Cottage of Content, Saturday 20th July 2018
Our first gig outside of Birmingham and actually just around the corner for some of us.
No pre practice show down at Robannas for this one.
We took a nice easy drive down and slowly entered this quiet place called Chasetown near Burntwood.
My first thought was how many pubs there was here and then we saw a England Flag painted on a mini roundabout. I thought that was pretty cool.
A few more turns and we were here.
Pulling into the car park of the Cottage of Content. We were the first band on the scene.
We unloaded and met Treasa the landlady for the first time. She gave us a quick tour of the pub and I got to say.
Walking in there for the first time instantly took me back to some of the pubs I used to hang out, back in my teens and early 20s.
Just the smell of a good old punk rock pub, and decent sized bar to sit at and really friendly owners.
This place has that same feel and warmth.
I think after a hour or so of being here, Grace came up to me and said, “This place feels super laid back”. I think we are going to have an amazing show here tonight.
So after meeting Treasa and shown where the stage was, in walked the guys from a band called, The Meatbeaters.
Dave, the Lead Singer introduced himself and he was super lovely.
He helped Treasa set up the PA while Spice was busy sorting out the drum kit.
Once that was done, the back line was set, and we moved our cabs and amps infront and started to set up. A quick Soundcheck and then more adjusting with the monitors, another run though a song and we were good to go.
Stage set, all we had to do was wait until 7.30pm.
Swaktang and I think Sad Sally were playing frisbee in the car park, I very nearly joined them.
But we had some friends come down and it was nice to take time out to talk to them.
One of them was Phil Brooke.
Now, if you have read our bio on Facebook or seen us at a show in late 2017. You will know Phil is our old drummer. He helped me, Grace and Jake jam out some of the first Wild Strays tracks and enabled us to do a couple of gigs before we found our Official drummer Spice.
It was great to see Phil and to meet his wife.
Then we heard news of our start time being bumped to 8pm. This was great news to us, it means that we have the potential to play in front of more people.
As it turned out we had a fantastic crowd and another really strong gig.
As I said last week, we probably had the strongest show yet at the Actress and Bishop, but this time we not only had another strong show but we had an amazing crowd too.
They were totally into it, and up for some call and answer,
“This time it’s Personal” and a clap track with our song The Wild Strays.
A fantastic night and to top it all off we have been asked back to play.
No date had been set yet, but we will definitely be back to the Cottage of Content soon.
We then spent the rest of the night watching the other bands.
It’s was great enjoying everyone’s show and in between bands we would all head outside to the front of the pub and chat.
Such a great venue, a fantastic atmosphere and just a totally awesome night.
It was also cool to see Sad Sally again. This is the second time I have seen them, and the first time I have seen The Meatbeaters and Swaktang.
Thank you to everyone who made it down to see us and who has hit like on our Facebook page over the last few days
We look forward to seeing all you, New Strays at the very next show in Birmingham this coming Friday at Scruffy Murphy’s
Until then, keep it wild.
KT x