We had been warned that there might not be many people in the Albion because the gig clashed with the Seafood and Wine Festival down the road and that most punters would sit outside in the sun, so we went expecting to maybe perform outside. As we pulled up the whole outside seating area was heaving with people and loud reggae music was playing. Inside every table was full and there was no empty space, so we got unloaded on double yellows while the guy behind the bar politely moved some people from the corner table and made a good space for us to start setting up.
Parking in Hastings isn’t brilliant at the best of times but with the festival going on, Jim found he had to park right at the far end of Rock’a’nore which was quite a walk back – that meant I’d got most of the mic stands, mics etc set up by the time he got back! We were kicking ourselves for not travelling light and taking the train (which means a long walk from the station) but we just hadn’t allowed enough time.
Boy it was hot. We were sweating buckets before we’d even started playing anything. The usual thing happened – while you’re setting up gradually the bar starts to empty and you are never surprised to find yourself playing to one man and a dog – but as we started playing it started filing up again and we had a good crowd of family and friends as well as some listening audience. We know they were listening because they joined in. All in all, we had a really great gig after a slightly stressful start. You can tell by our smiling faces, and that was at the end of a very hot 2 hour set!
Jim’s brother co-owns the pub which is how we got the gig – they do regular Saturday afternoon ‘acoustic’ sessions in the Seafront bar as well as Tuesday night sessions (Skiffle, traditional Irish, Cajun) in the back bar, Sunday afternoon bands and they participate in most of the local events including Voodoo Fest and Fat Tuesday. It’s a Pie pub and has the Pasty Shack out the front. https://albionhastings.com/performance/ info@albionhastings.com (01424) 439156