I was really looking forward to seeing this gig from Paul Draper, as he’d be playing the whole of Mansuns “Attack of the Grey Lantern”. For me, this was their best album they released. ( “Six” is still good, but for me, nothing will top the debut AOTGL).
When i set off, i was expecting the fields to have a lot of snow, but there wasn’t hardly any (In a few dykes, where sun hadn’t hit it, there was just a small amount of snow). Actually, thinking about it, i was very lucky to be able to get the train to Nottingham, as only a couple of days earlier, there were no services between Skeggy & Nottingham ! Train arrived on time & went straight to the Premier Inn to check in. After hanging there for a short while, i decided to go to The Gooseberry Bush for some grub. Went back to hotel, relaxed for a bit, then walked to Rescue Rooms. Explained to security i need a stool for the gig & he went to find one straight away. He then took me up to the balcony. He started carrying the stool towards the end of the balcony & i said “No. I much prefer being in the centre, straight on to the stage”. Think i got in about 10mins early.
It seemed to take a while before the room got busy (I wonder if some peeps didn’t know the doors time had changed?). Whilst waiting for the opening act, i got chatting with a guy next to me. Later his missus turned up & we were introduced. Thinking about it, this was probably the only good thing that happened tonight ; i made 2 new friends 🙂
The fist act was a lone geezer playing a guitar. Didn’t really do anything for me tbh.
When the Paul Draper band got onto the stage, i’d say it was the beginning of the end ! Once PD was onstage, i could just sense that he wasn’t into it tonight ! They played a short set of songs from PDs release “Spooky Action”. I didn’t know any of the songs, as don’t have the album. But lets be honest here; everyone was really there to see them play all of “Attack of the Grey Lantern” 😉 During the first part, there was no interaction between PD & the audience. When they came back to play AOTGL, things got worse! PD was mumbling & forgot some lyrics. It so obvious he wasn’t having a good time up there.
He seemed more interested in getting his glass of wine topped up than playing for the crowd. At one moment he held his guitar up & said something like ” I love this guitar….should i break it ?”. He even had a go at the audience when they played “Wide Open Space”. Later on, he just sat down on the drum riser & didn’t finish the song. I think it was after “Naked Twister” that PD just walked of the stage. No explanations as for why that happened. A lot of people “booed” when he walked off.
I can safely say, after seeing over 1000 gigs in my lifetime, this was the worse one I’ve ever seen!
The only good thing about this gig was how well his band coped under the situation they were in. They’re all exellent musicians & i have massive respect for them for not only coping, but also playing great.
I said my goodbyes to Steve (His missus had gone somewhere, so couldn’t say goodbye to her) & went back to my hotel. I laid on my bed thinking ” Did that really just happen ??” Of course , at that time, no one knew what the problem was with PD. So there were loads of people posting on FB with their thoughts about it. I did notice that PD did post something about “Drowned In Sound” & he called them Nazis…& it was quickly took down 😉
Whatever the reasons, i hope that PD seeks medical treatment (if needed), as this show really shouldn’t have happened.