Haha, well I could have done with a little bit more. I sort of missed my grand entrance to the first song, and started my slide about a quaver too late (sorry, that won't make much sense to a few people); on one of the other songs (entitled 'Verhovyna') I sort of didn't memorize the order in which we would play the various sections, and so I went to the wrong section a couple of times, but I don't know that anyone noticed; and on the song with the slapping and popping bassline I missed a few pops - possibly because of the shot of cherry vodka we all had before we went on. Not that we needed it, of course. I don't think any of us felt at all apprehensive, and so we shouldn't have - we're all perfectly compentent musicians. And everyone seemed to love us! I mean, the reception we got was fantastic. People were up and dancing, and at the end of songs they would all clap and cheer - it was my first rock gig, and I wasn't really used to people cheering like mad after a performance: polite applause is usually the kind of thing you get from the musicians' parents after a classical concert. So yeah, it was great. And that evening was by far the best time I'd had in quite a long while. Everyone was so friendly - I can't emphasise this point about Ukrainians enough; after we'd played and had come 'back-stage' (you really come out into the bar area that you first enter when you arrive at the Ukrainian Club) we were greeted by so many people ready to shake our hands and give us hugs, and tell us what they thought of our performance; and then afterwards, when I was sitting in the hall with my mum and sister (dad had planned to come, but he woke up with a headache, it continued to get worse during the day, and he ended up staying at home - definitely the best idea, what with the exhuberant music, etc.) I say, when we were sitting in the hall, the people all around us were very friendly to us - possibly because they didn't recognise us, and they wanted to make us feel as welcome as possible; and really, it did seem just like one big, warm family, and the atmosphere was just brilliant.

Okay, I seem to be creeping into sentimental territory there, so I'd better stop before something terrible happens. But yes, on Saturday evening, a relatively gloomy person was made to feel very glad and happy, and he was given a reminder that the simple goodness of people hasn't disappeared from the world yet.