14th November :
Two weeks away in Egypt and look what happens - it all goes to pot.
A bit of to and fro on the gig front. Ian E came back from Cairo to find a gig that had been cancelled on Dec 30th had been replaced and then cancelled again. Then a call from Ken, the drummer with Bad Habits; this Thursdays adventure with Bad Habits has had to be cancelled as Mr McSherry is rather unwell. Also, another phone call - This Saturday's gig at St David's Social Centre in Wargrave has been cancelled at very short notice as the Church want to use the club's main hall and they always have first shout on it. You would think that a Church organisation would want and manage to be a lot more honourable in their dealings. Contracts are going to be used in future with most venues. Also, H has not been well while I have been away. Get well soon mate. (Howie - nip round with a hot toddy to sort him out!!!)
17th November :
The Kerbcrawlers have picked up a cancellation at The Wheatsheaf, Altrincham for this Saturday, so we will be doing the bizzo there.
18th November :
It occasionally and randomly happens at some gigs - irrespective of which venue it is - some fool with a guide dog and white stick thinks Ian E, having long hair, obviously looks just like someone famous and proceeds to loudly pester him for the whole evening about it. It's very often Brian May, who he simply looks nothing like. This evening, the hapless bassist apparently looked just like Alice Cooper to one rather tired and emotional guy. Very good one that - haven't had that one before.... These people may as well hold a huge placard up with "I am a dork" written on it and leave us in peace.
Anyway, this guy came over and got in Ian's face as soon as he started carrying his amps and guitars into the venue, asking about what songs the band were going to play. The answer 'Classic rock' is never good enough for them and they always want you to verbally recite a full list of 50+ songs, because you never have anything else to do but talk to some drunk, instead of getting all your gear safely inside, right? Ian quietly produced a flyer with a list of songs on it and got back on with the job of setting his bass rig up.
"1- 2... three comes next". We've heard each and every one of the soundcheck jokes a thousand times before and they don't get any less boring - or even start to become at all funny. Yes, it was him again, trying to disrupt our soundcheck by bawling stupid comments at us. We actually voted as to whether to stay and play, as we don't need to put up with assholes. It was not going to be fair to the venue to pack up (not their fault), so we carried on.
So, then this guy, who has had the flyer with the full list of songs on it, proceeds to wave scribbled notes under our noses, while we were playing, asking for as many songs by bands that we don't do as he could think of. Brilliant. At least it's quite easy to ignore a scribbled note. He fortunately went home for a much needed lie down before we finished the first half, which finished with a stonking version of 'Hey Joe'. Happy birthday to the guy we played it for.
The rest of the gig went without any incident and - bearing in mind this was after a couple of weeks off - the band played really well and were much appreciated by the audience. We got a new song in, the Joe Satriani instrumental 'Always with me, always with you', which is quite complex - we have been working on it for some time. The Wheatsheaf is a far, far, far better venue than The Old Market Tavern. Thanks to Jake for having us on. We'll be back next year.
23rd November:
The band's Christmas EP is out shortly and will be only available at our shows until the 50 copies are sold out. It will be a signed and numbered limited edition. The three songs on it are 'Merry Christmas everybody', 'The last time' and 'I predict a riot'.
24th - 26th November:
A three gig weekend. Perhaps our last for a while, as we find them really exhausting (considering that we have day jobs to do as well). Friday was Lee's birthday bash in Wigan. That was a good evening with a good, listening crowd at the party who were into what we did. Saturday night saw us at the Hulton Arms, Bolton - again with a good, listening crowd.
Tonight was the Town Hall, Eccles. A really attractive crowd!! We played one of our best shows tonight. The set has been re-jigged a bit and some old favourites brought back in and a couple of other good songs taken out to give them a little rest and to freshen things up a bit. Great to watch Steve still playing the solos perfectly on 'Comfortably numb' even without the aid of his trem arm, as that guitar was at home. What a pro!
Decmber 1st:
Just before we set off this evening, an emegency call came from The New Inn, Walkden, asking if we could cover for a band who had just let them down. But we were on our way to The Old Cock, Stretford, where we had a very good night. The crowd were small but perfectly formed and we did some requests and fooled around with the setlist a bit. A great evening. The venue is a fabulous old building which is being refurbished during January and should be greatly upgraded by the time we are back there in late February. Cheers to the birthday boys!!
December 2nd:
Another phone call before we went out, asking if we could play in Southport for our friends, The Southport Cruisers MCC on December 23rd. We are in Upholland that night,or we'd have been happy to oblige. If you want to book this band, you need to get in 12 months in advance, as we try to fill the diary up as soon as possible with dates at our favourite venues.
We played our last annual show at The Charles Napier, Golborne this evening. This was a replacement for a show we had booked elsewhere (in Heywood) earlier this year that ended up being pulled because the venue managed to triple book us and we didn't trust them to get it right so we rang them and cancelled all the gigs we had booked there. The Charles Napier itself is ok, but the 'stage' area we are obliged to set up in is far too small for a 4 piece band (we struggled ther previously when it was a 3 man band, even though we only took about half of our gear), so we doubt we will be going back there. The band played ok and went down very well. If we were allowed to set up elsewhere in the main room, it would be manageable and we would re-consider it, but that's not going to happen. A shame.
December 6th:
What's happened over the last few days? Rick's jam night on the first Monday of the month at the Royal Oak, Ramsbottom. Ian E went along. A reet good do. Well done Alex for reaching 17 and being such a good drummer. Lots of fun to be had. Tuesday was the jam night at The Red Brick, Leigh - all the band went and that was great too. The previous week the place was heaving, but it looks like everyone is beavering away at their Christmas shopping at the mo, so it was just a little depleted, which meant we had loads of time on stage. We look forward to playing there next year. Thanks to Max and the band for the use of their drums and amps.
Forthcoming evil plans include a live DVD (so you don't have to come out and watch us when it's raining, I suppose) and some more recording for the next album. The first copies of the 'Merry Christmas Everybody EP' are now on sale via the forum and the limited edition of 60 or so copies (thankfully) looks to be going fast. Email us if you want one - only £3.50 UK, £4.00 overseas (inc P&P). They will be £3.00 at shows. All proceeds to the band beer fund and paying for the next batch of recording sessions.
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