Tougher than the rest

Well, you know how this is going to work by now don't you? I make some weak (increasingly weak to be honest!) excuses about having no time to do anything other than work in Balcony Shirts, then I bang on about the things that have happened to me when I haven't been working in Balcony Shirts. Simple eh? Except this time it deserves more… or is that just egotism on my part? After all, it doesn't really matter what I write here does it? Not compared the death of Muhammad Ali anyway. Mind you, not much matters next to that does it? Whatever your opinion of boxing it's impossible to deny that Ali was one of the great figures of the 20th Century, and given the reaction to the news of his passing it's surely difficult to think that he won't be one of the great figures of the 21st Century and beyond. For what my opinion is worth he was, is and always will be a truly remarkable figure in history who transcended sport, politics, race and religion to inspire countless people to achieve things in their lives that they never have otherwise been able to do. That goes beyond any analysis - put simply, the world has become a better place for him having lived on it.

Right - let's get onto the 'I haven't had much time this week…' stuff - 

- I saw Wilko Johnson at Rough Trade East.
The extraordinary renaissance of The Canvey Island Assassin continues with the publication of his autobiography 'Don't You Leave Me Here', and last Thursday's early evening event saw the man himself interviewed by Zoe Howe about the new book and more. Hang on a minute - didn't she write a book with him a while back? Well yes she did, which has prompted more than a few 'so what's in this book that wasn't in the other one then?' questions; sadly I've not had time to read the new one yet (obviously!) so I can't answer that potentially rather awkward query, but I can confirm that both were on good form during the admittedly often rather contrived inquisition. I managed a quick chat with Zoe and her husband Dylan afterwards as well as catching up with Wilko's son and Eight Rounds Rapid guitar man Simon, after which I hightailed it across town to Denmark Street…

- I attended The WitchDoktors's album launch night at The Alley Cat Club.
…where I arrived just in time to catch a couple of songs by The Healthy Junkies before The WitchDoktors gave a blazing performance in support of their new release 'Voodoo Eye'. I've seen them a few times here and there - they always give a good show and this was no exception. Great stuff - and the album is excellent too.

- Roger Cotton died.
I played quite a few shows with Roger, and The Flying Squad recorded with him in his studio - he was a great bloke and and a fabulous musician who I'm very proud to have known and worked with. A very sad loss.

- I played a show in Rickmansworth with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks.
A lively evening at The Halfway House saw Big Al's two daughters winning friends and influencing people with their, erm, 'flamboyant' style of dancing. That's all I'm saying here, as I'd like to keep my job.

- I didn't play a show in Bethnal Green with The Upper Cut. 
Our run of bad luck at The Salmon And Ball continued when the PA system went wrong during our second number - despite repeated attempts at continuing we eventually gave it up as a bad job and went home. Bugger!

- I went to see Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium.
On June 5th 1981 I witnessed a (literally) life changing performance from The Boss and the boys (no ladies in the band in those days!) at The Wembley Arena. 35 years to the day later I saw him and The 'heart-stopping, pants-dropping, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making, legendary' E-Street Band put on a 3 1/2 hour show that might not have been quite as transcendent as the one that I saw all those years ago, but still left little if any doubt that they are indisputably one of the greatest bands of all time. Highlights were many and varied, but a mention has to be given to a devastating version of 'Candy's Room' - is there any greater moment in rock music than the first note of the guitar solo? - and 'Because The Night' which was as intense and powerful a performance as anything that I can remember seeing from him or indeed anybody else. Magnificent. 

And talking of magnificent, what better way to end this posting than with a quote from the late and undeniably great Muhammad Ali himself - 

'Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power that it takes to win when the match is even'.

There's nothing to add to that is there? Thanks Champ.

Grin and bear it

Malcolm Owen died 35 years ago today. I'm listening to 'The Crack' by The Ruts even as we speak - maybe you are too? It sounds amazing. It is amazing. There's a nice tribute piece on the band's Facebook page that you can see if you click here - shine on Malcolm, shine on...

In the meantime I had my first nosebleed of this year's hay fever season yesterday - actually to be pedantic I had two of the damn things, one in Balcony Shirts (much to the horror of Erin who had started work experience there that morning - she must have wondered what she'd let herself in for!) and one early evening in The Queen's Head when Al and Pete from The Blistering Buicks did their best to keep the conversation going despite the (ahem!) gallons of blood pouring from my face. It left me feeling pretty rough, to such an extent that (a) I couldn't concentrate on the Who DVD 'Live At Shea Stadium 1982' which I attempted to watch when I got home and (b) I got up after 9.30 this morning which is very late for me. I don't mind admitting that I don't feel too good now either. Summer eh?

Last Thursday Ruts D.C. visited Rough Trade East in Brick Lane to promote the recently-issued 'Love In Vain - The Story Of The Ruts and Ruts D.C.' book by Roland Link. The date had been changed several times over the last few months, so it was rather ironic that it fell on the same day as the biggest train strike for many years. How dare these loony lefties still mad enough to be part of a trade union exercise their right to withdraw their labour on a day of such cultural importance? I mean, they're only being asked to work all day and night for practically no reward - they'll be wanting lunch breaks next...

On a more serious note, good luck to the train TUs - after all, who wants to work for nothing eh?

Anyway all this militant action meant that audience numbers were lower - make that much lower - than expected, but those who were there saw not only an acoustic performance but also took part in a Q&A with Dave, Segs and myself. We sold a good few books, chatted to all those who attended and generally had a great time. Well I certainly did, although my unsuccessful attempt to buy the new album by The Sonics - it was sold out - somehow summed up the day, if you know what I mean.

Friday night saw The Upper Cut return to The Admiral Nelson in Twickenham for the first time in quite a while - a hot and sticky night included several 'new' songs alongside the old favourites (they're new to us, we didn't write any of 'em!) and the obligatory Very Drunk Bloke being, well, very drunk while dancing (ok to be more accurate he was stumbling around waving his arms about, but you get the picture) just a bit too close to the band for comfort and attempting to high five everybody in the building. He failed.

A very hot Saturday in the shop gave way to a Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks gig at The Three Wishes in Eastcote. Again several 'new' songs found their way into the set while a gang of birthday - celebrating young ladies livened up the dancefloor no end and another V. D. B. attempted to attract their collective attention. He also failed.

And on Sunday I rehearsed with Noel and Rob from Menace in preparation for our acoustic set at The Rebellion Festival in August before going to The 12 Bar Club to see the legend that is T.V. Smith - except that I only saw four songs from the great man (in case you were wondering - 'Only One Flavour', 'First One To Sign Up', 'No Time To Be 21' and 'Coming In To Land') before I had to leave to get the last tube train home. If only they ran all night eh? Oh hang on...

Drowning out the big jets

Three shows in three days from Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks last week, starting with Thursday night at The Sunningdale Lounge in Sunningdale. We've played there enough times for me to describe it as a 'familiar' place, although there was nothing to familiar about this show - with bassman Terry and keyboard maestro Chris stuck in traffic our performance began with Al, Pete and myself playing a couple of songs on guitars before Dave joined us on drums. Fortunately Terry and Chris arrived after only 10 minutes or so, thus sparing the audience of anymore 'what songs can we play without bass and keyboards' moments. The rest of the show went well, which was something of a relief considering how it had all started... the next night saw the band visit The Rising Sun in Stanwell - Action Pact came fro there which has got to be a good sign if you think about it. With Dave the drummer elsewhere Howard depped (he's Shakin' Stevens's drummer - really!) in a lively show that was eventful any number of reasons, not least me being short changed by £6 during the interval (!) and someone repeatedly asking for us to play 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. By the time we were leaving thunderstorms of almost biblical proportions were erupting all around and the car park featured a puddle roughly the size of Lake Geneva. It was that kind of night. The third show of three took place at The White Horse in Longford Village near Staines - Dave returned for a show in what might best be described as a conservatory on the side of the pub, and the evening saw much jollity from all concerned. Oh and lots of parking on double yellow lines, although nobody seemed in the least bit concerned - indeed the locals that I spoke to just shrugged their shoulders and said that people there did it all the time. Strange - I wonder what other laws they regularly break around those parts?

On Sunday evening I went to The Royal Albert Hall to see the World premiere of 'Classic Quadrophenia'. Featuring The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robert Zeigler and The London Oriana Choir and orchestrated by Rachel Fuller, it saw the hitherto unlikely sight of Alfie Boe and Billy Idol duetting on several songs (I wonder how many fans of one know who the other one is and vice versa?) as well as Phil Daniels clearly astounded by the fact that he was duetting with anyone and Pete Townshend looking somewhat overwhelmed by the whole affair. I thought it all sounded incredible - one of the best albums ever made re-imagined (I believe that's the term?) and sounding utterly astonishing throughout. Classic then - and classic now.

Monday night I joined fellow Buicks six-stringer Pete at The Three Wishes in Edgware for the regular jam night - it had been a while since I'd been along as I got fed up with some of the comments some people were making to me (I really must write that piece on jam nights one day!) although we did have the ulterior motive of drumming up support for Big Al's gig there this Saturday. Overall it was an enjoyable evening despite the odd silly moment - then again I did get to meet Osibisa guitarist Wendell Richardson so it wasn't all bad!

And last night saw the relatively rare occurrence that is an Upper Cut rehearsal; we're looking forward to 4 shows this month - that's a tour by our standards! And Ruts D.C. play an acoustic show at Rough Trade East tomorrow night - that's if any of us can get there. There's a tube strike you know... 

Back to Brixton and beyond

Before last weekend's Ruts D.C. shows Thursday evening saw Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks return to The Sunningdale Lounge in Sunningdale. This was our third appearance there in 2 months which I thought was pushing our luck a bit in terms of us getting an audience, but as so often happens I was wrong (!) and the place was all but full. It just goes to show what I know eh? Our set was well received by all concerned including Graham the guv'nor who again offered us a return gig almost immediately - this time however Al went for a show in a few weeks time on July 24th. Hmmm... that's my birthday...

Ruts D.C. rehearsed on Friday, after which we met up with Richard from Cadiz Music to consider options for future releases. Talk was talked, drinks were (inevitably!) drunk and plans were planned - hopefully there are exciting times ahead... on the way home I called in to Tropic At Ruislip where I arrived just in time to catch Ian Dury And The Blockheads tribute band The Blox who were supporting my old mates The Pistols. With Dury being one of the most distinctive frontmen of them all and The Blockheads being famously brilliant musicians a tribute act has a lot to live up to - I thought they did a good job especially the deputy Dury (although he's got to watch the timing of his tambourine playing - did Dury ever play one?!?) with the band following him every step of the way. Mind you, none of this explains why they played 'Madness' and '54-46 Was My Number'... meanwhile the Pistols were as great as ever, and it was good to catch up with them all again.

I seem to be spending a lot of time at Jamm in Brixton these days, what with us gigging there and then working on Ruts D.C. recordings there at various times in the last few days. After our show there last Monday I met Pete 'Manic Esso' Haynes at The 12 Bar Club - I hadn't seen him for a while and there was a lot to talk about. His latest book 'Cool Water' is published by Caffeine Nights later this month - let's hope it goes some way towards giving Esso the success that his hard work deserves. I was back in Brixton during the day on Tuesday but in the evening I went to Rough Trade East to see Electric River play a launch show for their new album 'The Faith & Patience'. The afore-mentioned Richard was there (Cadiz are putting their album out) as was 'Vive Le Rock' editor Eugene Butcher who manages the band. I hadn't seen them for a while and I thought they sounded terrific. I've since been backwards and forwards to the studio quite a few times since - maybe I should see if there's a Travelodge nearby?!?

And this posting ends as it began, with a BA & The BBs (that's so much easier than typing 'Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks' I can tell you! Mind you, I've just had to type it again to tell you that... bugger!) gig last night at The Three Wishes in Harrow. With the Froch v Groves fight being shown in the venue our show was somewhat inevitably compromised - we played a short set before and a longer set after the boxing, and all things considered it all went pretty well. There are three gigs for the band this coming weekend, although it'll depend on how the studio work goes as to how many of them I'll be able to play. Let's see what this week brings shall we...

'Take no heroes, take only inspiration...'

I have just - just! - returned from The Old Truman Brewery on London's Brick Lane, where Pete Townshend has been promoting his recently-published autobiography 'Who I Am'. He was interviewed by Will Hodgkinson, participated in a question and answer session with the audience and signed many-a copy of said publication.

I arrived at the venue at almost exactly 6.45pm, fifteen minutes before the event was due to begin. I'd walked a quick walk from Aldgate tube station as I didn't know how far along Brick Lane I was going to have to go; as I passed Rough Trade East on my left I saw a large chimney with TRUMAN written on it in front of me to the right - a good sight. The Old Truman Brewery is another one of those undeniably impressive buildings that would probably have been demolished by now if someone hadn't come up with the idea of using it for something other than the job it was originally intended for, and walking in you have to think that it's a good job that they did. To the right was a Waterstones stall piled high with books, to the left an audience of maybe a couple of hundred with a small stage in the centre facing the assembled multitude. I bought a book (you just knew that I would didn't you?!?) and found a seat next to a studious-looking chap who looked to be making short work of The Times crossword. A live recording of The Who could just be heard over the massed mumbling. Good.
Around ten past seven a ripple of applause found it's way around the room as a young lady attempted to introduce the evening. Sadly her words were hardly heard, as as her microphone either let out a wall of feedback or didn't work at all. This situation continued throughout the first few minutes of the Townshend / Hodgkinson exchange which annoyed large sections of the audience (which I think is rather ironic, given Townshend's pioneering use of feedback on guitar, and indeed the row that his band were capable of making!) although things were more-or-less sorted out (PT apologised for being late as he'd travelled by train meaning that there was no time to check the microphones) in the end. The interview went well and was very interesting, with Townshend giving some typically involved answers and swearing a bit too much for the people in front of me - again, a bit ironic don't you think? After 45 minutes or so of regaling us with tales of Moonie and The Ox, his ongoing relationship with Roger Daltrey and more it was time for questions from the fans - again the microphones went wrong, again Townshend didn't scrimp on the answers - before the previously calm and genial audience became a seething rugby scrum hell bent on destruction. This could only mean one thing -  yes, it was time to get your book signed... confusion reigned for a few minutes as no one seemed to be sure where Townshend would be sitting - I found myself near the back of the queue (I always seem to find myself near the back of the queue!) as order was restored. Judging by the number of people in front of me the Waterstones stall had clearly been been very busy - as we shuffled our way towards our quest people wondered if he'd sign all the books or if he'd get bored and leave early. 
After a half an hour I was a few people away from the front of the queue. The staff were friendly, asking us to have our books open ready at the title page and smiling cheerily as we all complied. I gave my (open) book to the gentleman to the left of where Pete was sitting and suddenly I was face to face with the man himself, the nearest I have to a hero. Oo-er... he looked up at me, smiled (a bit) and signed the book with a black felt pen and a large flourish. Excellent. He looked up and smiled (a bit) again and I suddenly thought that I could say something like 'hello Pete, I'm Leigh, you're the reason that I play guitar, no really you are, and I play guitar with Ruts D.C., you know, Segs and Ruffy's band, you used to know Paul Fox as well didn't you? Can we have some gigs with The 'Oo please?' I decided against this (a wise decision don't you think?) and instead said 'brilliant, thank you'. He said 'thank you' quietly and smiled (a bit) again as he gamely shook my hand.

I walked away, putting my book back into the Waterstones plastic bag provided as I did so. I then realised that I was dying for a pee. 
On my way to look for the toilet I bumped into Mark of Monkey Picks fame. After exchanging hellos he asked if I'd got my 'bit of scribble'? 'Yeah' I said, rather more nonchalantly than I thought I would. And why not? They (whoever 'they' are) say that you should never meet your heroes, and 'they' may well be correct. And I haven't met mine have I? - well, not really anyway. But I'm well pleased with my book. I might even read it one day!

What a difference a day makes

I had a really good day on Wednesday.


I spent much of it with Ruts D.C. at The Music Complex in Deptford rehearsing for our upcoming appearance on Saturday at The Last Jubilee Festival at Bath Racecourse. We put together a one hour set that included some early Ruts material alongside new songs and ranging from punk classics to dub workouts, and even though I say so myself, we sounded great. Great. We were all looking forward to Saturday with an almost manic enthusiasm. That's a wonderful feeling to have at the end of a rehearsal. That's a wonderful feeling to have full stop.
The next few days were looking good - Cool Britannia gigs at Leamington Spa and Stevenage on Thursday and Friday followed by the Ruts D.C. show on Saturday. If you're going to have a job then that's not a bad job to have. As I left the studio I was tired (we'd also been in there Monday and Tuesday and it's a long way to Deptford!) but also elated - I'm playing in the band that I used to watch all those years ago, playing those wonderful Paul Fox guitar parts alongside new music that I'm contributing to. Who'd have predicted that?
And the day wasn't over yet. Wilko Johnson was playing a free show at Rough Trade East to launch his new book 'Looking Back At Me'; on the phone to the long-suffering Shirley I debated whether or not I should go along. Money is tight and it's been a long few days. Her view was simple - it'll be a great gig so go along, get yourself the book, stop worrying. Ok Shirl, I will... she was right as usual, it was a great gig, preceded by an introduction by co-author Zoe Howe (her husband Dylan drums in Wilko's band, alongside the inimitable Norman Watt-Roy on bass) and a very funny talk from the man himself. The band played a short set before they signed books, posed for photographs and generally made a lot of people very happy. It was a fine thing to see - after many years of slogging around Wilko seems to finally be getting through to a larger audience. There were many more people there than at the 'Oil City Confidential' launch show the year before last, and judging by the number of people that I saw singing along there's been a lot of catching up going on. As I left the shop I felt hungry, tired and for want of a better word, elated. I'd spent the day playing with Ruts D.C. and the evening watching Wilko Johnson. How much better does a day in my little world get? Excellent.


I had a really bad day on Thursday.


In the morning I received an email telling me that most of the Cool Britannia shows had been cancelled, including the two due to happen this week. Later in the day I was told that The Last Jubilee Festival wasn't happening either. Bugger.

7 x 7 year itch

Well, look what I bought myself for my birthday. One for the collection methinks... in the meantime it's been a good birthday week:-

Myself, Shirley and my Dad spent Monday Tuesday and Wednesday up in Merseyside. We dropped my dad off in Bromborough (he was staying with his brother George and his wife Joyce) before we journeyed through The Mersey Tunnel to spend 2 nights in Liverpool. We'd hoped to do a spot of Beatle-related tourism on Tuesday by going on The Magical Mystery Tour but it was raining so hard that we couldn't get to the bus stop. Really! It was like something out of The Bible! Shirley took advantage of the situation by spending much of the day in the Liverpool One shopping centre (she bought 4 umbrellas!) although we did at least make it to The Cavern so I guess that's something. We also managed to spend some time with various family members which is always a good thing to do. My Auntie Emma is 84 in September, and she nearly reduced Shirley (and if I'm honest, me) to tears when she said that she'd 'had a wonderful life - I've been so lucky as I've been loved all my life, there's not always been much money but that's not important if you've got people you care about and who care about you is it?' Indeed.

Thursday morning and it's back to work (as I rather euphemistically like to think of it) with Stuart the guitar repair man, attending to the 'We Will Rock You' guitars at The Dominion Theatre. For once there wasn't too much to do which is unusual at this time of year - sweaty hands can wear strings out very quickly - although now I've said that we'll probably be there all day next week... after a few hours at home it was time to return to London to see Wilko Johnson at Rough Trade East. (Yeah I know I could have stayed up in town but I'd have had to spend about 5 hours looking around. It could have got expensive!) I'd not been to the shop before (and hadn't been to Brick Lane for many years - how can all those curry houses make money?!?) and I must say it didn't disappoint, with an amazing selection of stuff - in addition to picking up 2 'Oil City Confidential' DVDs (I got a copy for East as well) I found a copy of 'Ou Est La Maison du Fromage?' by the mighty John Cooper Clarke for a mere £5.99. And they gave me a Rough Trade badge as well. Excellent! And talking of excellent things Wilko was, well, excellent, giving a cracking 45 minute performance to an ever more appreciative audience. Norman Watt-Roy was as mind-boggling as ever on bass, Dylan Howe played a rock-solid drumkit, and Wilko played his old Black Stratocaster (I think it's the one that he used to use when he was in The Blockheads?) which he seems to be using all the time these days. Where's the Telecaster gone? Afterwards he signed DVD's for all and sundry, and looked increasingly awkward as he did so - by the time I got to the front of the queue he looked to me like he'd more-or-less had enough. I've spoken to him here and there over the years, sometimes at (fairly) great length, but this encounter was to be brief; when he asked me what I'd like him to write I said 'put anything you like' - so he did! Mind you he wrote 'UBIQUITY!' on East's copy so maybe I got off lightly?

Friday night should have been reasonably straightforward - an evening at The Laurels in Ruislip where I was due to play a couple of songs at a jam night. Leaving aside the fact that I've never actually played at a jam night before this one was rather different than the usual type of gathering as it was organised by Andy and Jon Tuck, 2 brothers who played in The Flame with Nikk Gunns and myself back in the late '90's/early '00's. Jon's getting married soon and decided to have a jam night instead of a stag night - top man! So far so good, but sometime in the early part of the week The Upper Cut were offered a (very) short notice gig at Sweeney's in Ruislip, which, as luck would have it, is about 100 yards from The Laurels. You can see where this is going can't you...
9.15 and we're all set up and ready for a 10 o'clock start; myself and Terry the bass walk down the hill to The Laurels where Jon, Andy and co. are playing 'Vertigo' to the general approval of all and sundry. I say hello to Nikk who tells me that 'we're on after this one' as 'Basket Case' begins in the background. E-mails have been e-mailed and everyone knows what songs they're playing - as we ready ourselves I realise that there's a Flame re-union on the horizon, albeit with the addition of Steve on guitar... I'm just about to start the opening riff to this song when Jon says 'oh, you do know we're tuned to E flat don't you?' No, I didn't - but I do now! (If you're wondering what I'm rambling on about here - and I wouldn't blame you if you are - then here is an explanation. Don't say you never learn anything here!) After a swift tune-up (maybe that should be tune-down!) Nikk asks me to tell him where the vocals start (never a good sign!) but I'm more worried about whether my guitar will stay in tune... he disappears before our second song (this one in case you were wondering) so Ray takes over on vocals - and that's my appearance over. Nikk re-appears for 'It's So Easy' but I've got to go as it's 10 minutes to showtime at Sweeney's...
As I re-tuned my guitar I looked around the bar - the atmosphere isn't exactly hostile but it isn't exactly friendly either. Our first 2 songs are met with indifference and one of the bouncer's tells us we're too loud. It feels like it's going to be a long night, although after a few more songs there's a bit of dancing and by the end of our first set we're getting a fair bit of applause so maybe it's going to be alright after all? I go to the bar and given how busy it was a few moments earlier it's surprisingly easy to get served - I soon realise that most people have gone outside to watch a fight... a young lad tells me it's his birthday then asks if he have a go on the drums - it's tempting to say something like 'it's my birthday too, can I have a go on your girlfriend?' but I heroically resist the temptation (for once!) And anyway, he didn't have a girlfriend, or at least didn't have one with him. Roger gives him 30 seconds or so behind the kit, he soon runs out of ideas and leaves the stage, just as another guy asks Terry if he can have a go at singing... our second set gets a more positive reaction although it still feels like it's hard work. They'd originally wanted 3 x 45 minute sets from us but in the end we did 2 hour long spots which we just about had enough material for - an attempt at 'Stand By Me' was rather more successful than 'Sweet Home Alabama' although both went down very well. Not the worst gig we'll ever do (hopefully!) but not one to shout too loudly about either, although since we played through midnight I guess it was the first gig of my 50th year? Hmm - maybe it wasn't so bad after all?

I was saddened to hear of the death of snooker legend Alex Higgins on Saturday - I remember him on 'Pot Black' when I was a kid when he always seemed to me to be so much more, shall we say, interesting than the other players. We need more characters like him in the World don't you think? In the meantime it may be better to consider Saturday night's Chicago Blues Brothers gig in Hitchin as the opening salvo in this year's musical journey. Shirley and myself arrived around 6 p.m. to find most of the band congregated in the driveway of a large house - we're playing in a tent in the garden at Mike and Denise's wedding blessing. Chris is on drums for the first time in ages, Pete and Mike are in the hats 'n' glasses and Chris in on keyboards - when the speeches end we take our gear through and get set up. Richard's bought his son's Epiphone Les Paul for me to check over (it's exam time on Monday!) so when we're all ready to rock I have a look at it - there's nothing too much to do although the strings were getting on a bit (as indeed am I!) so I change them for him. Our first starts with 'My Girl' and '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' (their first dance was to a slow song so Pete decided that they might stay on the dancefloor if we played something similar. It worked!) before we moved on to familiar CBB territory. Chris did a great job on drums despite the fact that (a) it was a very - make that very - bouncy stage and his drums were moving around all over the place, and (b) the string holding the wires on his snare drum in place came undone and he was unable to fix it until the interval. After a break of an hour or so (during which much food was consumed) our second set went even better than the first, although the moment in 'Sweet Home Chicago' where Pete got them all singing 'Happy Birthday' to your humble narrator was, for want of a better term, humbling. A good gig. That's more like it.

And last but by no means least, Sunday saw The Upper Cut play at The Load of Hay in a 'it's-the-day-after-Leigh's-birthday' gig. East filmed it, Big Tel recorded it and I didn't play a single song correctly all the way through. Bugger! Still it was great fun, and definitely worth the headache that I'm currently battling my way through. I'm 50 next year. Now there's a headache to look forward to...