Jesse Vernon, who organises the events, sent me the list of songs chosen by those interested in playing on The Doors tribute night "A swing through the Doors"
After listening to each, I chose the three proposed by Paul Bradley - Texas radio, 5 to 1 and When The Music's Over.
These seemed to give sufficient emphasis to John Densmore's playing and I thought also presented me with a sufficient challenge to learn in the few days available.
Although I didn't know Paul, I decided to commit to helping him perform these three songs live on stage and asked for an introduction from Jesse.
We never met until the day of the rehearsal, but I think that is often the relaxed way things seem to go at GOTM presents. I felt confident that I knew the material and went to meet with Jesse, who it turned out had just arrived from Gare Du Nord.
A few days before I had learned from Richie Paradise, whom I met on a previous occasion, that there was now a half-decent house drum set at the Cube, which he had purchased.
This was set-up and I moved the kit to the right hand side of the stage and decided to sit sideways to the audience so that I could see the musicians I was due to play with from the side and get some cues by watching them play.
The kit needed a little tuning and tweaking so I went home to get some cymbals and stands from my own set. When I arrived back at the cube an hour later I met the band on stage for a run through, which was necessary as some of the changes were quite challenging to play.
A different perspective on the Doors night appears here (no credit on image or mention as coexist collective musician I notice, Samantha?)
