Last night's gig was a curious thing

[shermarama]

We played this gig at Kingsmeadow 'stadium' in Kingston, home of AFC Wimbledon and Kingstonians, a very basic square function room of a place and everything you'd expect from that, really. There was only us and a Clash tribute band called London Calling, who are from Bristol and have only ever played two London gigs, both at this place. There was an awkward conversational moment when they asked if we'd be bringing all our local fans and we had to point out that our usual local haunt is south-east London, literally an hour and a half's travel away by any means short of personal jetpack - it had only taken them two hours to get there from Bristol, by comparison - but as moments go it was less awkward than it could have been because we were standing around in the 'dressing room' (another random function room elsewhere in the building) eating the free stack of pizza we'd been given. The night's been running for about a year and even given the swingeing entry price of ten quid, which is a bit ridiculous for two bands in a shitty function room in Kingston, they seem to be managing to keep it going, so. Pretty much everyone that showed was in the age bracket to remember the Clash the first time round, but that's okay because London Calling themselves were too and the audience loved it. Lots of beer-gutted, balding blokes in polo shirts trying to remember how to pogo; there was something about the ubiquitous chubbiness, the stiff-legged, out-of-time stomping and the universal facial expression of this being *the most delightful thing they could imagine* that made it seem like we were in some weird playgroup full of scaled-up toddlers. But the band were pretty good at what they did, and everyone was having a splendid time, and we'd have stayed around to watch more if it hadn't been for the time it'd take to get home.

While we were waiting at the bus stop, two blokes walked up and gave us an 'All right, girls?' in the sort of tone that suggested they thought they could help up get all righter. I was highly amused at their surprise when Chris turned round and pointed out the mistake, it's not often I get to see gender confusion from the outside. So far I don't think anyone's mistaken me for a bloke while in his company; maybe we'll have to see if we can manage simultaneous confusion at some point...

Oh, and, what the hell am I going to wear for a posh wedding, in Westminster Abbey no less, next weekend? Deadlines don't leave me with enough time to try making a dress as I'd first thought I might. The strongest current possibility is the one I wore for Kirsten's wedding but to be fair, as I realised when I wore it then, the cut does rather emphasise my shoulders, and black is neither the colour for a summer wedding or the colour for me generally, at least if it's meant to be outside of rock/goth stylings. I suppose there's not a lot to be done about that but try and find something else, haha, or go with it. You can tell it's from Long Tall Sally because it's still slightly shorter in the shoulder than I'd like, and little roomy around the hips despite only being a 14, because Long Tall Sally firmly believe everyone is pear-shaped. One thing I can tell you, however, is that I am in no way going to carry a bloody handbag.

Comments

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

sounds surreal. (nearly) always good to get in unusual experiences though, i suppose it's one of the benefits of gigging and stuff, where and for whom you end up being booked.
next weekend wedding, eh? don't leave yourself much time do you... i know you're considerably taller than me but if you want to try it you're welcome to borrow something. as bat will testify i've got a decent range of dresses and i'm feeling all clothes-sharingy at the mo. i think i feel guilty cos i have lots, more than i can wear a lot of each, and besides i tend to wear the same thing all week anyway...

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

oh yeah and - who gets married in westminster abbey?? do you associate wiv royalty?

[shermarama]

It's a friend of Jon's from Cambridge - I don't know how they've swung the venue but I think her dad used to have some sort of important job, type of thing. The reception, by way of contrast, is at the headquarters of the South Place Ethical Society, "reknowned as a hub for free speech and progressive thought."

As for dresses, there's the height but I'm just generally large - that LTS dress that's only a 14 is an anomaly, I'd normally head straight for a 16 and still sometimes not fit in. Isn't it fairly unlikely that you'd have anything that'd fit?

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

there's every likelyhood you'll be a few inches out in crucial directions... i used to be a 14-16 but clothes have grown (i've only got marginally smaller) and now i'm a 12-14. however if you've got a free evening and you want dresses brandished at you, and you don't mind the potential embarassment of not being able to do any of them up, well, your place or mine? i can't do thursday.
also the top i was wearing yesterday might work though not super-smart. depends on you having suitable skirt/trews.

[shermarama]

The free evening bit is the problem, and the reason why I haven't just made the wrap dress I've got a pattern for. I've got a substantial report that's got to be in on Monday...

I've got something that's at least not totally off-spectrum, given the time constraints it'll have to do, I think. *sighs*

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

fair enough. you can use patterns? i can't deal with them, i only make my own. do you mock it up to check the fit first?

[shermarama]

I'm used to using patterns that I've made up myself - I have made things from bought patterns but not for years, because standard patterns don't fit me any more than standard clothes do. I had no idea how to draw up a pattern for something like a wrap dress, though, so I've bought a pattern and tweaked it, adding some length in the body and cutting to size 16 or 14 as hopefully appropriate. And I'm planning on making a mock-up version first in this case, aye, which I don't normally do.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i'm assuming most of the punters are probably AFC fans too (sounds a lot like their usual demographic), thus don't feel too bad about the tenner if it's supporting the club ;)

it's Kingstonian singular btw :)