this gig was amazing.just a shame that the machines failed the humans.ie the p.a was buggered from the start and it just played up throughout.
no1s fault,just one of those things.
this didnt stop the bands ripping the place up.
STD:were class as usual and,being first up,kinda got the best end of the deal as far as the p.a was concerned.(although it was still slightly distorting the sound a tad)
anyway,they played some cool new tracks and i got some cool video recordings(which i'll upload tomorrow).
Sigil:a nice crowd of usual suspects and a cool amount of new faces coming over to watch.was great to pit with Chris Caps of STD.
shame about some fool who came to mosh(on his own)while throwing left/right punches and not even paying attention to the fact there were females in the pit who were tryna have a bit of fun rather than a full on violence fest.
anyway it wasnt long till the Sigil "thugs"(aka the regular supporters)sussed this guy and barged him to the floor.he buggered off for a bit but came back for round 2,seeing as he had already punched me in the hip earlier on i thought it was about time to give him as good as he is giving out.
as i saw him tryna fight Sean(a Sigil fan) i went and grabbed him in a rugby style hold and once he locked with me,it was UFC time lol.
i got the takedown(and a bleeding shin/bruised elbow in the process).
he got up after me and realised he wasnt going to be able to act the prat he had been so far.(due to being surrounded)
we then made sure he didnt come back and he even apologised(way after)to one of the girls he originally went OTT on earlier.
enough about that,there was some great sing along/chant moments with Sigil and even a piggy back mosh which was really funny.lots of spilled beer and the mandatory dive from guitarist Rusty at the end.(this time we caught him lol)
again,shame about the microphones dying/crackling/getting worse during this set but the mics resurrected after a bit of banter/joke telling etc and worked well enough to continue.
Alley Rats:i was outside recovering during their set so dont know how that went.
Damnas:what can i say,this was one of those surreal sets with some great moments mixed with unfortunate circumstances.
firstly,it was cool to see Fred from Nebukadnezza filling in for John.
however,the mics by now were both buggered and Donny could not be heard during the songs.he tried his utmost to shout down the mic but to no avail.(he even tried using 2mics held together)
the crowd could see the soundman was trying his best to resolve things but it was inevitable that the set pretty much became an instrumental.
the patient crowd was very understanding and supportive given the situation.anyway,a few crowd members(including myself)screamed at the top of our voices(my voice/throat is now fucked)all the lyrics we knew(basically the majority of the songs)and chanted choruses till our lungs were punished.
meanwhile Donny was hoisted onto Carl of Sigils shoulders and whisked around the crowd to manually shout out the lyrics instread.
this was cool and Donny was certainly saluted and praised with due respect by the crowd who obviously appreciated that Damnas were not going to give up/storm off etc.
Fred,Faraz and Pat had a nice bit of room and free space onstage and so jigged around and made the most of things too.Fred certainly became John for the evening,not only did he learn the basslines,he also nailed the classic John moves
just as a pit was reforming,the prat from earlier comes back for round 3 and as Donny was climbing back up to the stage,this fool ploughed himself and a load of people his way and caused Donny to trip on the steps and take a nasty fall.
although slightly dazed,Donny still soldiered on like a real trooper and saw the set through to the end.all the band members were professional and didnt have any hissy fits,which proves that Damnas are truly amazing at playing a set no matter what may happen.
the cheers and claps at the end were a sure sign of appreciation and respect for the band and was pretty much the best crowd applause ive seen for them yet.not only coz it was loud and prolonged but coz it was genuinely from the hearts.
also mr.prat ended up on the floor with me again during the Damnas set and this time he was motionless for a few seconds.not long enough in my opinion,especially when he went on to cut Carls lip and cause Donnys fall.
although he was sternly spoken to later by a few of us,and had it made clear to him that his behaviour was unacceptable and brought him in to apologise to Donny.
but yeah,a strange night overall which had its ups and downs but was still very enjoyable overall.
pure HAILS to Damnas.
shout to Fred for his brutal bass duties after one rehearsal with us. top man 
but although we played well the big D stole the show, he knows how to get the crowd fired up! see you all at the next show!!
