8 DAYS AND COUNTING!!

Had a great gig at Jane's party last weekend (and even got a new photo out of it!) - guest keyboard player John Wright was with us (in preparation for playing on a round the world cruise ship, would you believe?!), and it was fine preparation for the next one......

Only 8 days to go till the BIG gig of the year - Macclesfield Beer Festival, and everything associated with it! Latest intelligence (if I can use that word in this context) suggests that tickets are selling like hot pints of beer, and if you don't get one for you and your friends, you'll be as popular as Gordon Brown in Rochdale, because everyone wants to be there!

If you have never experienced the BF before, you have missed a real treat - 2 nights (and a lunchtime!) of amazing social interaction, with a vast selection of good real ale, ciders, wine and food, amazing music (of course), and all in 2 huge marquees. The atmosphere is genuinely brilliant - everyone is friendly, there is never any trouble, and the only problems seem to be with people trying to find their friends (or even the exit from the marquee!) at the end of the night! So get your act together, and purchase your tickets (a bargain at only £10) from the outlets mentioned on the poster above (you can even buy them on line this year - see attached link!). It's all in aid of an excellent cause (The Rossendale Trust), and you really do need to be quick about this as, last year, both nights had sold out well beforehand - there are extra tickets this year, but even so........

So how are Dazed & Confused preparing for the delights of entertaining 1600 people on each night, I hear you ask? Well, Dave has gone on holiday (I know, I know, but it has been 3 weeks, so give him a break!), so there was only 5 of us at rehearsal last night; our first task was to put together a set list, and that took up some considerable time in itself. Selecting tunes that go together, keep the momentum rolling, AND that we can remember the words of, is no easy task I can tell you! Anyway, we have managed to cobble together around 25 songs to choose from, and these should see us through the 90 minute set comfortably. Our biggest challenge is to try and stitch them together seamlessly because, as those of you who have seen us know, we do have a tendency to mess about between songs, tell jokes, have a sleep etc., so we have to try and avoid that, if at all possible!

Another practice scheduled for next week (after a cold, wet Bank Holiday weekend in Wales!), and that will be on Wednesday after watching City clinch 4th place by beating Spurs, so at least 1 of us will be up for it!

So, more news next week when, of course, you will all have your BF tickets, and will be as excited as us!!

A VERY ENJOYABLE WEEK - ALL TOLD!

Sitting here on Sunday night, recovering from the disastrous football yesterday, contemplating work tomorrow, and feeling really glad that I missed most of the "Dorothy" rubbish - obviously, it's gone downhill since the Macc Lass was voted off (so much for the "vote for me" poster campaign around town!), so I thought I would bring you up to date with what has been a pretty eventful week for the mighty D&C, and tell you what lies in store over the next few.

As previously trailed, Wednesday was our return date at Canalside Community Radio and, as arranged we met on the banks of the canal at Bollington at 7:30pm, primed and ready to go - well, 5 of us did! I had done my usual ring round to make sure nobody had died since we last met the week before; Andy, Dave, Hugh and Chrissie checked in OK, but there was radio silence from Matt (i.e. his phone was switched off!). Now, bear in mind that this is not unusual, and the volcano cloud had not yet made its presence felt, so we were not unduly alarmed; however, as the minutes ticked by, we thought we had better go for Plan B (as we didn't even know whether he wanted an acoustic or electric bass set up), so Matt's boss (Pikey Jeff) was duly contacted to make sure nothing evil had befallen the hairy one. The conversation between Andy/Chrissie and Jeff went something like this:
Chrissie/Andy: "Jeff, do you know where Matt is?"
Jeff: "Yes, he's sitting here next to me, why?"
C/A: "Well, he's supposed to be on the radio in about 18 minutes time!"
J: "Matt, are you supposed to be on the radio in about 18 minutes?"
Matt (in the background): "Oh S**t, I forgot!!"

Now, maybe it's because I'm not used to this sort of thing, but I would have thought that doing a session on the radio was pretty memorable, but obviously not on Planet Matt! Anyway, cue a mad drive back to Macc by Chrissie to collect the prodigal bassist (and pick his guitar up!), while we stalled for time in the shoebox that masquerades as the CCR studio! Despite this inauspicious start to the evening, the session actually went really well. As ever, we had a few laughs, and the tunes seemed to go down well - got a few plugs in for the Beer Fest as well! This Tuesday sees our mates The Injectors in the shoebox so, if you want to hear about their back story (and who doesn't?!), tune in to 102.8fm (or listen on the web) at 8pm this Tuesday (20th).

Being the gluttons for punishment that we are, we re-convened on Thursday evening to do a bit of practice - actually, we quite enjoy each other's company, so it wasn't too much of a chore! Had some discussion about Beer Fest set lists etc. and a bit of playing about with tunes for the following night - early finish too, we were home for 12:30am!

So, Friday saw us at The Hollins for the first time since Nov 2008, and what a great night it was! The pub was absolutely jammed from start to finish (even Pete Munro stayed till the end!), and Chris recorded record beer sales (that Bombardier went down well, as it always has!), so a good time was had all round. Garry the Hat was there, so we'll see whether we were good enough to merit a mention in next week's Macc Express (depends whether Rough Twist were playing somewhere else I guess!). All we need to do is persuade Andy to keep his volume down in those sort of confined spaces - we were walking around with bleeding ears at the end! Any ways up, we will be back for sure!!

Next week sees us playing a private party on Saturday, and then next stop is the legendary Beer Festival (more of that in a week or so, but get your tickets NOW!) Now is also an opportunity to remind you about the big gig in aid of the East Cheshire Hospice on Saturday 12 June; it's being billed as The Gig & A Game and features ourselves, The Screaming Beavers and the England Football Team!! Copy of the poster and details of how to get tickets in the flyer below:

The Hospice needs about £5000/day to survive, and gets very little money from the government, so it seems an ideal opportunity to see England get off to a flying start in the World Cup, enjoy some great music AND provide a boost to a local facility that I'm sure many of us know people that have benefited from (was that gramatically correct??!)

OK - LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

At least 4 weeks since anything appeared on here, and there's lots to tell you, so let's get to it!

The holiday sheepdogs have been out and rounded up Dave & Chrissie, so everyone is back in the fold now - Dave is mellowed out from his wonderful sail around the British Virgin Islands, and Chrissie is totally knackered from her whistle stop tour of the USA! Not to be outdone, Andy, Hugh and Paul all had a few days in Wales, and Matt had a morning in his Mum's front garden (think he fell over the wall on his way back from the pub!). I also had a week in the US - but that was business (apart from the Bon Jovi gig, that is!)

Thursday night was the first time the 6 of us had been together for about a month, and it was brilliant fun - old numbers, new numbers, bad jokes, good beer - no wonder it was 12:40am when we wrapped up! All of this had a serious purpose of course (several in fact), because we're back in action from next week, and there are loads of things coming up that we need to prepare for. Here's just a sample:


Next Wednesday sees us making a return to CANALSIDE COMMUNITY RADIO for another session on Matt Isaacs' Rock Diversity show. Some of you may remember that we made our maiden appearance there back in November, and either Matt has a very short memory, or he was sufficiently impressed to ask us back again! The show is on from 8:00-10:00pm so, if you are anywhere close to Macclesfield (and a radio, of course) tune in to 102.8fm, and give us a listen.
We've chosen some different numbers from the ones we did last time and, hopefully, Matt will remember to record it this time, so we will have some memories to treasure - starting to sound a bit like Desert Island Discs!


Next Friday (16th April) has us pitching up at The Hollins on Black Road in Macclesfield. It's over a year since we played there, and it will be good to go back, as landlord Chris is building up quite a reputation for his music Fridays, and so it should be a good night. We just hope there is not as much snow around as in the photo above. Facebook invites will be sent out for this to the Dazed & Confused "Massive" (you can join the group if you want!), and you can check The Hollins out on Facebook as well.

And after that? Well, we have a private party to play on 24 April, and then it's flat out, no nonsense, full speed ahead for the Macclesfield Beer Festival on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th May!!


Difficult to believe, but this is our FIFTH consecutive appearance at the BF, and it is still the high spot of our gigging year! This year's event will be even bigger than previous years, with sell-out crowds of 1600 people expected on each night - nervous, us? Never! We had our usual pre-festival meeting with Mickey Jones on Wednesday evening; as well as sorting things out, and meeting members of Monkey Harris, who will be playing with us, it was a good opportunity to have a couple of beers and watch United lose!! We'll talk more about this in the next couple of weeks but, in the meantime, you can get more information (and tickets!) via the Festival website. On the subject of tickets, be sure to get them early, as they really do sell out quickly, and we'd hate you to miss out!

That's all for now - got a football match to go to - I'm sure you will all join me in wishing City all the best as they move towards securing a Champions League spot - sorry Liverpool! If I don't see you at Eastlands, maybe we'll see you at The Hollins next Friday?!

ANDY'S NEW TOY!!

Good God, I hear you say, what on earth is that??!! Well, I'll tell you - it's Andy's new toy, which is a multi-effect pedal which can simulate most sounds known to man - and a few that aren't!

What's a photo of it doing on here you ask? Well, in the absence of Chrissie (working), Dave (personal business) and Matt (another type of personal business, nudge, nudge, wink, wink!) on Thursday, Hugh, Andy and I went for a couple of pints at the newly re-opened Jolly Sailor, and then back to the Brewery so that Andy could demonstrate the power that is the Boss ME-70! Believe me, it is one powerful tool, and woe betide any guitarist, bass player or, come to think of it, drummer or singer that misses a gig, because this bloody thing could probably replace ALL of us!

No doubt the pedal will be put through its paces next week at rehearsal - both Dave & Chrissie will be on holiday in far flung places - Dave will be floating around the British Virgin Islands, while Chrissie (and Pete) will be sampling the flesh pots of Las Vegas, including the theme park at the top of the Stratosphere Tower (check out the picture below for a flavour of what that entails!)

Notwithstanding the absence of the holiday twins, the rest of us will convene and bash through some more new numbers so that, by the time the next gig comes round (which seems a lifetime away) they will be semi-polished (like fine gems!)

Not much else to report - the nights seem to be getting longer, and maybe the first signs of spring are in the air - before we know it, it will be Beer Festival time again, and we'll be enjoying the long summer nights - at least the rain will be warmer! Last gig for Kelly's birthday was really fun - made even better by the fact that Matt did the clearing up the next day!

Rumour has it that The Injectors are playing at The Millstone tonight - some bands have no pride! I might pop down and press my nose against the window, and shout obscenities at the landlord - although I'm not sure he would understand what they meant!

NICE QUIET NIGHT TONIGHT............MAYBE NOT!!

Hello friends,

We're out and about again tonight, but not going far; it's Matt's lady Kelly's birthday party so we are going to play a little bit for her, have a sip of a few soft drinks, and then probably be tucked up in bed by 10 o'clock - I think not! If Matt has anything to do with it, the birds will probably be singing by the time we get home! Anyway, I'm sure it will be a good night, and no doubt there will be reports and maybe even photos next time round!

Last Friday saw us at The Old Ship for the first leg of their Big Gig Weekend, and I have to say that, even though we have played there many times before, it was still a great night! Even though Friday night is traditionally a quieter night in The Ship, the place was rammed, and everone was really up for it - we even tried 4 new numbers on them and, with the exception of In The Shadows (one of my favourite tracks, and I know others like it too), which was put in the wrong part of the set (stopped all the dancers dead in their tracks!), they all worked and seemed to go down well (especially Rock & Roll and Spitting Games).

There were people there that had travelled from Hampshire and London just to see us, and even Pete Munro turned up - he said he really felt he ought to make the effort as he had promised to come many times before - shame he left 5 minutes before we started playing! Any more tricks like that and he will acquire the same status in our eyes as the landlord of The Millstone!

I didn't get a chance to see The Injectors on the Saturday night (because I was watching Calendar Girls at The Lowry with my Mummy!) but I believe Pete, Mike and Bobby Rocket went down well, and that the whole weekend was regarded as a stonking success!

Rest of the week has been a real mixture of emotions for your correspondent - including blind panic and worry when No.1 daughter was in a car crash (thankfully, she's OK, if a little battered and bruised) and wild jubilation this afternoon when City thrashed Chelsea!

After tonight, we are gigless until the end of April, but at least it will give us a chance to practice some new numbers, and for Dave to have a holiday! No doubt we will be raring to go again, by then, and I'll just have to remember to keep updating this blog thing, so you don't think we've all died.

A BIG GIG WEEKEND AT THE SHIP!

Hello again everyone - I'm sure you have wondered why there has been so much silence on here, over the last couple of weeks; well, 2 reasons:

1. Nothing to report
2. Too damned busy!!

Anyway, neither of those are any excuse, so let me bring you up to date with developments on the D&C front. We have actually managed to have 2 rehearsals over the last fortnight and, although Matt could not make the first one, we have gone a long way to boxing off 4 new numbers! Obviously, it's not sensible to reveal too much in advance of the great unveiling but, with a following wind (never a problem for our band!) and a good practice this week, we could be doing at least 3 of them on Friday 19 February at The Ship, as part of the first instalment of the Big Gig Weekend!! So, how much should we tell you..........?

We toyed with a couple of Michael Buble numbers, and Andy suggested the Macarena as one to get everyone up and dancing; Hugh threw Black Betty into the mix, as one of his favourite tunes, and Matt & Chrissie really wanted to do something by The Proclaimers to show our diverse tastes (which were amply demonstrated by the jokes told on Thursday night!! ;-)) But, in the end, it's looking like The Pretenders, an obscure band from Finland, Led Zeppelin and a tune from Stikipedia will be the first additions to our portfolio in 2010! Come along on Friday, to find out what they are, and help us through them (unless you're one of those that has gone on holiday for half-term!) Check out our Facebook link for the event.

The other thing you need to remember about The Ship (apart from the 2 roaring fires!) is that they have some wonderful porcelain in the men's loos - check out these photos!:

Ladies - don't be afraid to see for yourselves (but make sure you are accompanied)!

The other thing you need to know is that gigs are starting to pile in - at least for the latter part of the year! Check out the gig list on the right for details, but worthy of mention are 2 BIG events:

1. The Macclesfield Beer Festival on Friday and Saturday eveings (7&8 May)where we will be appearing for a record FIFTH year in a row! Not sure who is with us this year but, as ever, it will be a great weekend.

2. The East Cheshire Hospice Big Weekend over 10-13 June - this is the first time that Hospice has attempted anything on this scale, and they need everyone's help. On the Saturday night (June 12) they will be screening the England v USA World Cup opening game followed by a fantastic evening of music featuring ourselves and our old friends, The Screaming Beavers. There will be lots of other things happening between the Thursday and the Sunday so keep you eyes peeled, and support the Hospice as much as you can - it costs about £5000 per day just to keep the place open, and they rely almost entirely on voluntary contributions - we probably all know someone who has benefited from their care, so PLEASE help us to give something back!!

TIME TO GIVE THE WINDMILL ANOTHER WHIRL!!

It's a year and a week since the dirty white Dazed & Confused tour bus first pitched up at The Windmill for a gig that still lives in the memory, so we thought "why not do it again?!" So, tonight sees us return for another bash at their Local Ale Sale 2010, and we're really looking forward to it. Rehearsals have been out of the question for the last couple of weeks, since the weather has conspired to turn the Brewery into a fridge, and we couldn't even huddle round the fire to keep warm because a new bar is being fitted - don't want to give too much away, but you'll be on your knees if you happen to see it! It does mean we have managed to avoid freezing, but also means that we REALLY enjoy it when we can play together - did it at The Ship last week (see below) and tonight should be just as good. The Windmill is a great pub - friendly staff, good food, great beer and a fine atmosphere, so why not treat yourself to some grub and a bop - just don't come too near the band if you've eaten too much! Here's a map of how to get there, if you fancy it.

Last week's gig at the Ship was a cracker; as you may well know, it's always a good laugh when we play there, and as last week was in celebration of Chris Caudwell's journey into retirement-land, it was doubly good. A great crowd (including some new faces), plenty of singing and dancing, 4 encore songs and a couple of potential band bookings - almost perfect! Probably a little too much jumping around on my part, if the stiffness on Sunday is anything to go by but, hey, you're only old once! We're actually back at The Ship on 19 February for their all-weekend bash, so we can do it all over again - reminds me of a song "If I could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You" or something similar!

Anyway, my little Confused-lings, time to go - so don't forget to drag yourselves out in the rain and wind tonight - and give The Windmill a whirl.