O2 Academy Islington

London here we come……….. it is Friday afternoon, it’s Gaz’s birthday and the whole StoneWire family is excited that we are on our way to play the O2 Academy in Islington.

We only just received the go ahead a week before; I was waiting during sound check in Altrincham when the email came in, we have been confirmed to support Swiss Rockers Gotthard, yay! Rob and I know the band from way back when we were still in Germany. They have a great following all across Europe and Japan so I was surprised that no one else in the band knew them. It’s always interesting how some bands break in a certain market and some don’t (they did headline Rockingham at Rock City the next day though, so they must be known a bit here)

When we arrived at the venue we quickly got the pre-gig buzz that comes when you pull up at a new venue. We were greeted by the security guard who was absolutely charming, at one point he even called me Madam and I thought, ‘not so sure about that one’, haha. The crew that was hired by Tidal Promotions were also great, very helpful and there was no sense of “we are just the support”,
true professionals (doesn’t always happen even if we’re headlining, I can assure you). So up we go and into the main hall, the stage set up for Gotthard was in full swing and we settled into our routine. Unpack your gear, put boxes away, I run around and find various people to talk to about Merch, passes and so on. Again, the house crew was amazing and they even put our banner on the screen (so glad I spent the day before sorting this out, even though I wanted to throw my laptop out of the window half a dozen time, once it was up it look great – just like the pros ;) )

As so very often on live shows, things were delayed and today was no exception. Gotthard arrived in Heathrow late and then got stuck in traffic coming from the West. Nothing new, we had our problems coming from the South East. It’s just part of the whole experience, you just deal with it. Once all was set up and sound checked we had about another hour. The usual pre gig chatter took place, me warming up in the bathroom (also quite common) and before we knew it, it was time to go up the two flights of stairs to the stage.

I was excited but also a little apprehensive as we had no time to promote the gig properly and it was an early start at 7pm. You never know how many people will make the effort to come in and see the support.

Well, let me tell you that my concerns were absolutely unnecessary. The hall was packed with a crowd that was totally ready to have a great time. From our opener Walk The Line they were with us. They clapped, they cheered and they even sang some of the choruses with us. This was not our audience, these people came from all across the UK and even Europe to see the main band but man did they make us feel welcome. We had 30 minute which equates to 6 songs and when we ended Fix You I felt like the headliner; what an amazing audience. 

Once we got all our gear off stage I had time to go and chat with people at the Merch stand and there were so many that wanted to talk and buy the CD. There were people from all over the UK and also from Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Belgium……….. and some more. Absolutely amazing, these guys came to see the show in London and Nottingham and they just made a long weekend out of it. That is what you call dedicated fans.

Well, as soon as Gotthard took to the stage you could see why, damn! What a great live band, I have never seen them before but I guarantee I will again. What a show they put on. Nick is the new singer as their original singer sadly died in 2010 in a freak accident whilst on holiday in the USA. It must be hard to step into the boots (and in the case of Steve Lee very big boots) of someone else, especially as a singer. I think it must be hard to get a new frontman/woman in (or maybe I’m projecting as many bands do it successfully). Anyway, he did great and won the whole audience over which gives as much credit to his abilities as it does to the audiences willingness to continue to support a great band. What an amazing night for all.

So, after we were all packed up again we left for one of our favourite hangouts the Big Red and we celebrated Gaz’s birthday in style but that would be a story for a whole new blog ;)

Tally Ho peeps, see you in Leeds on 6. November

Sky x