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So last night was 'the night'. It was the gig night I had organised to raise money for Naomi House hospice. I literally couldn't have been more nervous in the days building up to it and spent much of Saturday trying to repress the shakes. Nerves calmed somewhat when The Tiny Eyes rocked up on my doorstep and I finally got to meet them, and I knew they were in situ for the gig. They calmed even more after the sound check and the other acts - The Great Sojourn and A.dam A.sun.der were all there and sounding great. If I'm honest, this was one of my very favourite parts of the night. It was the first time I'd heard The Tiny Eyes live and could really get my head around their music. Which, incidentally is pretty fucking awesome. (I'll come back to this later)
A.dam A.sun.der played first and sounded richer, deeper and stronger than last time I remember hearing him. He's got a fantastic voice, but last night just sounded like a new and improved version of how he sounded before. The gig included a lot of people Adam and I had been to school with, and I know he was feeling anxious about it. It didn't show though, he looked confident and sounded brilliant. I couldn't have wished for a better opening act.
The Great Sojourn played next; a mixture of them as a trio and with JB singing some solo tracks. They have very recently enlisted a new bass player, but you wouldn't know that to listen to them. They sounded cohesive and played beautifully. I blogged previously about their music, and I believe I wrote about how intelligently created it is, and that it's exactly what I think popular music should be. It's catchy, it has meaning, it has depth and is well crafted - everyone should listen to them. Plus, they're some of the nicest lads I've met - they very kindly donated the money they made selling their CD's to Naomi House.
And then The Tiny Eyes. Forty (ish) minutes of classic punk with a modern feel. Can't get much better than that in my book! Having said that though, they're not just punk. They have a punk edge, which is clear in their lyrics as well as the musical composition, but they are more than that - which I think is what makes them feel more modern - check out 'Darling' on facebook or myspace to understand what I mean by this. All four of them have a wide ranging musical taste and knowledge, as well as the technical knowledge and understanding that comes from studying it to a high level. This is all evident in their music. For a new band, they sound incredibly together - possibly a reflection of the fact that they genuinely get on really really well and know each other implicitly. From the time I spent with them, it's my understanding that they all are 100% behind the music they create together, and it is very much a group activity - it feels like they all believe in their band and their music and this comes through in their performance. For me, the only sad moment in their set was knowing that I won't be seeing them play again any time soon. Because not only did they play for free, but they came down from Scarborough to Southampton to do so. Their music is infectious, the more they played, the more I wanted to hear. They deserve success not just because their music is awesome, but because each of the four of them are awesome too.
The whole night was a fantastic success. Between ticket sales and donations, it raised over £500 for Naomi House. Everyone had a good night, and lots of people got to discover some fantastic musical talent they weren't previously aware of. Last week I was asked if this was going to be an annual thing - my answer was laughter. Now my answer is... hell, yeah!
A.dam A.sun.der played first and sounded richer, deeper and stronger than last time I remember hearing him. He's got a fantastic voice, but last night just sounded like a new and improved version of how he sounded before. The gig included a lot of people Adam and I had been to school with, and I know he was feeling anxious about it. It didn't show though, he looked confident and sounded brilliant. I couldn't have wished for a better opening act.
The Great Sojourn played next; a mixture of them as a trio and with JB singing some solo tracks. They have very recently enlisted a new bass player, but you wouldn't know that to listen to them. They sounded cohesive and played beautifully. I blogged previously about their music, and I believe I wrote about how intelligently created it is, and that it's exactly what I think popular music should be. It's catchy, it has meaning, it has depth and is well crafted - everyone should listen to them. Plus, they're some of the nicest lads I've met - they very kindly donated the money they made selling their CD's to Naomi House.
And then The Tiny Eyes. Forty (ish) minutes of classic punk with a modern feel. Can't get much better than that in my book! Having said that though, they're not just punk. They have a punk edge, which is clear in their lyrics as well as the musical composition, but they are more than that - which I think is what makes them feel more modern - check out 'Darling' on facebook or myspace to understand what I mean by this. All four of them have a wide ranging musical taste and knowledge, as well as the technical knowledge and understanding that comes from studying it to a high level. This is all evident in their music. For a new band, they sound incredibly together - possibly a reflection of the fact that they genuinely get on really really well and know each other implicitly. From the time I spent with them, it's my understanding that they all are 100% behind the music they create together, and it is very much a group activity - it feels like they all believe in their band and their music and this comes through in their performance. For me, the only sad moment in their set was knowing that I won't be seeing them play again any time soon. Because not only did they play for free, but they came down from Scarborough to Southampton to do so. Their music is infectious, the more they played, the more I wanted to hear. They deserve success not just because their music is awesome, but because each of the four of them are awesome too.
The whole night was a fantastic success. Between ticket sales and donations, it raised over £500 for Naomi House. Everyone had a good night, and lots of people got to discover some fantastic musical talent they weren't previously aware of. Last week I was asked if this was going to be an annual thing - my answer was laughter. Now my answer is... hell, yeah!
- Bisexual's are lucky
- Bisexual's are greedy (a.k.a. shagging anyone & everyone)
- Bisexual's can't make up their minds
- Bisexual's can't do monogamy
Just a couple of the misconceptions I regularly come across as a bisexual. I'm not lucky, I'm not greedy or shagging around, I do know my own mind and I can do monogamy. These misconceptions don't upset me as a person, but upset me in terms of how damaging and misleading they are. In fact, I've been known to often say something along the lines of being lucky and getting a bigger pool of people to pick from - but that tends to be a defence mechanism, I'll get in there first.
In actual fact, being bisexual isn't easy. There are gay support groups, gay bars and gay clubs. Gay communities exist with all the support networks, customs, norms and values that come with them which combine to give a sense of gay identity.
For straight people, well most of the world is a heterosexual society that gives a sense of belonging. Straight pubs are everywhere as are straight clubs and straight cafe's. Society is generally set up as a straight society - it's a given that you are attracted to the opposite gender.
There are no bisexual pubs, clubs, bars, cafes or communities. You feel a fraud in the gay community - like you're not accepted as a fully signed up member because the chances are you could end up in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender. Maybe it's time to own this - I feel a fraud in the gay community (etc)... Equally I feel like I don't fit in the straight community - I feel like I'm ignoring part of who I am, denying myself the opportunity to find love (or whatever) with someone who is my gender.
For some time I've felt a pressure to pick which side I'm batting for (so to speak). To either become fully immersed in identifying with the lady loving part of me, or to go with what is probably the easier of the two and 'straighten' up. For a bisexual though it's just not that simple. The gender is irrelevant, it's not about liking men or women, it's about liking people. Not just that though, being bisexual is not a passing phase or a transition to being gay, or denying being gay. It's being bisexual. It's a pretty isolated world, and is overlooked and misunderstood.
- Bisexual's are bisexual (that's all the list you need)
One of my 'things' that I struggle with quite a lot is that I'm not making a difference enough to this world - I go through phases of being quite upset by the thought that if I died today, the world would carry on without every knowing I was here.
In 12 days time, in a pub in Winchester there will be a gig going on. It's a gig I've organised to raise money for Naomi House hospice for children and teenagers. It's set to raise around £400 on my estimation, and on top of that, should be a night of great music too.
So I feel like I'm getting somewhere on that quest to fulfil my need to make a difference to the world (to justify being here...). I've got a long way to go, but it's a start.
In 12 days time, in a pub in Winchester there will be a gig going on. It's a gig I've organised to raise money for Naomi House hospice for children and teenagers. It's set to raise around £400 on my estimation, and on top of that, should be a night of great music too.
So I feel like I'm getting somewhere on that quest to fulfil my need to make a difference to the world (to justify being here...). I've got a long way to go, but it's a start.
Today a good thing happened. My boss popped into work and effectively (and unknowingly) offered me my dream job. I have found increasingly that my passion in youth work lies within sexuality and gender issues (and mental health - but then, from my experience the former is rarely found without the latter), and have been devising a plan to create myself a role in this area within the agency.
So anyway, there is a service in Southampton called Breakout that works with 13 - 21 year olds who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and unsure that is run by the city council. Along with massive chunks of the youth service, the funding for this project has been chopped. Luckily though, our management have taken it on and have secured it for another year (which gives us time to put together funding bids etc to be able to continue the service into the future).
Part of this includes running a supportive group on Tuesday evenings, which my boss has asked for me to take responsibility for. I literally couldn't be more excited at the moment. It's going to take lots of juggling and restructuring of my week because I already don't have enough time to do what I'm meant to be doing. But I can't walk away from this - I'm being offered EXACTLY what I want to be doing, so I WILL make it work.
So anyway, there is a service in Southampton called Breakout that works with 13 - 21 year olds who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and unsure that is run by the city council. Along with massive chunks of the youth service, the funding for this project has been chopped. Luckily though, our management have taken it on and have secured it for another year (which gives us time to put together funding bids etc to be able to continue the service into the future).
Part of this includes running a supportive group on Tuesday evenings, which my boss has asked for me to take responsibility for. I literally couldn't be more excited at the moment. It's going to take lots of juggling and restructuring of my week because I already don't have enough time to do what I'm meant to be doing. But I can't walk away from this - I'm being offered EXACTLY what I want to be doing, so I WILL make it work.
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