Rehearsals, Chasing Cars and alternate universes

It was all a bit mad on Thursday – it was our last rehearsal for the play (I’d say ‘dress’ but some hadn’t bothered with their costumes), and we were trying to bring those who hadn’t come to the ‘tech’ on Tuesday up to speed. We didn’t managed a run without people fluffing lines and stopping. Many of them have never performed in front of an audience before and we’re on next week! I know there’ll we’ll give a performance, but I don’t think it will be one I’ll be proud of.

As soon as we finished, I headed across town to the Vicky Vaults, and Griffin’s second gig in two weeks. It’s not a very big pub, I’ve been to gigs there before, and know how cramped it can get, so I wasn’t really surprised to find that there was no chance of getting into the room where he was singing. So, for the first half, Cat and I stayed in the other bar, where we could hear just fine.

For the second set, we moved to seats in a corner, whilst Corinne and Gayle stood on bar stools so they could see over the heads of the unmoving crowd. It was incredibly smoky. I really can’t wait for 1 July and for this to become a thing of the past.

He sounded great, and it was nice just to listen. His voice will always bring me back I guess. Some songs sounded glorious, and yet, for the first half at least, much of the time my head was somewhere else. Probably still at rehearsal.

Last time, I was frantically trying to phone Corinne when he started ‘Chasing Cars’. This time, well, we waited. He was getting to the end, we’d sung along to ‘Mark Viduka’ again. He had to do it, he really had to. And then, as the final song, those opening chords. As his voice soared, I felt thrilled for her. And it was fantastic.

As for the alternate universe, that would be the one where Snow Patrol are playing Griffin songs in a pub.