It’s that weird week between Christmas and new year, and I was itching to get out and perform, after a fairly nondescript Christmas in suburban Luton.

I usually have choir practice on a Monday, so I’d never quite made it to The Brunswick pub in Hove for their esteemed open mic, which is of a decent quality, according to assorted, trusted sources.

I asked the rest of The Highchurches if they were up for it, and Ros was free, so we decided to go ahead as the latest incarnation of The Twochurches.

Ros’ mum came along, as did my pal Kat and her fella, so we had a nice little gang for the chill, jazz/cabaret style main room in one of Brighton’s best gig pubs.

Most of the acts on before us were filthy. I bet Ros was delighted to have brought her mum to hear a performance poet swear about feminism, and a cheery woman called Lucy pay tribute to Lemmy from Motörhead and then do a song about a fuck machine (not to be confused with Girls Aloud’s Love Machine).

We had a ten minute spot, and after I spent slightly too long making the crowd applaud for missing Highchurches Elle and Martha, we played:

Doris Wu, Even Keel, Future Dreams.

I was rusty. I messed up some of the Doris Wu strumming – unheard of! – and made the mistake of relaxing during Even Keel, and thus immediately messing up the chords.

But we got through. And I concentrated hard for Future Dreams, and our new song (only the second time being played live!) sounded, I think, gorgeous, despite the lack of the rest of the band and their crucial and lovely contributions.

In fact – as I was saying to Ros after – I found it weirdly harder to play as a duo than I do playing solo, in terms of comfort and relaxation on stage. But this is something I’ll probably get used to. I really want to perform much, much more regularly in 2026.

After our performance there was a young kid with an Oasis haircut who did a song that ripped off Half The World Away, and another lesbian with some poems about sex toys.

Thanks to The Brunswick for having us. I’m gradually ticking off all of the small venues in Brighton, performance wise. This is one I’d definitely love to return to.