Gig #5: The Portland Arms, Cambridge 16 April 2014

By the time the band take the stage, the room has filled to capacity and the excitement in the air is palpable. Onstage, the band appear slightly nervous, as though the brief lay-off has dissipated the tour adrenalin – it’s like the first gig of the tour all over again. Andy ‘Smokie’ Schmid steps forward to the microphone, and with his trademark “Gut efening, vee are ze Nightingales vom Birmingham, England. You vill enjoy” the band launch into their viral hit “Bullet For Gove”.

The initial nervousness is quickly and productively channelled into energy, and the band’s charged performance increases in power and authority with each successive number. As usual, the seamless set gives the audience no spaces in which to express their approval – or disapproval – so when the final note of “Good Morning, Midnight” chimes out, there is a moment of tense silence. Have the band won the argument? Have they convinced this intelligent, articulate audience, the cream of Britain’s higher education system, with their quirky, switchblade set?

The silence is broken with a single “Hurrah for the Nightingales!” and seconds later the crowd in unison echo the sentiment. Mortar boards are thrown high in the air, as though the assembled students had themselves just graduated. But it is the Nightingales who have graduated tonight. “Three cheers for the Nightingales! Hip hip...” The voice is none other than that of Sir Charles Montgomery himself. “Hooray!” The Nightingales could have no greater tribute to their talent in this scholarly arena.

 

Later that night, we sit around the Travelodge all-night bar, winding down. The talk is of the gig, though occasionally Big Dave interjects with some pithy observation - "I've got this mate, right... his name's Dodgy Greg..." - while in the background Mark 'Ace' Jones angrily berates the Travelodge lackey who is insisting that the band actually pay for the several rounds of beer and Jaeger-Bomb chasers they've consumed. Gradually, one by one, the band drift off to their individual suites leaving me, alone in the bar with only my thoughts, and the substantial bar tab to pay.