Bass players, drummers, ice cream, you scream...

Back to 'normal' (using that word in these pages is asking for trouble don't you think?) at the theatre on Thursday 'though I did manage to find out more about the 'trapdoor didn't open' saga from Rob the stage manager- Brian was on the trapdoor platform under the stage awaiting his triumphant re-appearance for the solo in 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (I understand this is one of the better known Queen songs- I'm not a fan myself, which I may have mentioned once or twice, here and there) when the mechanism failed; he apparently ran up the stairs and arrived on stage just in time to play the solo. 'What a star' said Rob before observing the number of tantrums and hissy fits he's seen from 'people who have only been in the show 5 minutes' whereas Brian took it all in his stride. Good point- I think that's called 'professional'. Other than that our string-changing session saw a visit from bass player extraordinaire Jonathan Noyce who had a Fender Precision for Stu to look at- I've met 'Noicey' (as Stu calls him) several times now and I suspect he's the only person I'll ever encounter who has Jethro Tull and Take That on his bass-playing CV (and I know which one I'd have at the top; here's a clue- it's not Jethro Tull!)

Friday I had a day off. Kind of. I wasn't gigging or working in the shop, which meant that I finally had a bit of time to look at the songs for a gig that I've got coming up later this month- 'The Ash Bash' is an occasional event staged by drum teacher Simon Ash, and features a number of his students doing a song or 2 with the house band. He's an old mate of Andy Cross (a.k.a. Andy C. who does a stirling job as 'substitute-for-Huggy' bass player in The Price, among other things) who's an old mate of mine, so I'm in the house band. I did it once before 2-and-a-bit years ago and it was thoroughly enjoyable so I'm really looking forward to this one, 'though some of the songs are more than a bit tricky from a guitar point of view- 'Sweet Child O'Mine' has more notes in it than I've played so far this year ('just wing it' said Andy. Yeah, right, I'll do it straight away. And have I ever told you that every time I try to use a wha-wha pedal I fall over?) and 'My Sharona' features more notes than 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. Still we've got a rehearsal next week with all the students so hopefully that'll sort things out...

Last night saw The Chicago Blues Brothers make a very enjoyable visit to The Princess Theatre in Hunstanton. We've done a fair few show up in this area over the last few weeks and they've all been excellent, not least because it's such a nice part of the country. Myself and Mario turned up at Richard's to find him nursing a bad back ('I was just picking something up in the studio and my back went rip' I know the feeling!) but in good form having just returned from playing at a jazz festival in Spain; after picking Tracy up we made it up to Hunstanton in under 3 hours. With Ian, Mike and Dave (who revealed that last week's charity bash at Caistor Hall raised over £7000- hurrah!) already there and Squirrel and Marc delayed on the road from Essex it's definitely time for something to eat; 'The Richard Pardy Good Chip Shop Guide' (he really should publish that one day- he knows every shop in the country and beyond!) recommended 'Fishers' around the corner from the venue- an fine choice as always. We sat on the green outside the theatre looking out to sea- sometimes this is a really good job to have! I couldn't help noticing a shop with the rather splendid name of GEEZER'S PALACE- after Mike and myself wondered if it was a gents hairdresser's (thereby giving me chance to mention that my all-time favourite name for such an establishment is THE CHOPPER SQUAD in, of all places, Birkenhead. I wonder if it's still there?) and musing generally on whether it was something to do with Black Sabbath's bass player, curiosity got the better of me and I went over to have a look- it sells boxing equipment. Excellent. And it was ice cream's all round too- well, we were at the seaside...
By now everyone's arrived so it's soundcheck time. Rod's on the P.A. in Ian Bond's absence which doesn't quite explain how we managed to play a rock'n'roll medley with Ian on vocals, 'Natural Woman' with Mario on vocals (!) and The Faces classic 'Stay With Me' with Tracy on vocals. It must have been something in the ice cream... and the show's a good one with a guy to my left having the best audience-member-laugh that I've heard in ages, and general jollity all round. Oh, and Dave managed to break Richard's radio microphone during 'Minnie the Moocher'- they were down in the audience at the time and the cable got caught on someone's seat. Like I say, it must have been something in the ice cream.