ReTrio at the Tollgate

Chris the Drum had secured this first pub gig for the band.  I walked the 2 miles to it on the Thursday evening to survey it.  One of the bar girls showed me round. When it is very warm the bands play on the patio;  but there is no cover so you have to be certain it will not rain.  Normally the bands play tucked into a corner of the main bar.  There looked to be enough room for a trio so I was happy enough to order another half pint before I marched the 2 miles home.  Come the night Carl was over and offered to help load in.  We did squeeze into the corner but on my side we had to keep a clear space for people to move between bars (and the fire exit).  This made it a very tight squeeze and I had to place some of my FX pedals in between some of the drum hardware and hope to get my foot through the forest of stands to switch the echo or harmoniser!  Abbie was taking some time out, so it would be just the band which made it easier.  Sound check revealed quite a bassy sound;  I had to push the top up quite a bit on the equalisers - I even pushed up the final slider on the graphic equaliser a bit.  We changed into tees and waistcoats and opened up with our usual sequence. Although the pub was half empty we got good applause from the beginning and soon had some banter going.  Chris Drum had expressed an interest in singing "Crystal Chandelier",  so I put him on the spot and said 'give it a go and I'll do a harmony on the chorus'.  Well he got off to a strange rhythm and could only remember one verse.  Then he put me on the spot calling for a solo.  We did finish together - 'it will be alright next time' I said encouragingly and he said 'he would do his homework on the words etc'.  We carried on through a typical 3 sets playing to an attentive audience and in the last set working up some banter with some chaps enjoying their beer.  They asked for F B I and as we played it they danced up to the bar marching in time with the music, then ordering beers while marching on the spot.  Most enjoyable for the band to see and quite original in my experience!  They started to sing a long with the last few songs and then requested a Kylie song.  I shoulda done "Locomotion" but didn't think quick.  So we did Kylie's version of "Hey Baby" instead!  We finished with "Johnny B Goode" getting a raucous response with shouts for more.  But we were under orders to finish at 11 so declined the encore.  Not a bad night.  Our entourage reported it as the best sounding, most upbeat performance yet and the management were very pleased.  He is only trying out live music though and isn't sure if he can make it pay.  Nevertheless we hope to get booked back.  Short journey home and a quiet rest of the weekend to look forward to.