ANOTHER 2 DOWN!!

Hello again!

Must be 3 weeks since we were on here, and so there is plenty of news to report! 2 gigs done - and in depth reports follow! Also, some more gigs confirmed - see right hand panel for details. To summarise, we will be on again at the Nag's Head on Saturday 18 July and Saturday 14 November (Prince Charles' birthday, for those who are interested!) at the Millstone in Water's Green, Macc on Saturday 19 September, and a private party for AZ friends on Friday 26 June (nice warm up for the following night at Congleton Beer Festival!).

So, to the recent excursions; we found our way to New Mills on the 14th (no escapades with the scuffers this time, as we took the van and a car, so there were no illegal-types in the back!). We last played at the Beehive a couple of years ago, and it has always been a "challenging" venue because, although we have a nice "stage" to play on, half of it is obscured by a wall, and there is also a plasma screen TV to contend with (although we have learned how to turn this off!). Also, it is difficult to see a lot of the punters because they are hidden behind walls and pillars (and occasionally nip upstairs for a curry!). Anyway, we kicked off with a healthy gang in (including some welcome faces from the White Lion in Disley, where we had played the week before!) and things went well; as the second set progressed, we realised that putting the PA speaker at the back of the stage was not a good idea, as we all gradually got deafer and deafer as the sound reverberated around our enclosed space! However, we go through it, and there were still some people left at the end, so all was not lost.........

Last Friday saw us at the Halliwell Jones stadium in Warrington (home of Warrington Wolves rugby league team!) for the Warrington NHS Trust Awards evening. As ever, the journey there was not without incident!; this time it involved the dirty white van having to do a couple of laps of Warrington town centre, before we found the way in - absolutely no fault of the town - we were just incapable of reading the road signs, and even the huge stadium did not give us a clue as we drove past it! Anyway, we eventually found the entrance to the banqueting suite, and were pleased to note it was on the second floor, with only a 1 person lift serving it - so you can imagine moving the gear up to the venue was a pleasure - and that was only the half of it! Dave went up first, and came down with what can only be described as a "cryptic smirk" on his face, accompanied by the words "well, this is probably a unique layout!" He wasn't wrong - the room was long and thin, with the stage facing the entrance and the people sitting on tables spread out to the left and the right, so that we got cricks in our necks trying to look at the audience!



However, all worked out well, because we were amongst fellow lunatics! The first set was only 30 minutes long (as a precursor to the Awards) and, whether it was because Chrissie's colleagues were in awe of seeing her as they never had before, or whether we were just our normal brilliant selves (probably that!), it went down a storm with loads of dancing and madness! The second set started slowly (due to fag breaks (that's the NHS for you!) photo opportunities etc.) but eventually the crack kicked in, and we had a full dance floor! Plenty of incident - Andy confirming his "rock god" status with several impressionable ladies (they were pissed!) and even one of the said ladies joining us on stage horizontally (she fell over the monitor!). This was OK (even expected!) but the fact that she demolished 2 pints of beer and a pint of water took the edge off her grand entrance!

The beauty of doing an NHS gig was that we saw just how many different groups support us - mental health (very appropriate!), transport and wheelchairs (much needed!) etc., but the high spot for me was spotting the Sexual Health Team table - not only that, but they actually had Ann Summers on the table with them - now you can tell me that was just a coincidence until you are blue in the face, but I will never believe you! So, our latest claim to fame is that we have had a whole Sexual Health Team and Ann Summers dancing to the sound of Dazed & Confused (I did check, but there were no toys left on the table!) Matt thought all his birthdays had come at once! Big bonus was that there was a pro photographer at the gig, so we might even have some new pics to show you - watch this space (or, more accurately, another one in a week or so!)

And, just for fun here are some pictures - just click on the link and then on the slideshow buton (top right)

So we have a bit of a rest, as Paul leaves everyone he loves behind and heads for the US this week (business, not pleasure, unfortunately) - we're back in action on 4 April (private function), and then a few weeks of preparation before it's all guns blazing at the Macclesfield Beer Festival on 8 & 9 May - more of that as we get nearer to the date!

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER - FOR SEVERAL REASONS!

So, we took to the road following last week's marvellous experience and, before I tell you all about the evening's events (which were memorable for so many different reasons!), let me just share one last snippet from the Nag's Head! You may remember that I mentioned we were billed up as Daze and Confused, which was a tad disappointing, well - it was actually worse than that! Below is a photo of the board outside the Nag's and, as you can see, they got both names wrong (what the hell is a Conused?)!



Ah well - at least they spelt Phoenix's name wrong as well!

On to last night - and I struggle to know where to start! Regular readers will know that it is a tradition, nay a necessity, to travel to gigs with at least 1 person in the back of the dirty white van. Well, apparently, this is illegal(!) and last night two chickens came home to roost because Chrissie and Matt were snug in the back at exactly the time the police decided to pull us over and check what the cargo was! To cut a long story short, the protestations that our bassist and female vocalist were actually doing a public service in keeping the gear from rolling around and causing a potential accident, cut absolutely no ice with Cheshire's finest and the end result was that our driver finished up with 3 points on his licence and a £60 fine (more of that later) - bad enough in itself, but made worse by the fact that this was before we'd even left Macclesfield! Dave did the decent thing and asked if we could bugger off to the gig while Mr Plod continued his interviews with the "offenders" - they said OK! Chrissie said she can't remember the last time she was picked up by the fuzz -but we don't believe her!

So, we arrived in Disley Land at around 8:00pm, entered the empty White Lion, and presented our apologies for being late - not that it looked as though it would trouble too many people! How wrong this proved to be because, by the time we'd got set up and were ready to start, the pub had filled up nicely, and we were reassured that this was not going to be Spinners MkII! We did a quick assessment of the clientele (looked a little like a "bistro" crowd) and kicked off with some "lighter" stuff i.e Ticket to Ride was first out of the traps. What became rapidly obvious was that this was a crowd that not only appreciated good music played well, but was one that was also prepared to show it! By the time we got to about the 5th number, all inhibitions had gone (on both sides!) and the pub was rocking!

During the interval, something special happened - the landlord organised a "whip round" and presented us with £60 to pay the fine incurred earlier - a truly fantastic, and unexpected, gesture that just fired us up even more for the second set! We kicked this off at 10:30 and, when we finished at 11:55 we were absolutely exhausted and the crowd was ecstatic! There were probably 50 or 60 people around at any one time, but it was living proof that you don't need a packed room for people to enjoy themselves - everyone was jumping and we had a fantastic time. I believe the Kaiser Chiefs are playing the MEN Arena on Monday and, if anybody reading this happens to be going, can I just say that Ricky and the boys have their work cut out to be better than we were on Saturday! In fact, if we had played "Ruby", and they had been there to see it, there is every chance that they would have cancelled their gig! We send our sincere thanks to everyone who came to see us on Saturday, we hope to be back soon and, hopefully, the word will spread, so we can entertain even more Disleyites!

So, what happens next? well, Dave is off on holiday (yes really!) and others are occupied next weekend, so we will be practising on Thursday, in advance of the next gig is in 2 weeks time (Saturday 14 March). Again, we're up in the hills, this time at the Beehive Inn in New Mills. For those who have not been before, it's a great, friendly venue, and there is even an Indian restaurant upstairs, so you can eat before coming to see us - how cabaret is that?! A link to a map is attached (map to find the Beehive)

So, that's it for now - we had a great night and, if you weren't able to be with us, maybe next time, you will - if you need to stop overnight, I'm sure there's a Travelodge handy!

PS: The Congleton Beer Festival is now confirmed - Saturday 27 June! So, all you Congolians get your glad rags on and come down to Hankinson's Field for some good beer and great music!!