'Keep your head high, and your middle finger higher...'

Well I don't want to tempt fate - after all, who does? - but I'm pleased to report that the famous finger seems to be getting better at last. At least I think that it is - the original cut is still pretty painful, and it generally doesn't look how it should look but hopefully it'll improve further over the next few days. You know it's strange - it was just a silly little scratch from a piece of cardboard…

Proof that things are going in the right direction comes with the fact that I played three gigs in three days over the weekend, starting with a Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks show at Ye Olde Swan in Burnham. I'd not been to the venue before but the band had gigged there in my absence and had all said things like 'they like it rocky there' - in the event we played a good show to an appreciative crowd although I don't recall it being any more 'rocky' than any other gig, or indeed the following night's show at The Three Wishes in Edgware. I'd been at said establishment only a few days earlier for the Easter Monday jam night - I used to go along to these gatherings fairly regularly (they have a regular jam night on Mondays) but I got fed up with various people making sarcastic comments along the lines of 'oh aren't you too famous to come along here now?' It's amazing how far things like jealousy, bitterness and spite will get you isn't it? Well they certainly got them a long way… anyway Big Al and Pete from The Buicks were going and invited me to go with them, and with the likes of Gary Sandford, Dzal Martin and Pete Parks all in attendance it turned out to be something of a guitar-fest. Maybe I should go along more often? Then again, maybe not - there were still more than enough sneers to remind me why I stopped going along in the first place… there was a sneer or two from one of the same people on Saturday night too, but that didn't stop it from being a good gig. And why should it? They were having a bad night, not me.
I was supposed to have been playing with The Upper Cut at The Salmon And Ball in Bethnal Green on Saturday night, but the gig was cancelled a few days earlier when we were given the slightly peculiar news that all the pubs in the area were closing at 10 pm as there was to be a Chess Boxing match at the nearby York Hall (and no, I'd not heard of Chess Boxing before either, but it looks mad doesn't it?!) We did however play an afternoon show the next day at The Queen's Arms in Colnbrook, where my 'I'd better be careful in case I hurt my hand' restraint of the previous couple of nights was abandoned in favour of 'oh bugger it, I'm just going to play' - yes, you've guessed it, I took some of the 'new' skin off my finger and generally managed to hurt myself more than I should have just by windmilling and being silly. Good fun though! 

This week, more of the same with Big Al and the boys in Sunningdale and Northwood and The Upper Cut in Uxbridge, along with some time in Balcony Shirts and murmurings of activity from the Ruts D.C. camp. As I say, things are going in the right direction… hopefully...

'Coughs and sneezes spread diseases...'

And so this is Christmas. Well, it was a few days ago - I spent much of it asleep thanks to re-occurring I-thought-I'd-shaken-it-off-by-now manflu, which I'm still trying to get rid of now. It's getting a bit... boring... still I've managed to keep gigging through the holiday (yes I know, that's probably why I'm still ill!) starting with a Christmas Eve show at The Sunningdale Lounge in Sunningdale. I spent the morning at Balcony Shirts before joining the rest of the team in The Queen's Head a few doors down from the shop - I think I said the words 'oh alright, just one more but then I really will have to go' a couple of times more than perhaps was wise, but after a visit to a chip shop on the way home I was ready to rock. With keyboard wizard Chris away for Christmas it was down to Pete and myself to make up for his absence on two guitars - even though I say so myself we did a pretty good job, although from the studied indifference shown to our first set by the audience you wouldn't necessarily have known. Things picked up a bit in the second set with a fair amount of dancing and merriment although I'm sure that they'd all forgotten that we'd played a few minutes after we'd finished. A fairly typical Christmas Eve gig then! 

After a somewhat lost day on the 25th (as I say, I spent much of it asleep) it was time for The Upper Cut to play The Dolphin in Uxbridge on Boxing Day. We've played this date for the last few years at this splendid pub - easily one of the best in the area - and it's always a good gig; this one was no exception although the fact that I wasn't feeling too good made it something of an uphill struggle from my point of view, which was a shame since I'd been looking forward to the show. I also had to replace a valve in my amplifier - I must remember to buy some more after the holidays. Still it was a good gig and the band played well, so no complaints there.

The next night Pete and myself journeyed over to The Acre in Windsor to see Upper Cut drummer Roger playing in The Lee Ryder Blues Band. I've depped with them a few times but it had been ages since I'd seen them play, so the chance to see them with their regular guitarist Dzal Martin was too good to miss. I first saw Dzal in No Dice back in the late '70s (supporting Eddie And The Hot Rods and The Tom Robinson Band if I remember correctly) and it was excellent to see him playing at close quarters. All the band are great musicians, and while some might find there to be a few too many solos I for one think that with players of this standard it's a pleasure to hear them play. A good gig.

And it should be a good gig tomorrow night, when The London Sewage Company play The 12 Bar Club. I just wish that I felt a bit better... time for more paracetamol and another early night then...