Day 20 - London, Scala

O M G!!!!!!!!!! It's our big London show already, and it's the release 
of our first single! 

It's a massive clash of emotion. On one hand, I can't wait to play this 
gig, on the other hand, I'm in no way bothered about the single 
release......and that is the honest truth. I had no expectation of it 
amounting to anything at all, and don't want to think about it.

Today is the hottest of the tour so far. That's just typical, as it is 
the worst load-in to the venue that I have ever seen, and we twice as 
much gear to move as we have ordered twice as many lights to try and 
give an even more spectacular show.

Thankfully, there were some extra hands hired to help move the gear, and 
we were under strict orders to stay away from all heavy lifting, because 
if we injure ourselves, then it's game over!

There was not much we could do for a long time today, as there were so 
many extra lights. Jamie, our lighting guy extraordinaire, spent a good 
while making his impressive lighting design, so we all went for a fry-up, 
yes, another fry-up. The only thing of interest really that took place 
during the afternoon was Will having his hair cut, better still, was the 
fact that no one swept up the cut hair, so all day, various people were 
slipping on it! Nice......

I felt wired all day. This gig has been on our minds since the beginning 
of the tour, and as we have been going from strength to strength, we've 
really been looking forward to coming to London to show everyone what we 
can do. Also, it is the first time that we have had a BIG light show, so 
we all feel very empowered almost.

Soundcheck is fantastic, as everyone is happy that the sound is great, 
and we are given the first taste of what the lights will look like.......
it was very exciting indeed, and if no one ends up having a fit in the 
crowd, then I think they will love it!

At last, it's time for the gig! The crowd were very good for Luke Toms, 
and upon our entry to the stage, very really make themselves heard. And 
early on, we know this gig is going to be special. WE get off to a flyer, 
both band and audience performing better than ever, each encouraging the 
other to work harder. The lights were fantastic, the confidence levels 
were high, and the set seemed to last about 15 mins. Before we knew what 
was really going on, we were leaving the stage before the encore. Will 
re-entered the stage to give one lucky person, the first official copy 
of our new album. For us, there could be only one winner. This man, 
showed an absolute unashamed love of our set, and spent virtually all of 
it 'pogo-ing' up and down, completely lost in the music, and for us, he 
had to receive this CD. It is so touching when you see someone enjoying 
what you do that much, it sounds cliched I know, but everything seems 
worth it, when you see something like that, or just hear people singing 
along. Even if we crash and burn as a band tomorrow, for that night only, 
it seemed as though every single person in that room loved what we did, 
and that is an achievement on it's own. One that we were very proud of. 
The set blasted to a close, and the crowd didn't hold back with their 
response. It was FANTASTIC!

For various boring reasons, we knew that we wouldn't be able celebrate 
the end of the tour in Brighton tomorrow, so if we wanted a party, it had 
to be tonight. It was the perfect time for a party, a fantastic London 
gig, had put everyone in the mood! We had an exclusive aftershow in the 
venue for a select few people and fans, and then we moved on to a pool 
club that allowed us to carry on until the early hours. We wanted to 
open a nice bar tab for all of our crew to say thankyou, so we set about 
that, and told them to knock themselves out, literally!!!

Everyone got quite drunk, quite drunk indeed. The party was great, and 
after way too many, we all sway back onto the tour bus, where we pretty 
much continue the festivities..........All I can say, is that I was still 
awake at 6:30 when we arrived in Brighton, so my girlfriend and I went 
for a stroll on the beach, as the sun was coming up. Nice. But now, I 
must sleep!!!!!!



www.lewisslade.com/thirteensenses