Part 4 of 5 gigs for E.L.F – Every Last Friday in Battle.
The next venue, a bit further down the High Street and down a sideway, was Sarah’s Cellar which was like a breath of fresh air when we walked in. It was so much quieter than The Bull in volume and numbers. A small independent wine shop with tables, serving food. They have other events there including wine tastings and there was a nice atmosphere. Sarah herself (I think) said ‘hello’ as we arrived but she was busy serving the customers so we didn’t get to chat.
The previous duo were just getting packed up as we arrived and told us that the mic hadn’t been working, but we were planning to use our own PA anyway. The performance area was in the back of the shop next to the toilet so we had to leave a clear path. It was a bit nerve wracking setting up as we were surrounded by shelves of very expensive looking wines. And there we were sucking from our water bottles!
There were only about 16 people in the place, a few smaller tables towards the front of the shop and one large central one right in front of us. That’s the venue at capacity for seating I think – it wasn’t really a venue for standing listening to music. Half of the people there were sitting at the central table and were shouting across it at eachother even though there was no other sound – possibly a hangover from the previous duo – so we tried a quiet one to start to see if that would lead to them talking a bit quieter, but it had no effect. All of those at the other tables were quietly watching and listening so it felt a bit awkward. A couple on the middle table did stop talking and listened to the last number which was nice. As we left, everyone else said thank you and how much they enjoyed it.
It’s a nice place and I’d go back there to visit if I was in the market for buying wine. Potentially we could have sold some merch at the end but when you’re on such quick turnarounds you don’t want to risk holding up the next act or venue. We packed up quickly, again, and didn’t see the next act arriving even though we stood outside for a little while to gather our thoughts and work out where we were heading next.
Onto the final venue..