Monday 24 August 2009

in the minibus on the way to Edinburgh again
Gig no.3 is cooking nicely for tonight. Kathy Fuge sounds wonderful as always, it's great to have Sarah back with us for the first time in ages (we haven't played anything with two violins for a couple of years) and the core team of Chris, DG and Alison are all on top form. So now we head east in a quest to conquer an unflattering acoustic.

squinting in the sun: L-R Sarah Bevan-Baker, Chris, Alison, Katharine Fuge, DMcG, DG

I'm going to be restrained, and not write here of the unpleasant contractual wrangling that's going on behind the scenes: perhaps another time. Let's just say that it's deeply and needlessly exhausting, when I'd much rather be concentrating on making satisfying worthwhile music and bringing it to an audience.

late (midnight-ish) in the bus going back
I really enjoyed tonight's concert, except when I was playing: for some reason I was much happier when I was listening or talking to the audience.

Again, we ran over by about 25 minutes ... and this show had seemed short. My estimates have clearly been way out, but I think some of the overrun also came from us saying in rehearsal "oh put another verse in, it sounds great".

Financial and contractual wrangling is now complete - what a huge waste of time and energy that was.  A lesson learned to conclude all contractual negotiation and neutralise all associated bullshit before actually rehearsing the shows. And also a lesson that no matter how straightforward, professional and helpful the people you deal with are, there can always be someone else within the same organisation who can make your life miserable.