Ruts D.C ElectrAcoustic Tour July 2024

Ruts D.C are on tour this month. That's good.

This is a tour with a difference for us, as it's our first ElectrAcoustic Tour. Since last we spoke - and yes, it has been a while hasn't it? - we've recorded the third album in this format, featuring stripped-down versions of Ruts and Ruts D.C. material. In my not-so-humble opinion this is the best of the bunch, and if that wasn't exciting enough this album also features a brand new song - Segs bought the idea in, we all worked on it and 'Bound In Blood' was the result. No doubt we'll work it up as an electric number sometime soon, but to begin a song in this way was really interesting - thankfully it's turned out well (it wouldn't be on the album if it hadn't!) so it should feature in these live shows alongside material from the other two albums. We've played acoustic shows at The Rebellion Festival for the last few years, and played a couple of shows during lockdown (ooh - remember that?) in a sit-down format, but this is the first time we're presenting a show of this type on tour. Tickets are apparently going well, and I for one am really looking forward to it.

Before that we play an electric show - I hesitate to use the word 'normal' at the best of times, although I nearly used it here - at The Cryer Arts Centre in Carshalton. I think I've only played in Carshalton once before, way back in 2012 with the mighty T.V. Smith at The Water Tower which if I remember rightly is a local historical landmark. The Arts Centre looks like it's a splendid venue, and I believe that the show is sold out, which can only be a good thing if you think about it. And after the tour we return to the afore-mentioned Rebellion Festival in Blackpool which is more good news. Onwards and upwards, as they (whoever 'they' are) say...

Ruts D.C. UK Tour May 2023 - First World Problems and more...

What follows was written in May 2023, at the times and places indicated.

Wednesday 10th, Room 905, The Thistle Hotel Luton, 9.55 am

Well. 

It's been a while.

Ruts D.C. last played a live show on Saturday 3rd December 2022, at The Islington Academy. Even though I say so myself, we were great. It was the last night of the 'Counterculture Part 1' UK tour, we'd been accompanied on all shows by the mighty T.V. Smith, and it had been a wonderful experience from start to finish. I'd joined Tim for three songs at the last show ('Tomahawk Cruise', 'The Lion and the Lamb' and 'One Chord Wonders' in case you were wondering) which maybe made the night extra special for me - mind you I then spent over an hour after the show walking around with all my tour luggage trying to get a taxi home. First World problems eh?

Since then we've recorded the 'ElectrAcoustic Volume 2' album which is due out in August in time for The Rebellion Festival, and I've been out and about on the Wingmen tour. All good stuff - but there's nothing quite like playing live with Ruts D.C... we've just had two days rehearsal at The Hive Rooms in Horley where the Wingmen tour rehearsals took place, it's a good set up and we've all enjoyed being there. Yesterday afternoon we were joined by Dale (driver) and Dave (soundman) with whom we then wended our weary way to Luton - We're in Stockton-on-Tees tonight so it's a suitable stopping off point. I'd stayed at The Gatwick Airport Travelodge on Monday night (again, Wingmen approved) which was as, erm, eccentric as I remember it being - this is a rather more straightforward place with breakfast consisting of rubbery scrambled eggs, lukewarm baked beans and potato rostis that night best be described as 'experimental'. As I say, First World problems eh? 

 Now I'm scribbling away on some old A4 paper that I found in my bag as I don't have a notepad with me. I used to take one everywhere with me when I was a regular blogger but that was then and this is now - these days I use Facebook to blast on and on about myself (!) so why am I back doing this now? Simple - I've just started re-reading 'Diary Of A Rock 'n' Roll Star' by Ian Hunter and have, rather pretentiously perhaps, decided that it's time to get back to this sort of thing. Do you wanna be a rock 'n' roll star? Of course you do. Let's be one together.

We leave at 11. It's good to be back!

Thursday 11th, Room 304, Hilton Garden Inn Sunderland, 10.12 am

Ooh - that's the Stadium Of Light. I don't think I've seen that before.

It was a good first night, maybe even a great first night as first night's go.

The journey up went well with no major hold ups so we were at the venue a bit early - with our hotel 40 minutes North of there we had no choice but to go to The Green Dragon to, erm, consider our setlist or something. Actually that was more or less what we did, as there are a couple of changes from Part 1 of the tour. 'No Time To Kill' has replaced 'Dangerous Minds - both are on the 1981 'Animal Now' album - and 'Caught In The Kill Zone' from our new album is in for 'Music Must Destroy'. But there is a less likely difference this time... if like me you saw the band promoting the afore-mentioned 'Animal Now' in 1981 you will have seen Segs and Paul swap instruments to play 'Despondency' and 'Fools' - they play each other's instruments on 'Fools' and 'Despondency' on the album too. Somehow - and I'm not exactly sure how - 'Despondency' is now in the set with Segs on guitar and your humble narrator on bass. Strange but true, and a proper 'did I really just do that?' moment for me. This is the longest set we've played since the band reformed and there is hopefully something for everyone in it.

First nights are almost always a bit... weird. Ian Dury put it best in 'What A Waste' - well, kind of anyway. We thought that we took a while to get going but it was a good show with many-a friendly face in a very appreciative audience. It was good to see UK Subs guitar man Steve with his lady Beki (check out her band Chaos 8 - fearsome stuff!) alongside uber fan Tony Lee (he's got our faces tattooed on one of his legs! Really!) and his lady Kate - as I say, a good start to proceedings.

Dunfermline tonight - I don't think I've been there before. It's the home of The Skids - that's got to be a good omen hasn't it? Well I think that it has. We're off at 11. Again.

Room 106, The Guildhall And Linen Exchange Hotel Dunfermline, 3.27 pm

We're staying in a Wetherspoons. Ooh.

Whisper it very quietly - it's excellent. Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?

Our journey took longer than it might have due to roadworks, diversions and the disconcerting sight of a burnt out car on the opposite carriageway. A lack of service stations (more First World problems!) meant that our only stop was at petrol station where a poster in the window proclaimed 'FOOTBALLER SAVES FRIENDS LIFE AFTER PITCH COLLAPSE'. An evocative thought.

We're a few minutes walk from the venue and we're sound checking at 5. Time for a pint perhaps?

Saturday 13th, Room 306, The NIU Hotel Manchester, 10.53 am

I've missed a day. How did that happen?

'Twas a cracking night at PJ Molloys in Dunfermline, a venue with a rightly-deserved good reputation and one that I really hope that we return to in the future. a sold out crowd made us feel welcome from the first song, and there was time for a drink afterwards with some fans who were also staying at the hotel - great stuff all round.

Last night was also good, but not without it's moments. The monitors were off for the first song which always creates an 'is it just me that can't hear anything?' moment for everyone on stage. Well, it certainly does for me. I thought The Academy was a bit big for us but we had a good crowd who warmed up as the show progressed, and everyone went home happy in the end - that said I for one could have done without the security man trying to throw me out when I went out to our merch after the show to see a few people. My cheery 'I'm in the band honest' while waving a backstage pass in his face didn't even get near to making him smile - still I suspect that judging by his general demeanour I and indeed you have a better day than he does most days... support came from Voodoo Radio, a father-and daughter duo who are well worth a look and listen if you get the chance. Nice people too.

We're leaving for Huddersfield at midday so it might be time for a walk across to the rather odd looking Irish shop opposite. And hopefully there will be time for us to get a photo outside Salford Lads Club. One for the Smiths fans - which I'm not really, but you have to do these things don't you?

Sunday 14th, Room 203, Premier Inn Huddersfield, 11.22 am

I suppose it was bound to happen sometime. 

There I was, soloing my way to the end of 'You're Just A...' and thinking 'oh this is sounding good' - I should know better than to do that shouldn't I? By the time we got to the end of the next song 'It Was Cold' I could hardly hear the guitar. Well, I could, it just had no power.What's gone wrong? Oh, it's ok now, maybe it's just me... 2 songs later and it's definitely not right, Dale is on stage and we're playing with leads then decide to change to my spare pedalboard as Dave and Segs keep everyone entertained with some increasingly outrageous stories. We change the amp while there's high jinks at Niagara Falls with Kirsty MacColl - eventually we restart the show and it goes well despite me spending the rest of it expecting something else to go wrong.

There's work to do at today's soundcheck.

In the meantime - I don't think I've been to Huddersfield before either, it seems like a good place although admittedly I've only really seen The Premier Inn, the pub next door (The Aspley) and the venue (The Parish) but it feels good if you know what I mean. Mind you I was in the bar until 3 am with Stranglers fans Steve and Nick...

Tuesday 16th, at home, 10.18 am

The last thing that you want when you're on tour is a day off. Well, it's the last thing that I want anyway. Or is it? My washing is on, it's a lovely day and my guitar problems on Saturday night turned out to be the fault of a dodgy guitar lead. Well hopefully that's the case - sound man Dave is taking both amps for a service today ('I know a man in a shed') just to be on the safe side.

Sunday in Nuneaton turned out to be a good day all round - lunch at The Chase Hotel was followed by a string change and the afore-mentioned troubleshooting at sound check before I joined Steve & Sheila and Paul & Mandy at The Lord Hop for a pint or two of impressive tasting Pilsner. Back at The Queens Hall it was good to see Pam Greenfield and her friend Josie among the many familiar faces, and a good show was followed by a few few drinks with a few more people... and I woke up yesterday with maybe the worst hangover ever. Ouch.

Or did I? Without going into too many details the next few hours showed that it might have been a stomach bug. Or maybe that Pilsner wasn't quite so impressive after all...

We're playing in Reading tomorrow. Good. 

Thursday 18th, Room 19, The 1843 Hotel Reading, 10.42 am

It's good to be back. Or as I wrote the other day, it's good to be nowhere again. That line should be in a song shouldn't it? Maybe one day it will be.

A good show at Sub 89 last night, although from our point of view maybe not a great one. 'Hard work' we all said in unison at the side of the stage as we waited to go back on for the encore. 'Hard work' said the mighty T.V. Smith who is back with us for the next set of gigs. 'Hard work' said sound man Dave who then announced that the PA system 'might be a bit blown'. 

Hard work then.

I'd been up to Denmark Street earlier in the day as in the wake of the guitar lead issues I though it might be a good idea to buy some new ones - when one goes, they often all go... it's all changed. Last time I was there it was a street with musical instrument shops in it, now it's more like a guitar theme park. Everything seems to have doubled in price too. Bah. For there it was a train to Reading and a walk to Sub 89 to meet Spike and his son Kaleb who are joining us for this leg of the tour as Dale is elsewhere. Dave met Spike when he was drumming in Dexys, he's a great chap and his lad seems like a nice fella so it's looking good for the next few shows.

So - why was it 'hard work'? It's difficult to say... I was expecting my guitar to go wrong again - maybe it's time for some switch cleaner on everything? The lights were rather, erm, dark, Dave was on a riser which made him feel separate to us and us feel separate from him, Segs's mic stand kept collapsing... it's those First World problems again isn't it? And we went down well, and it was great to see Roland Link, Retroman Steve, Bill from The Good Old Boys and more so maybe it's time I cheered up.

Brighton tonight. That'll be good. I've cheered up already.

Friday 19th, Room 40, The Amsterdam Hotel Brighton, 10.31 am

And it was indeed a good show - none of us were happy with the Reading gig do this one has put us right back on track. Excellent.

The Concord 2 is a classic old venue - when we arrived Nick from Burning Picks was there to take some photos and to generally be of assistance. I met him on the Wingmen tour, he's a splendid fellow and a great photographer as these pics show.

Earlier I went to GAK to buy some fingerboard oil and switch cleaner and then went to the excellently-named Wai Kika Moo Kau for a burger - I like Brighton but it's a bit hippyish for me, maybe not the mod temple I always expect it to be. Oh well. As I say the show blew away any doubts about the previous night (which wasn't bad, we just thought that it could have been better) and it's set us up well for Portsmouth tonight. 'Twas great to see Tony and Andy from The WitchDoktors, and the lads from The Assassination Bureau, and my old mate Simon from The Newtown Neurotics - they've got a documentary film called 'Kick Out!' coming out in September which should be well worth a watch, not least because I'm in it!

Check out is at 11 and breakfast finished at 10 so I'd better find a sandwich if I'm going to...

Saturday 20th, Room 232, Travelodge Portsmouth, 11.51 am

Crikey - we're leaving at midday. Where does the time go?

A great gig. More next time.

Sunday 21st, Room 232, Travelodge Letchworth, 10.20 am

Today we leave at 11. Where does the time go (slight return) eh?

An enjoyable show at Club 85 in Hitchin last night, although slightly blighted by the ghastly hippies who were masquerading as the crew. Don't smoke dope all day boys, you'll get nothing done... oh, you got nothing done. Still Andy 'Human Punk' Chesham was promoting so everything went well in the end - T.V. was as great as ever, and even though I say so myself we really got hold of the show. Excellent. Now it's time for a quick walk across to Costa (we're on a distant industrial estate) then to get everything together for the ride up to Derby and a return visit to The Hairy Dog. T.V. is on at 5.30 with us an hour later - it's a matinee show! 

Tuesday 23rd, at home, 5.16 pm

So - where DOES the time go?

I've been asleep much of this afternoon. I'm not ashamed! I'd woken up at 7- something this morning genuinely wondering where I was. This happens my friends, this happens. 

There's lots to mention while I can still remember it.

The East Street Bar in Brighton after our gig. 'It's student night' said the doorman. 'We're students' said Segs with a straight face as the afore-mentioned doorman smiled and let us in and Segs added 'See you in 20 minutes when you're throwing me out'... well it had been a great gig, and Portsmouth was great too, with a snippet of 'How Soon Is Now?' for the recently departed Andy Rourke making it's way into 'In A Rut'. We added that in Hitchin and Derby too, where public transport finishes at 8.30 on a Sunday evening hence the early show. T.V. was tremendous - why don't we play with him all the time? - and we were pretty good too as this footage shows. We managed to get a couple of drinks at The Blue Jay next to our hotel after the show - and that closed at 10 o'clock. It must be a Derby thing... and it was light when we left the venue. Weird!

Oh - and I finished 'Diary Of A Rock 'n' Roll Star', and very good it was too. Last week I re-read Zoe Howe's excellent Lee Brilleaux biography 'Rock 'n' Roll Gentlemen' which I last read when we toured Australia and New Zealand a few years ago (what a poser eh? I mean, I didn't have to mention that did I? Well... actually... I did!) and which highly amused Segs at the time as I apparently somewhat adopted Dr. Feelgood's legendary 'time for a jolly up' approach to touring - in other words I suggested a visit to the bar at pretty much every opportunity. Subliminal messaging perhaps? This week I've got Nick Kent's 70s memoir 'Apathy For the Devil' for company which I've not read before and so am very much looking forward to reading. 

It's a sold out show at The Water Rats in King's Cross tomorrow night, which will also feature an 'exclusive' playback of our new acoustic album and which promises to be quite a night. From there we play York, Dunoon, Sheffield and then back to The Water Rats for an added show - that's a lot of miles isn't it? Still at least I won't wake up wondering where I am.. or will I? Let's see!

Thursday 25th, Room 208, The Linton Hotel, Luton, 9.27 am

Well - that was an 'interesting' end to our evening. But more about that in a minute.

The Water Rats - shouldn't that be Water Ruts? - always promised to be a night to remember and I'm please to say that it more than lived up to expectations. Packed out - maybe oversold? - and beyond hot (surely they could have turned the air conditioning on?) the show was everything we hoped that it would be and more. Much audience and indeed band merriment occurred throughout the show despite the heat, In A Rut' included a breathless burst of 'Love Song' for the recently departed Algy Ward, and even the fact that our dressing room was three floors up (at least! I lost count at 65 steps!) and the fact that the bouncer on the front door was roundly unpleasant to all and sundry couldn't dampen our spirits. But maybe the most interesting moment in the show was also one of the most unexpected... one chap over on Segs's side of the stage was a particularly good dancer, to such an extent that Segs inverted him up onto the stage during the last song of the evening 'Psychic Attack'. It was only then that I realised that it was Peter O'Connor, the noted actor that appears in the promo video for said song - so if you were there you saw a live performance of the video. Strange but true.   

And if you weren't there you can see said performance here - isn't Pete great?!?

A classic evening. And then we got to our hotel. These WhatsApp exchanges say it all -

What's this all about with the student beds?

It must be comedy night. 

I'm on the verge of getting a cab home...

I feel like I've been arrested!

I've slept in worse - Guatemala I think...

I've just seen Tony Handcock's landlady.

Breakfast finishes at 9, court at 10, leave at 11 subject to sentence. 

I'm soothed by the sound of them building the gallows.

And then, in the morning - 

Bed was actually comfortable although the rubber undersheet was a nice touch as were the circling helicopters. 

I feel like I've been operated on. 

Prostrate examination imminent. 

You get the idea.

More First World problems? Maybe... it think it was the shock of there being no bed in the room when we arrived at sometime after 1 am - Kaleb had to show me that it came down from the wall. It's great being old... it turned out to be ok although I've got a really sore neck from sleeping awkwardly; that said the breakfast was good so it's time for a shower and to get everything together to leave for York at 11. Another new venue tonight, and it's Dave's hometown...

Friday 26th, Room 11, The Pavilion Hotel York, 9.38 am

Ooh - vegetarian sausage. If ever there was a not-always-good-option option it's vegetarian sausage. But if it's recommended by Dave Ruffy, all bets are off. Superb. And out new friend Sean the waiter saw Soft Machine at The Crescent a few years back and loved it. A good start to the day, and a good gig last night in front of an enthusiastic audience at a splendid venue. 'In A Rut' included 'Nutbush City Limits' in tribute to Tina Turner, and it was great to catch up with Matt, my old mate from a previous life, he was on top form and is still out gigging regularly which was great to hear. 

We're playing at The Punk On The Peninsula Festival in Dunoon on the West coast of Scotland today. That's a long way away isn't it? We're off at 10 - pack your bags Leigh! 

Saturday 27th, leaving Greenock

Welcome to the Ruts D.C. tourbus. 

To be pedantic, the Ruts D.C. splitter van. These are very prevalent in the rock 'n' roll world (maaan!) as they are ideal for transporting disenfranchised musicians and there equipment from town to town. Usually there are 9 seats - 3 in the front and 2 rows of 3 in the middle section with luggage and equipment in the back section of the bus which is divided off (hence the term 'splitter') from the front and middle sections. In the middle of this bands the 2 rows of 3 face each other with a table between them; sometimes both the rows face forwards so fairly obviously there is no table in this bus.

So - who's in the bus and where are they? Well...  Spike is driving - he's also on sound (Dave the sound engineer left us after the Derby gig as he's away working with Kris Barras) as well as tour manager and more. He's brilliant at all all of it. Also in the front is his son Kaleb - he's now looking after our backline, and is even on merch as well some nights. He's brilliant too. Behind Spike sits Segs and behind Kaleb sits Dave while I'm at the right in the back row facing Segs. The table has 5 receptacles in it - they house, left to right as I look at them, a small unopened bottle of water, a half full (or if you prefer, half empty) bottle of Merlot, an open small bottle of water, a nearly empty bottle of red wine and a large bottle of water with the top off. That's fairly typical for us, and that water bottle could cause me a problem or two of Spike has to brake suddenly so I'll have a look for the top in a minute. The River Clyde is to our left - the tide is out - and it's about 5 hours to Sheffield where we're gigging tonight. The radio on in the front and the mood is relaxed - and why not? It was a great gig in Dunoon where we were made most welcome by promoter Iain and our friend Dave Ralf who was working at The Punk On The Peninsula Festival. We repaired to The Argyll Hotel for Guinness and a setlist discussion - we've been playing for 85 minutes whereas this was an hour show - when we returned to the festival Millie Manders And The Shut Up were sounding good. I had a bit of time to catch up with Ruts fan extraordinaire Mark McCulloch and his wife Shona before Church Of Confidence took to the stage for a boisterous performance. There were no dressing rooms - maybe we're the only band that gets changed for the show? - so we had to use the van which suddenly didn't seem be quite as spacious as it had felt up until that point in proceedings. 

Ooh - it's those First World problems again...

We went on at 8.35 - the tent was full and getting fuller and by our third song 'You're Just A...' it was packed. A large stage meant that Segs and myself could indulge in what we often call our 'Paul Simonon moves' (well, he's the coolest man ever isn't he?!?) with much merriment all round. The only downside to the show occurred when we swapped instruments for 'Despondency' - as I passed it to Segs the guitar strap came off. Closer inspection showed that the end pin had actually come out from the guitar. Bugger! Kaleb sprang into action immediately, passing Segs my spare guitar, finding the end pin and screw on the stage and repairing the guitar in time for the next song. What a splendid chap he is! 'In A Rut' once again featured 'Love Song' (cue mass pogoing from the punks) and 'Nutbush City Limits' (cue mass confusion from the punks, although the girls danced!) and after the show we all agreed that, in Segs's words, we'd blown the roof off the place. Iain the promoter was pleased too, presenting us with a bottle of Glen Scotia whisky which we chose to sample on the ferry back to Greenock. With predictable results. 

To Sheffield!

Sunday 28th in the bus heading South passing Junction 26 of the M1, 11.44 am

I suppose it was bound to happen sometime (slight return).

A bad gig.

Actually it wasn't a bad gig, just perhaps not quite as good as the rest of the shows on the tour. I'd not been to The Corporation before - they kindly 'leant' me some Superglue which I used to plug the screw hole for my Les Paul end pin with the aid of several small pieces of Marks & Spencer wooden cutlery procured at a motorway service station on the way to Sheffield. Rock 'n' roll eh? I must fix it 'properly' sometime soon. 

(Incidentally if this sort of thing happens to you and your guitar cocktail sticks or toothpicks are really good, as are matchsticks. Don't say that you don't learn anything here!)

Soundcheck was... ok... the monitors were shall we say, a bit iffy, Dave's being particularly so. But it'll all be ok later won't it?

We decided to visit The Brown Bear, a favourite haunt of ours when we are in the area - Dave suggested a cab, Segs was on the phone so he said he'd follow along later. We'd just got there when we received a text message from Segs to say that Kirk Brandon had been taken ill and was in hospital. He's an old friend of theirs and they work together in Dead Men Walking so it was worrying news. 

We went on at 8.45. Dave has been going on first to get himself settled behind the drums and usually gets what Segs and myself waiting in the wings often refer to as 'The Ruffy Cheer' - which tonight didn't happen. Or maybe we just can't hear it from where we are? We walked our to a smattering of vague applause - perhaps we've overplayed the area lately. We played well but received a muted response interspersed with people shouting for old Ruts numbers. My monitor was off, or very quiet, or something, but at least my strap button stayed on my guitar... we finished with 'Babylon's Burning' to a few seconds of applause then silence. As we walked down the steps at the side of the stage to the sound of our own footsteps Dave said 'let's leave it there' so we did. No encore.

Back at The Mercure it's time for a few drinks and some mad stories from Spike to go with some from Dave and Segs. That's more like it. 

Today it's sunny and the mood is good. Back to London Town and indeed back to The Water Rats. Good

Monday 29th, at home, 5.19 pm

And there it was, gone. Again. 

But what a tour, and what a way to finish it. We returned The Water Rats for a show that more than made up for the one in Sheffield the night before (which apparently wasn't that bad after all) and which saw a couple of changes to the set - as many people had come to more than one show we replaced 'No Time To Kill' with 'Back Biter' and 'Caught In The Kill Zone' with 'Music Must Destroy', both good choices I thought. I've spent most of this afternoon asleep - of course I have! - so now I've got some washing in and have bags to unpack and things to put away. But what a great three weeks we've had, due in no small amount to the excellence of our touring crew - Dave and Dale early on and Spike and Kaleb for the latter part with Liam and Ceri appearing here and there too. We thank them all, and we thank you if you came to a show.

It was good though wasn't it?!?

So now what? Well as previously discussed 'ElectrAcoustic Volume 2' is due out in August in time for The Rebellion Festival, and we've got gigs coming in for The Autumn and even (gulp!) some new song ideas coming together... forwards... as ever...

North East Calling

I have just - just! - returned from the first three shows of the twelve that Ruts D.C. will be playing in the month of November, and I'm pleased to say that barring the odd technical hitch they all went very well. Heavy traffic (and indeed heavy rain) meant that we were an hour late arriving at The Wardrobe in Leeds for the first show on Thursday but our new driver / backline man Jon got us all there in one piece - after an excellent support set from The Expelaires (who reminded your humble narrator of early U2, which is never a bad thing in my book) we took to the stage at 9.15 for a splendid 75 minute set with sound man Bob getting everything sounding pretty near perfect. After the show Rhiannon does a roaring trade on the merchandise and we chat many-an audience member, all of whom seemed to enjoy the show which is always good news. And it was great to see Phil from Bug with his wife Annette and my old mate and fellow Chicago Blues Brothers escapee Matt too. From there it was back to the hotel for a drink (ok then, quite a few drinks!) before bringing a long day to a close.

The next morning we breakfasted amid stories of cannibalism on the television news (Dave - 'if you were going to eat someone you wouldn't start with their face would you?') we all agreed that it had been a great gig to start the tour with. With the rain continuing to fall we left for Newcastle not long after checking out at midday, arriving at The Cluny a little after 2pm. I'd not been there before although it's a very well-established venue which has been putting on live music for many years - we'd not been there long before Martin McAloon appears to say hello to Segs and Dave, he's the former bass player in Prefab Sprout, brother of Sprout singer / songwriter Paddy McAloon and an old friend of them both. After setting up and soundchecking there time for me to help Segs solder a couple of leads in one of his bass guitars before we have a meal in the venue bar then head off to The Vermont Hotel to check in and have an hour-and-a-bit off before returning to The Cluny just in time to catch the guitar / vocals / backing tracks duo The Symptoms. Perhaps inevitably they bring Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine to mind, which can't be bad can it? Our sound isn't quite as good as the previous night, with a couple of monitor problems and a microphone failure but none of this bothers the audience, most of whom go crazy from the word go. Once again there's time to speak to some of the crowd afterwards before retiring to our hotel for, you've guessed it, a drink or two. And why not?

Saturday morning's weather was a distinct improvement on the previous couple of days, and with only a relatively short drive in prospect there's a chance to spend a couple of hours in Newcastle before leaving for the next hotel. This can only mean one thing - a visit to Guitar Guitar is in order. Within no time myself and Bob were ensconced in one of the demonstration booths there with a Vox AC30 - I'd wanted to try one for a while as I'd heard great things about the latest model, and I must say that it sounded absolutely tremendous. I've also been told that the AC15 is worth a listen so I'm hoping to find one or those at either the Edinburgh or Glasgow shops this weekend. We also auditioned an Electro Harmonix B9 organ simulator pedal which sounded frankly astonishing - there go the wages I fear... from there it was the afore-mentioned drive up to Stockton-on-Tees where we're returning to The Georgian Theatre around a-year-and-a-half on from our first visit. Steve and Martin of Big Figure Promotions were very helpful, support bands The Iron Hearts and The Filth both played well and we gave a good show despite more microphone problems - in Bob's words, 'I took 'em all of the shelf in the warehouse, and that's where they're going back to!' 

Today it's been the long drive home, and I don't mind admitting that I'm feeling very tired now. Still there are four shows in Scotland on the horizon - now that's something to really look forward to! Mind you, that'll be an even longer drive home...

'One last bout before the year is out? Thought you'd never ask...'

Following on from last weekend's Islington extravaganza Ruts D.C. have 12 gigs this month, starting in Leeds this Thursday - as the accompanying flyer shows we'll be covering a fair few miles, and it goes without saying (but I'm going to say it anyway!) that I'm really looking forward to getting out and about again. If you coming to a show then please say hello!

Meanwhile it's been three gigs in three days for your humble narrator, starting with Big Al Reed and The Blistering Buicks at The Sunningdale Lounge in Sunningdale. It being the night before Halloween Al suggested that we play 'Monster Mash' - I remember the record well from when I was a lad (by the splendidly-named Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and The Crypt Kickers, although I believe The Misfits among others have covered it) and even though we hadn't had chance to rehearse it beforehand we played it well with the only downside to an otherwise good night for the band coming when somebody knocked Al's saxophone over. Fortunately it wasn't too badly damaged, but sadly the same thing happened the next night when the band played at The Black Horse in Eastcote. This time it was more serious as one of the keys got bent, to such an extent that we were obliged to leave several songs out of the show. Bah! Still I'm told that it's since been repaired, and once again 'Monster Mash' went well as indeed did the rest of the show. There are some pictures from the show on Al's Facebook page - as you can see I was too miserable to dress up for the occasion... ah well, maybe next year? And last night The Upper Cut played at Ye Olde George in Colnbrook. We've not played together very often lately so there were a few dodgy moments - still judging by people's comments afterwards everyone there everyone there enjoyed our efforts, and we managed to play the Cream (yes I know that it's a Robert Johnson song, but most people heard it first by Cream or Eric Clapton didn't they?!?) classic 'Crossroads' for Jack Bruce which has got to be a good thing if you think about it.

Right - tomorrow it's a day in Balcony Shirts, Tuesday it's a Ruts D.C. rehearsal and Wednesday I'm back in the shop before the first batch of shows in Leeds, Newcastle and Stockton-on-Tees start on Thursday. Busy busy busy - the rest of today off methinks...   

Distant relatives

I have just - just! - returned from playing four shows with Ruts D.C. :-

Not a bad evening's
entertainment!

After a suitably long 'it's-Friday-afternoon-traffic' journey with new face Mark behind the steering wheel we arrived at The Brudenell Rooms in Leeds around 5pm. We're on with T.V. Smith (who I hadn't seen since our duo gig at The 12 Bar Club before Christmas - we're playing our first show of this year at The New Cross Inn this coming Saturday - and who has been on tour in Europe with The U.K. Subs for the last few weeks) and Louise Distras (who was also on The 12 Bar Club show and who has also been on tour in Europe) so there's a fine evening in prospect. We're set up and soundchecked in good time - I'm putting my guitar away and talking to T.V. and Louise when I sneeze, sneeze again, then look down to see blood at my feet. Time for a nosebleed then... Louise helpfully fetches a handful of tissues and I spend T.V.'s soundcheck sitting on the stage trying to stop the blood flow. Dramatic eh? Actually it was pretty horrible, at one point literally streaming out. Urgh! Meanwhile the rest of the band went to check in at our hotel while the nosebleed eventually stopped and I watch Louise's soundcheck before setting up our merchandise stall. Chris the promoter opened the doors at 7 o'clock and people began arriving straight away - T.V. Smith mega-fan T.J. says hello and fellow Wilko Johnson obsessive Alan turns up with his two sons and presents me with a DVD of Wilko in Japan in 1992 and a 1995 tour programme (top man!) while the wonderfully-named Paul Newman asks me if The Price will be playing anywhere this year. I wonder if we will?
Just before 8 o'clock I bump into Louise who says 'I hope I don't break any strings' as she's making her way towards the stage; she doesn't but she does play an excellent set as does T.V. Smith. Then again, he usually does. By the time we went on the place was all but sold out, there's people dancing from the off and the show goes brilliantly. After encoring with 'In A Rut' and 'H-Eyes' we return to the dressing room but the audience is still going crazy and we somehow find ourselves back on stage - but we've played everything that we know, so what shall we do?
We'd had a rehearsal on Thursday evening during which we tightened up a few songs and began looking at other material that could possibly find it's way into the show. One of the songs that we tried was 'Generations' a song Segs recorded with Joe Strummer and Rat Scabies under the somewhat unlikely name of Electric Doghouse. We all agreed that it was definitely one to bear in mind for the future - unbeknownst to us the future was only one day away... it could be argued that in these days of YouTube it's not a good idea to play a song that you don't know, but we did it anyway! How did it sound? Like this...
After the show Mark and myself do a roaring trade on the merchandise stall and Dave and Segs signed old albums and singles, not-quite-so-old CDs, posed for photographs and made a lot of people very happy. I was even asked to do a couple of photos myself!
My first sight of Bewley's Hotel (I didn't go there earlier, remember?) included a couple of likely lads with their trousers around their ankles outside the main entrance. Friday night in Leeds then... Seamus and myself decide that we want to see what's going on so get a couple of drinks amid sights and sounds of great drunkenness and jollity from stag parties, hen parties and parties generally. A couple of chairs away from us a chap slides off his seat onto the floor a bit like a cartoon character might, he's out cold and his friends can't wake him up - suddenly the atmosphere changes and the hotel staff summon two paramedics and a voice over the tannoy asks us all to move out from the bar into the entrance hall. A few minutes later two of his friends are helping the now-just about-upright man towards the lift - 'we've never had a night like this!' says the barman cheerily as we hand him our glasses and chaos resumes all around us. Later we take the lift to the 4th floor where we're sharing room 441 - as the doors open there's a large upturned plant pot in front of us with flowers and soil everywhere. Why do people do things like that?

The next day begins in a leisurely manner that's very welcome after the previous day and evening. After breakfast we check out at midday and by 2 o'clock we're arriving at The Sporting Lodge Hotel in Middlesbrough. After checking in (Seamus and myself get room 122) it's time for some food - I get an excellent arrabiatta pasta which I just about finish before my nose starts bleeding again. Urgh!
It's only a short drive to The Georgian Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees and we're loading our gear in not long after 5 o'clock. Steve the promoter has got a couple of lads to help us carry our equipment (hurrah!) and we've got Green Dragon Studios to use as a dressing room. Soundcheck is a bit more involved than on the previous evening with the drum sound posing a few problems for our soundman Nick but he eventually gets everything sounding great. 
Support comes from The Clashed who I met last summer when The Flying Squad played with them; they've still got Joe and Mick the wrong way around (as you can see here) and they still do a good job of recreating the sound and the fury of The Clash, which is much appreciated by the rapidly-arriving crowd. The show has sold out in advance which usually bodes well for things but in this case it felt as though it all took a while to get going - we start with three reggae-based songs which I don't think was quite what the audience was expecting. There was a chap standing right at the very front wearing a white Ruts logo t-shirt who didn't look too happy until our fourth song 'Backbiter' when he suddenly bursts into life, as did many of the people around him. It was definitely harder work than the previously evening although as you can see if you watch the show here it all came good in the end. 
As I'm putting my guitar away a chap comes over, he's says that he really enjoyed the show but wondered if he seen me supporting The Ruts in Middlesbrough back in the day, wearing glasses and playing rock 'n' roll songs. He looks disappointed when I tell him that it wasn't me but was a chap called Auntie Pus (who incidentally has just written this blog piece on last week's Bristol show. Thanks Julian!)

I always wanted to be
 a tourist attraction!

It's a 5-ish hour drive to the next show so we set out at 11 o'clock on Sunday morning. 'Snow capped peaks to our right' says Dave as we pass through some spectacular scenery on our way to Dundee. We stop at a motorway service station where we see a poster for the gig in the tourist information display - excellent!
We arrived at The Reading Rooms just after 5pm. (Again! It's always 5pm!) Promoter Jim is a massive fan of the band and was present at a legendary Dundee gig back in 1979 when Segs and Malcolm let him and his friends in through a back window. There are only a few tickets left and he's hopeful that the gig will be a sellout which makes the already good mood in the band even better. The P.A. is superb and the sound is absolutely excellent - Dave and myself jam on 'Lust For Life' for no other reason than 'we just started playing it'.
I'm behind the merchandise table again as Jock Hart arrives, he's a big fan of the band (as you can tell from this review that he wrote of the evening) and it's good to see him again. Business is brisk and I sadly spend much of the support set by The Spitfires presiding over a merchandising frenzy although I managed to see their last few songs including a version of 'Career Opportunities' and I thought that they sounded great. A difficult band to follow, but follow them we do with a storming performance, one of the best that we have yet played. Afterwards we sell umpteen CDs, run out of Ruts logo t-shirts and meet people who say that it was the best show that they've ever seen by anybody ever. A successful evening's work.

It was another early start yesterday as our last show of what Dave called our 'tourette' was at Eric's in Liverpool. I thought breakfast finished at 10.30 but it actually stopped half an hour earlier meaning that I ate a bowl of muesli standing up looking out over The River Tay as clearing up went on all around me. 
I spent a fair amount of the journey to Liverpool drifting in and out of consciousness - the last few days were catching up with me! We stopped at Lockerbie Service Station for food and fuel (Nick pronounced his burger as 'a mistake') and found our way to Liverpool in good time (can you guess what time we arrived?!?) with Mark reversing into Mathew Street from North John Street with great aplomb. It's a long load-in as we have to walk our equipment past The Cavern and down a seriously steep flight of stairs into the club. As we're setting up I say hello support band Biteback's guitarist Richie who also plays in The Crows, he says how much he's looking forward to the evening and I tell him he's not the only one...
After soundchecking I went upstairs to call my cousin Steve (my phone wouldn't work in the club) who lives over the water in Birkenhead and who is coming to see us play. Or is he? He's got no money, not even enough for the train fare to Liverpool but he's waiting for his next door neighbour to come in as he's going to lend him the cash. When I ask him how much he needs his answer of £6 seems barely believable. I think about how often we all squander money (well, I certainly do!) but if you've got nothing then even a small sum of money seems like a fortune. I tell him I'll call him back in a while to see how he's getting on - in the meantime we walk through the city to The Holiday Inn opposite Lime Street Station. We're checking in as Molara meets a couple of friends who are coming along to the show. Hmm... he looks familiar... she introduces me to 'Jamie' and I realise that it's Jamie Reid - I mumble something about how much I like his work to which he smiles and says that he's really looking forward to seeing the show. Excellent.
As I walk back towards Eric's I call Steve - it's not going well, his mate still hasn't arrived and time is getting on, I tell him to get a cab over to the top of Mathew Street where I'll meet him and pay for it and his return fare home but he gets upset saying that he doesn't want charity, I tell him that it's not charity it's family and that he can pay me back sometime if he wants to and then I'm getting upset too... by now I've walked past the turning to the venue and along Duke Street towards the Ferry landing stage and I'm looking out across The River Mersey and can see the lights of Birkenhead over the water, he's only over there but he might as well be on another planet, neither of us knows what to do but he says he'll call me back if his mate turns up. I stand on the landing stage looking across the river - me and my brother Terry grew up with Steve and his late brother Gary, they were more like our older brothers than our cousins and as I stand there I can remember a thousand things that we've done together. I feel helpless; I also feel very alone. Bugger. I walk back up the hill, past The Liverpool pub near James Street Station where Steve's train would come in, past a bus queue, back up Duke Street, feeling like I didn't know anything anymore... then as I turn into North John Street my phone suddenly rings - it's Steve's girlfriend Lizzie who says that his mate's come home and lent him some money and he's getting ready to come out to the gig and will be with me in a half hour or so. Amazing! Steve comes on the phone sounding like he's won the lottery and saying that everything's ok and he'll see me soon. Thank God for that... by the time I get to the club I'm in a much better frame of mind, as I'm about to go downstairs a chap asks me what time the band are on, as I tell him 9.30 he spots my Bored Teenager badge that T.V. Smith gave me on Friday night and we're all smiles as we both agree how great his latest album is. What a difference a few minutes can make eh? As I turn towards the club I see Phil from Louder Than War who apparently was standing there all the time. I really did have other things on my mind didn't I?
8.30 and Biteback take to the stage. It's their first show as a four piece, the young lady on rhythm guitar looks a bit reticent at first but things soon get going. They play 'English Civil War' (it was definitely a weekend for Clash cover versions!) which fits in well among their own material and they go down better and better as their show progresses. Then I spot a familiar figure in the doorway - it's Steve. I don't remember the last time that I was so pleased to see someone.

'And I... wanna be...
anarchy...'

9.30 and we're on - the place isn't full but there's definitely enough people in to make it work (the show was slotted in at the last minute and as Ethan at the club put it, 'it's a Monday night and the day after St. Patrick's Day') but what they lack in numbers they more than made up for in enthusiasm. The show is a bit looser than the others with lots of storytelling from Segs and Dave coming out to the front of the stage to thank everyone for coming and to introduce the band. Overall it's a great show to end this run of gigs with, and in the dressing room Steve tells me that he really enjoyed it which means everything to me. Then Jamie Reid came over and asked me if I'd like him to sign my guitar - I'd half-jokingly said it to Molara earlier and she'd arranged it with him, meaning that I might well have the only Jamie Reid signature model Les Paul in existence. Strange but true. Then it's time for Steve to catch his train home, we blather at each other like kids, share a hug and then he's gone. I'm so glad that he made it along.
With everything packed away it's time to go back to the hotel - or is it? Phil asks me if I fancy a drink so we adjourn to The Grapes for an hour or so. As a young man plays guitar and sings over backing tracks in the other bar and Beatle - hunting tourists take endless photos of the walls he asks about the last few days - I say that I must have shaken 100 hands and heard the words 'I've waited over 30 years for this night' almost as many times. You don't know how lucky you are sometimes do you?

This morning I was in the hotel shower, thinking about how great the shows and the last few days had been, what the music means to me and to the audience, the mixture of emotions that the previous night had bought out in me - as I rinsed the soap off my face I opened my eyes to see blood on my hands. Another nosebleed. Back to the real world. You don't get something for nothing do you?