The moral to today's post is a very simple one: if you have a chance to see a band play live, you should probably take it. I didn't go to see Grown Ups play in Kingston a few years ago and I still regret it. Best we start at the beginning:
My friend Matt introduced me to Grown Ups by the way of a link on Facebook to a download of their EP Songs. He'd posted it on both mine and Hugh's wall with the comment that it was "another big win for Big Scary Monsters", possibly the first time I heard of the label too. I downloaded the four songs to my office PC, enjoyed them greatly and for a while they were on pretty heavy rotation. I'm a sucker for gang vocals and hand-claps, so that appealed to me, and the mathy guitar and general shoutyness were added bonuses.
A short while later I saw that Grown Ups were playing The Fighting Cocks in Kingston and I mentioned it to my friend Sarah, who is pretty much the only other person I knew in London at the time who was into this sort of music. Unfortunately she was busy and this was before I was in the habit of going to gigs on my own so, and this is the terrible bit of the story, I didn't go. It was a Sunday evening so I can pretty much guarantee that I did absolutely fuck-all. I probably just sat at home watching shit on the TV whilst this band I was quite into was playing an hour away from my house. Mistakes and regrets.
A year and a bit later I had my flights and tickets booked for Fest and I was pretty excited because Grown Ups were playing and I'd get to rectify my mistake of missing them live. A few days beforehand I went into Banquet and saw they had the full-length More Songs in on vinyl which I bought and played excessively until I had to leave for Florida. It was great. As you might as expect from the titles of the EP and the LP, it was more of the same but that was fine by me (in fact, it included the songs from the EP). Surprise Party is the highlight (with the cracking chorus "What good is a bird if a bird can't fly / I'm still stuck here and I don't know why") but Three Day Weekend is a close second. I recommend this record heartily if you're into any other band Topshelf Records have been involved with. Nice coloured vinyl too.
Anyway, a week later we arrive in Gainesville, connect to the wifi to update the Fest App timetable and Grown Ups are no longer there. I hoped it was some sort of mistake, but I later found out that they split up a few days earlier and cancelled all their upcoming shows. Obviously there were enough other bands on the bill to keep me happy, but I was gutted that Grown Ups weren't playing and moreover that I'd never get to see them. Every time I listen to the album I now it's slightly tainted by the fact that I'm certain these songs would've been incredible on a stage. I still think it's great, but I can't help but wonder how awesome it would've been to sing/shout along to those huge choruses.
We get pretty spoilt for gigs in London, and it's all too easy to be lazy and stay at home, but I've made it my goal since to try to not miss out on seeing bands I like since. Sure, I still miss some but I aim to never let it happen when there's no good reason, like I did when I could've seen Grown Ups in the Cocks.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 10
Cost: £13 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 22/10/11
Colour: Tan
Etching: none
mp3s: no
