I have seen the future...

www.betika.co.uk
...and it doesn't have any electricity in it! We (that is to say Imogen, Carolyn and I) had something of a revelatory experience last night when we had the pleasure of playing at an acoustic night in Bristol that was so acoustic there weren't even any microphones. It must be stressed that this was in no way due to some oversight on the part of the organisers; it was a brilliantly concieved and executed event that harked back to some mythical golden age of making-your-own-entertainment.
The venue was a packed cafe (Cafe Delight on Gloucester Road, recipent of the big fat Betika seal of approval food-and-drink wise!), which didn't have a stage or any kind of designated playing area, so the people playing just found themselves a little bit of space amongst the audience and did their stuff - far and away the most intimate gig I've ever done. As we arrived (after the usual "I think we're lost!" / "Where do we park??" hastles) Jar was starting her set, and immedeately the brilliance of the concept of a totally acoustic night became apparent. Jar's music is so incredibly slight and minimal - just voice and a few notes picked out on glockenspiel, violin or guitar - that even the slightest murmur of conversation from the opposite end of the room would have smothered it completely. But every person in the place sat in complete and utter silence and hung on every word and every note of every song. Have you ever had that thing where you're lying awake late at night, and every tiny little noise that the house makes sounds like burglars breaking the door down? Exactly the same thing happened, the tiny little sounds coming from Jar's glock filled the silent room like the chiming of miniature churchbells.

I think our set would have to be the single most enjoyable performance of my life so far - I have to admit to having been a little apprehensive about being placed under such intense scrutiny, but looking around the crowd I found the faces to be friendly and curious, and it turns out that playing and singing are much easier to do when you don't have to worry about microphones and amplifiers and things. We did six songs; "You can call me brother", "Girlshaped", "We will not know peace", "Pink Hulk", "The taming of the shrew" (for the very first time in public) and a version of "By Default" that drew disgusted groans and laughter from the audience in all the right places.
On after us were Vijay Kishore, a man possesed of the loudest and most remarkable voice I've ever heard ("Like an indian Jeff Buckley but like Jeff Buckley in the good Thom Yorke way" would be a lazy but not innacurate way to describe him), and then Francois and the Atlas Mountains Ensemble, who took up half the room with their bodies and their collection of instruments (THREE glockenspiels, two accordians, tenor sax, clarinet, double bass, melodica, a couple of guitars, various percussion and voices), and who filled the air with a rich and glorious range of sounds. We drove the long road home tired but very, very happy. Big thankyou to Theo from Factfans for letting us be a part of such a great night!

More Betika later this week closer to home when we play The Joiners in Southampton on Sunday 19th sandwiched betwen Misty's Big Adventure, Flipron and The Michael Wookey Band. If you would like to go, email us RIGHT NOW!