No sleep till Wolverhampton.
Escape the Studio
We pick up from where we left off last week and this was; yesterday was Day 5 in the studio recording our Début Ep “Banished from the Heavens”
And today (Friday 5th October) we are straight out on the road for our “Escape the Studio” gig in Wolverhampton. The Giffard.
Because I was back to work today and the others had the day off. It was agreed they would take my gear down to the venue and I would meet them there.
As it was, I managed to wangle a 4pm finish unlike my normal 4.30pm finish.
This would hopefully ensure I would beat some of the traffic on the M6 as I travelled from Stoke to Wolverhampton.
It didn’t really work that well. I still got caught up in it being a Friday afternoon / evening. But it was better than it would have been.
To be honest I haven’t got a scooby where I’m going in Wolverhampton and had to not only use my Sat Nav to find a car park but also hot foot it to the venue.
Once parked I started walking and I was busy listening to my music and watching the screen on my phone to find my way. Then suddenly I bumped into Tanya.
She was coming to the show and I was like Heya :)
Thankfully she knew the way so we chatted as we headed to the venue.
Honestly once we opened the door to this venue.. this place took me way back.
Just such a old school rock pub.
I could easily spend my time there, if I lived in Wolverhampton. It had such a good vibe and feeling. Great music and friendly atmosphere.
We made our way upstairs and the main band we due to sound check and then we were allowed to put our gear in front of theirs, so we could sound check as we were the first band on.
I got chatting to Jason Burgess who used to work for Lasar Radio and did the radio interview with Spice and Jake a few months back.
Sadly there will be no follow up interview but don’t worry I’m working on it ;)
I’m always squirrelling away with something for us to get up to.
Jason has now set up his own Promotions company. Rock Raven Promotions and he has added us as to his portfolio. He’s a great guy and we look forward to working with him.
In fact we are playing the launch party to his company at The Rigger in Stoke on Trent on December 22nd.
I’m sure that is going to be a great party.
But let’s get back to Wolverhampton and our show.
We started to get set up on stage. Even managed to bring and set up Bruce our Banner this time.
I was still having some teething problems with my amp but we sound checked with Cherry Bomb and I thought we had a pretty decent sound.
All set up and with 30 minutes before we are due on stage. We headed to the bar.
A drink or two later and it was time to head back upstairs to get ready.
The room was filling up steadily.
I chatted briefly to Deb who’s the manager of Surrge. We played with this band at the O2 Academy in Birmingham a little while back and believe we have a few more gigs with them in due course.
We started our show the usual way and then straight into one of our new songs.
Now...
I’m not sure.. but I swear both Grace and Jake jumped off the stage almost straight away. Maybe it was later on in the set with 9 Lives but I could have swore it was early on, they just jumped into the crowd which is always great to see.
This was the first time for us playing in Wolverhampton and it felt good.
The venue was amazing and we can’t wait to go back there. (More on this another time)
A cracking gig and a big finish as always for the final track The Wild Strays.
Just as the last chord rang out. We started rushing to pack our gear away before the next band came on stage.
But Tanya was there and said, “Hey.. I’d like to do a band group picture”.
Since it was Jakes last gig before leaving us I thought it was a really nice thing to do as did the others.
I’m so pleased we did.
Here’s the picture below.
Thanks Tanya, and thank you for taking all the pictures that night x
As you have no doubt have seen on our Facebook and here on the website, Jake has now hung up his bass guitar to head into the Wild and pursue his career.
But that evening in Wolverhampton passed so quickly. I feel my feet didn’t really touch the ground. In fact the whole night and the set flew by so quickly. (Maybe it was because i didn't travel with the rest of the band) I'm not sure.
Then we are told there was no where to store our gear so we had to load the cars. It really did feel like hello and goodbye.
However, I’d like to take a little moment here on my personal page to wish Jake all the very best for the future.
It was a real pleasure to share the stage with you, write songs with you and record with you.
A great picture of you on the throne too :)
Until we meet again,
Keep it Wild Jake x
I would like to also give a very special thanks to Steve (he knows who he is) who braved the dreaded man flu. He said to me he really wanted to stay in bed. But really wanted to come down to support us. Thanks Steve that’s 4 gigs on the bounce for you and we totally appreciate it.
As we do, all the Wild Strays out there.
I also managed to get chatted up after the show which kinda made my night and made me blush. His chat up lines were terrible, and as I looked over at Steve, Tanya and Jason we all cringed a little, but this guy did make me smile. Thank you <3
Then a race to the station to drop Spice off and then part load my car before the long drive home and work again tomorrow.
Still we have a couple of weeks off now and I think we need it.
But not too much down time as auditions are approaching and a new Wild Stray must be found.
Until next time,
Keep it Wild x