Open Mic Night.

My band played our first gig last night: an open mic night at Mr Wolf’s in Bristol. It was raw and chaotic, we couldn’t really hear each other all that well and we made a lot of mistakes. But I’m still feeling good about it.

When we arrived at the venue we didn’t even know if we would play at all — there was no drum kit set up, and the guy who ran the evening hadn’t turned up yet. When he finally arrived he asked our names about three times before promptly forgetting to book us a slot, then when he finally did he wrote my name down as “Catherine”. It didn’t matter, he was a lovely guy and at least we got our slot in the end. The drum kit he set up can only be described as “ramshackle” — a wobbly drum stool, a battered cymbal, a hi-hat that didn’t rise — but that’s fairly in keeping with open mic nights I remember playing back in my youth, so it was pretty much what I was expecting.

Fortunately my bandmate, Nil (the lead singer and guitarist), had invited a few friends and colleagues along to watch. I didn’t invite anyone (or at least not until it was far too late for any of them to make it) as I was feeling too shy and thought it would be good to get the first one out of the way for practise. But in fact, having some friendly and supportive faces in the crowd gave us the boost we needed.

Just like when I give a talk, I was so nervous before getting up on stage, to the point where I seriously doubted my ability to get through a single song. But once I sat down at the kit and started playing I finally felt calm. We made a ton of mistakes. But we had fun, and we got through all three songs with our heads held high. And even though we messed up, nobody died. Everyone was supportive and kind, and now we know that even when the worst happens it’s really not that bad and we can still carry on. Watching the videos back I’m struck by the fact that the mistakes we did make sounded much worse to me at the time — to a casual observer, they’re far less noticeable. When I watch them I can’t stop smiling. I’m looking forward to the next one.