Returning to our home-away-from-home
We have been playing at Claptrap since day uno, so we absolutely love returning and bringing fresh tunes and seeing the lovely folk there, both staff and audience members. Being from The Black Country, I don't think people get much better than our local crowd. It's always a great atmosphere - Sarah and Sean always make us feel so welcome and at home. Sarah and Sean created Claptrap as an independent live music venue to cater to the local talent of the area. Both were full time musicians, so they really look after you when you play there. There's an artist area upstairs to chill out which is actually to die for. We are so spoiled when we go to Claptrap.
Claptrap is extremely easy to play at. Sean does all the PA and sound, so it's just a case of turning up, playing a few notes and it sounds luvvly jubbly. We finished soundcheck in time for doors opening and had a short wait until we were on - the stage times were changed for an earlier finish due to the staff shortage!
As per usual, Stourbridge turned up and out for us, which we absolutely adore. It was great to see familiar faces AND band t-shirts - I've mentioned how it makes us feel all warm inside before, right?
My favourite part of the night was when we introduced that we were doing a Steel Pulse cover and loads of you were like "YEAHHH" and we're so used to people being like "Who dat" so we're extremely impressed by the audience last night having such good musical taste.
We also played our Dancehall Medley for the first time at Claptrap - people definitely got down!
I don't want to say 'and dirty' but...there were a few sparks flying in the room.
We also had the pleasure of meeting our drummer's new girlfriend, who was just ace and we're so happy for them.
About our line-up last night... as you know, big important and in-hot-demand as our musicians are, sometimes things come up where our usual suspects can't make it. We have got the most amazing team around us. I don't like to say deps, because they put so much work in and fit in so nicely, that they're just part of it anyway. Last night we had the absolute pleasure again of playing alongside Teebs on keys - he's an absolute legend - and the mighty mighty boss sounds of Sir James Crosdale on the bass. It's just amazing vibes every time we get to play with these guys.
After stirring up the crowd into an absolute jumping frenzy, we cooled them down with an Encore of our version of Redemption Song, which was emotional and beautiful. There were melodic bass lines, swishy mallet-hit cymbals and of course the beautiful accompaniment of Teebs and the powerful and heartfelt vocals from Sugar. This one didn't cry, honestly!
We were absolutely blown away by everyone's support - both crowd-wise and purchasing merchandise! I don't know if I've said before, but merchandise helps us so much with the everyday running costs of the band - from rehearsals to printer ink and paper, advertising, the whole shebang, really. So, thank you for supporting us. You're epic.
You may also have seen the introduction of a very nifty project SaxyAnna has been working on ALL week! Our Merchandise Suitcase...or as I've nicknamed it, the Reggu-wears. She's transformed a traditional and vintage looking suitcase into a portable merch stand, with little boxes and shelves and nooks and also crannies! It's got a little bit of everything we can sell, and she's just done an epic job. I have no idea where she manages to scrape the time back, because she's extremely busy, but she always puts the effort in with this band because we all just love it so much. The suitcase was purchased from Mary Stevens Hospice charity shop in Harborne. It's amazing how you can re-purpose and upcycle things.
Hopefully we'll be back at Claptrap in 2023 for some more vibes.
Our next performance is at The Lounge at Boldmere, 112 Boldmere Road, Sutton C'Field on Saturday 15th October.
If you'd like to know more about Claptrap the Venue, check out their amazing website:
If you'd like to see our merchandise suitcase in all it's glory, you'll have to keep your eyes peeled on social media on Monday!
If you'd like to find out more about our gig at the Lounge @ Boldmere, you can see here:
If you RSVP for this event, you can have all the details sent to you in a nifty email, and the site will even remind you about it closer to the time of the event. We don't know how it knows to do that, but it's hella smart Internet Magic.
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