5:18 p.m. - 2024-02-28
Camille

I slept soundly last night albeit on the wrong side of the bed again and got up, got dressed, coffee'd up, and went for a wander down by the riverside in the morning mist. I wandered about aimlessly for an hour or so and at one point stood still in the middle of a field just by the river's edge feeling a soft cooling misty morning rain wash over my face as I looked upwards to the sky. I thanked the stars that things really aren't so bad despite my protestations about how miserable my life is these days. It's just that D-Land is where I mostly dump all the grimness, the stuff that causes me annoyance, and the moans. Occasionally I do share a little of the positivity and good stuff that does for the most part never end up here.

Band rehearsal with the new band last night was a bit meh. Our singer forgot his iPad with all the lyrics, song structure notes, and cues, so he was effectively hopeless. S changed the layout in the rehearsal room then moaned that the bass was too bassy because I had to set up in a different corner. Lee our drummer then couldn't hear me properly so that the usual bass/drum lock in was gone. S then readjusted the setting on my amplifier which as anyone in a band will tell you is a no-no. Never mess with someone else's setup. It was a lack-lustre jam and a little worrying because we have our first paid show due in about a week's time. We really will need to get our act together.

I did a big shopping in a nearby town today, and have returned home, cleaned the house, finished my chores, and i'm now in a position to relax a little from the last few days which have been hectic. It's warm in the front room, I have some good food on tap, a lovely Valdepeñas warming up to room temperature and the phones are on silent.

There's been a musical renaissance happening to me over these last few days and I must really tip my hat to a fellow D-Lander for helping me rediscover my passion for all types of music. Music was after all my first love. And talking of love, I have a new crush today. A band I began listening to quite a few years ago called "Novelists" have a new front man. Well actually, it's a new front woman. Her name is Camille, she's French obviously, as France is the country where Novelists come from. If ever you needed proof that nice girls can sway to metal, she is that living proof.

I curled up on the sofa this afternoon and streamed their recent Live In Lyon concert on the big TV and was mightily blown away. It's forty minutes of intense rock/metal. When she started singing an old fave of mine called 5:12am, I had a full body goose pimple wave wash over me and my hair was standing on end. Wow. Camille looks good, she has moves and grooves, she can sway, she can sing, she can scream, that French accent(swoon!) and she adds something special to the band that they have only occasionally touched on before with some of their music collaborations in the past with guest female singers. Whats not to like?

The rest of the band are also the epitome of a modern rock band. Seven string guitars, Dingwall basses, wireless connectivity, IEM's, amp modellers and no big old fashioned guitar stacks. It's all in-ears. This band will still have good hearing when they are my age and not be partially deaf by years of listening to over-loud speakers destroying their hearing. Very impressive.