ANOTHER LONG HOT SUMMER!

So, August is with us again and, as happened last year (and the year before, and the year before...) the North West of England sunshine has gone on holiday, along with everyone else! Now, I often use this space for a bit of a rant, and I think it's fully justified that I have another one about the bl**dy weather! Surely, it's not too much to ask that, instead of making a token appearance in the middle of June and then buggering off till October, the sun might deign to stay around during the "high summer" months of July and August and warm the cockles of our little hearts? Doesn't look like it's going to happen this year - that global warming has a lot to answer for!

Couple of gigs since we last corresponded - both different, but both excellent, in their own right:

8 July had us doing one of our regular Brewery gigs - it was a Thursday and, as that's what we laughingly call "practice night", it wasn't too much of a stretch to set the gear up and play for a bunch of people that were on a Brewery Tour (which entails a 5 minute squint at the copper, fermenter and cellar, followed by a 4 hour sampling session of several Storm beers and Paddy's Pies!) This particular tour involved the St Alban's School Parents (otherwise known as the Sad Dads!) who were celebrating the departure of a teacher that had been there since the school was built (in fact it seemed as though he had taught most of the assembled gathering!). These are all good Catholic lads, and there was certainly plenty of sampling of Hugh & Dave's holy water that night!

Hugh suggested that we might do an hour or so for them, and then pack up, which would have meant finishing around 10:40 pm (nice early night!) - so, as the clock ticked round to 12:10am, I suggested that it might be a good idea to start wrapping up, as some of us had to go to work the next day!! Notwithstanding that, it was a great night - plenty of laughs, and a couple of contacts for future gigs.

16 July saw us up at Hollin Hall Hotel to celebrate Danute's 40th Birthday. Danute is an old (well she's getting that way now she's 40!) friend of Chrissie (who, incidentally, is over 40!), and she certainly celebrated in style! We arrived to find the room was set out as if for a wedding and, sure enough, there were speeches, a big meal - the full works! The first set was also a bit wedding-esque, in that the floor was not exactly groaning under the weight of dancers; however, cometh the time, cometh the band and the second set was verging on madness - plenty of jumping up and down, plenty of shouts for more, and plenty of people taking our contact details, so no complaints from us!

We've been quiet since then; Matt has embarked on his annual Festival fest, Dave has come back from holiday - for how long, nobody knows, Hugh, Chrissie and Andy are revving up for theirs, so it will be the end of August before we tread the boards again - a happy and sad occasion, because we'll be sending Lucy on her way to Australia on the first leg of her World Tour - she's due back in a year, but who knows.......Either way, we'll make it a night to remember.

The gig list has had some updating recently, so check the details out on the right hand side of the blog --------->

2 other pieces of news before we close:

• I notice that The Millstone in Water's Green has changed hands - oh dear, what a pity, never mind!! Obviously, the previous landlord has got fed up with being grumpy in the middle of Macclesfield and gone off to be grumpy somewhere else - I just hope he let all the bands that he had booked know he was going! If he'd told us, we would have had a party!! If you don't know what all this is about, check the blog entries for last September - it's a date that will remain forever etched in my memory.


• Some photos from the East Cheshire Hospice gig attached below - as you can see, a good time was had by all and there's one interesting shot where Andy seems to be shoving his guitar up James Milner's nose! On reflection, that might not have been a bad idea - might have made him play better (Milner not the Rock God!). The hospice raised over £10,000 that weekend, and we're chuffed to have played a little part in that!