The massive 2008 gig list was completed last night (well this morning, actually!) when we played to a completely packed Ship Inn - of course, both fires were lit (in case anyone felt cold!) and with around 200 people crammed in, the place rapidly became a little like Dante's Inferno!
Not that this mattered, because we had the best of times, and it appeared the audience did as well. The occasion was primarily to celebrate Ben's 60th birthday, but there were quite a number of people who came along just for the sheer hell of it - what better way to celebrate that strange period between festivities - and, of course, it was the weekend (even though we've just had about 4 weekends in a row!
As well as the usual madness, there were a number of high spots in the evening that are worth mentioning - as reported elsewhere, our regular bass player (Matt) has swanned off to the Far East to buy himself a tie (I think that's how you spell it!), so we had to bring in a deputy. Of course, the deps name was Matt (to save confusing us!), in this case Matt Rose - a good friend, and now official demi-god! Matt had never played, or even practised, with us before, and all he had to go on was 2 CDs of the set lists hurriedly put together to give him some idea of what we did (even though the keys for most of them were completely different!) To say Matt did well is probably the understatement of the century - he was absolutely brilliant and, if we hadn't embarrassed him by pointing out that he was a D&C virgin, I really don't think anyone would have known! Matt - you are a legend, and it was a privilege to have you with us! Matt will also be playing with us at our next gig on Friday 9 January at The Windmill Inn Beer Festival at Whiteley Green (near Adlington) so if you want to see him in action (and probably a little more relaxed!), get yourselves down there (more details, with directions, in a short while).
The second high spot also involved the Rose family because, when Hugh's bladder got the better of him at the end of the second set, we press-ganged Nev Rose (Matt's Dad!) onto the drums, and he bashed his way through "You Really Got Me" before we forced him to perform his party piece - "Wipe Out"! For those who don't know this track, it has probably the hardest drum solo known to man (or me anyway!), and Nev does it with his own band (Revolution). Hugh refuses to do it because he was emotionally scarred in a previous life when his band mates all buggered off to the bar, leaving him to play an extended (i.e. about 10 minute) solo at 100 mph! However, Nev's rendition was brilliant, and all the better because he wasn't expecting to do it - I met him outside Tesco this morning, and he still looked like he was recovering!
The third high spot involved Professor Andy Smith, who received some sort of Guitar Hero computerised gizmo for Christmas which means he can play tunes without his guitar! He gave a virtuoso performance of several rock classics by waving his plectrum around in the vicinity of his groin - not a pretty sight, but the sound was good! We did ask how he felt about having spent so much money on his 17 or so guitars, when he can now do the same with a small box (no offence, Andy!) and a bit of computerised plastic!
So, we're ready to pull the curtains over the window that was (still is, actually) 2008 - 29 gigs in a year is a record for us and, considering we said we would limit ourselves to a gig a month, it says a lot about our ability to plan and control our diaries! As everyone knows, we do it for fun, and if it stops being fun, we'll stop doing it - we'd love to have more time to practive new numbers, but sometimes it's not possible. Having said that, we've probably added 6 or 7 new songs this year, which is pretty good going, and there are some more in the works - honest!
Not that this mattered, because we had the best of times, and it appeared the audience did as well. The occasion was primarily to celebrate Ben's 60th birthday, but there were quite a number of people who came along just for the sheer hell of it - what better way to celebrate that strange period between festivities - and, of course, it was the weekend (even though we've just had about 4 weekends in a row!
As well as the usual madness, there were a number of high spots in the evening that are worth mentioning - as reported elsewhere, our regular bass player (Matt) has swanned off to the Far East to buy himself a tie (I think that's how you spell it!), so we had to bring in a deputy. Of course, the deps name was Matt (to save confusing us!), in this case Matt Rose - a good friend, and now official demi-god! Matt had never played, or even practised, with us before, and all he had to go on was 2 CDs of the set lists hurriedly put together to give him some idea of what we did (even though the keys for most of them were completely different!) To say Matt did well is probably the understatement of the century - he was absolutely brilliant and, if we hadn't embarrassed him by pointing out that he was a D&C virgin, I really don't think anyone would have known! Matt - you are a legend, and it was a privilege to have you with us! Matt will also be playing with us at our next gig on Friday 9 January at The Windmill Inn Beer Festival at Whiteley Green (near Adlington) so if you want to see him in action (and probably a little more relaxed!), get yourselves down there (more details, with directions, in a short while).
The second high spot also involved the Rose family because, when Hugh's bladder got the better of him at the end of the second set, we press-ganged Nev Rose (Matt's Dad!) onto the drums, and he bashed his way through "You Really Got Me" before we forced him to perform his party piece - "Wipe Out"! For those who don't know this track, it has probably the hardest drum solo known to man (or me anyway!), and Nev does it with his own band (Revolution). Hugh refuses to do it because he was emotionally scarred in a previous life when his band mates all buggered off to the bar, leaving him to play an extended (i.e. about 10 minute) solo at 100 mph! However, Nev's rendition was brilliant, and all the better because he wasn't expecting to do it - I met him outside Tesco this morning, and he still looked like he was recovering!
The third high spot involved Professor Andy Smith, who received some sort of Guitar Hero computerised gizmo for Christmas which means he can play tunes without his guitar! He gave a virtuoso performance of several rock classics by waving his plectrum around in the vicinity of his groin - not a pretty sight, but the sound was good! We did ask how he felt about having spent so much money on his 17 or so guitars, when he can now do the same with a small box (no offence, Andy!) and a bit of computerised plastic!
So, we're ready to pull the curtains over the window that was (still is, actually) 2008 - 29 gigs in a year is a record for us and, considering we said we would limit ourselves to a gig a month, it says a lot about our ability to plan and control our diaries! As everyone knows, we do it for fun, and if it stops being fun, we'll stop doing it - we'd love to have more time to practive new numbers, but sometimes it's not possible. Having said that, we've probably added 6 or 7 new songs this year, which is pretty good going, and there are some more in the works - honest!
It just remains for us to thank everyone who has booked us and put up with us during the year, our regular supporters who, for some reason known only to them, turn out to listen to us and join in wherever we are (Colin Stanway, you know who you are) - we look forward to having more groupies in 2009 (somebody has already threatened me with that!) and, finally, a big Thank You to our wives and partners who put up with so much hassle, and tolerate our "hobby" so uncomplainingly - we'd be lost without you!
A HAPPY 2009 TO ALL!!
