The last performance of Blyth Power in the band's original form. This gig happened just a few days after my birthday (Josef wishes me a happy birthday a few songs into the set) so to me personally, this gig was a double celebration. The last hooray from the original Blyth Power and my 'birthday gig'. My younger brother turned up, as did plenty of people I knew. I had been working at All The Madmen records for over a year by this point so I managed to scam guest list spaces for most of the people that came to celebrate my birthday with me. I am on this footage, sometimes sitting on the stage, sometimes jumping about out front. I was wearing my beloved pink sweatshirt with blond hair... The actual audience figures must have been passed three hundred. For the Robey that would have taken a few days of live events to attract that kind of audience on any 'normal' night. Air to breath was certainly at a premium, and what with all the jumping about up front, fallen comrades would spill drinks of other audience members left right and centre. This really was a celebration of the band that would shortly be no more. The Blyth Power set was over seventy minutes long, the band even fitting in a Velvet Underground cover! The support acts were Thatcher On Acid and We Are Going To Eat You. With respect to those two bands this was never going to be their night. Blyth Power had alternative members ready to fill the shoes of Curtis, Neil and Andy so (extraordinarily) the debut performance of Blyth Power II was at the same venue in March (billed as Night Porter) with Hysteria Ward in support.This footage is from my video collection and the audio is quite raw, not to say that is a bad thing. It seems to fit the visuals surprisingly well. There are some audio dropouts, only a handful throughout, until the last ten minutes or so by which time the dropouts were more regular. I assume there must have been a dodgy lead at the time of filming, that deteriorated (just slightly) as the heat, moisture and being knocked about for well over an hour kicked in.

• published: 06 Jun 2015
• views: 663