in the world is a bit daunting. I was obviously up for the challenge though, because as I was leaving the stage after my set (I'd played a matinee on a bank holiday), I was asked if I could come back and fill in for another band that had to drop out of the festival at the last minute, so I managed to play not once but twice at The Cavern. Great audience, they got me and I got them, so we hit it off fine.
The club itself now has a state of the art PA system, and because of the ingenious way they've set up the mains speakers, the sound coming off stage is nearly perfect anywhere in the room.
And the Guinness tastes a hell of a lot better in Liverpool than it does in Canada, too.