The second practice this week went underway at James Watt College. My band turned up along with singers Nas and new singer Amanda. Emma canceled on me again saying she had to work so I have decided to officially drop her and replace her with Stephanie. I called Stephanie to double check this was OK to which she replied yes. Jennifer also did not show up and did not contact me to say she couldn't make it. I asked Amanda if she would be interested in doing Jen's songs and she seemed very keen to do lead vocals. I let her hear the songs to check if she would be OK with singing them in case any of them were out-with her vocal range. She decided that she wanted to try "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Snakes" at the rehearsal even though she did not really know them. I took her into an empty ensemble room and put on the CD's with the two songs on them so that she could listen and learn them as best she could to give them a go.

The rest of us played through the set which went very well. The band know the songs extremely well and we are playing the set really tight now. Nas was brilliant also and with every practice she is getting better and growing more confident. Amanda learned the two songs in under an hour. The first one she sang was "Ex-Girlfriend" and it sounded great, she is a very talented singer with a great voice. She sang the whole song right through coming in at all the correct places and seeming as if she knew it well. "Snakes" was sung brilliantly the first time through. She made it her own at some bits of the song which I felt sounded amazing. I was really excited when I heard her sing this song and I feel I have made the right choice in replacing Jennifer with Amanda. We played through these two songs a couple more times and then we played through the whole set again in order and I felt it went really well and I feel a lot more confident about the gig now. I also feel very relieved that Amanda and Stephanie have agreed to fill in and they both seem more enthusiastic and reliable than the first two singers I chose. I have taken two videos of this rehearsal, one of Nas singing "Total Hate" and one of Amanda singing "Snakes".

I have arranged for brass players John and Lizy to come up to my flat on Sunday to go over their parts together as we are unable to practice on Tuesday due to a recording session. I have arranged this because they have not played together yet and I want them to go over their parts together and play together before we move into our final rehearsals. I have also arranged my two singers Amanda and Stephanie to come up to my flat on Monday to go over their songs. This will give them an extra practice and give me the opportunity to hear them and help and make sure they know the songs well enough.

I have arranged with everyone a six hour practice at Berkley studios next Thursday as the studios have larger rooms which everyone will be more comfortable in as my band is very large. I also want to go over the set with everyone present and begin forming the show and practicing it as a show. The final rehearsal after this will be on the day of the gig before sound check.