'The skill in attending a party is knowing when to leave...'

So there I was, minding my own business on the main stage at Butlins in Skegness as Ruts D.C. were in the process of closing this year's Great British Alternative Music Festival - to my left Segs is flanked by Jake Burns and Kirk Brandon, behind me Dave Ruffy is on the drums and steering the ship in customary fashion while Stan Stammers is with me at my microphone; we're all singing 'if you're in a rut, you've gotta get out of it' - as the song ends Stan throws his arms around me and I shake hands with Kirk and Jake before the three of them leave the stage. We're about to slam into 'Babylon's Burning' when I allow myself a moment's thought - 'how the bloody hell did that just happen?' followed swiftly by 'and didn't Richard Jobson say that he was going to join in too?'
All in all it was a suitably surreal end to a wonderful run of Ruts D.C. shows. In the last month or so we've played all over Britain and Ireland and barring the odd mad moment or two it's been an absolute pleasure from start to finish. Our new friends Harry, Adam and Mike from Riverjuke have shown devotion above and beyond the call of duty (well I think that they have, they'd probably say that they're 'just doing their jobs') which has made the band's job immeasurably easier, and even though I say so myself we've played some really great shows. After a batch of gigs like these there's often one or two that stand out as being better or indeed worse that the rest, but I can honestly say that's not the case this time. Ok, maybe Aberdeen (where we were to say the least concerned that the P.A. system wasn't up to the job but which turned out to be a classic evening) and Cardiff (which saw my Marshall amp go wrong again meaning that I was in a less-than-cheery mood; thankfully the Riverjuke boys had thought to bring a spare and the show saw one of the best audience reactions of all) stand out, but not by much. Incidentally my amp's back at the factory for repair and I'm looking at buying the spare - there go the wages. Again. But maybe nothing tops the 'crikey, I'm on stage with members of Theatre Of Hate and Stiff Little Fingers' moment. Strange days Indeed. Most peculiar mama.

So - what now? Well Ruts D.C. return to the stage at the start of November so it was back to basics on Friday night when I rejoined Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks for a show at no lesser venue than Hayes Working Men's Club. Al was recovering from a minor operation on his left hand and so wasn't playing acoustic guitar (we usually start the evening with a few acoustic numbers) and so Pete and myself split the duties on his very nice Martin HD 28 - I really must get myself a good acoustic guitar one day... I'd spent a while revising the songs as I'd not played with the band for over a month and had restrung my Stratocaster accordingly - shame I'd neglected to try it through an amplifier as the volume pot had developed a fairly serious-sounding crackle when used. This sort of thing can happen when a guitar isn't played for a while, and hopefully will be cured with a squirt or two of switch cleaner when I get five minutes. (Thinking about it I should perhaps be doing that instead of typing this? Hmm...) And last night I went to The Hope And Anchor in Islington to see the debut performance by RiVeR who feature Matt on guitar - he writes the excellent Elvis In The Clouds blog and attends many of our gigs so it was good to go along and give him a bit of support. A highly enjoyable night saw your humble narrator chatting to quite a few people who had seen and indeed enjoyed Ruts D.C. on this tour, and one gentleman who recognised me as a member of Big Al's band. As I say, strange days indeed... but proof were it needed that you don't get something for nothing in this godforsaken life comes with the news that this coming Friday's Upper Cut gig at The Dolphin in Uxbridge looks like being the band's last ever show. Shame - but nothing lasts forever (sadly!) and we've had a good run so hopefully we'll go out on a high. What was that line that Michael Stipe said when REM split up? A lofty comparison perhaps, but a comparison nevertheless - let's we don't leave our dignity at the front door eh?

'That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight...'

Behold this splendid image of Ruts D.C. taken by Graham Trott at The Academy in Manchester last Saturday 3rd October. We were supporting Hawkwind at their wonderfully-named Hawktoberfest, and even though I say so myself, we were doing a pretty good job. The show was on the back of 9 European shows organised by The Muttis Booking Agency (Hi Mutti, Katja and Sonja!) which saw us wend our way across Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy, travelling over 4,000 miles in total and having a great time in the process. Dave and Segs wrote some excellent blog pieces that can currently be seen on the band's website while I made the obligatory hard-to-read scribbled notes as I went along which intend to type up and get on here as as soon as I can. Mind you that won't be for a while, as we're playing at the rather loftily-titled Great British Alternative Music Festival in the hotbed of rock 'n' roll debauchery that is Skegness tomorrow before setting out on the UK leg of The 'Psychic Attack' Tour supported by The UK Feds. That'll keep us busy for the next couple of weeks - more obligatory hard-to-read scribbled notes beckon, and in the meantime I'll be updating my Facebook page as often as possible. If you're coming to a show then we'll see you there - do come over and say hello... 

Incidentally the Middlesborough show isn't happening - instead we'll be playing a 6pm acoustic show at Hog's Head Music in Edinburgh. It should be a good one... in the meantime Dave has chosen his 10 favourite Ruts and Ruts D.C. songs for TeamRock - the article includes a live version of our new song 'Psychic Attack' recorded last Saturday in Manchester - enjoy!

The long and winding road

So - 'Christmas is years away' as the Mega City Four once sang, and it's back to 'normal', whatever that is...

The year at Balcony Shirts has started fairly quietly - somewhat inevitably it's not as busy as it was before Christmas, so it's time for some new t-shirt designs, and indeed a new website devoted to custom t-shirts. I've been spending a fair bit of time writing copy for that and indeed the 'standard' website which I must say I really enjoy, not least because it's interesting to try to write 100-150 words on subjects as diverse as ukuleles, psychology and bread, all of which feature on new Balcony shirts. And talking of writing Dave from the shop has started a blog about... well, have a look here and you'll find out!

Friday night and (pausing only to see if there was anything on television worth staying in for) it was off to The Bull and Gate in Kentish Town for afore-mentioned Peart promotion. It was originally due to feature 3 bands, but The Meow Meows pulled out as their drummer has broken his foot (ouch!) meaning that Dirty Revolution headlined with support coming from Colour Me Wednesday. Ex-Ruts bassist Segs was D.J.-ing when I arrived (Andy had asked him to, he hadn't just barged his way into position!) and was playing 'Fever' by Junior Murvin when I went over to say hello; there was time for a few words before Colour Me Wednesday took to the stage - or rather 3 of them took to the stage, as singer Jennifer was nowhere to be seen. She eventually ambled up to the microphone, took off her glasses which she placed (rather riskily I thought) at the base of the mic stand and the show began. They've improved immeasurably since I last saw them, and their punky pop sounded good to me although it's still a bit hit and miss in places - a false start here, a botched ending there - and Jennifer the singer looks at the floor a bit too much to really draw the audience in, although maybe that's just me that thinks that? And let's face it, any band that has a song called 'Purge Your Inner Tory' must have rather a lot going for them.

Coming on stage to the strains of 'Bankrobber' by The Clash isn't something that most bands would relish (nice one Segs!?!) but Dirty Revolution seemed to take it in their stride, roaring through a breathlessly efficient set of ska-crossed-with-punk that went down well with the assembled multitude. Two guitars clashed over a thunderously tight drums and bass, while an almost cheerily melodic vocal floated over the top tying everything together. Good stuff, and although I'm never going to be the biggest ska fan in the World I'll be keeping an ear out to see what they do next.

Afterwards Fast Tony took over the job of the D.J. and there was time for a chat with Segs (remind me to tell you his hilarious 'Rat Scabies at Paul Fox's funeral' story one day!) to bring a highly enjoyable evening to a close. And it was great to be back at The Bull and Gate - always a classic indie venue, it's still a stage for original bands to perform on which is sadly something of a rarity these days.

First gig of the year for your humble narrator on Saturday, with The Chicago Blues Brothers at Butlins in Skegness. We did the same show at the same time last year - it's a brass band weekend! - and once again it was a great gig. Myself, Richard (sax) and Graham (depping with us for the first time on trumpet) made the epic journey without too many problems, although as always the last 20-or-so miles seemed to take forever - the road winds it's way through The Fens and some very picturesque countryside but time seems to stand still when your on it. I'm always half-expecting to see Doctor Who somewhere along the way... we arrived about 7 p.m. which was just in time for Richard and Graham to do their soundcheck with The British Philharmonic Big Band (modestly named don't you think?!?) who they were playing 2 sets with in Reds (the smaller of the two venues) before joining us for our show at The Main Stage at 11 o'clock. I watched a bit of their soundcheck, made some phone calls and generally hung around - the rest of our band we're due to arrive for quite a while yet - then went to get something to eat. I saw a couple of numbers by the band (very good they were too) before going across to The Main Stage to see if any of the band had arrived yet - they hadn't but The Central Ohio Brass Band were on stage for the first of their 2 sets, a young man played a euphonium at mind-boggling speed as the man next to me said 'very difficult that' to nobody in particular. Back at Reds The BPBB are still going strong when my phone rang - it was Mike to tell me that I should join them all in the main building for a free pizza. Oh well... I had a pint of lager instead!

Matt 'n' Mike are Jake 'n' Elwood, Ian's on keyboards, Squirrel's on bass and Marc's on drums for a show that started a bit strangely from my point of view - my guitar sounded out of tune but was fine when I checked it on the tuner, then sounded bad again in with the band, then three or four songs in it suddenly sounded good. Nobody else said there was a problem so maybe it was just me? And we went down excellently well with the audience, with much dancing and merriment more-or-less from the first number so I really should stop moaning. There - I've stopped moaning. For the moment at least...

The long drive home is enlivened by Whispering Bob on the radio - we got back to Richard's at 4 a.m. to find the long-suffering Shirley waiting to take me home. That's why I call her long-suffering...

Nothing much happened on Sunday. Well, it probably did, but I slept through it... a day in the shop yesterday was followed by an Upper Cut rehearsal in the evening - as I say, back to 'normal, whatever that is...

Wipe the windscreen, wipe your nose...

As your humble narrator stumbled his world-weary way through the white double doors that led to the backstage area of Centre Stage at Butlins in Skegness while carrying 2 guitars and a case of leads (why do the bloody things always open outwards?) his bleary eyes focused on the above sign - some things just have to be reproduced in these hallowed pages and this, my friends, was definitely one of them...

A show at a brass band weekend might seem an unlikely first gig of 2010 for The Chicago Blues Brothers but it turned out to be a highly enjoyable start to this year's (and indeed this decade's) campaign. A 'mostly-A-Team' line-up (Squirrel on bass, Marc on drums, Richard on Saxophone and myself) was joined by Steve on trumpet (he books the entertainment at the camp) and Steve (hope this isn't getting too confusing!) on keyboards (he's the resident keyboardist) with Pete making yet another comeback to show business as Jake next to Mike as Elwood; sad to say I didn't see much of Boobs And Brass but they sounded very good to me (then again my knowledge of all-female brass bands is limited to say the least!) although they did have the obligatory 'big-bloke-dressed-as-a-woman' (you just KNEW that they would didn't you?!?) who terrified everyone backstage before terrifying everyone in the audience. 'Tits And Trumpets' are on next' said Mike as their show drew to a close. Sadly he was wrong!

With the curtains drawn and the stage clear it's our turn to set up- amplifiers were provided by the venue and for Squirrel and myself it was our first chance to hear how they sound. His Ashdown bass gear sounded excellent, my Marshall MG50 combo sounded a bit 'rock' for what we do but not too bad all the same. Marc had been befriended by Louis who'd been working backstage and was now playing tambourine and bongoes with us (strange but true!) and the stage crew worked hard to give us what we wanted in our monitors. After our first number there were already quite a few people on the dancefloor (I spotted one guy in a 'Sex Panther' t-shirt- hope he got it from Balcony Shirts!) and the stage invasion during 'Mustang Sally' was enough to send the security staff into a health-and-safety-powered frenzy. A good start to our year.

And it was a good night on Friday when myself and Price bassman Huggy went to The 100 Club to see Eddie And The Hot Rods supported by The Radio Stars. Huggy decided to drive us up there, a somewhat controversial plan (have you ever tried to park in the Oxford Street area?!?) which was almost immediately thwarted when the windscreen wipers on his van stopped working, preferring instead to make a worrying vibrating noise. 'This is a new one on me' said Huggy as he considered the situation; he carefully selected a spanner which he proceeded to hit the offending items with, an action which incredibly did nothing to solve the problem. Plan B was hatched almost immediately- get a tube train instead. An eventful drive to West Ruislip Station followed with your humble narrator having to get out ever couple of hundred yards or so to manually move the wipers across the windscreen. (I'm not making this up honest! I'm not sure that I could make this up!!)

We spent most of the (thankfully uneventful) train journey into town discussing ideas for upcoming '25 years of The Price' celebrations (official announcement coming shortly- watch this space!) before arriving at The 100 Club just as The Radio Stars took to the stage. They were good if a little loose in places- I don't think they were exactly over-rehearsed- but 'Nervous Wreck' sounded as good as I remember it sounding and they went down well with the rapidly arriving audience. Just as their last song ended I developed a nosebleed which was no reflection of their performance but was suitably punky if you think about it.

Opening with 'I Might Be Lying' (I remember buying the single when it came out- fantastic!) The Hot Rods delivered a blistering set which caused a near riot more-or-less from the word go. Highlights were many but I must mention a wondrous version of 'The Power And The Glory' alongside the inevitable 'Do Anything You Wanna Do', and the encores of 'Gloria' and 'Get Out Of Denver' sounded every bit as energetic as the recordings from the 'Live At The Marquee' EP (I bought that when it came out too!) A brilliant gig which sent myself and Huggy on our way back to the Central Line in such a state of euphoric inspiration that we all but forgot about the windscreen wiper problem that awaited us...