Paul Carerra writes for Nightshift and is a Little Fish squid. He has arranged this accoustic gig to support pump aid. It takes £250 to build an elephant pump and provide water to a village. He has gathered some fine artists who are friends of his, including Juju from Little Fish and Reverse E who are also friends of mine, Joe Allen who I've seen a couple of times and Brooks from Pennsylvania who is playing his first gig in England. It's a fine evening. Juju is leaving on holiday in the morning and is a little distracted. Her Patti Smith song which gets its first performance doesn't come out quite right. I suppose you might call it an off night, but even so she still blows away most bands.
Reverse E are going through something of a transition; tonight they are stripped back. It is a slightly odd as I am so familiar with their normal show, which features virtually a live performance of their cd. It is difficult to put myself in the shoes of someone seeing them for the first time. Overall I think their show more visual and makes their musicianship more visable. Playing computers (as they essentially do in their normal show) doesn't neccessarily require any ability to play all the instruments you hear. Seeing instruments played is more satisfying (especially for photographers).
The crowd is good and largely watch the bands from first to last with appreciative applause for each. £240 is collected from the door and somewhere another £10 is donated so that the evening pays for a pump for a village in Africa. An excellent evening all round. James on the sounddesk also deserves a mention for donating his time.