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!!
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