Massive Weaver.


I’ve been at Doggett & Ephgrave HQ today, stitching together material for Saturday’swork-in-progress gig.

The biggest challenge at the moment is to make it feel cohesive. Parts of it sit together nicely; others feel pretty cut-and-shut. If the material doesn’t flow, it could be irritating and tiring for the audience. They’ll be no natural resolution and no sense of an end in sight. I don’t want that.

There’s a loose theme forming, centring on my relationship with my family, but not everything fits into it. I’m not too concerned if the links are a little haphazard on Saturday  – I’m using the gig to find out what works and what doesn’t – but it’s something I’ll need to smooth out before the Soho Theatre date in March. The audience for that will probably be a lot less patient, based on previous experience. That gig is a month away today. No pressure.

To throw a spanner into proceedings, I started the day by discovering my computer didn’t work. It wouldn’t switch on. It wasn’t plugged into the mains initially. When I did, it powered up, but the battery wouldn’t charge. My first thought was that the battery had died, which would be a lot less serious. The downside is it’s a MacBook, and therefore harder to have a fiddle with yourself. I’ve made an appointment at one of Apple’s poncily-named Genius Bars in their Cambridge store on Friday. I could do without going. I’ve got a gig in Letchworth that night, for which I’ll need to use it. I don’t want someone to knock the power lead out mid-performance to have it all cut out. It’s charging now though, so it may be all right.

The music stand I ordered for Saturday’s show arrived today, which is good news. It’s far easier reading notes from it than from the back of my hand. It makes me feel like getting my recorder out. That's not a euphemism.


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