some friendly post-gig advice to The Hours...

Some friendly advice to The Hours following last night’s Academy 3 gig (aka best venue in Manc):

We came to the gig already loving the songs. But please learn a bit of patter to keep us with you between numbers.

To Antony Genn - lose the guitar more often. When you played People Say you looked really free, it came alive more. Do it more often, hire someone else to play your parts if you have to.

Try not to play venues the same night as a sold-out The Rifles gig – you’ll end up getting the disappointed dregs of people who couldn’t get in to see them. This will only pain and annoy your real fans.

Consider not playing a song about your dead dad as the first number after the encore. You’d just got us jumping when you went off stage and then it was a hard change of tempo to pull off (hence the aforementioned Rifles dregs talking through it – unforgivable but…)

Never, ever let your drummer wear a short-sleeved button-up black shirt. He looks like a hotel bellboy.

To Martin Slattery – try not to look like a rabbit caught in the headlights from the moment you come on stage. Maybe close your eyes once in a while or look at your keys if you can’t stop staring at us in a slightly off-yer-head way.

Finally - don’t try so hard. You ARE rock stars. So stop *trying* to be one and just be. You’ve seen how Pulp, Elastica, Joe Strummer and Black Grape did it, and now you’re having to work your way up again on your own terms. That must be tough. But try to enjoy it – during People Say and Ali in the Jungle last night it finally came across that you were.

PS Antony – nice teeth. ;-)

PPS We loved it, really we did. Monday night rocks! It’s the new Saturday you know…


technorati tag: the hours