Alice Charmers at the Billingham Synthonia

 I was bit wary of playing a club which is named after 'SYNTHetic amONIA' but we northerners are a hardy breed, and desperate too. But what a venue it's the old ICI club which is now part run by BCT Events which is a charity offering kids music lessons to keep em out of trouble and believe me there is a fair amount of trouble available on the post-industrial streets of Billingham.

So we put on our coats and hardest band faces (except for Mark, or maybe that is his hardest face) and prepared for the worst, but we had a brilliant night. We were humbled by both the kids enthusiasm and the organisers, who give their time and energy to do something positive for the community. We were fed and watered allowed to play on a proper stage with great sound. I don't know what the audience could hear but I could hear everyone else playing which was a revelation and meant that instead of fighting the sound to get heard we played together. Its the most relaxed i've felt while on stage and despite forgetting words and fluffing chords etc went seemed to go over really well - they enjoyed it as much as we did.

THEY WANTED AN ENCORE!
we didn't have an encore, so we just played Cripple Creek again!
Thank you BCT Events.