These Infinite Spaces

We'd had our first gig - but gigs were to prove few and far between for the first 18 months or so. But still we kept at it, rehearsing hard every Sunday. When I look back, I had a pretty busy life at the time. I was at school 5 days a week, then I worked all day Saturday at a supermarket, and then rehearsed most of Sunday. No time to rest.

Anyway, a few months after the party there was a band competition on at Heathcote High. We entered, and rehearsed hard in preparation. I remember the night pretty clearly - there were about 6 bands in the competition, but most of them weren't taking it too seriously. We played "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS, and it suited Bird's voice well. We won.

This was a bit of a boost, but it still didn't land us a "proper" gig. We played a couple more parties, and I remember one in particular very well. There was a fellow up north -  who had a monster PA system, like 3,000 watts or something. Every year he put on a street party and invited a young band to play there. In return for playing, he would do the PA for you sometime for free.

Well, we turned up and set all our equipment up, outside. His PA was there, and it was a monster of a thing, a tall triangular stack of speakers. Dark clouds were over head and I said, "What happens if it rains?" He replied, "Don't worry - if it rains, everyone will help you get your equipment undercover."

We start playing, and sure enough, after a couple of songs huge drops of water are splashing all around us. Quick as a flash, the crowd grabbed all of the PA guys equipment and took it under shelter, leaving us to take our equipment in on our own. We left soon after that, and I don't think we ever did take him up on his offer. Little did I know, our first proper "pub gig" was coming up soon.

It would be nothing like I expected...