1st: H has just arranged a show at The Fleece, Ashton-In-Makerfield in March. A new venue for us and just down the road for 3 of the band!!
2nd: The Bike and Hound, Hyde. Apart from a snag when there was a power loss on stage, which caused us to have to stop at the beginning of the first set and reload a couple of drum sounds into Col's electronic kit, the band played a fairly sparkling show. No matter how well we played on the night, a couple of people there just seemed to love to try to get the whole place joining in heckling us, so we didn't really try to talk to them (they just interrupted and heckled us if we did), so we just got on with playing songs and encouraged them to boo us as much as we could at the end, just so as to accomodate them. We have 72 gigs booked this year (so far) and we know that we will go down really well at the other 68 of them.
3rd: After yesterday's show in Hyde, we seriously needed something to happen to cheer us up. We were the first band to play at The Royal, Farnworth, since they have only just started having bands back on. Tonight we just concentrated on playing a really good set and having the crack with the audience, seeing as we were allowed to.. No snags, no glitches, just a damn good show. We played a rare rendition of 'Tie your mother down' as a request. Back again at the start of March. Thanks to Kelly for having us. They are looking for more bands, if other bands are reading this.
5th: We have found a really good new venue in The Railway, Accrington, which we played at last night. We are in the process of sorting out a string of new dates there for the rest of the year as I type. A local bike club was very interested in having us on the night too - all good stuff. We have some dates free and others are coming available again.....
Some bad news has come in about our gigs lined up at The Old Cock, Stretford: "Ian, I've just received your email. I left the company back in January due to the fact it went bankrupt in December. I did leave a list of all of the acts due to play there with the licencee for him to contact you all. Looks like no-one has been in touch. Very sorry to let you know so late. The pub has now been sold I believe but I don't know when it will be re-opening. The new owners might be looking for live acts as well so you might be better off just keeping an eye out for when it opens again. Good luck with the band for the future, Regards, Michael " Thanks to Michael for getting back in touch. Much appreciated. He was really very enthusiastic about getting bands on there. It's a shame it hasn't worked out.
TWO OF THE SONGS FROM THE NEW CD (OUT IN MARCH) ARE NOW UP ON OUR MYSPACE SITE. HOPE YOU LIKE THEM. The Kerbcrawlers' MySpace site
11th: This past weekend saw the band lurching back into full rock and roll activity mode after a week of lying down and feeling rough. That's why there have been no diary entries. Ian H was losing his voice, as was Ian E and Steve. Col was floating along in just about 'ok mode' again having been near death's door not that long ago. Friday saw us at The Railway, Bromley Cross where we played a stomping gig. Thanks to the people we were talking to who braved the snow just to see us. It's very much appreciated!!!
Saturday saw us at The Red Brick, Leigh, where we went down a storm again. Our first show there apart from turning up at their jam night - it is on Thursdays by the way, try to get there if you can. Great crowd. Thank you.
Two nights on the trot of everything going just right after some of last weekend's shenanighans was just what was required to restore the old confidence! Next week should be interesting as the doctors will be doing something to one of Colin's knees. We have known about this for a while. All shoud be well. Don't panic!
13th: Drummer Update: Today has involved the use of crutches, but Colin is confident that he'll be ok for Saturday and Sunday.
18th: Last night we played at Sam's Bar, Appley Bridge. A nice part of the world and miles from anywhere. Appley Bridge is where our good mates from RentACrowd live and for a change, we went to see them, rather than them coming out to see us. It was nice to be there. Colin is still hobbling round on one crutch at the moment, but should be back to what passes as normal for a drummer soon. A good time was had by all and we all had a good laugh at mistakes we made during a couple of songs (for example; Ian E was desperately trying to hold back a massive sneeze during Don't believe a word and completely lost touch with the chorus bassline to the song - Oh you didn't spot it? Well, it didn't happen then!!). Ian from RENT A CROWD sent in some photos (Thanks very much). Please see the gallery! We will be back in Appley Bridge in May and again in October.
We expect to have some more Wigan area dates on the site in the next week or so. We are just about full up for bookings for the year now. There is just a tiny amount of chopping and changing to be done.
We played at The Crown, Hyde tonight. it's probably the smallest venue we do and has a good intimate atmosphere. We played a cracking set again. Thanks very much to Andy for helping Col out by setting his drums up for him this weekend, while he has been somewhat incapacitated.
25th: A spot of car trouble meant Ian E was late getting to the show at the Cherry Gardens (not late enough to delay the start, but enough to make setting up very rushed). The band played a top form set and returned 'School's out' back to the setlist. While Ian's throat has been struggling, it has been left out. The high vocals on the bridge (no more pencils.... ) are the main problem and Ian's voice went again on that bit ! A quick coughing fit later, the singing continued! A great night was had by all, we think.... and we are back there soon.
Thanks to everyone who came along - much appreciated!! Colin and Ian went round Wigan mid-week to do a spot of gig hunting, so we hope to have some more news on that front soon. We are trying to get a couple of new songs together for next weekend. As well as that, there may be a band outing on Wednesday to watch Howie's band, The Incredibles at The Fleece, Ashton.
