Now the dust has settled on the Fordham and Blackpool gigs I've managed to get a bit of perspective on things. I still think the shows should have been cancelled, but we played well despite a chronic lack of rehearsal, and the audience reaction on both nights reflect the high regard and affection the band and their music are still held in. And on a personal level I'm glad that I did them- I wouldn't have played them if Paul hadn't ok'd things but it feels like I did the 'right' thing under the circumstances, and I think that I played well enough to justify me (rather than someone else) being there. I've since seen some camcorder footage of the Blackpool show, a good raucous performance with Mark really rising to the occasion and showing what a great frontman he is. And I've also got around 80 minutes of the Ruffy/Segs/Rollins session on dvd courtesy of Mark Wyeth- I watched it all this morning with amazed amusement, or amused amazement, or something. I really did it! It was really me!
So- now what? Well I've just got back from a highly enjoyable Barflies rehearsal at Ruff Rockers in Uxbridge and can hardly wait for next Sunday's session already. We've been offered a gig at The Woodman in Northwood next month which we might be ready for, but I for one would rather wait until we're really ready rather than cobble something together for the first available date and then not play as well as we otherwise might. Maybe I'm aware of how relatively unprepared we were for the Beck Theatre show, or maybe it's because the Ruts gigs were so ad hoc- either way I for one would like to get it right this time, not least because we're playing some great, varied material which deserves to be played well.
In the meantime I've got a gig in Leighton Buzzard with The Pistols next Saturday which I'm really looking forward to, then The Blues Brothers band are off to Zurich the following Friday. It's all good stuff- but it doesn't feel like it's enough. Maybe I'm being greedy but I just feel like I want to play as much as I can at the moment. I think I'm playing well, and I'm really enjoying it. Why shouldn't I want to feel like that more often?!?
Here's another Blackpool gig clip:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUdwBRQ6PZ8
-not as good as the other one but still good fun?!?
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Second night nerves- Blackpool's Burning
The second and last show of the 'should have been cancelled' mini tour was the big one- on the main stage at The Rebellion Festival at The Winter Gardens in Blackpool. A gig to be nervous about at the best of times, this one's compounded by the fact that the band was initially billed as 'The Ruts' as opposed to 'Foxy's Ruts' which led to speculation as to how many original members were due to be performing and even as to whether Henry Rollins might be singing; add to that the fact that The Empress Ballroom holds several thousand people and that we were on the same day as such punk luminaries as The U.K. Subs, Penetration and The Adicts and you have what could politely be called a 'pressure' gig.
I was working in the shop on Saturday which meant that I couldn't go up then with the rest of the band- a shame since old Price cronies were everywhere (Newtown Neurotics, T.V. Smith, Lurkers, Blaggers etc) as well as plenty of other people that I'd like to have seen- ah well, there's always next year... so I was up worryingly early Sunday morning and on the tube to Euston Square by 8.30a.m.- I'd forgotten how quiet it is at that time of the week (if you see what I mean). I wanted to get on the 10.01 service to Lancaster- change at Preston for the Blackpool North train. I was at Euston for 9.25- plenty of time to get my ticket (£63.90!) and some overpriced food and drink (£5.15! -mind you, a good 'Quadrophenia' reference methinks) and await the arrival of the 10.01... which, to cut a long story short, becomes the 11.01 (a disembodied voice blamed 'over-running engineering work in the Rugby area') amid much foaming-at-the-mouth from a large number of Manchester United supporters- and some human beings unfortunate enough to be near them at the time.
Scum. Nothing else.
Meanwhile I'm on the train at last with the latest 'Mojo' magazine (excellent Stones/Keef feature) and Derren Brown's 'Trick of the Mind' book (excellent generally) for company. We wind our way up the country- I always remember Crewe station as being massive 'though I guess I was smaller the last time I went through it?- without too many hiccups until a voice announces 'due to the late running of this service it will now be terminating at... (pauses, almost as if they're deciding where it's going to be terminating at; everybody's listening now...) Preston' (a relief for me but not so good for the man down the aisle from me currently barking into his mobile phone...). At Wigan a family get on and sit nearby; Dad's wearing a suit without a tie, Mum's in what I'd imagine to be her 'best' dress, the boy and two girls are smartly dressed too but Mum & Dad aren't happy- the boy points out the local football ground and his Mum scowls 'why would I want to see that?'. Dad stares out of the window, not looking at any of them and not looking as though he ever wants to again. After what seems like hours we reach Preston where the words 'WELCOME TO LANCASHIRE' are emblazoned over the exit. There's a train in for Blackpool North- I've got a ticket for Blackpool South but the ticket inspector says it's ok for me to use it on this train. The carriage is full of seaside-bound revellers singing 'Glory glory Man. United'. I can't wait to get out; to take my mind off them I send a suitably unpleasant text about them to Stuart the guitar repairman who responds with enough vitriol to melt my phone. Good man.
At last I'm in Blackpool. (there's something I never thought I'd write!). Outside the venue there's about a hundred or so punky looking people, most of whom are smoking. I call Mark Wyeth who brings me out my 'Access All Areas' wristband- we walk through to the Ballroom where the evocatively-named Suicide Bid are finishing their set; I follow Mark into our dressing room and say hello to drummer Laurie and singer Mark. We're due on in about an hour-and-a-half so there's plenty of time to write a setlist out (after much discussion we settle on the same one as the previous show), get changed, warm up by running through 'H-Eyes' and generally sort ourselves out for the show. I wandered back into the ballroom where Sonic Boom Six are now playing- the hall's not that full but I still reckon there was a thousand or so people watching them. Hmm... imagine if it were full...
An hour-and-a-quarter later and the hall is very full indeed. I'm on the stage setting my stuff up- I've got a Marshall TSL 100W stack to play through and it sounds terrific. I look out into the hall- it's the one that you see on telly, you know the one, where the political conferences come from? The audience looks a bit different today though. Most of them are expecting to see Paul Fox playing guitar but instead they're going to see me. Let's hope they like what they see.
15 minutes later and Max Splodge is on stage introducing us. He tells the story- similar to Kevin at the previous gig but better somehow, maybe a bit more heartfelt, or personal, or something... we walk out on to the stage, I pick up my guitar and look out- Price fan Andy Knight is in the front row, a friendly face among thousands. Halfway through 'H-Eyes' and no-one's thrown anything yet; I put my head down and solo- the song ends to enough applause to nearly knock us over. Thank God for that... after the show we all agreed that we played better at Fordham (Laurie was particularly unhappy with his performance saying that he felt that he 'ran out of steam') but couldn't believe the response from the crowd, everything that we could have hoped for and more. As I came offstage I heard my name called- it was Steve from The Neurotics. Talking to him I mention the lack of rehearsal; during the conversation I realise that we didn't play any of the songs that I ran through with the 2 Marks last Thursday (it seems so much longer ago than that). Amazing. People are coming over to me to shake my hand, to say thanks, to talk of the emotions that they felt as we played, as I played, the music meaning so much to them, to me, to us all. Incredible.
After getting changed and cooling off a bit Laurie and myself watched a couple of songs by The U.K. Subs (sounding as good as ever; actually I've just remembered that I lent them a guitar lead and didn't get it back. Bugger!) then went to get something to eat. We were talking about how no-one ever recognises either of us after gigs (Mark the singer gets mobbed every time!) when the guy on the table next to us comes over- he looks as though he's been crying and it turns out that he has. He couldn't believe our performance, how well we'd played under the circumstances, he shakes my hand so hard that it hurts but it doesn't matter. How could it after what he'd just said? Later on I meet Marco from Germany- The Ruts are his favourite band ever, he loved it, didn't want it to end. I tell him how much his comments mean to me; as I say it someone walks by with 'you only get one life- what you do with it is up to you' written on their t-shirt. I saw some of Penetration's set- I last saw them nearly 30 years ago, never thought I'd ever play on the same bill as them. As I'm t-shirt shopping for my brother Terry I bump into Arturo from The Lurkers who tells me how good it all sounded; I say I'll see him for a drink at the acoustic stage when John Cooper Clarke's on, in the meantime join the rest of the band in the bar. We swap stories of what people have said to us; Andy Knight comes over to say how much he loved it and how everyone he's spoken to are saying it was one of the best sets of the festival. Laurie says he's spoken to Paul, he sounded 'gutted' not to have been here but pleased that it went well. We go back in to see a bit of The Adicts set then I go off to meet Art and to see John Cooper Clarke. As I get there I'm told that JCC hadn't turned up.
Oh well- I guess something had to go wrong didn't it?!?
http://www.rebellionfestivals.com/
http://www.humanpunk.com/
Here's a clip from the gig:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aWojzLJTEo
I was working in the shop on Saturday which meant that I couldn't go up then with the rest of the band- a shame since old Price cronies were everywhere (Newtown Neurotics, T.V. Smith, Lurkers, Blaggers etc) as well as plenty of other people that I'd like to have seen- ah well, there's always next year... so I was up worryingly early Sunday morning and on the tube to Euston Square by 8.30a.m.- I'd forgotten how quiet it is at that time of the week (if you see what I mean). I wanted to get on the 10.01 service to Lancaster- change at Preston for the Blackpool North train. I was at Euston for 9.25- plenty of time to get my ticket (£63.90!) and some overpriced food and drink (£5.15! -mind you, a good 'Quadrophenia' reference methinks) and await the arrival of the 10.01... which, to cut a long story short, becomes the 11.01 (a disembodied voice blamed 'over-running engineering work in the Rugby area') amid much foaming-at-the-mouth from a large number of Manchester United supporters- and some human beings unfortunate enough to be near them at the time.
Scum. Nothing else.
Meanwhile I'm on the train at last with the latest 'Mojo' magazine (excellent Stones/Keef feature) and Derren Brown's 'Trick of the Mind' book (excellent generally) for company. We wind our way up the country- I always remember Crewe station as being massive 'though I guess I was smaller the last time I went through it?- without too many hiccups until a voice announces 'due to the late running of this service it will now be terminating at... (pauses, almost as if they're deciding where it's going to be terminating at; everybody's listening now...) Preston' (a relief for me but not so good for the man down the aisle from me currently barking into his mobile phone...). At Wigan a family get on and sit nearby; Dad's wearing a suit without a tie, Mum's in what I'd imagine to be her 'best' dress, the boy and two girls are smartly dressed too but Mum & Dad aren't happy- the boy points out the local football ground and his Mum scowls 'why would I want to see that?'. Dad stares out of the window, not looking at any of them and not looking as though he ever wants to again. After what seems like hours we reach Preston where the words 'WELCOME TO LANCASHIRE' are emblazoned over the exit. There's a train in for Blackpool North- I've got a ticket for Blackpool South but the ticket inspector says it's ok for me to use it on this train. The carriage is full of seaside-bound revellers singing 'Glory glory Man. United'. I can't wait to get out; to take my mind off them I send a suitably unpleasant text about them to Stuart the guitar repairman who responds with enough vitriol to melt my phone. Good man.
At last I'm in Blackpool. (there's something I never thought I'd write!). Outside the venue there's about a hundred or so punky looking people, most of whom are smoking. I call Mark Wyeth who brings me out my 'Access All Areas' wristband- we walk through to the Ballroom where the evocatively-named Suicide Bid are finishing their set; I follow Mark into our dressing room and say hello to drummer Laurie and singer Mark. We're due on in about an hour-and-a-half so there's plenty of time to write a setlist out (after much discussion we settle on the same one as the previous show), get changed, warm up by running through 'H-Eyes' and generally sort ourselves out for the show. I wandered back into the ballroom where Sonic Boom Six are now playing- the hall's not that full but I still reckon there was a thousand or so people watching them. Hmm... imagine if it were full...
An hour-and-a-quarter later and the hall is very full indeed. I'm on the stage setting my stuff up- I've got a Marshall TSL 100W stack to play through and it sounds terrific. I look out into the hall- it's the one that you see on telly, you know the one, where the political conferences come from? The audience looks a bit different today though. Most of them are expecting to see Paul Fox playing guitar but instead they're going to see me. Let's hope they like what they see.
15 minutes later and Max Splodge is on stage introducing us. He tells the story- similar to Kevin at the previous gig but better somehow, maybe a bit more heartfelt, or personal, or something... we walk out on to the stage, I pick up my guitar and look out- Price fan Andy Knight is in the front row, a friendly face among thousands. Halfway through 'H-Eyes' and no-one's thrown anything yet; I put my head down and solo- the song ends to enough applause to nearly knock us over. Thank God for that... after the show we all agreed that we played better at Fordham (Laurie was particularly unhappy with his performance saying that he felt that he 'ran out of steam') but couldn't believe the response from the crowd, everything that we could have hoped for and more. As I came offstage I heard my name called- it was Steve from The Neurotics. Talking to him I mention the lack of rehearsal; during the conversation I realise that we didn't play any of the songs that I ran through with the 2 Marks last Thursday (it seems so much longer ago than that). Amazing. People are coming over to me to shake my hand, to say thanks, to talk of the emotions that they felt as we played, as I played, the music meaning so much to them, to me, to us all. Incredible.
After getting changed and cooling off a bit Laurie and myself watched a couple of songs by The U.K. Subs (sounding as good as ever; actually I've just remembered that I lent them a guitar lead and didn't get it back. Bugger!) then went to get something to eat. We were talking about how no-one ever recognises either of us after gigs (Mark the singer gets mobbed every time!) when the guy on the table next to us comes over- he looks as though he's been crying and it turns out that he has. He couldn't believe our performance, how well we'd played under the circumstances, he shakes my hand so hard that it hurts but it doesn't matter. How could it after what he'd just said? Later on I meet Marco from Germany- The Ruts are his favourite band ever, he loved it, didn't want it to end. I tell him how much his comments mean to me; as I say it someone walks by with 'you only get one life- what you do with it is up to you' written on their t-shirt. I saw some of Penetration's set- I last saw them nearly 30 years ago, never thought I'd ever play on the same bill as them. As I'm t-shirt shopping for my brother Terry I bump into Arturo from The Lurkers who tells me how good it all sounded; I say I'll see him for a drink at the acoustic stage when John Cooper Clarke's on, in the meantime join the rest of the band in the bar. We swap stories of what people have said to us; Andy Knight comes over to say how much he loved it and how everyone he's spoken to are saying it was one of the best sets of the festival. Laurie says he's spoken to Paul, he sounded 'gutted' not to have been here but pleased that it went well. We go back in to see a bit of The Adicts set then I go off to meet Art and to see John Cooper Clarke. As I get there I'm told that JCC hadn't turned up.
Oh well- I guess something had to go wrong didn't it?!?
http://www.rebellionfestivals.com/
http://www.humanpunk.com/
Here's a clip from the gig:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aWojzLJTEo
Saturday, August 11, 2007
First night nerves every one night stand
So it was then that, after a busy enough day in the shop, myself and the long-suffering Shirley made our way up to Cambridgeshire for the Fordham Festival. Bad Manners are headlining, we've got the slot before them and I'm feeling nervous. I've not eaten much during the day which isn't big or clever so we stop at a service station on the A11 for a carton of pasta and even more inconclusive ranting on my part. The site is easy to find being extremely well signposted with the only dodgy moment coming when we encounter a level crossing (Shirley hates 'em!). There's a band on as we arrive, they're ok if a bit hippyish for my vastly bigoted tastes- we meet up with the lads and are introduced to the Bad Manners boys who seem a splendid bunch which eases my awkwardness a little. I'd met Doug/Buster before- he always seems pretty friendly; we swap Dr. Feelgood anecdotes (really!) before the next band drowns us out, they're pretty punky and play some suitably unlikely cover versions. We spend a few minutes putting a set together- 12 songs, 'just the ones we're sure of', that should be 45 minutes or so. Manners keyboard man Ritchie suggests that him and the horn section join us for 'Jah War'- they did that when I saw them at Brighton late last year and it sounded great so it seems like a good idea to me.
Suddenly our gear's all set up and Kevin (the band's agent) giving us a 'do it for Foxy' pep talk, a nice gesture but certainly not necessary for me to hear since that's about the only reason I'm doing it any way... he introduces us, explaining the situation- Paul's too ill to perform but we didn't want to let you down- something like that anyway. Mark our singer says more-or-less the same- and then, at last, it's 'H-Eyes' and then, at last, we're playing rather than talking and it's sounding good, great even, and then it's 'Staring at the Rude boys' and a voice shouts loud, we'll never surrender and we won't and we don't and there's a few people dancing and singing along and I'm sweating already and we're playing well, very well even and the Manners boys are on for 'Jah War' and it's going down better and better, and 'In A Rut' has that big guitar solo that I've seen Paul play so many times and now I've got to play and at last I feel ok, relaxed even and I'm trying as hard as I can because I mustn't let Paul down now, not now that we've come this far, and then it's 'Babylon's Burning' and the crowd's going mad and we're going mad and we've finished our set but there's still another song to do and it can only be 'Human Punk' and Mark's out in the crowd and they're singing with him and they love it and they're right to because we've done it. All of it. Game over.
Thank you and goodnight.
Right- that's the 'easy' one out of the way. Let's see what tomorrow brings...
http://www.humanpunk.com/
Suddenly our gear's all set up and Kevin (the band's agent) giving us a 'do it for Foxy' pep talk, a nice gesture but certainly not necessary for me to hear since that's about the only reason I'm doing it any way... he introduces us, explaining the situation- Paul's too ill to perform but we didn't want to let you down- something like that anyway. Mark our singer says more-or-less the same- and then, at last, it's 'H-Eyes' and then, at last, we're playing rather than talking and it's sounding good, great even, and then it's 'Staring at the Rude boys' and a voice shouts loud, we'll never surrender and we won't and we don't and there's a few people dancing and singing along and I'm sweating already and we're playing well, very well even and the Manners boys are on for 'Jah War' and it's going down better and better, and 'In A Rut' has that big guitar solo that I've seen Paul play so many times and now I've got to play and at last I feel ok, relaxed even and I'm trying as hard as I can because I mustn't let Paul down now, not now that we've come this far, and then it's 'Babylon's Burning' and the crowd's going mad and we're going mad and we've finished our set but there's still another song to do and it can only be 'Human Punk' and Mark's out in the crowd and they're singing with him and they love it and they're right to because we've done it. All of it. Game over.
Thank you and goodnight.
Right- that's the 'easy' one out of the way. Let's see what tomorrow brings...
http://www.humanpunk.com/
Friday, August 10, 2007
Something that I (should've) said
I saw Paul Fox on Monday night- a haunted, haunting sight. Foxy's Ruts are doing 2 gigs this weekend but Paul won't be playing at them, because he's too ill. THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN CANCELLED- but they weren't. I'm playing guitar at them instead of Paul. I wouldn't have, but he's asked me to. I'm nervous, apprehensive even- the audience will be expecting Paul, and instead they'll get me. To make matters worse we've not been able to have a full band rehearsal, and to make matters even worse they're 2 festival shows in front of potentially large audiences.
I'll let you know how I get on; in the meantime I really must learn the word 'no'...
http://www.humanpunk.com
I'll let you know how I get on; in the meantime I really must learn the word 'no'...
http://www.humanpunk.com
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
Kings of the Castle
2 excellent gigs with The Pistols this weekend just gone:-
Friday was at The King Billy in Northampton, very much a 'rock' venue judging by the music on the jukebox and the number of people there who told me how good their 'rock' nights were. Even the local branch of Professional Music Technology (yes, that's right, P.M.T.- it's a chain of musical instrument shops in case you don't know) had HOUSE OF ROCK written on it in big letters. Paul (Rotten) was just setting the P.A. up as we (myself, Shirley and East) arrived, Tim (Vicious) and Toby (Cook) arrived soon after. The audience-to-be were mostly out the back in the beer garden (this 'no smoking' thing is really happening isn't it?) which rather oddly had a pool table in it, and the toilets in the main bar are labelled 'Birds' and 'Blokes'- like I say, very much a 'rock' venue. Still they gave us a case of lager for the band (most of which were driving- East's face lit up) and by the time we started playing there were a few punkier looking people about, many of whom seemed to know every word of every song. By the second set there was even a bit of pogoing. All good stuff, rather offset by the fact that Paul had one of his microphones stolen. Oh and we discovered that the world's most powerful hand drier is in the gents toilets at Toddington services which I guess is worth knowing in a 'rock' sort of way.
Sunday began with a highly enjoyable Barflies rehearsal at the worryingly early hour of 11a.m. (this happens when you let a drummer book your rehearsals!). Andy had bought with him 'Andy's big book of songs' which had in it enough to keep us occupied for the first part of proceedings; Simon bought with him a highly entertaining c.d. of possible songs which kept us busy for the rest of the session. I'm really looking forward to getting out and gigging...
From there it was off to the rather unlikely surroundings of Hertford Castle where The Pistols are appearing at 'Rock at the Castle' (actually this is why we started rehearsing at such a scandalously early hour. It wasn't really down to the drummer... I bet he still leaves me a nasty comment though!). The backstage pass had a photo of a long-haired Steve Jones on it- I wonder if the organisers realised that?- and there were free cans of lager for the bands and their associates (most of which were driving- East's face lit up again). Toby's elsewhere so Jim's on the drum stool and we've been warned (a) not to play 'God Save The Queen' and (b) not to swear. Hmm... a frantic 20-ish minute set saw us (a) finish with 'God Save The Queen' and (b) only say the word 'sod' a few times (it's in one of their songs as I'm sure you know). I wasn't sure how we were going to do but we actually went down very well even among the younger parts of the crowd. Most of the other bands that we saw were playing original material with maybe the odd cover thrown in here and there- an encouraging thing methinks. A fine afternoon all round saw us back in Uxbridge in time for East to break the dvd writer on his computer (he was transfering film of the afternoon's show and 'had an accident') and for a few beers with Dave the drummer (who's probably left his nasty comment by now).
My next gig with The Pistols is at The Wheatsheaf in Leighton Buzzard on August 25th.
I can't wait.
http://www.thepistols.co.uk
Friday was at The King Billy in Northampton, very much a 'rock' venue judging by the music on the jukebox and the number of people there who told me how good their 'rock' nights were. Even the local branch of Professional Music Technology (yes, that's right, P.M.T.- it's a chain of musical instrument shops in case you don't know) had HOUSE OF ROCK written on it in big letters. Paul (Rotten) was just setting the P.A. up as we (myself, Shirley and East) arrived, Tim (Vicious) and Toby (Cook) arrived soon after. The audience-to-be were mostly out the back in the beer garden (this 'no smoking' thing is really happening isn't it?) which rather oddly had a pool table in it, and the toilets in the main bar are labelled 'Birds' and 'Blokes'- like I say, very much a 'rock' venue. Still they gave us a case of lager for the band (most of which were driving- East's face lit up) and by the time we started playing there were a few punkier looking people about, many of whom seemed to know every word of every song. By the second set there was even a bit of pogoing. All good stuff, rather offset by the fact that Paul had one of his microphones stolen. Oh and we discovered that the world's most powerful hand drier is in the gents toilets at Toddington services which I guess is worth knowing in a 'rock' sort of way.
Sunday began with a highly enjoyable Barflies rehearsal at the worryingly early hour of 11a.m. (this happens when you let a drummer book your rehearsals!). Andy had bought with him 'Andy's big book of songs' which had in it enough to keep us occupied for the first part of proceedings; Simon bought with him a highly entertaining c.d. of possible songs which kept us busy for the rest of the session. I'm really looking forward to getting out and gigging...
From there it was off to the rather unlikely surroundings of Hertford Castle where The Pistols are appearing at 'Rock at the Castle' (actually this is why we started rehearsing at such a scandalously early hour. It wasn't really down to the drummer... I bet he still leaves me a nasty comment though!). The backstage pass had a photo of a long-haired Steve Jones on it- I wonder if the organisers realised that?- and there were free cans of lager for the bands and their associates (most of which were driving- East's face lit up again). Toby's elsewhere so Jim's on the drum stool and we've been warned (a) not to play 'God Save The Queen' and (b) not to swear. Hmm... a frantic 20-ish minute set saw us (a) finish with 'God Save The Queen' and (b) only say the word 'sod' a few times (it's in one of their songs as I'm sure you know). I wasn't sure how we were going to do but we actually went down very well even among the younger parts of the crowd. Most of the other bands that we saw were playing original material with maybe the odd cover thrown in here and there- an encouraging thing methinks. A fine afternoon all round saw us back in Uxbridge in time for East to break the dvd writer on his computer (he was transfering film of the afternoon's show and 'had an accident') and for a few beers with Dave the drummer (who's probably left his nasty comment by now).
My next gig with The Pistols is at The Wheatsheaf in Leighton Buzzard on August 25th.
I can't wait.
http://www.thepistols.co.uk
Monday, July 30, 2007
All things Brighton beautiful
Have you seen me lately? If you have you might have thought to your self something like 'Ooh, he looks tired/old/worn out/knackered' (delete as applicable). You might even have said something like that to me. Perhaps I'm just getting old... or perhaps it's because, since my birthday I've done this-
WEDNESDAY 25th
Morning- in the shop. Busy.
Afternoon- see above.
Evening- belated birthday drinking. Excellent.
THURSDAY 26th
Morning- guitar maintenance with Stuart the guitar repairman at 'We Will Rock You' at the Dominion Theatre. I was hoping for a relatively quiet session (my first words to Stu were, much to his amusement, 'I think I'm still pissed'. His reply to me- 'good!') and it wasn't too bad with a stage full of auditioning dancers to distract me from the blitzkrieg taking place just behind my eyes. Not good frankly.
Afternoon- back to the shop to see how Simon was getting on; I arrived just in time to meet Esther who, after introducing herself by announcing that she was terminally ill, attempted to buy pretty much every music book in the shop along with an electric guitar'n'amp package. Meanwhile Andy C. bought himself an extremely nice Carvin electric and his mate Alex nearly bought himself a Telecaster which he might have done if Esther hadn't given him £20 and tried to get him to go with her back to her house for 'a massage'. I ran off before lunacy took hold.
Evening- myself and little brother Terry took the train up to Camden to see The Towers of London (current faves of his) at The Electric Ballroom. We met my mate Kate in The World's End who had managed to get us all on the guest list (thanks Katie!) then arrived at the gig just in time to see a couple of numbers by all-girl support band Sammy before The TOL's took to the stage at 10 o'clock. I saw them last year supporting The New York Dolls and have since enthusiastically followed their 'reality' T.V. show which I've found very entertaining- live they're a gloriously trashy row which all 3 of us loved. Bizarrely we got invited to the after show party but even more bizarrely we decided not to go. Got home some time after 1 a.m. Excellent.
FRIDAY 27th
Morning- see Wednesday. Not good frankly.
Afternoon- see above.
Evening- Dave Ruffy's band The Duplicates are playing in (gulp!) Deptford. Shirley gave me a lift round to Mark Wyeth's where I'm introduced to his mate Roy- the first thing he did was ask Mark (not me) which football team I support; when Mark told him 'Liverpool' he said some very unpleasant things about The Red Army and indeed your humble narrator. I couldn't be bothered to banter back (it wasn't really worth it; I doubt that he'd have understood me and anyway, he was doing a pretty good job of insulting himself...) and Mark was playing Peter and the Test Tube Babies at top volume on the car stereo which in an odd sort of way seemed to sum things up. We picked up John 'Football Factory' King and, amid various tales of football hooliganism (John-' why do people always feel that they have to talk to me about that?') we made it to Bar Sonic on Deptford High Street just in time to catch 'Green Onions' which turns out to be the last song of their first set. The line up is drums, Hammond organ and guitar and the music is Booker T. and beyond. It's fabulous. I used to talk to erstwhile Blues Bros. band keyboardist Gary Moberley about forming a band like this- we should have done it. We might still do it... Dave introduced me to former Joe Jackson Band guitarist Gary Sandford who I'd met before here and there, a really nice guy who invited me to the jam session he runs on Tuesday nights; it would help if I could remember where it takes place wouldn't it? He gave me his phone number so I must ring him up to check where it is (isn't drinking brilliant?!?) Meanwhile I'm introduced to Sarah who promoted the recent Paul Fox benefit show in Islington; it turns out Mark had agreed to give her a lift back to her home in, yes, you've guessed it, Islington. To cut a long story short I got in a 4 a.m. having decided to sleep in the car while the rest of them joined Sarah for a drink in her flat. Well- I've got a shop to run...
SATURDAY 28th
Morning- see Wednesday. Not good frankly.
Afternoon- see above. My brother bought his daughter Anna in to look at some electronic drum kits. He sat her at the kit and a few minutes later she could play a 'simple' rhythm. The dynasty continues!
Evening- myself and Shirley are off to Maidstone where The Chicago Blues Brothers are playing at the Pizza Express. Pete's away so Mike's in his place, and Andy's on sax in place of Richard. By now I'm seriously flagging and drift off to sleep somewhere on the M25 (don't worry, she was driving!). I'm woken up twice; firstly by a phone call from Andy C. raving about his new guitar and checking details for the next day's Price gig, secondly (and somewhat less enjoyably) when a bit falling off the car in front of us caused Shirl to take drastic evasive action. Scary! We get to the venue with just enough time for me to set up and change before we're straight on with 'Peter Gunn'. The people down the front are holding their ears and grimacing- never a good sign if you think about it. Things improve by the second set- maybe we'd blown their hearing by then- and there's encores a-plenty at the end. Squirrel's new MarkBass combo sounded terrific and, if we've not been blacklisted for excessive volume, we're due back there in a few weeks. Excellent.
SUNDAY 29th
Morning- asleep. Excellent.
Afternoon- run around like an idiot because I've overslept. Not good frankly. After much madness myself and the long-suffering Shirley get round to East's at 3 o'clock. We've got to be at The Duke of Wellington in Shoreham at 5 p.m. where The Price are playing at the Belgian Beer Festival. It's being organised by Attila the Stockbroker (only he could have a Belgian Beer Festival in Shoreham!) who offered us the gig after our recent appearance at his Glastonwick Festival. We arrive around 4.45- as we walked in we spotted Attila leaning rather unsteadily on the bar. He looks terrible. He explains that he's not had an alcoholic drink yet- his current condition is due to the amount he'd had the previous evening. Suitably disturbed we retire to The Wacky Cafe next door (I'm not making this up) for something to eat before the madness begins...
Evening- we're in the beer garden out the back of the pub. Malcolm, Paul and Andy are all there as are various family and friends, along with the Uxbridge Lads (on this occasion Mark, Barry and Phil) who've bought their new friend Sally. She's an inflatable sheep. They bought her in a vending machine in a pub toilet the previous evening; the machine also sold vibrators among other things. I'm not making this up either.
6.45 and we're on- the evening's running to time. It all starts reasonably enough though there's a sheep reference in the first song (either that or we wrote a song called 'So What About Sheep?') and I'm beginning to think that maybe I should have started drinking earlier in an attempt to, for want of a better term, get on the audience's wavelength... we've given more accurate performances but I haven't had as much fun playing my guitar in ages. Mind you, the performance could well be summed up by the moment I looked down my mike stand to see the other end of the boom arm inserted into the unfortunate Sally. We encored with a repeat of 'So What About Love?' (yes, it's definitely called that, I checked on the single) and a unrehearsed 'In The Country' which we hadn't played since last summer, possibly rather ill-advised from a professional point of view but the only song to end a performance of this type with. Unforgettable. Attila's booked us for next year's Glastonwick already. Fantastic.
Talking of Attila he was up next on the stage playing bass with Belgian punk band Contingent who he played with in the late '70's (check his website for the full story). Good stuff, not least because I'd decided to sample some 'Natural Blonde' organic lager. It's good stuff- I'm sure I asked for 'Legally Blonde' at least once. Or was it 'Dizzy Blonde'? Hard to remember... the last band on were Dates who feature Bob from The Piranhas and were highly enjoyable in my by then increasingly blurred opinion. Oh, and at some point in proceedings East made the comment that I have shamelessly stolen for use as the title of this posting. A classic evening all round. The drive home was enlivened by Wilko Johnson on the car stereo and a coffee break somewhere on the A23 where the local youth had gathered in the car park to attempt formation wheelie's on their mopeds- which if you think about it is one of the very few ways an evening like that could have ended.
P.S. Worrying news- there's some footage on our website which proves that, however implausable it all sounds, we really did play 'In The Country' and that Malcolm spent rather a lot of it with Sally the Sheep on his head. Look at your peril- once seen, you may never sleep again...
http://www.thetowersoflondon.com/
http://www.attilathestockbroker.com/
WEDNESDAY 25th
Morning- in the shop. Busy.
Afternoon- see above.
Evening- belated birthday drinking. Excellent.
THURSDAY 26th
Morning- guitar maintenance with Stuart the guitar repairman at 'We Will Rock You' at the Dominion Theatre. I was hoping for a relatively quiet session (my first words to Stu were, much to his amusement, 'I think I'm still pissed'. His reply to me- 'good!') and it wasn't too bad with a stage full of auditioning dancers to distract me from the blitzkrieg taking place just behind my eyes. Not good frankly.
Afternoon- back to the shop to see how Simon was getting on; I arrived just in time to meet Esther who, after introducing herself by announcing that she was terminally ill, attempted to buy pretty much every music book in the shop along with an electric guitar'n'amp package. Meanwhile Andy C. bought himself an extremely nice Carvin electric and his mate Alex nearly bought himself a Telecaster which he might have done if Esther hadn't given him £20 and tried to get him to go with her back to her house for 'a massage'. I ran off before lunacy took hold.
Evening- myself and little brother Terry took the train up to Camden to see The Towers of London (current faves of his) at The Electric Ballroom. We met my mate Kate in The World's End who had managed to get us all on the guest list (thanks Katie!) then arrived at the gig just in time to see a couple of numbers by all-girl support band Sammy before The TOL's took to the stage at 10 o'clock. I saw them last year supporting The New York Dolls and have since enthusiastically followed their 'reality' T.V. show which I've found very entertaining- live they're a gloriously trashy row which all 3 of us loved. Bizarrely we got invited to the after show party but even more bizarrely we decided not to go. Got home some time after 1 a.m. Excellent.
FRIDAY 27th
Morning- see Wednesday. Not good frankly.
Afternoon- see above.
Evening- Dave Ruffy's band The Duplicates are playing in (gulp!) Deptford. Shirley gave me a lift round to Mark Wyeth's where I'm introduced to his mate Roy- the first thing he did was ask Mark (not me) which football team I support; when Mark told him 'Liverpool' he said some very unpleasant things about The Red Army and indeed your humble narrator. I couldn't be bothered to banter back (it wasn't really worth it; I doubt that he'd have understood me and anyway, he was doing a pretty good job of insulting himself...) and Mark was playing Peter and the Test Tube Babies at top volume on the car stereo which in an odd sort of way seemed to sum things up. We picked up John 'Football Factory' King and, amid various tales of football hooliganism (John-' why do people always feel that they have to talk to me about that?') we made it to Bar Sonic on Deptford High Street just in time to catch 'Green Onions' which turns out to be the last song of their first set. The line up is drums, Hammond organ and guitar and the music is Booker T. and beyond. It's fabulous. I used to talk to erstwhile Blues Bros. band keyboardist Gary Moberley about forming a band like this- we should have done it. We might still do it... Dave introduced me to former Joe Jackson Band guitarist Gary Sandford who I'd met before here and there, a really nice guy who invited me to the jam session he runs on Tuesday nights; it would help if I could remember where it takes place wouldn't it? He gave me his phone number so I must ring him up to check where it is (isn't drinking brilliant?!?) Meanwhile I'm introduced to Sarah who promoted the recent Paul Fox benefit show in Islington; it turns out Mark had agreed to give her a lift back to her home in, yes, you've guessed it, Islington. To cut a long story short I got in a 4 a.m. having decided to sleep in the car while the rest of them joined Sarah for a drink in her flat. Well- I've got a shop to run...
SATURDAY 28th
Morning- see Wednesday. Not good frankly.
Afternoon- see above. My brother bought his daughter Anna in to look at some electronic drum kits. He sat her at the kit and a few minutes later she could play a 'simple' rhythm. The dynasty continues!
Evening- myself and Shirley are off to Maidstone where The Chicago Blues Brothers are playing at the Pizza Express. Pete's away so Mike's in his place, and Andy's on sax in place of Richard. By now I'm seriously flagging and drift off to sleep somewhere on the M25 (don't worry, she was driving!). I'm woken up twice; firstly by a phone call from Andy C. raving about his new guitar and checking details for the next day's Price gig, secondly (and somewhat less enjoyably) when a bit falling off the car in front of us caused Shirl to take drastic evasive action. Scary! We get to the venue with just enough time for me to set up and change before we're straight on with 'Peter Gunn'. The people down the front are holding their ears and grimacing- never a good sign if you think about it. Things improve by the second set- maybe we'd blown their hearing by then- and there's encores a-plenty at the end. Squirrel's new MarkBass combo sounded terrific and, if we've not been blacklisted for excessive volume, we're due back there in a few weeks. Excellent.
SUNDAY 29th
Morning- asleep. Excellent.
Afternoon- run around like an idiot because I've overslept. Not good frankly. After much madness myself and the long-suffering Shirley get round to East's at 3 o'clock. We've got to be at The Duke of Wellington in Shoreham at 5 p.m. where The Price are playing at the Belgian Beer Festival. It's being organised by Attila the Stockbroker (only he could have a Belgian Beer Festival in Shoreham!) who offered us the gig after our recent appearance at his Glastonwick Festival. We arrive around 4.45- as we walked in we spotted Attila leaning rather unsteadily on the bar. He looks terrible. He explains that he's not had an alcoholic drink yet- his current condition is due to the amount he'd had the previous evening. Suitably disturbed we retire to The Wacky Cafe next door (I'm not making this up) for something to eat before the madness begins...
Evening- we're in the beer garden out the back of the pub. Malcolm, Paul and Andy are all there as are various family and friends, along with the Uxbridge Lads (on this occasion Mark, Barry and Phil) who've bought their new friend Sally. She's an inflatable sheep. They bought her in a vending machine in a pub toilet the previous evening; the machine also sold vibrators among other things. I'm not making this up either.
6.45 and we're on- the evening's running to time. It all starts reasonably enough though there's a sheep reference in the first song (either that or we wrote a song called 'So What About Sheep?') and I'm beginning to think that maybe I should have started drinking earlier in an attempt to, for want of a better term, get on the audience's wavelength... we've given more accurate performances but I haven't had as much fun playing my guitar in ages. Mind you, the performance could well be summed up by the moment I looked down my mike stand to see the other end of the boom arm inserted into the unfortunate Sally. We encored with a repeat of 'So What About Love?' (yes, it's definitely called that, I checked on the single) and a unrehearsed 'In The Country' which we hadn't played since last summer, possibly rather ill-advised from a professional point of view but the only song to end a performance of this type with. Unforgettable. Attila's booked us for next year's Glastonwick already. Fantastic.
Talking of Attila he was up next on the stage playing bass with Belgian punk band Contingent who he played with in the late '70's (check his website for the full story). Good stuff, not least because I'd decided to sample some 'Natural Blonde' organic lager. It's good stuff- I'm sure I asked for 'Legally Blonde' at least once. Or was it 'Dizzy Blonde'? Hard to remember... the last band on were Dates who feature Bob from The Piranhas and were highly enjoyable in my by then increasingly blurred opinion. Oh, and at some point in proceedings East made the comment that I have shamelessly stolen for use as the title of this posting. A classic evening all round. The drive home was enlivened by Wilko Johnson on the car stereo and a coffee break somewhere on the A23 where the local youth had gathered in the car park to attempt formation wheelie's on their mopeds- which if you think about it is one of the very few ways an evening like that could have ended.
P.S. Worrying news- there's some footage on our website which proves that, however implausable it all sounds, we really did play 'In The Country' and that Malcolm spent rather a lot of it with Sally the Sheep on his head. Look at your peril- once seen, you may never sleep again...
http://www.thetowersoflondon.com/
http://www.attilathestockbroker.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
