3/4's of The Utopians met on queens road at around 5:30pm, loaded the car and set off to pick up jase 'the ace face' from the city centre, before hitting the road and heading off to cambridge. We were traveling in a dark blue vauxhall 7 seater which we had borrowed from my parents; this unfortunatley meant that for one night we had to discard the tiny red car that had previously served us so well. It is difficult to speak for the other members of the band but I was certainly consumed by a feeling of guilt for leaving the trusty nissan back in leicester, but I was comforted by the comparitivley luxurious seating and sound system, that the new car had to offer.

We rolled up at 'the man on the moon' an hour late; this was probably down to the series of mandatory toilet and cigarette stops that frequented the journey, but we used the age old excuse of 'bad traffic'. After we offloaded the gear and set up, we made our way to the bar. Neal, already in a cynical mood after spending the journey reading Jeremy Clarkson, was the first to be confronted with the £3 a pint price tag. The excessive price however became more of talking point than a topic of altercation between the establishment and the group cocky lads from leicester.

The Sound Check? A disaster, but as any superstitious musician will tell you, a poor soundcheck is a good sign and sometimes blessing in disguise. After the check we went back to the bar and selected our theme song 'Daybreak', from the over priced jukebox.

 'this is the daybreak, and this is the love we make' - Ian Brown

As nine o'clock struck we walked on stage still singing lines, and humming melodies from This is the daybreak, and 'Jason only knows' was the first track of our set.

The Drum and Bass intro provided an oppertunity for the rhythm section to get aquainted on yet another occassion, and for myself and jason to get in the right frame of mind. There was certainly something in the air that night and the melodies, lyrics, beats and chorus' were infectious, and the performance was agressive and high energy. You felt that anything could have happened that night. I remember coming off stage and feeling like I had just taken part in a physical workout, another sign of a good gig.

Neal played with express pace, Jase with agression, Jay with care, and me with this is the day break still ringing around in my head. But it worked and we captured a rare magic thats difficult to describe and impossible to replicate.