EAST LONDON GETS THE BOTOWN EFFECT

The gig at theBroadway Barking was an awesome night. It is close to being my favourite performance so far. The band seems to be getting tighter and the audiences more rapturous. I’m pretty sure everyone left with a smile on their face!

As joyous and euphoric the actual performance was though, there was some serious behind the scenes tension that darkened the days leading up to it. Tamas (percussion) cut his hand and had to have stitches in the morning, Jon (drums) ruptured the underside of his car while driving to the gig, Paul (trumpet) got stuck on the M25... and MC Mikey.. err...turned up on time!

Oh, and who can forget the arduous frustratingly long and stressful sound check? If I had the ability, I could have grown an afro in the time it took to just get a basic set up. In fact I think I did... and then I flew to New York to get it trimmed back down to a grade 2 and returned back in time for my own mic check!

Anyway, NOTHING can break the Botown spirit and it is to the credit of each individual musician that once the soundcheck was over, we pulled together, brushed off any negativity, had a laugh and got ready for the show. Besides, the venue itself was plush, with some great backstage areas.

The band were show-stoppingly great. During Haule Haule I took advantage of my wireless guitar unit and took a shuffle out into the crowd, followed ably by Sanjay (dhol), Pavan (sax) and Paul (trumpet). At this point the crowd went ballistic! Though there was one guy still seated, so I sat next to him (still strumming), after a brief chat I ascertained that his seated position was due to medical reasons!

We ‘shuffled’ back on stage, in time to the music and it time for the next song. It really is a beautiful feeling to see a crowd so engaged in a performance that you are part of... and a good mix of young and old too. The audience were well and truly ‘Botowned’ by the end of the show. 

So on to tonight... not a gig but another celebration. Botown Brother Gilbert (Turntablist) is soon to be made an honest man of himself so tonight there’s a party to celebrate the end of his bachelor days! A lot of the crew will be there, but don’t expect a blog!

Much love

Ajay

PS: Props to Ben who ably stood in for Avipaul on bass and held the funk down good.