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!