Lens Of A Wool Presents Park Bench Sessions w/ Tepid Days
Lens Of A Wool Presents Park Bench Sessions w/ Tepid Days, performing their original tune 'A Life Lived Ordinary'.
Such a brilliant way to kick off this week's live lounge upload madness! It was awesome to meet Tepid Days during the November lockdown, they're such lovely people!
Also, this week of uploads is in dedication to Independent Venue Week, of which many of us this time last year were celebrating and participating in it. Since we can't do so this year, I thought it would be nice to dedicate a week to showcasing talented Liverpool based artists since there's no venues open to perform in! I've also asked each artist to share a memory from a gig that has stuck with them since, here is what Jamie from Tepid Days had to share:
"this time last year I played my final ever show at sound food and drink, a venue which held an unexplainable level of importance to me whilst developing as an artist.. only District in the Baltic Triangle rivals it in terms of a stomping ground for myself as a young man working out who I was trying to be.
I appreciate both spaces on a deeply personal level because the owners of these places allowed me to make many important mistakes onstage in front of an audience and let me learn from that shame and then come back the following week and attempt to improve upon my craft, without judgement, even offering a supportive shoulder.
Sound food and drink is particularly sad as it is now gone. It wasn’t the best venue around, but it was ours.
I’m certain that when history writes about our local music scene, Sound will become a holy grail.. the amount of talented and dedicated musicians that used it as a hub was unbelievable, it was the only place I could walk into alone and within three minutes be sharing a pint with a musician I respected and Who would also serve as a listening ear (lord knows I needed a support network).
I played that last show supporting an out of town band to earn 20 quid before I hopped in a taxi to play guitar in the Beija Flo band in another great local venue named Quarry.
There was about ten people in Sounds basement, two of whom talked throughout my set, and I played half an hour of songs, just me and my guitar, feeling miserable at the lack of engagement and the volume of talking throughout.. I recall Pato, the legendary sound engineer, being very encouraging, and I was interjecting my own songs telling the talkers to shut up.
I left the stage feeling mortified and like I had failed as an entertainer.
I made my way outside and the lady who had been talking throughout apologised, I stood tight lipped as she justified her disdain by telling me she was talking to her mother..
Just before my taxi arrived, a gang of the other 80% of the crowd came up to me and told me how much they had enjoyed my music, and one of them, who I will never forget, told me it was his birthday, and he felt that watching me perform was his own personal gift. The sincerity of his expression has stuck with me since, and the positive words from the others in the rabble managed to turn my shame into a memory I will never forget.. as somebody who has little faith in my own ability, it meant the world to hear genuine joy and excitement regarding my performance.
A week later I was in lockdown, pulling my hair out and wondering when I might get the chance to perform again."
Tomorrow's upload will feature Natalie and The Monarchy performing 'Brick Wall View' - 7PM folks!
Independent Venue Week tickets 2021 (online shows and talks) - https://www.independentvenueweek.com/uk/ivw21-schedule-announcement/
Music Venue Trust donation link - https://www.gofundme.com/f/2pt5g8k
