Gig reports

Assembly 2003

Friday, August 8, 2003. The H hour is approaching. This is it, it's really happening - we're going to play a gig at Assembly. Despite a summer's worth of gruelling rehearsals in conditions not significantly unlike a steam bath the whole band is one gigantic bunch of nerve ends. We're sweating like a 4 x 400 m relay team in the Olympic finals, and it's not all because of the weather.

The stage is set for the concert to begin. We're fresh from sound-check and all psyched up. "They are going to rock", our hostess declares - now it's up to us to live up to that promise. With an innocent little delay riff the guitar leads the way into the intro to Megablast and is joined by drums, bass and keyboards. Every figure we play we've played time after time after time, but this time we mean business. Looking at the audience we see friendly faces in the front row and hands being thrust into the air in recognition of classic tunes, encouraging us on. As if tightroping between two office blocks on thirty metres of coaxial cable we work our way through Space Debris, International Karate, Star Control II and Onward, finishing with an action-packed rendition of Bubble Bobble. Half an hour after the first note we walk off the stage in a state of post-stress euphoria.

After a quick backstage breather we pack up our gear and yield the stage to CNCD Outside. Time to meet the audience face-to-face. Handshakes, exhilarated smiles, words of praise. The realisation hasn't properly hit us yet, but already we get a vague feeling that something special just happened. The feeling grows more intense as we're shown to the after concert party: chatting in the sauna with demoscene legends, watching competitions and enjoying complimentary drinks in a VIP box. We knew then what we would later read in the concert feedback - Axes Denied has arrived with a splash!