#campfirefriday

#CampfireFriday returns with my terrible timekeeping skills for my first-ever gig - Nick

My timekeeping skills have always been messy, but one thing I pride myself on is punctuality. While usually being on time or early is helpful, sometimes this can work against me. One of the great things about gigs is queuing (How British! -Ed). The buzz of excitement as the queue grows, hour by hour, and as the opening of the doors approaches. Talking to fellow fans is perhaps the best bit – talking about what the band means to you, waxing lyrical about other bands you like, and so on.

So for my first ever gig, seeing Kamelot at Koko in London, I didn’t want to miss anything. So I decided that midday was probably the best time to arrive. The doors didn’t open until 7. Given that it was March, it was a relatively cool, very long 7 hours. Since then, my guess at the best time to turn up has vastly improved. But the best lessons are learned the hard way!

To round off a busy week, here's a little story from your editor to tell round the campfire. ‪#‎CampfireFriday‬ is in session.

This story always comes back to me when people tell tales of a band playing to a meager audience, and still putting on a hell of a show. When I was in university, I got to spend some time in a small town called Krems an der Donau in Austria, working as an English teaching assistant. One of my students, I found out, was a local gig promoter working in punk and hardcore, and he invited me along to one of his shows. Curious to see what Krems had to offer in punk, I popped along with a few friends to the Jazz Café, a tiny and dimly-lit bar with a stage at the back.

About 10 minutes into the first band's set, said friends had left, not expecting an extremely loud crust-punk band called Indoctrinate to pummel their ears. I enjoyed them a great deal, as well as the dirty and chaotic leanings of the band that followed, Kurwa Aparata.

At this point, the fifty or so people who had been in the bar had mostly departed, either not knowing or not caring that there was a headliner band to play. I stuck around, and was rewarded with one of the best basement performances I've ever seen.

The band in question, Cannonball Ride, played with an honest energy that I had not previously witnessed in the underground scene. Despite the fact there were six people watching (I counted), the band put on a wild show of melodic hardcore. Their frontman, a friendly chap by the name of Siegi, was particularly nuts, especially when he brought out a trumpet during a couple of their songs. After their set, I dropped by the merch booth, firstly to buy their EPs, and secondly to catch a word with Siegi. I found out the band had driven from Corinthia (Kärnten), a 4-hour ride away, just to play this gig. They still played a blinder of a set to such a small audience, something I give them full respect and support for. That was quite a night.