Friday: As I walked under the bridge in off Darnley Road I had two Chav girls nearly walk into me, one off the girls yelped when she almost walked into my face, brought a smile to my face. Saw loads of Chavs (I mean more than usual) on my way to the Tap. I really should come here less, I was stuck by myself 'til twenty to eleven. Passed the Manor DJ who calls himself Korn on my way to the gents, shot me an angry look (I'm guessing because of the fiasco last year), I just smiled friendly back at him, I don't have any beef with the guy. What I don't get with the thing with the Manor was why they took it so personally, the critique was mainly on the place itself (well you could say the thing about them letting in underage kids and the not paying me bit could be interpreted as against the people who run it), I just hate the Manor, but then I hate the Tap and the Medway scene in generalI just don't get people for the most part. Saw a firework display while I was on the balcony in the garden (sadly that was the highlight of my night). Chris and Zak came from the Manor, Ollie and his mates got in but one of them was too pissed to be late in by the bouncers, Ollie went out to talk with him and he didn't get let back in. Hung around with Chris and Zak until after one am then left for Chips and a taxi.
Saturday: I think I deserved tonight after what a shit night I had the night before. Found out Wired were added to the bill for Raging Speedhorn but they said they were going on at four o'clock in the afternoon which seemed way too early for the Speedhorn gig to start and maybe they were just playing an afternoon show and they got things mixed up. Shot Chris a message as he was putting on the show and it was two separate show at the Tap. Got to the Tap and asked Steve what happened, Gabriel thought they supporting Raging Speedhorn when he got told about the show and they just kept telling people they were supporting Speedhorn in a crass attempt to get people to come down and watch them. Hung around with them for a while, Chris came over and told them he was going to put them on last so they could have the chance to be watched by Raging Speedhorn when they load their equipment in. I had bags of time so I went back home, showered, ate, grabbed my Speedhorn ticket and got a bus back to Chatham in time to miss the other bands. There was hardly anyone left in the Tap, Wired had a little huddle and decided to give it their all regardless. Helped move some equipment, they opened with the opening riff to Into The Void (Steve told me later they are going to do the whole song when they play next week with Red 13, as long as Ben learns it properly), went straight into Bad Guys Always Win and Mills showed up. A lot of people were walking straight past them while they played to get to the toilets (including John from but a couple of guys from The Inbreds watched (looked like they were getting really into it). The boys played their nuts off, at one point Steve asked for a drink, when guy offered him a bit of his Snakebite and Steve asked "what the fuck is this?" When they finished Mills went off to get something to eat, a bunch of people came over to talk to Wired who were really into what they just saw. Helped load their equipment out then went to the Post Office. Found Natalie, Kam and a bunch of their friends. Mills came by later, talked bollocks, found out Ollie wasn't just refused entry to the Tap last night, he got banned for two weeks. Went up to the Tap at twenty to ten, bought The Inbreds new EP and got Paul's solo demo for free with it. Caught the end of Reasonable Doubts set (literately their last song). Mills' ex (who's now going out with Korn) came over to talk to him.
The Inbreds: There was an argument between the singer and the drummer as the bass player hadn't showed up and the rest of the band wanted to start the set without him except the drummer, there was an uncomfortable stand off until the bass player finally came. They may be a drunken shambles but they're a great live band.
Raging Speedhorn: Overjoyed that they opened with Knives And Faces, they hardly played any old stuff but the new stuff they did assured me the next album isn't going to suck like the last one. Jaffa got onstage a bunch of times to stage dive, much to the annoyance of John who took to grabbing him a few times and just throwing him offstage. The guitarist with the same Black Flag tattoo as me shook my hand before they ended with The Hate Song.
The door on the Pool room went back and we got let into the Tap for free. Found Ollie's friend Liam and got confirmation that Ollie had indeed been banned for two weeks. Found Fee and one of her sisters and hung out with them for a while. Bloody Kev from Speedhorn DJed in the cage room for a while. Stuck it out 'til three am, went to the kebab for chips and saw Gav from The Guillaume Seam, he had an x drawn on with felt tip like everybody else in a band that night so I guess he was in the band that opened the show, sorry to have missed them but that the price you pay when you don't want to see Reasonable Doubt. Found Mills at the taxi rank, saw a little foreign guy try to start a fight with a Chav. Got in a taxi, passed the club that used to be Secrets and the guy asked me "what's up with that gay club, is it closed now?" like I would fucking know. Saw a Chav on top of another Chav taking sloppy swings at the one below in the road round the back of the tourist centre in Rochester. Good day in all.
Saturday: I think I deserved tonight after what a shit night I had the night before. Found out Wired were added to the bill for Raging Speedhorn but they said they were going on at four o'clock in the afternoon which seemed way too early for the Speedhorn gig to start and maybe they were just playing an afternoon show and they got things mixed up. Shot Chris a message as he was putting on the show and it was two separate show at the Tap. Got to the Tap and asked Steve what happened, Gabriel thought they supporting Raging Speedhorn when he got told about the show and they just kept telling people they were supporting Speedhorn in a crass attempt to get people to come down and watch them. Hung around with them for a while, Chris came over and told them he was going to put them on last so they could have the chance to be watched by Raging Speedhorn when they load their equipment in. I had bags of time so I went back home, showered, ate, grabbed my Speedhorn ticket and got a bus back to Chatham in time to miss the other bands. There was hardly anyone left in the Tap, Wired had a little huddle and decided to give it their all regardless. Helped move some equipment, they opened with the opening riff to Into The Void (Steve told me later they are going to do the whole song when they play next week with Red 13, as long as Ben learns it properly), went straight into Bad Guys Always Win and Mills showed up. A lot of people were walking straight past them while they played to get to the toilets (including John from but a couple of guys from The Inbreds watched (looked like they were getting really into it). The boys played their nuts off, at one point Steve asked for a drink, when guy offered him a bit of his Snakebite and Steve asked "what the fuck is this?" When they finished Mills went off to get something to eat, a bunch of people came over to talk to Wired who were really into what they just saw. Helped load their equipment out then went to the Post Office. Found Natalie, Kam and a bunch of their friends. Mills came by later, talked bollocks, found out Ollie wasn't just refused entry to the Tap last night, he got banned for two weeks. Went up to the Tap at twenty to ten, bought The Inbreds new EP and got Paul's solo demo for free with it. Caught the end of Reasonable Doubts set (literately their last song). Mills' ex (who's now going out with Korn) came over to talk to him.
The Inbreds: There was an argument between the singer and the drummer as the bass player hadn't showed up and the rest of the band wanted to start the set without him except the drummer, there was an uncomfortable stand off until the bass player finally came. They may be a drunken shambles but they're a great live band.
Raging Speedhorn: Overjoyed that they opened with Knives And Faces, they hardly played any old stuff but the new stuff they did assured me the next album isn't going to suck like the last one. Jaffa got onstage a bunch of times to stage dive, much to the annoyance of John who took to grabbing him a few times and just throwing him offstage. The guitarist with the same Black Flag tattoo as me shook my hand before they ended with The Hate Song.
The door on the Pool room went back and we got let into the Tap for free. Found Ollie's friend Liam and got confirmation that Ollie had indeed been banned for two weeks. Found Fee and one of her sisters and hung out with them for a while. Bloody Kev from Speedhorn DJed in the cage room for a while. Stuck it out 'til three am, went to the kebab for chips and saw Gav from The Guillaume Seam, he had an x drawn on with felt tip like everybody else in a band that night so I guess he was in the band that opened the show, sorry to have missed them but that the price you pay when you don't want to see Reasonable Doubt. Found Mills at the taxi rank, saw a little foreign guy try to start a fight with a Chav. Got in a taxi, passed the club that used to be Secrets and the guy asked me "what's up with that gay club, is it closed now?" like I would fucking know. Saw a Chav on top of another Chav taking sloppy swings at the one below in the road round the back of the tourist centre in Rochester. Good day in all.