I’m proud that I did a lot of groundwork for the band when I was younger. I performed to some of the strangest crowds you could ever play to! I once played in Rhyl at this event called the Sunshine Festival. Except it was tipping down with rain and I don’t remember seeing any sunshine the whole day. It was decent money (£50 for three songs, I seem to remember), but when I got up on the stage there were about ten people - maximum! - just standing around in a field looking bored. I still made the effort, though, ‘Hello Rhyl!’ I was jumping all over the stage, and I remember there was this one mother feeding her baby with a spoon the whole time while I bounced around like a nuttier. That was an odd gig.
On another occasion I played Oceana Centre in Wolverhampton, which was near I lived. The crowd was a bit lively and about halfway through the second song this lad just dashed a 50p coin at me. It hit my face, cutting my cheek open. I had two songs left and no way was I gonna let him stop me, so I dabbed the blood off, carried on and finished the set. ‘Thanks, mate!’