Cheering myself up with some Skinny Lister!

This had been going to be one of my normal 'went to a gig and took bad photos' sort of posts, but since I saw shanty-punks Skinny Lister a week or so ago in Nottingham I've been chatting here and there on social media about things which always raise my spirits, help me relax, and generally make me feel good.

 And I realised that in every conversation sooner or later I ended up mentioning Skinny Lister. 

So, there's a slightly different twist to this gig post.

  We'd bought these tickets ages ago, back in November or some such distant time, as I didn't want to miss out. The last couple of months, though, have been emotionally rough, and I wasn't really feeling in the mood for going out.













The day before I'd even been talking about not going; trying instead to sell my ticket. If others hadn't been going with me, I'd have stayed at home. I'm glad I didn't follow through with that plan, as a night out, singing loudly (not necessarily tunefully), jigging about, and clapping, was just the thing to help me forget my troubles.







I started the night off a little down-hearted. Normally I'd be cheering the minute the band came on stage - this time I wasn't. I'd sing along from the first song - this time I barely clapped. A Skinny Lister crowd, though, is noisy, energetic, and enthusiastic, roaring out the words and almost drowning the band. Gradually something loosened inside me.

Since I discovered Skinny Lister a few years ago, I've always found their gigs to be something special. You don't sit quietly and listen to them perform; you need to forget your inhibitions and join in. Singing along is part of the whole thing, as it was with the original sea shanties (be prepared though, Skinny Lister versions are a lot more 'rock' than the originals). Sure, it needs the band to be there leading, but the atmosphere is more like a (large) gang of friends getting together, and having a sing-song. At Rescue Rooms there's a big enough crowd that you don't feel everyone's listening to your singing, but it's small enough to keep the party atmosphere.You'll find their music on Spotify and all the usual places but a live show is amazing. I've tried my best to capture that feeling in my photos but it hasn't really worked; it is, though, why there are as many pics of the crowd as of the band (plus I didn't have a brilliant view of the stage)




I've heard often enough that music and singing are incredible mood-enhancers, but never quite believed it - I suspect because the folk claiming it didn't like the same kind of music that I do. I'm now convinced of it. I've read recently that clapping is also an incredible mood-enhancer - and again there's a lot of clapping along to the beat of a Skinny Lister gig.To be honest, none of these seem like the right things to do when you're feeling sad, but they most definitely worked for me. Not only did my mood change for that night, it's still more positive a week later.