Tidying up

A final rehearsal and now all my music gear is packed away ready. Ready, in the first instance, to be unpacked and checked again (in an OCD kind of way) before I head to the venue tomorrow.

I like the silence, following the last run-through of my set (a 20 minute piece and a 3 minute piece) - a silence which is represented by all my noise-making stuff being hidden from view in bags and protective covers.

In my late teens and early twenties I would be nervous to the point of paralysis in the couple of days before a gig. Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, could barely relax for any period of time. I still get moments of anxiety and nerves these days, but nothing more than that.

Tomorrow looks set to be hectic for all sorts of reasons, but then I've got a few days off work, and a change of scenery. Nothing too exotic this time though: I would have liked to have flown away somewhere once again, but it's probably just as well I didn't plan anything, what with all the flights being screwed up by forecasts (accurate or otherwise) of more clouds of volcanic ash.