After a day working from my house in Newcastle, I headed to the railway station to pick up a friend of mine who would be staying with me for a couple of days. We gathered ourselves together back at my house and then headed out to my gig by taxi. The gig was at the Chillingham Arms pub, which is where I did many many gigs in my last year of living in Newcastle.

Much has changed around the area. The gig I did tonight was not organised in the same way or even by the same people as the one I used to attend. The pub has been repainted, even. However, the friends who came were still good friends. The people running the gig were people I knew when I lived in Newcastle - I saw two of them do their first ever gig in that very room. I had had lunch, even, with an ex-colleague that day, whom I'd not seen in two and a half years.

What I'm saying is that, though the circumstances may change, the heart of a place does not.

I don't normally perform with any alcohol inside of me, but tonight was a special enough occasion not to worry too much about that. I had a couple of pints in me. That was ok. I did my set. It went well. I had friends to chat to, other acts to watch and the night was really enjoyable. It felt like a mini home-coming.

Temporary of course.

After the gig we went out for curry.

Then a taxi home.

A bit cheeky on a school night, but while it had been enjoyable, it hadn't been too extreme or excessive. It was good to be back.