HUNGRY BUMS

A DATE IN THE DIARY OF JONNY AHERNE, BASSIST FOR THE TEMPER TRAP.

We arrive at Manchester some time in the middle of the night, but I don’t notice the sound outside as our tour bus lets off a calming air-con noise that even masks my tinnitus. My coffin is pitch black and my toes aren’t hitting the end of my container which is a big plus: 6’2 people do not usually fit well on tour buses. I get out of my bed and our nice tour manager hands me some accreditation. I’m off the bus and on the hunt for a good coffee and some understanding, I’d never heard of The Parklife Weekender before we got here and I hadn’t checked the line up.

These girls’ cut-off jeans leave little to the imagination and every guy here seems like he must have been working out all year round for this sunny Manchester bum and gun show. It led me only to think the worst: oh man we have been billed on a dance festival, the type that gets a couple of bands on the bill just to even it out. Our show, although it’s got some groove for sure, is not the type of music you simply get jiggy to, and the kids here clearly want to dance. As I walk around further I start for the first time to feel a generation gap. It isn’t just the bum and gun show, some of these kids have this style that I’m just not used to seeing. If fashion provides a clue to their identity, in the stream of things I couldn’t quite place what I was looking at: a fusion of indie, hip hop, 80s madness, hipster visual mash ups, with half of the kids looking like they were about to go on stage themselves. I’m not disapproving of it, after all who am I to judge, apparently I dress like an old man.

Turning my eyes from the confusing crowds, I consult the line up. There were about 4 stages, 3 of these stages were urban DJ types and the main stage was Plan B, Jesse Ware, The Maccabees, us, and Delphic. I feel a bit more at ease after seeing these names. I then start to prepare my mind for the gig; I tell myself it’s okay if people leave or it’s okay if there’s no big reaction. As I said, the kids looked ready to dance and that isn’t something we exclusively provide.

So here's my thing with music - I don't like watching anything passionless. If it doesn't move the performer, it will not move me. Your whole being has to be behind what you’re doing which, for me, can be a sliding scale depending on whatever is going on in my own life or my surroundings. But when it comes time for show time, you fake it till you make it and you give it your all, till hopefully you find that place where nothing else is happening except your complete immersion and surrender to the music. It doesn’t always happen. In fact it seems to be happening to me less and less, but it doesn’t matter, as long as that’s always the goal.

After a few more stretches and a prayer it’s show time. We start our set and my pre-conceptions gradually start to slide away, the kids are digging it and they’re sticking around, we seem to be playing tight and I feel at ease. As we come closer to the end of our set I notice the crowd has grown and we get a massive reaction from about 10,000 people in the end. I never made it to complete surrender with the music but nonetheless I had a good show and it seemed like everyone else who performed on our stage did too. Now I am off to Scotland Rockness Festival, we will see what happens there tomorrow. Hopefully I won’t get distracted by hungry bums and get myself a good coffee.