TeenCanteen played the T Break Stage on a sun basked Friday. Lead singer Carla had time to commit her thoughts to paper. Have a read before she notices!
Friday 11th July 2014
The day starts off early. I get up at 6am .
1. Because I am looking after a cat called Angel who wants fed.
2. I'm starting to get a bit nervous - is it nerves? I can't decide.
3. Phone starts going - little did I realize that it wouldn't stop all day.
Get up and feed Angel who immediately goes back to sleep but I can't.
We had a practice on the Wednesday night in Glasgow and since then I've had over 24 hours to ruminate over what everyone keeps telling me will be 'our biggest gig to date'. We've had a lot of congratulations and a lot of well wishes. We've only just released our second single so not sure what sort of crowd to expect as we're still relatively unknown. I think that's why I was surprised when we got selected to play. Nevertheless we've practiced hard and tried to put together what we think will be a strong set - potentially this could be the first time a lot of people hear us. So no pressure at all(!).
Decide I'll go for a walk as it's sunny.
Walk around Edinburgh - I'm the only one who lives here, the rest are all based in Glasgow.
Head back home for some late breakfast and start to pack up my synth.
My friends Hannah and Jenna are coming along. We're being picked up at 3.15pm sharp from my flat. Hannah and Jenna get here at 2. Hannah practically falls in the door clutching wellies, cardigans, wet wipes,sun screen, plastic glasses and a box of wine.
"Can I whack this in your freezer?"
Jenna shakes her head. Hannah goes to T in The Park pretty much every year. She is the girl who goes into the Slam Tent on the Friday night and doesn't appear again till Monday morning.
"If you lose me don't worry. I'll probably be in the Slam Tent and I'll have made a friend"
Me and Jenna shake our heads.
Decide we might as well have a glass of wine to celebrate and calm nerves - one of the TeenCanteen rules is 'one drink before the show' (that pretty much went out the window). The other rule is 'don't screw the crew'.
The rest of TeenCanteen pull up outside.
We all pile in the van. Sita has brought her little brother and sister in tow. It's stereo Pieracinni the whole journey there - they ALL love to sing and Kenny, our Tour Manager, has made CD for the journey.
Just as we pull into view of the peaks of the King Tut's Tent and the sight of the Ferris wheel Buster Poindextor's Feeling Hot Hot Hot blasts out. The Pieracinni's burst into perfectly timed harmonies. By this point Hannah is pissed and ready to dance. The sun is almost bursting out of the sky. Stupidly I have decided to wear a vintage polyester seventies black jumpsuit. I feel like I'm about to pass out from sunstroke.
WE MADE IT!
Sita has brought along all her face paints and body glitter from clown and performance theater workshops she does. Naturally we all get involved.
Head along to T Break Stage to meet our rep Craig and drop off our belongings. We're not on till 10.10pm and so have the whole day (we got there just after 5pm) to relax and catch some music. We're all gutted we missed Haim.
We all split up and go separate ways - some to catch music, some to catch some sun and Hannah goes to the Slam Tent. Everyone bumps into each other to see CHVRCHES play live. The tent was packed, the synths sounded massive and Lauren's voice was note perfect. We were all feeling good.
It was getting time for us to get ready for a sound check. Hannah reappeared wearing a trilby hat that she did not have before.
"I made a friend. He's called George."
I don't know whether she is talking about the man who gave her the hat or she thinks the hat is called George. Either could be plausible.
Head backstage to do a quick interview with Tenement TV. Realise the first time I came to T in The Park was with Debs. She would have been 15 and I would have been 16. That was 13 years ago.
Tenement TV and the T Break crew wish us luck. We quickly form a circle and ask Mama Cass to watch over us and then head on stage.
It's a big tent. We've got a fairly decent sized crowd. Start off with Honey and notice a few people singing along to every word. Finally start to relax.
It's over so quickly! Something that has been built up for a few months that everyone tells you about and then BOOM! Done and dusted. It's like when the TV cuts out and goes to a tiny white dot in one deft pop.
POP.
Everyone sort of crashed after that - the anticipation of playing, the sun, having friends and family there, and the more than one drink before show rule being essentially abolished (quickly reminded the girls that that rule will firmly be back in place for next gigs - but no harm had been done, we all drink a lot of water. SensibleCanteen).
And that was that!
Back on the bus. Amongst the Pieracinni's and Hannah and her new hat and back home to Edinburgh to feed the cat.
Pull up outside my flat. Sita's wee brother pops in and throws up all over my bathroom. Amanda goes back on the Saturday to reappear early on Sunday morning in Edinburgh.
"Can I crash?"
Later that day we go and meet up with the person who will be producing... A TeenCanteen album!
But that's another diary entry for later in the year.
Happy and proud of all of us. Next weekend we're off to play Indietracks and Wickerman Festival back to back. Jenna is coming too. We've named this weekend the 'Girls on Tour Tour', the only exception being Kenny. Our Tour Manager.
Many thanks to those who came to watch us play and have supported us and listened to us over the last few months.
Love from,
Carla (And Sita, and Amanda, and Debs)
