A Day In The Life of The Kicks ...A Rock & Pop Wedding Band For Hire

Saturday 12th February 2011 saw us performing at the wedding of Paul and Kay Lewis at The Tudor Barn in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

This is a relatively short distance gig for us, for a change, which allowed for a little relaxation prior to setting off!

A quick load up of freshly ironed clothes and other small gear items and we’re off.

On the road, and our obligatory service stationstop to fuel up on all the essential junk food and energy drinks that keep us going. It amazes us that James can still stay skinny despite the amount of sordid garage food that enters his system!

Several hours later and with nearly full stomachs, we arrive at the venue. And, what a spectacular venue it is – an old barn with soft lighting, wooden beams and a really cosy feel. The vibes are good already!

Unusually, the guests have already vacated the room and the tables have been cleared, so it’s on with the load in and set up!

Normally this takes about an hour, but seeing as the space was already cleared and we could park the van right outside the venue doors, we managed it in a record 30 mins!

A few other touches, a quick drum-head change, a sound check and we’re ready to go and get our glad rags on!

With such soft lighting and general ambience, the room set up and stage area looks great. Everyone is eagerly awaiting kick off!

You know it’s going to be a good gig when the audience are whooping and clapping just from a sound check!

First dance on this occasion was played through the DJ equipment. Damien Rice “Blowers Daughter” was the song of choice. By the end of the song the dance floor was full and ready for us to move swiftly into our first song, before anyone has chance to escape.

The audience lived up to our expectations and the dance floor remained full and pumping all night. The sound in the room was fantastic due to all the soft furnishings and wooden beams; dry, clear focussed and full!

First set ended with the usual dose of high energy and the audience are left cheering for more. Not for long however as the buffet is soon on display and the usual mass exodus to get a face full is under way! This is the perfect time for us to top up where the garage food left off, and also engage the guests in scintillating conversation. It would seem there are a lot of musicians in the audience tonight. Tough crowd!

With everyone fed and watered it’s time to rock out with the second set. Typically this ramps up in energy and tempo and the guests respond accordingly! Some incredible shapes and moves on display including body popping and air guitar….

Job done; we finish the set to much appreciation and applause. No one wants to go home, but gradually people disburse and we can start the only arduous bit about gigging: pack down and driving home. What an awesome gig: a really friendly, appreciative and up for it crowd with a full dance floor all night. Just the way we like it! Gigs like this are what it’s all about…

Fortunately on this occasion due to an earlier finish than normal and such a convenient load in and out, the van is loaded and we’re ready to go by midnight. With only two hours drive home we might actually get in before the birds start tweeting!

On the way home it’s time for the usual stop off to get a caffeine injection and yet more sugar to help sustain us for the drive. After expending this amount of energy all evening, we often get the post gig chills and energy crash. Fortunately there is a remedy to this in the form of chocolate and Costa coffee, or for the more hardened of us, Red Bull! The roads are hauntingly clear and we make good progress home, with James as the only non-driver catching flies in the passenger seat.

Home at 2am. Hopefully my young son won’t wake up before 6am and then it’s up for a few hours before we do it all over again!