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One of the “features” of The Gripes is that at every concert something goes wrong. They either get told they’re too loud, the instruments break, band members don’t show up, get too drunk or don’t remember the songs. Their singer has had to play the drums, the drummer has had to play guitar and the bassist has had to sing. They’ve been banned from playing for being too rude.

On the 19th of May, everything went smoothly. The band got through over half the set list in good time, with only a few broken picks and sticks. But during the song Sugar Mummy, things started going really wrong. Power started being cut to the stage arbitrarily. After the power was cut again at the start of Sex Neighbour, amongst boos and hisses, the drummer, now slightly drunk, went home.

To fill the void the singer got on the drums, using the only stick the drummer had left and part of a broom that had been snapped in half. The band started playing ‘Skip’. The power was cut again. The band then started to do an a capella version of ‘Wonderwall’ and dancing randomly on stage. Terry lit a cigarette and started stripping in front of the crowd. The singer started hammering at the drums as loud as he could until the owner came and shut off power to the entire room, leaving the audience in darkness.

Despite everything, most staff and the audience said they had been the best band they’d ever seen at the venue, despite none of their “good” songs being played. The band then hung out together by the river.

Band Members