Well hello - how is everybody after all this time?
Apologies for the tardiness in updating this literary masterpiece, but I'm not really sure where the time is going at the moment; however, as I have a few minutes while the rain is threatening to drown us all, I thought I would bring you up to date with what has been happening and, perhaps more importantly, what is going to happen.
This Saturday (25th) will see us at Macclesfield Leisure Centre, providing the "warm up" entertainment for the hardy souls that will be undertaking the East Cheshire Hospice Midnight Walk - the latest news is that there are now more than 1000 people registered, so it should be a lot of fun!! We will be playing from around 10:00pm until just before the intrepid hordes leave at midnight, and we aim to send them out bouncing, believe me!
This event is the biggest fund raiser for the Hospice, which needs around £6000/day just to kepp going, and last year the Walk raised £25,000 and there were only 500 walkers, so we're hoping for a lot more this year. There is still time to register, and you can even do it on the night - check out the ECH website for more details. The walk takes a really easy route (of about 6 miles) around the streets of Macclesfield (via Gawsworth), and is more or less flat, so you won't be climbing over gates and stiles or negotiating cow pats or anything like that (you will need a torch, though, cos the sun won't be out)!! So why not have a great Saturday night out with the band, and then clear your heads with a stroll around town - the pubs might still be open when you get back!
So, that's the future - what about the past? First thing to report is that all the band holidaymakers (Dave, Hugh & Chrissie) have returned safe and sound, rested, bronzed, recuperated and broke! Yes, you're right, we do seem to have a lot of holidays in this band - however, there are no more planned until August!!
Last Saturday saw us in Tytherington for the joint 50th birthday party of Alison Unwin (one of our biggest supporters), and her husband Paul, and to say this was a "good do" is possibly the understatement of the year! Because of the inclement weather, Alison & Paul had been in a bit of a quandary about where to put us - in the garden? under the gazebo? in the shed? Anyway, we ended up in the conservatory with the doors open playing out into the garden where all the guests were (didn't matter if they got wet, obviously!). As luck would have it, the rain cleared around 8pm, and stayed away for the rest of the night (so much for Pete Robinson's weather forecasting skills - "it will rain on and off all night" he said!).
We started around 9pm and, by the time we finished the first set, there were 100+ people crowded in and starting to enjoy themselves; when we kicked off the second set - they just went mad! There is just no point in trying to explain it, cos there just ain't the words (see photo below as an example!)
However, Paparazzi Pete was on hand to capture the action, and you can see 3 of the videos he took if you click on the link above. There is also a video of "Teenage Kicks" taken by someone else, but I've not included this because I was nearly seasick watching it (Ali's video skills are in definite need of polishing!). We finished playing around 12:15am and left at around 1:00am, with the party in full swing - and it was a relief to see Paul & Alison still breathing when we went round on Sunday morning to collect the gear!! Paul's mother said she had spoken to someone who had been out walking the previous night about half a mile from the house, and they could hear every word and note of what we are playing - good feedback for us, I guess, but perhaps a little disturbing for the neighbours (good job most of Cheshire's police force were at the party!)!!
So that's all the news at the moment - a few private parties and weddings coming up over the next few weeks, but we're trying to fit in a couple of pub gigs - because we love them, although it might not be until September due to (more!) holidays!
