Suit you sir?

A busy day yesterday, with a wedding in the afternoon (not my own I hasten to add!) and a gig in the evening. I can't remember another day when I've worn 2 suits!

The wedding took place at The Grim's Dyke Hotel near Hatch End- the former residence of W.S. Gilbert no less- where Shirley's friend Ann married Tony in a ceremony that got off to a false start when the CD player malfunctioned meaning that the assembled multitude sat in awkward silence while various hotel staff tried not to look flustered. 'Unchained Melody' eventually found it's way out of the speakers and everything went well in the end.

The gig was a Chicago Blues Brothers date at The Towngate Theatre in Basildon. An unusually clear M25 meant that we arrived in good time to set up and soundcheck, at the end of which Shirley took some photos of me to use as part of my Fender endorsement (did I mention that I've got an endorsement deal with Fender?!?) I'm not too good at photos at the best of times and look suitably awkward in these ones, 'though at least the first suit of the day looks good... and talking of photos Pete gave me a blown-up version of the picture of me with Steve Cropper which would look great on my recording studio wall, if I had one. Apart from Ian depping for Richard on sax it's an A-team gig which goes down well with the audience, 'though a frightening moment occurred during 'Everybody Needs Somebody To Love' when Squirrel was forced to stop playing due to pain in his left arm. That's something to keep an eye on. Oh and Mike burned a hole in the back of his suit jacket when he inadvertently put it down on a light bulb which was hot enough to burn through the cloth. I thought there was a giant insect on his back when I first saw it; when I looked again and saw it was a hole I thought he'd been shot!
Me? Well in my not-so-humble opinion I played the worst show that I've done for a long time. I wasn't too bad on rhythm, but anything involving a solo was just TERRIBLE, like I had no idea how the songs went. You get 'off nights' and this was certainly one of mine- then again no one else seemed to notice! Given the CD problems earlier in the day it might just not have been a day for anything involving me and music- or maybe one suit is enough for any day?