Smugglers, Hastings - Sun 8th Oct 2006

I do love to be beside the seaside. I got there way to early, as I've never played this venue before, and wanted to give myself time in case of traffic, finding the venue etc... But I had a straight run down there, found it right away.
So I thought I'd park up and take in a bit that sea air, and lovely it was to. I quite like Hastings, it's got a bit of a bad rep over the years, but there's a certain vibe to it. There's some fantastic old architecture along the sea front, and elsewhere in the 'Old Town' - really quite stunning.
So to the gig. I took my time setting up, and sound checked everything - twice. When it was time to go on, I felt pretty confident that it was all gonna sound good and I'd hit 'em hard with Blind Willie Johnsons' Soul Of A Man. The first strike of the chord and there's a howl of feedback. 'kin nightmare, it completely throws you when something goes wrong on the first song, or any song for that matter.
So I was twisting and turning, fiddling and fumbling trying to sort the sound out, which I eventually did. I don't know what happened, it just does sometimes. It's probably that I play a lot harder and louder when it comes to the real thing than I do in soundcheck.
It went on to be a right rockin' gig. I said before in my previous blog, that all I can ask for is for people to listen and appreciate what I do. A step up from that is for people to dance and have a good time to my music - and at Smugglers on Sunday they danced all night long. That's what Blues music should be about; it shouldn't be analyzed and dissected to figure out how, what and why so and so done this or that, it should be absorbed and enjoyed - and danced to.
I'm as guilty as any other Blues fan for getting to anal about stuff sometimes, so it's nice to be reminded about what it's really all about.
Thanks Smugglers for a great night, hope to see you again soon.

Kris