The Eton Rifles

It was the 75th anniversary of the Battle Of Cable Street on Tuesday - given some of their more dubious links there's a peculiar irony about it taking place during the Conservative Party conference don't you think? I somehow doubt that there were any commemorative events being held at the conference... still I did see an item on the London News about it, and The Mirror had quite a big article on it so at least it wasn't completely bypassed by the media. Back in the late 1980s The Price did a few gigs for Cable Street Beat (perhaps best thought of as the musical arm of Anti-Fascist Action) at a time when it seemed that extreme right wing politics were everywhere; at a show at The Electric Ballroom in Camden Town (we weren't playing - I think it was The Men They Couldn't Hang among others?) I met Solly Kaye whose memories of the day itself really were extraordinary and whose speech from the stage redefined the word 'inspirational'. In the meantime the ever-excellent Daily Mash summed up the Tory gathering better than I ever will - many a true word spoken in jest, as they say...

In the meantime 2 great - make that great - guitarists have recently left the building -

I only saw Bert Jansch play once (at a blues festival in Oxford since you ask) but I'll never forget it. I'd heard his name a million times but had not really heard him play - as he hunched over his acoustic guitar playing finger-busting chords whilst singing with a chilling other-worldy voice I realised why the likes of Jimmy Page always name-checked him as one of the all time greats. Along with Davy Graham he defined acoustic guitar playing for many, and he'll be very sadly missed.

I never got to see Marv Tarplin play but I've certainly heard him. And so have you although you might not realise it - his work with Smokey Robinson And The Miracles mark him out as one of the great players and indeed songwriters of what for many was Motown's golden era. That's him on 'Tracks Of My Tears' and 'Going To A Go-Go' for instance, and if that's not proof of his brilliance then I for one don't know what is. Another sad loss.

And away from music Steve Jobs has died, although I'm sure that you're aware of that as it's been in the news rather more than the above two stories. As I sit here typing on my MacBook I feel that even I owe him something, although I'm not really sure what. I'll have a think about that and let you know if I come up with an answer!

The Chicago Blues Brothers returned to The Theatre Royal in Windsor this weekend for 3-shows-in-2-days - previous visits have been for longer which I guess is indicative of how quiet things are for the band these days compared to the last few years. Still they were 3 good shows with Friday evening probably just edging Saturday evening in the 'best of the bunch' stakes; the Saturday matinee (hey, that rhymes!) was a bit odd to say the least, with only a hundred or so people in the audience and although we still gave a good show it was difficult to 'get going', if you know what I mean. Ben was depping for Dave on trumpet on Saturday (it was the A-Team all round apart from that) and he did a wonderful job, particularly on 'Minnie The Moocher'. Around halfway through the second Saturday show Squirrel and myself both realised that the black dots that were appearing on the stage were sweat that was dripping from Matt - that man's energy never ceases to amaze. After Friday's show Mike, Matt and myself decided to go for a drink - sometime after 2 a.m. we left The Old Ticket Hall in a rather more confused state than the one we had arrived in. Maybe that's why we decided to walk though Eton to the Slough Travelodge where we were staying rather than get a cab? Maybe that's why the matinee show was a little odd? Maybe that's why the last section of this posting is somewhat disjointed?

Well, maybe.

I'm a hog for you baby

Following on from our time in Belfast it's been 3 gigs in 3 days with 3 different bands for your humble narrator...

Friday evening saw The Uppercut return to The Dolphin for the latest in our 'once-every-six-weeks-or-so' series of gigs. We'd ran through several potential additions to the act in rehearsal on Monday night - in the event we added 'You Wear It Well' (a bit scrappy I thought) 'Feel Like Making Love' (much better) and 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' (the best of the bunch) as well as bringing back several songs that we'd not played there for a while. It had been a very hot day and with Wimbledon on the telly audience numbers were down a bit on our last gig there but there were still more than enough people to make it all worthwhile - indeed as we were leaving Noel the guv'nor asked me to call in the next few days to add some more dates through the Autumn; he aslo said that he'd been running the pub for 24 years on December 3rd and that he'd like us to play on that night so I guess we must have done something right. I thought Roger played particularly well - his drumming in 'Superstition' drew a lot of compliments from all and sundry, and the number is becoming a real highlight in our show with much improvisation from all concerned.

A hog roast may not be the most obvious event for a mamby-pamby poncey vegetarian like myself to say that they found enjoyable, and it's fair to say that I probably wouldn't have found myself at such an event if I hadn't been playing at it; that said Andover Rugby Club on Saturday night was the scene of much merriment, due in part to the appearance of The Briefcase Blues Brothers. Joining Mario and Chris (Jake and Elwood) were Kylan on bass and Wayne on keyboards, along with Scott on drums (he normally plays for Pendragon!) and Gabriel on trumpet. There was also an anonymous saxophone player who didn't seem in the least bit interested in talking to me, even when I told him during the interval that I thought he was playing well. Perhaps I wasn't jazz enough for him? ('I'm a blues trumpeter' said Gabriel cheerily when I recounted this to him. Good man.) The promoter Steve distinguished himself by referring to the Elvis act that was on before us as 'Dave The Plumber'; Dave himself was a bit of a character who told me afterwards that he recently did a 10 hour Elvis show in aid of Help For Heroes. When getting changed for the show Chris discovered that he'd forgotten to bring a white shirt (essential for a Blues Brother if you think about it) and at one point it was looking as though he'd have to go onstage wearing Wayne's grey polo shirt. Eventually the asking around paid off and a suitable garment was found, and with him and Mario at the helm we played 2 sets to an increasingly appreciative audience, many of whom began our performance sitting on bales of hay neatly arranged in rows in front of the stage and ended it dancing wildly down the front. Judging by some of the audience antics I'd guess that the all-day bar had been popular... excellent!

It's been ages since the last Chicago Blues Brothers theatre show (come to think of it, it's been ages since any CBB show!) but Monday night's gig at The Eden Court Theatre in Inverness was a great show to come back with. Our flight from Luton Airport was delayed for an hour but was generally fairly uneventful apart from that - well, I thought it was, although the couple with the sporadically noisy baby in the same row as me declared it to be the 'worst they'd ever experienced'. We did land with a it of a bump but I didn't think it was too bad apart from that. When we went through to collect our baggage an announcement informed us that the 'baggage belt had jammed' - Squirrel and myself joked weakly about it being caused by our guitars, which fortunately turned out to be untrue although the security man wouldn't let us have them until we'd opened them to 'show him what was inside the case'. Not necessarily a bad thing I suppose, but a very serious chap all the same.

Matt and Mike are in the hats and glasses, Squirrel's on bass, Chris is in for Ian on keyboards, Steve's behind that drums instead of Marc, Pete's along to keep everything running smoothly and for the first time we've got local lads Matthew and Glenn on saxophone and trumpet. Equipment has been provided by the excellent Highland Backline Company - I've got a Fender Hot Rod Deville combo to use, a fabulous-sounding amplifier which inevitably proves to be too loud for the job in hand. It ends up with the volume set at just over one out of ten, with the soundman worried that 'it still might be a bit loud'. Bah! In the meantime with four deps in the band (albeit with two that have played the show many times) sound check is more of a rehearsal which seems to take ages, although we all agree that it's worth it to get things sounding good. We finish with an hour-and-a-bit to spare before the show is due to start so there's time to get something to eat and drink before getting ready for the show - and what a show it is. Matt and Mike are on fine form, getting the audience involved more-or-less from the word go, and the band rise to the occasion giving a performance that has pretty much the whole audience on it's feet by the end. Great stuff.

After getting changed and saying goodbye to the theatre staff it's off out to see if anywhere is still open. Mike was in town a couple of months ago and suggests we try The Hootanany which turns out to be a good choice - when we arrive a young man called Fash is entertaining the audience (who are once again seated in neat rows) with an acoustic guitar and what were presumably his own songs. For his last song a couple get up to dance which amuses both him and the rest of the assembled multitude. It seems that we weren't the only act in town to have a good night.

Monday morning and after a few hours sleep at the local Travelodge it was back to Luton once again - this we were asked to open our guitar cases before they'd let them on to the aircraft - and after a slightly bleary afternoon it was time for a Flying Squad rehearsal. We're supporting The Small Fakers at Tropic At Ruislip next Friday (15th) and if we play as well as we did in the studio we should be in for a good show, although somewhere in the back of my mind is the saying 'good rehearsal - bad show, bad rehearsal - good show'. Something like that, anyway. I think I'll leave it in the back of my mind. Best place for it.

And yesterday I recorded some guitar for... well, more about that another time.

Fair exchange?

A fine gig last night, depping with The Ali Mac Band at The Drill in Worcester Park. Myself, Ali (vocals) and Bill (bass) managed a quick rehearsal without an unavailable Hud (drums) where we ran through the band's two sets- I'd depped with them before (click here for the story of a particularly eventful gig that I played with them last year) 'though this was the first time I was due to play with them for a whole evening rather than just playing a short set. The Drill might be a candidate for the 'scariest pub name ever' award (can you think of any genuine pub name that's scarier?!? Leave a comment if you can!) but it turned out to be a friendly place that's trying to get established as a live music venue and as such is well worth supporting methinks. (Hmm... I wonder who else I could play there with..?) There were a few dodgy moments not least during an unscheduled attempt at 'Sweet Home Alabama' (they've clearly heard a completely different version to the one I know!) but overall it was a great gig.

And it was an excellent jaunt up to Inverness on Wednesday where The Chicago Blues Brothers played a very enjoyable show at The Eden Court Theatre. As we (the A-Team with Chris depping for Ian on keyboards) amassed for breakfast at Luton Airport we speculated on what sort of flight awaited us given the almost biblical weather conditions that had befallen much of Scotland and the North of England over the previous few days. I was stopped by security as I'd forgotten to take the change out of my pockets- perhaps I'd been distracted by being asked to take my boots off, or maybe I was a bit nervous of the upcoming flight? In the event it could all have been a lot worse, especially considering the 'bumpy weather' warning issued by the captain as we began our decent; then again maybe the stunning rainbow visible over the water as we came in to land took our collective minds off the severity of the wind as we landed. Pete picked up the minibus and with Mike donning a hat that prompted Matt to dub him 'The Laird of Primark' we set off for the local Travelodge. We arrived to find only one room ready and with Tracy flagging (she'd flown in from South Africa the day before and was due to leave for Germany on Friday- other people's lives eh?) she opted to take the available room and see us at the theatre later.

We arrived at The Eden Court just after midday. As we pulled up we saw Phil loading in his P.A. in the pouring rain- he'd left the day before to drive up from Nottingham and 'couldn't believe' how far it was. As I headed into the venue with my guitar and bag I discovered to my dismay that my left boot was leaking- don't you just hate it when that happens? We're playing in The Empire Theatre which was soon to feature 'Jack and the Beanstalk' as it's Christmas pantomime (cue cries of 'oh no it isn't') and much of the scenery could be found backstage- I saw both Richard and Dave separately observing the giant's costume with a 'what mayhem could I create with this?' look on their faces- in the event neither of them did, at least not while I was around. With soundcheck not due until 5 o'clock there's plenty of time available to us- after lunch in the restaurant (10% off for performers- excellent!) most of the band opted to go to see 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' at the venue's cinema, but I rather wildly decided to brave the weather (it had stopped raining when I left!) and go for a walk. The River Ness looked to me to be a bit higher and faster flowing than perhaps it normally is, but I took the opportunity to catch up on a few phone calls as I walked alongside it- the rain didn't start again until I was nowhere near anything that even resembled shelter, but that always happens doesn't it? Well, it does to me!

Soundcheck went well with none of the monitor problems evident at the Dunstable gig (well, not to many of 'em anyway!) although I'm sure I heard Chris playing the chords to 'Killer Queen' at one point (never a good sign in my opinion!) and with the best part of 700 tickets sold the scene was set for a good night. The show's going well when I hear a whistle from the side of the stage to my right during 'Hold On, I'm Coming'- I go over to Pete who tells me that I'm too loud on stage and could I turn it down a bit. Bah! I must admit that I'd struggled a bit during the soundcheck as the amplifier that I'd been provided with (an excellent Fender Hot Rod Deville) was a bit powerful for the situation (it's a 60 Watt valve combo, I normally use a Blues Junior in theatres which is only 15 Watts but more than loud enough when put through the P.A. system) but I ended up with it turned down so low that I could hear the strings of my guitar louder than the amplified sound! Fortunately Phil put some guitar in my monitor so that I could hear what I was playing without it being too loud out front. (If you can't hear what you're playing it's easy to break strings by hitting them too hard!) It felt a bit like a waste of a fine amplifier, but it's the overall sound that's important don't you think? The show went very well indeed with many band members wishing we could have an audience like this one at every show- then it's a mad dash to the Jeera Indian Restaurant where Pete had booked a table for the band. I didn't have anything myself (I don't like eating late at night) but judging by various band members reaction (and by some of the online reviews!) that may have been a wise decision... back at the Travelodge Matt asks me if I fancy 'swapping that guitar of yours for some Stella Artois and having a drink' which sounded oddly appealing in a mad sort of way- I must have been tired! I'm sharing room 209 with Squirrel, there's no bed linen for the sofa bed so I go back downstairs for some- the night porter tells me that the rooms had all been booked as double rather than twin, and by the time I get back to the room to tell Squirrel he's already asleep. I don't blame him- it'd had been a long day.

Thursday dawned a lot brighter than Wednesday had ended. We got to the airport at 9.45 to check in for our 11.35 flight, and with few if any vegetarian options available at the cafe I went to Starbucks for a coffee. As I sat there I realised that I'd normally be sitting in Starbucks on Tottenham Court Road with Stuart the guitar repair man at 10 o'clock on a Thursday morning, a slightly surreal moment which hopefully made for an amusing text message to the man himself. Security's tight- my bag gets searched (nothing too embarrassing, honest!) with other band members also getting the once-over, and the flight home was thankfully uneventful despite the severity of the wind as we walked out to the aircraft. As I say, an excellent jaunt- and we're off to Switzerland next month! Hurrah!