It was 200 through the door, 150 payers. A reasonably good crowd, although well below our hopes. After paying for the hire of the club, the complete sound system and the mixer we are left with almost nothing from the door, what we have we will be throwing to the other bands as a poor reward for a good performance. Once you factor in the contruction of props, free promo CDs and all the rest of the hidden costs, we are well in the red, and that doesn't include the thousands we have outlaid for merch.
So speaking from a business side of things, that gig was a wash-out.
On the flipside of the coin, the gig itself was great. The parts of the performances the bands put on that I DID see were top-notch, and the changovers were fast and professional. Sins sounded really heavy last night and we thank them for their willingness to get us off to an good start. Pale as Ashes I missed altogether, but I am told they were good. Gallows were the usual melting pot of technical mayhem and technical meltdowns, Dave's verbal blasts at the mixer a notable highlight for those who were finding the mix to be questionable. Enforce were - as always - a high speed assualt on the ears and a pleasure to watch.
We Neverboners were pleased at the number of you guys who hung around right to the end of our set and witnessed the antics, our new songs, and the definately unscripted moments of hilarity and in one case, gay-as-fuckness. All the boys who got up on the stage and joined us on vocals were great, and Guy's shred during one of our songs was just priceless. Shit, I even mananged to pull off my first ever keytar solo, another moment of gayness. The response we got was great and we thank you for giving our new album a good kickoff.
And finally, special thanks to Daz, who spent countless hours on the phone, at the venue and everywhere inbetween over the last 40 days doing all in his power to make this gig a success. He organised everything from the sound system to the contract negotiations, and the gig would not have happened at all if it weren't for him. Even more impressive was the fact that due to the costs of the gig and the lack of returns, he insisted on taking nothing back to recoup his costs, insisting that the pittance left over go to our mates from the other bands. He is tireless in his support for the band and the local metal scene, and we are very grateful. GO DAZZZ!!
Now if you don't mind, I am going to go and sleep for a week.
