in the city

Das Wanderlust's CDs

Once, twice, three times a delegate

This year I’m not only working as journalist, but as a band member with a demo to hand out and a DIY collective member scouting for bands to put on in Teesside. I’m also attempting to do ITC as cheaply as possible as I am skint and like to keep my blagging skills in order.

Should be a doddle, eh?

Friday

Natalie gets ready to go out

I get up early to pack and finish making the handmade demos my band, Das Wanderlust, have to give to industry people, reviewers, radio and people we like.

We’re meant to set off at dinnertime, but are dead late as Andy tarts about at hairdressers so we are late as usual. It rains as we hit the motorway to Manchester. How predictable.

Our friends from Boro, great white hopes DARTZ!, have two gigs at this year's ITC, and as they have a full car, we’ve agreed to take their equipment over the Pennines with us as there are only two of us. Oh the glamour.

We get to the Midland at six. I spot Radio 1’s Huw Stephens as we go in and curse leaving our demo in the car.

We register and are sent out in double quick time, so we head to my mate Caroline’s house to eat tea and get ready for going out.

I’m down to review Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and The Research at Dry Bar, so we get there nice and early to find a huge queue, which is rubbish. What is also rubbish is that it’s raining hard, it’s one in one out and The Research have been put on early and we’ve missed them (they later tell us the sound was awful and they were ignored by the audience, which is a shame as they are fantastic live).

The queue at Dry Bar

We wait half an hour then decide to give up and go to a bar, where I drink raspberry beer, meet up with my uni friend Becca and Chris from Plan B magazine.

As we have all left our booklets at home, none of us have any idea where to go and end our night in Baa Bar, being served shooters by a half naked man with the words shooter bitch on his bum. Very classy...