Giggin for Higgins - We Came, We Saw..well, some people did.

By all accounts, Saturday’s Giggin’ for Higgins charity event had a lot going against it.

With most folks’ wallets already weakened thanks to The Current Economic Climate (why nobody just flat out says 'we’re all broke' always amuses me) before taking a further battering during Christmas a few weeks ago, and with the event itself taking place in a little-known venue in a small, unsuspecting little town, it shouldn’t really have worked.

And in some respects, it didn’t.

Throughout the nine-hour event, we had approximately 150 people through the door donating between them just over £300 to the Terrence Higgins Trust, and although those aren’t exactly numbers to be laughed at, I don’t mind admitting that I was disappointed they’re not bigger.

We ticked all the boxes as far as publicity went; posters (designed by my buddy Scott Jones at Space Dye Designs) went up well in advance, social media was used as effectively as possible and we got some great coverage in the local paper.

As far as I could tell, employing the same marketing plan I’ve used for other events should have worked, and until somebody points a flaw in that plan (I’m more than willing to accept that there was one), I’m still going to blame the lower-than-expected numbers on my admittedly bad decision to run the event two weeks into the New Year in an out-of-the-way location.

Yet just because I wasn’t happy with the crowd size doesn’t mean that the event wasn’t a success.

Numbers aside, this was actually one of the best events I’ve managed to date.

Millstone Rocks’ Team Awesome reunited to handle stage and sound (along with new Colour Me Blind recruit, Sam Clarke) and did a fantastic job, mostly because they’re so good at what they do, but also partly because I took my own advice, and trusted them to make the right decisions.

With Danny as sound engineer working with some equipment kindly loaned to us from Angelica Fenney and the lads from Titors Insignia, the sound quality was top notch, the change overs smooth and the event ran incredibly smoothly from start to finish.

As for the bands themselves? All I can say is that those who did come down on Saturday were treated to something special.

I knew as soon as I’d finalised the line-up that I had one hell of a quality show on my hands and I certainly wasn’t disappointed on that front.

From Skive’s short acoustic set to the incredibly-talented Olly Squires proving why he’s one of the most creative songwriters on our local scene right now and right the way through to the incomparable Jeramiah Ferrari taking time out from being reggae’s fastest rising stars to wrap up the night with another impressive show, all eleven acts brought their A-game and were most impressive.

In Blue Skies and Rescue The Eskimo, two bands I’d love to get on the same bill again some time, gave us some wonderful acoustic pop that really lit up the audience as afternoon turned to evening, Smitten Kitten tore it up with their usual bombastic 80s-style rock and Little Sister gave it everything they had in their first gig together.

Elsewhere, Colour Me Blind were their usual funky selves and delivered their set with aplomb, the aforementioned Titors Insignia provided a welcome sonic assault on the senses, Cautious Retreat blasted their way through a short, but very entertaining set and Junction23, worked their backsides off to deliver a storming performance for which they deserve plenty of kudos.

And whilst I do wish more people had been around to see such an talented line-up, I can’t complain too much; 150 people through the door a few weeks after Christmas is hardly that bad, is it?