D.I.T not D.I.Y

A gig day is a hyper-real day. It begins calmly with lists, packing equipment and time checks. It's 11am, due to leave at 11.30am, Sal has just received an email cutting her hours of work as a lecturer, she is devastated. Devastation rolls through the house and we begin to cling to schedules as a way of keeping our heads above the turmoil. Sal proceeds through the day in a state of shock, we help her cope....first hurdle of the day, quickly bowled in. We collect equipment,gather shoes, screens, cradles, cables....Jon commented that it was like moving house twice in one day all the stuff we take. Set up was good, then things go into slow motion...somehow? Mark and I shoot off to Future Radio for an interview...crikey I can go on, little miss motor mouth! I think it's because I was once told that dead-air on the radio is the enemy. I did manage to shoe-horn in the .... So, Neutrinos, you like the D.I.Y ethic... no I said, we are more D.I.T, Do It Together. Always plan food on a gig day..even if it doesn't happen, know it. I booked a table at the Last Wine Bar ( work colleagues), who said they could throw some soup and chips our way within moments of us needing it.... we were stressed and late when we arrived and the atmosphere in the LWB was so comforting, the food delicious, we handled the linen napkins like blankets and rubbed our faces in the soft whiteness....breathing in the cleaness....then rushed back to the venue.....on in 30 mins. It felt strange leaving the venue at that point, but it gave us a quick bit of perspective, calm down, talk to the audience,be authentic, be real. Food is incredibly grounding and brings you back into your body. So last bits of manic set-up , helping hands arrive, I felt like a kid who had fallen asleep in the car and was having everything done for them... help is good ....always accept help and don't try and be in control. The show has it's own energy and cannot be driven by one set of hands. The show begins, then I fell down the stairs, not hurt, stamped my broken shoe heel back in place, just got rid of my stored up adrenalin, now time to breathe. I love singing, I love letting the air out slow, I love joining the lines, I love almost speaking, my singing is a conversation....perhaps it was watching musicals on tele when I was small and confused thinking that chat,chat burst into song was normal( I generally hate most musicals and the honky nose-singing pisses me off btw)...I love shouting. Sal and Tim lit us, Mr Bill Vine made us sound like us. We played, literally played within the skillful sound and light. An honour and a great audience to play with! We all drank rum into the night whilst the ciccada on continuous loop played in the bushes! Thanks to all involved especially the host Puppet Theatre, we had a night we will remember, we D.I.T.

The night before

So here I am again wondering what the hell am I doing all this for! The team of 6 of us are working our arses to the bone because we want tomorrows show at the Puppet Theatre to be extraordinary...... lists everywhere...favours pulled in... I was very relaxed earlier on today....now I am running on empty. It's going to be fine... permissions for total blackout still not quite negotiated. Wish I would just go for the goal a little quicker rather than postponing things hoping they will become easier....banking on timing things well, catching people at the right moment....... Lists lists lists...visualising events, room layouts, knowing that the time tomorrow will just disappear.......gone 8 hours in a puff of smoke..... There will be puppets...........Sal is amazing at animating the monkeyboy! There will be shadows, there will be films, moving slides, moving sounds, illuminations, book films, rum, free notebooks............I'm running on empty, I wish us good luck and good sleeping and thank all folks in advance for there generosity in lending their time and effort and equipment and patience.... and I'm gonna thank us for making another world to live in tomorrow night. A bit like the KFC Drive-by we invented today where you shoot yer own chicken to eat....yeeee haaaaa!