EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT - Bristol Academy 21 May - Wow
Oh God, where should I start. Well everything and anything that could go wrong on the morning of our show did.
Here's the story now keep up:
The night before I said to our guitarist, let's leave London around 10.45am and that I'd meet him at ealing Broadway as it was easier for me coming from Essex. He argued and argued it's too early and that Hammersmith was better. I Stuck to my guns until the following morning I got up and decided ok, chill out Val, just go with the flow. I text him and told him ok we'll meet at hammersmith for 11.30am instead.
(still with me)
I decided to not get a taxi, but get on the train as most of my belongings had been couriered already to the venue, so I had a dolly trolley and a drum skin to carry so not a big deal to get on the train.
I got on the Central Line in London near my home and lo and behold, the trains decided it was going on a go slow...now I'm slowly simmering..... I decided to get off at Mile End to change to the District Line to Hammersmith, big mistake...as now no trains seem to be going anywhere near Hammersmith, terminating early and to make matters worse it's now coming up to be 11.45 and I'm still no nearer to Hammersmith. ..
After nearly four changes of trains ...(whereby I was absolutely steaming with rage and swearing my arse off on the train) I met Adam (our guitarist) at 12.30pm. A 45 min journey nearly took 1 hour 45 min. ..
Adam knew how stressed I can get bought me some lovely cookies and said take a chill pill, get in the car and relax. ..
Normally, I would double check with him that all the equipment have been taken care off and no need to worry. On this occasion, I didn't, so we got into the car and ambled along. We stopped at a service station, it all felt like a doddle, we were still on schedule to get to Bristol in time to load in, make it to the Bristol Radio Station for a two hour interview, then back to the Academy
to sound check and be ready for the show at 8pm.
(you still with me???) lol.
20 miles from Bristol, Adam turns round and looks at me and says "YOUR NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS" I said what? His face started to go really bright red and his eyes widen that his pupils were as big as his iris, he said "I've forgotten the Hard Drive". Now the hard drive is imperative to our show, it has all our samples, the backing tracks, harmonies you name it the show cannot go on without this hard drive.
I sat for almost 2 minutes in silence (which is a record for me, but felt like an eternity)
.. I looked at him and thought your having a laugh, but by this time he looked like he was going to cry.
Ok thinking on my feet I said just turn the car around. He frantically got on the phone to raise anyone who was near his home in Barnes/Putney, who could go to his house and collect the machine and meet us half way up the motorway to collect.
The time now is 2.20pm. We're due on the radio at 4pm. Sound check is 5.30pm. (YOU STILL WITH ME).
It was mayhem, but we just did not have any choice. Good thing was the rest of the band had decided to travel down in their own cars, so thankfully, our bass player, drummer and our engineer was in Bristol for 3pm to hold the fort.
Meanwhile I was fielding calls from the radio station, to production teams fromj ust any old rubbish, but still no joy finding anyone to meet us along the motorway.
Adam put his foot down, and on the way back to London, which was 104 miles at 2.20pm we saw traffic building up on the other side which is the way we would have to come back.
I started to feel sick, but kept it together as it made no sense losing the plot, Adam just kept apologising, which I had to tell him to shut up or I'd push him out the vehicle hahaha.
We bombed it back up the motorway and made it to Adam's home 3.55pm and was back on the motorway within 10 mins. (I know the gods were shining on us.) ..
Now the radio station was having kittens, they had advertised we were coming plus it was being filmed live. Anyway, as luck would have it, the Producer of the show said lets do it over the phone whilst we were driving, Phew...so we did live interview on the air via the telephone, which a link is attached MAXFIELD LIVE RADIO INTERVIEW ON BRISTOL RADIO 21.5.08 have a listen.
So job done, we still had to get back in time for sound check. We rang the rest of the band to find out that at 4.45pm Public Enemy had still not turned up yet and sound check was running late and it may mean we would not get a sound check. ..
I'm like what the f%^k is going on today? We made it back to Bristol at 5.55pm. I know don't ask me how we drove to London to Bristol, Bristol to London and then London to Bristol from 12.30pm and reached our destination before 6pm. Someone was watching over us. Phew ..
We bowl into the venue to find PE on the stage sound checking and the place was filled with loads of American's who i couldn't tell who was bloody who.
In between that time, i had the pleasure of meeting Chuck D and Flavour Flav. They were so cool, humble and I for the first time was a bit in awe like an idiot, but didn't show it. Just did my thing.
Made friends with the rest of the gang and disappeared to my room to chill till
it was time for us to get it on.
The first band went on Ezra bang and warmed up the crowd, then next we were up, mouth dry, stomach churning, feel like shit, the band walking around like zombies. We got together did a group hug, did a team talk Alex Ferguson would have been proud of and went to blow off some serious steam on stage.
Step onto the stage to a great capacity crowd and just decided to rock the world away, cause if I died right there and then, it was the best place to have died, full crowd, having it large enjoying your set and Public Enemy in the house. NICE
We got on and did our thing, to the point of people shouting for us when we had finished, I was totally overwhelmed, as these people don't have a clue who we are, but it seems like we had left a lasting impressing.
As I was departing the stage, there stood Chuck D. I could not believe it. Chuck D came up personally and said, "you were awsome". The Val like a child said "Oh my god, your a legend, that means so much coming from you...oh my god" Like a bloody idiot can you believe that, me of all people. I then ran from him then turned back and said Thanks again and can we hang out later. (Doh mega stupid idiot), but funny enough he said hell yeah. It didn't help that I was talking to him too, in my bra top either. DOH
Anyway, I got changed and made my way back to the side of the side to watch some of the PE. You'd never guess what Chuck D did? In the middle of his show, he comes to the side of the stage and drags me back on the stage to introduce me to the crowd and to tell them that MAXFIELD were great. Well I nearly died. The arena was packed and the applause was deafening. I could have killed him. But at the same it was a treasured moment.
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