Every time I see you falling...

l to r: K8, Honey Pimms, Lisa, Marianna, AMP

Great gig last night. Despite turning up early (I got out of work at 6) only to be shouted at by the soundman because the promoter had told us to be there "between 6 and 8" yet the venue had had him there since 4:30... Bah! And he's shouting at me because I don't know where the rest of the band are - but despite knowing since I got there that we had four vocalists, he didn't even bother setting up the mics until we were all standing around waiting for *him*. Anyway, it all worked out in the end, despite us not finding out the running order until about 10 minutes before the whole thing started... argh!

First up was Miss Honey Pimms, and if you're not In The Know about these shennanigans, well, you should be. Her song was actually brilliant and dead catchy, as she played with "is she or isn't she miming?" hilarity.

Then there was some identikit Libertines/Razorlight band, so I went and got a bagel.

Argh! We're on! The girls came on in raincoats, which they then stripped off by the second song, to reveal sexy dresses and stockings. Bit of a rocky start, as even though I'd put my pedals off to the side so the settings wouldn't get messed up, of course, all the settings got messed up. But... as we warmed up and got into it, we pulled together and actually gave a good performance. AMP on keyboards was a stroke of brilliance, and the Two Blondes out front just *looked* (and sounded) fantastic.

For a long time, I'd been quite unhappy with the band, because it didn't *feel* like a band - it felt like me making all the music, doing the huge bulk of the word, and them just turning up and putting their dresses on. For the first time, we actually felt like *A BAND* - like we were all in it together, a gang that all of us were part of.

And I think the music was better for it. Oh, and we even dragged Honey Pimms onstage with us for a banging finale of "Bizarre Love Triangle". There had been some concern that we were biting off more than we could chew, doing such a well-loved song. But the trick with a cover, is to take it to pieces, reduce it down to its essential components (and in BLT's case, it's that big "clapping with your hands over your head" beat, and that "DUN-DAH-DUN-DUN-DA-DUH-DUH-DUN" keyboard riff) and then build it back up with what makes you *you* (in our case, shimmering sounds, chime samples and girly 4-part harmonies). If both things are good and *right* together, then it cannot help but work.

Since we weren't allowed drinks onstage, Ken C acted as our butler, carrying around our trademark bottle of pink wine, but unfortunately this got him thrown out, so I had to go and rescue him, sitting drinking in a doorstep like a tramp, and inform the girl on the door that it was "our rider" and instructing her to "talk to our manager" if she had a problem. We then absconded into the loo to finish it.

God, I just wish I wasn't so hungover today.