Sunday March 31st 2013 saw Headsticks' début at the prestigious Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival...a gathering reported to attract in the region of 45,000 music lovers(?) and revellers to the quintessential Cheshire town.....pubs and venues embarking on a frenzy of live music, to showcase bands and performers of all persuasions, in a bid to offer the ever increasing hordes an experience not to be forgotten! And from all accounts, they seemed to do the trick so to speak!
For Headsticks, it was an engagement at the newly opened 'The Studio' venue on Sunday apres dejeuner....a wonderful venue, a superb stage set up, superior lighting and lighting technician and a sound system that would be regarded as an absolute dream for your average gigging muso type...so, half the battle won!
We arrived at the venue an hour or so in advance of our destiny! caught the last few bars of the previous band who seemed to be politely received by the gathered throng, and as they packed their equipment away we surveyed the venue, partaking of beverages as we did, and chatting to the 'faces' we knew amongst the crowd......slightly panicked by the fact that the venue was slowly emptying! No concern necessary though...as we loaded on to the stage and set about our sound checking the crowd grew bigger and bigger, and amongst it were faces from the past...people who had followed our previous bands and incarnations (for Steve and Andrew Jugopunch and The Clay Faces, and for Nick, tower Struck Down).....and the feeling on stage, and amongst the punters seemed one of huge expectation.....oh God, what the hell were we going to do...I felt nervous for the first time in years, we had 1 hour and 45 minutes to fill for God's sake!
So, 4pm on the nose we kicked in to our first number 'A world away......' and it finished ..and the punters went mental for it....a response the assembled musicians on this stage could only of dreamed of....and then into the next tune 'Wishing' (if my memory serves me right!) and so on...and the reception got louder and more frenzied..........and the crowd swelled and on it bloody well went!!!! And choruses were sung and sung back, and banter was forthcoming from both parties, and well received too;this was actually a dream gig, a dream audience and we frickin' well loved every second of it!...tables moved out of the way to allow folkpunk dancing of the very highest calibre!!!!
There is something special about playing at even this type of festival...there is something about the word 'festival' that somehow encourages even the meekest of music lovers to get up there and shake their asses..to openly show their true emotions for the music they are witnessing...to actually become part of it, to actually morph into the band that he or she is there to see...and from our point of view, you are all more than welcome to do that at every single gig, festival, pub gig, support slot or even if we are playing at the opening of a bloody envelope.....please become part of it!!! We as a band absolutely thrive off our audience...we need your energy too lift us, and you can take it all back from our performance if you want too...but let us have it initially!!!!
So 1 hour and 40 minutes of pure energy from band and audience.....sing a longs, tub thumpers, ballads, love songs, drinking songs, protest songs, peace songs.....all into the melting pot of life eh? It's fair to say we were well received, the amount of comments after the show is unlikely to be surpassed...face book comments, messages, emails and even the first on-line review have all done so much to galvanise this band, to make three middle aged musicians and a much younger one very, very satisfied.......Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival, we gave you something old (a couple of traditional songs), something new (most of Headsticks set), something borrowed ('Two recruiting sergeants' borrowed from the Levellers who in turn have revamped a trad. favourite), but sorry, no jazz or blues....but you know something Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival? We frickin' well love you...... thank you so bloody much!!!!
My personal favourite after show comment from a punter 'that was like the Jam meets the Levellers'.....Happy with that!
On line review:-
The formidable hard hitting Andrew Tranter is a full on experience, introducing songs by using their themes to engage the audience in front of him. 'Flatline Town', 'Are you feeling great, Britain' and 'Paper flowers' clearly do not hide their intentions, and the band, Steven Dunn, Nick Bayes and Tom Carter provide the plate that delivers the fayre.
Playing at the newly opened Studio venue, the sound and lighting add to the electric atmosphere that triggers the audience in to the performance when commanded by the maestro. A full on performance start to finish, a true sign of years of performing and working hard at their craft.
A few copy and pasted facebook comments (FB link https://www.facebook.com/pages/Headsticks/394551363904079 )
you were absolutely fantastic. Best band I saw today
Great gig, first time I've seen you....best band at the jazz fest without a doubt!
Headsticks smashed it again!!! xxxx
Cracking gig. Good banter too!!!
Great gig, we spent three days at the festival and yours was one of the best shows,
