French Lessons: Gigs

One, two. One, two.

The very first gig, with Colin Roberts on drums, was at the Girling Club, opposite Bebington Station.

The second gig was in Ellesmere Port—the first with Keith on drums. All respect to him for it. It was the first time he'd played any of the songs on a drum kit. Up to that point he'd only rehearsed by tapping out the rhythm on a book cover.

Although the band went on to rehearse using various studios and basements throughout Wirral they eventually settled on Rob's front room. Because of this Keith reverted back to the book cover, often playing a new song on his kit for the first time at a gig!

The TDK National Battle of the Bands

The qualifying round at Liverpool University was notable mainly for the way we applied ourselves to the competition. The previous entry the band had made, at the Grafton Rooms, failed at the first stage. However, the band that won through at that time were well prepared. The effect this had on the other entrants was well noted.

At their second attempt French Lessons were very well prepared; they arrived armed with kettles, tea-bags, coffee, food and entertainment. Designed to keep the band chipper during the long wait between arrival, performance and results, this worked like a dream. It was fun to see all the other bands, huddled together in their little groups for warmth and companionship, look longingly at us as we sat about drinking & eating and generally having a good time.

The Dale Inn, Seacombe

This was probably the venue most frequently played by the band. The gigs included a Christmas special (featuring a number of non French Lessons songs) and one when they were supported by a comedian.

The audience at The Dale were an unforgiving bunch, probably because the majority of them were musicians. However, the band held their own each time, even in the face of adversity—nearly every performance in the music room included some technical fault or other. Most of the time this was a buzzing amplifier or the power cutting out. There's a tape somewhere, recorded just before Radio City's Battle of the Bands, of one such gig. It consists mainly of Tony saying things like "Is it OK now?", only to be followed by a noise something like "Bumfph" as the power cut out again. Happy times.