The tour trundles on and the venue reviews keep on coming!
I was immediately sceptical when I arrived here, and rightly so. Large brick and stone buildings always struggle to deal with the sound of a band. However with a long soundcheck (we pretty much played the whole set) the problems were dealt with and the sound was fairly good after that. That said, my onstage monitor wedge was so loud it was moving away from me...
From an aesthetic perspective, I love this venue. The exposed brickwork and rural surrounding which was in the most beautiful village..very Emmerdale! The hall itself looked like an old Railway shed which had been restored as a gig venue. It is a fairly large gig and I was hoping that the crowd would be of a decent size. My fears were allayed when it started to fill up with middle aged men in Ben Shermans, Desert Boots and cropped hair. The venue also started to fill up with what looked like a younger crowd..I saw countless pairs of "Jam Shoes" and parkas... Very enjoyable to be playing up north when the crowd gave a chant of "Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire"...
The crowd were really into it here and in great spirits. A rarity for me, I was asked to sign some autographs at the end of the set and the boys and girls of the audience were very enthusiastic and polite. I did nearly come a cropper when I jumped off the front of the stage to hand out a drumstick (and a kiss) to a young lady... It is a much higher stage than I thought!
All of the staff at the venue were first class - they looked after the audience well and treated us in the band brilliantly.
So... one of the better venues I have played in this area. I would love to return, either in the crowd or on the stage. Good work Elsecar heritage centre. read more
