Watercress

I filmed 'Watercress' during their last ever gig which took place in the Empire Music Hall in Belfast on the 23rd December 2000.

I had been filming footage of bands for a while and I really liked the music that Watercress had been producing. The first time I heard one of their songs was when I was still at school. A friend of mine called Colm McCann and I would meet up at lunchtimes with our guitars and play a few songs. It was better than being out playing football in the rain and one day Colm brought this book along with the lyrics for lots of songs in it. I was reading through it when I came across a song called 'Plastercast' and I got him to play it. It was brilliant. Colm told me it was a song by a local band called 'Watercress' and he later lent me their album 'Bummer'.

It was years later that Colm was working for NIMIC (Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission) and had contact with Brian Acton and Dan Donnelly from the band. Watercress had been touring around Europe but were coming home for a Christmas show at the Empire. So Colm arranged for us to get access to the show and film the band playing.

I was nervous as hell driving down to the venue. I had my Sony PD-150 Digital Camera that I had saved up and bought, another smaller digital camera that I had borrowed and an old M-40 Video camera which took actual full-size VHS tapes. For sound I was hoping to plug my minidisc recorder into the mixing desk and sync up the sound on the video at the editing stage.

I met Colm when I got there and he introduced me to Dan and Brian who were really nice guys. Brian just took one look at me and said 'so you're the video guy?'
Yep, that was me. The video guy. I plugged the minidisc into the desk although I think that annoyed the engineer slightly. I managed to duct tape my VHS camera up on the balcony looking down on the stage. Meanwhile Colm took one camera and went over to the left of the stage and I took the other and stood on a raised platform on the right. The VHS camera would just take a continuous long shot of the stage and the other two cameras would film close ups that I could cut to. Thinking back I maybe should've put the digital camera up on the balcony for the long shot since it was better quality, but I was afraid some drunken punter would steal it and besides that, I wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

The show was fantastic and in the end we filmed over an hour and a half of footage. We used two complete minidiscs. We filmed until all the batteries ran out and our arms were aching. But it was great. There's something really good about filming live music. Once you start shooting you just have to go with it and see what happens. There's no retakes or starting again. And when you get something right it's just like magic. You can feel it when you captured 'a moment'.

I didn't know when I asked the band if I could film the show that it would be the last one ever and it felt quite emotional when they announced it on stage. Looks like I got my act together just in time. I didn't know that would be my last chance.

It was only when I started the editing process that I realised how big a job it was to make a 90 minute DVD of live footage and sync the sound and add titles. So as it stands I still have all the footage which I keep as a side project for fun. I edited and added sound to the first three songs and have a completed ten minute teaser of the show.

The strange thing after the show was the internet buzz that started for no apparent reason. On one of the Watercress forums people were on there saying that the gig was brilliant. One person even asked if anyone else had noticed that the BBC were there filming the show for a documentary about the band. I was going to post a reply, but I hadn't the heart to tell them…

Just incase any of you lovely people are wondering, there are probably still copies of the 'Bummer' album floating around the cosmos but they are few and far between. It's become a cult album now that people talk about in hushed tones around campfires. Nevertheless, it is essential listening if you like your music original, meaningful and melodic.
Currently Dan and Brian are working on separate projects. Dan is in New York playing solo and with his band 'Sonovagun' (see my friends list for more details) and Brian is living in the North of England playing gigs around the country with his band 'Drat' (www.doubledrat.net)

That's all Folks,

Aaron.