Sweat dripping from the ceiling...
A year and four days after our first time at the Railway Inn in Winchester, it was interesting to reflect on how far we'd come in 12 months. In November 2021 we were on the brink of the Omicron lockdown, so everything was a bit odd, but playing at a proper live music venue like the Railway felt like a significant step-up. It probably was, but we played well, people said very nice things about us, and we went on into 2022 and had a great year.
It's November 2022, England are playing USA in the World Cup but no-one cares. Ribble rock up in their posh suits (it is Winchester darling) and sound-check in 3 minutes like seasoned pros. The sound-man is in love with the sound of Pete's Faith guitar ("it sounds gorgeous from 20Hz to 20Khz, I don't need to tweak it on the desk at all") (and honestly he knew what he was doing) (and no he didn't say that to all the guitarists!) (and no he didn't comment on Adam's fiddle sound!!!).
Despite Pete having slight stool-trouble early on in the set (it's becoming a more frequent problem - he needs to be more demanding in his drum-stool rider request), Adam managed to entertain the soccer-agnostic crowd with a few quips and Pete-put-downs. As before, and as often happens after we've played, people took the time to come and tell us that they really enjoyed our set. That never gets old. We thoroughly enjoy what we do. The fact that other people seem to as well is just so... nice.
Anyway, all these niceties were happening whilst headline act Man The Lifeboats were doing their thing, and while we were happy with the reaction we got, blimey these guys had the ceiling dripping with sweat! People were going nuts like Covid had never happened. It was superb. Well done Lifeboats (or Man The, or whatever the people-in-the-know call you), well done Railway, well done Winchester, well done England (yawn), and well done humankind.