Part 3 of 5 gigs for E.L.F – Every Last Friday in Battle.
Next up was The Bull, right opposite the Taproom. It did take quite a while to cross the road though as Battle high Street is surprisingly busy with traffic on a Friday night!
We played in The Bull once before when we did E.L.F and I remember it was busy and loud and we had felt like we were wasting our time trying to be heard any further than by those in the immediate vicinity, but those who could hear really enjoyed it. It was similar this time as it was really packed. There were people sitting at every table and standing room only in the front bar, with only just enough space to squeeze through with our instruments. Very reminiscent of some of the Fat Tuesday venues in Hastings! We got some reactions from those close to us as we were playing – some were filming us, some doing dance moves – but I think the majority weren’t there for the music. One lady had seen us setting up and came to say how much she was looking forward to hearing the clarinet but I’m not sure how much she would have heard from the corner she was sitting in. There was a clear performance space and a house PA with enormous speakers but we used our own as it would have taken too long to work out how to use that. We positioned the speaker in front of us which meant, with the volume of noise in the pub, we couldn’t actually hear ourselves. I literally couldn’t hear the notes coming out of my clarinet. We didn’t see the previous duo so I don’t think they’d stayed very long but we did see the following act arrive and got to have a very quick chat as we were packing up. The far end of the bar, probably the restaurant area, seemed to be the quieter area so I’m thinking perhaps we should have been facing that direction and playing to that audience, as the tables right in front of and beside us were occupied by groups waning to talk and, with us playing music at them, they were having to talk even louder!
It sounds awful but it was great fun and we would do it again.