LONG DISTANCE BLOGGING!

Wonderful thing this t'interwebbynet thing - sitting here in Sweden whiling away a long dark evening (actually they are not that dark in April!) and I thought - nothing better to do, so might as well write to the Dazed & Confused fans!

No gig news to report - down time before the Macc Beer Festival; however, new songs are being polished - in fact, now that Dave is back from the Caribbean (have to keep him away from the brown walls, or we won't find him!) the band is actually practising this week without me - hope I've still got a job when I get back, they are a fickle bunch!

As for the Beer Fest, we have agreed with the Beavers that, as they will be a man down late on Saturday evening (will only leave them with 25 members!) , so we will bring the whole weekend to a fantastic climax!! The running order for the 2 evenings will be as follows:

• Friday 8 May: Dazed & Confused 8:15-9:45 and Screaming Beavers 10:00-11:30
• Saturday 9 May: Screaming Beavers 8:15-9:45 and Dazed & Confused 10:00-11:30

As ever, tickets for both evenings will be like gold dust, so get them soon - details of outlets selling tickets are available on the Beer Festival website and you can even buy your tickets online this year!

Well, I'd better go and tend to the smorgasbord, and take the sauna for a walk - take pity on me won't you - these business trips may sound exotic and enjoyable, but they're not all they are cracked up to be!

TIME OUT EVERYBODY!

Saturday saw us at The Belfry Hotel in Handforth playing for the Spring Ball of the Time Out Group, and I'm guessing, like us, you are wondering what the devil the Time Out Group is about? Well, let me take a few minutes to explain before I regale you with the details of the evening because, believe me, it was a remarkable experience for us!

The Time Out Group is a charity (and, therefore, relies purely on public donations, Lottery grants and such like) and aims to provide support for people of all ages with learning disabilites, so that these people can feel they are part of the "normal" population. The charity has only 2 paid employees, and relies on volunteers for the rest of the work that needs to be done. The patron of the Charity is Annabel Tiffin, who many people may recognise from NorthWest Tonight or the Politics Show on BBC1 - her photo is attached as well, just in case you don't recognise the name ;-))! Annabel was guest of honour for the evening, with her husband (more of which later!)



The evening was an absolute delight for us - the atmosphere was brilliant - there were about 160 folks there, with a mix of volunteers, guests and the people that benefit from the work of the Charity, with no feeling that anybody was "disadvantaged" or being treated any differently - this is difficult to describe in words, but I hope you get the picture! If ever you see anybody collecting for the Time Out Group - don't hesitate to give them some money - believe me it's worth it!

As for the gig -well, it's difficult to see how it could have been better! Firstly, the band was fed!! In itself, this is a rarity at "posh" events, but on Saturday, there was an added bonus (for Matt anyway!), because he got extra helpings of roast potatoes (because Andy had stuffed himself before arriving) and an extra chocolate "tear drop" pudding!

We went on for the first set at 10:15, and it's always with a bit of trepidation that we approach the "late" gigs, because it can go one of 2 ways - either everyone is ready for a good dance, or they have just had too much "fun" already and think that throwing stuff at the band is the next instalment! However, on Saturday, it was the first option that prevailed and, from the moment that the starting chords of "The One I Love" rang out at 10:15 (right on time!) the crowd were off and running! Every song was met with almost rabid approval (even the Happy Birthday to Peter's Dad - more of him later as well!)

The first set lasted until 11:00pm and we planned to take a 20 minute breather (so that Matt, Chrissie and Andy could do their bit for the tobacco industry workers!), but we were hauled back on at 11:15 to start again! The challenge for us was to get everyone up and dancing - even the Tiffin table! This actually proved easier than it might sound, and Annabel's husband even joined us on stage for a couple of numbers with a tambourine! His parting shot (before Annabel dragged him outside for a beating!) was "I want to be in a band.........!" He's welcome back anytime - providing he doesn't want a cut of the fee!

Being on stage with the mighty D&C became a theme for the night because Peter - our MC for the night - also decided to join us on several occasions! His piece de resistance was Johnny B Goode (which he thought was coming a number of times before it actually did, so he made a few false starts!) when he eventually took centre stage, he gave it many decibels and many different words! It was certainly the most eventful rendition of the song we've ever done!

We finally called it a day (Sunday, actually!) at 12:40am - there were lots of things that we wanted to do that we couldn't (but we hope people understand!), but it was a great night, we felt that we played really well - even though Dave wasn't there (he was on holiday - yes really!) - and it was for a truly worthwhile cause.

We now have a "rest" before the Macc Beer Festival - still not clear whether we are headlining on the Friday or the Saturday - but we'll let you know (we are on both nights though!). There will definitely be some new numbers being launched but, of course, we're not going to tell you what they are! Tickets are already on sale, so get them while you can!

There will be more postings on here before then - obviously!!

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!!

DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THAT!

Well, friends, if we wanted the perfect antidote to our last outing, we got it last night! Our virginal appearance at the Nag's Head was absolutely brilliant (I can't think of many things that would have improved it!), and it's only fair that I give you a blow by blow account of the evening, not just so you can absorb, through the ether, the ambience of the event, but also so we can re-live it!

As mentioned elsewhere in this virtual diary, the Nag's Head is famous in Macclesfield and its ennvirons for being the Mecca of music, especially rock music, so we felt privileged to have been asked to play there. However, we were also aware that much of the music played at the Nag's is of a somewhat "heavy" nature, so it was with some trepidation that we approached the gig as, although our repertoire is varied, eclectic and brilliant, it is not exactly out of the Iron Maiden, Metallica or Slayer stable! This was actually confirmed last night when we told that a friend had heard we were playing on Friday night (not Saturday), which is the real "head banging" night, and was trying to contact us to cancel, because he feared we would be killed in an avalanche of beer glasses! Notwithstanding this, Andy had put together 2 sets which, in his professional opinion, would give us a fair chance of escaping with all our body parts intact, and maybe even meet with the approval of the discerning clientele (sorry, you Moondance fans, we had to leave that one out!)! We practised the whole gig on Thursday night, and surprised ourselves with how good we were (even on Hey Joe which we probably haven't done for 2 years!).

So we pitched up at around 8 last night to find the pub filling up nicely, and to hear the strains of heavy rock music pouring out of the jukebox! By the time we went on at about 9:50 there was a sizeable crowd in place, as well as the "locals", I'm pleased to say there were also many familiar faces present, and I have to again say a big thank you to them for their unfailing support - Iain, Tony, Claire, Justin, and everyone else - you know who you are and we appreciate you enormously!

The first set went really well and, by the time we came off at around 10:35 we were really getting a taste for it! The second set started at 11:15 and, amzingly, the "music room" was packed which, apparently is almost unheard of! The next hour or so is a bit of a blur for me, because we were carried on a wave of adrenaline - Andy was smashing power chords all over the place, Matt had his bass turned right up so the walls were shaking, Dave had got the sound balance almost perfect, and was beating his acoustic to death, Chrissie was dancing like a dervish (even disappearing into the crowd at one stage!) and Hugh was threatening to break every skin on his kit! Every number was rapturously received - Somebody Told Me by The Killers got its first public airing, and received the unqualified thumbs up from our most discerning young fans (i.e Lucy and Anna, my daughters!) and even Delilah made it onto the set list as an encore!

We eventually finished around 12:45, leaving the crowd still baying for more but, as I had almost no voice left, we couldn't oblige! After our traditional post-gig group hugs, the consensus view was that it was probably one of the best, if not the best, gigs that we have ever played. Thanks to Sandra for giving us the chance, to the crowd for being so flipping brilliant, and to the band for being the best in Macclesfield, if not the country (watch out Elbow, here we come!)!

So, it's on to The White Lion in Disley next Saturday (28th) - difficult to follow last night, but we're up for making it even better - get yourselves up in the hills for the hottest ticket in town!

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME FRIENDS!!

Goodness me, it must be weeks since we updated this - good reason, nothing has happened!

Since the Spinners debacle, we've all been in therapy - except for Dave, of course, who did not get the emotional scarring that the rest of us did! We've been asked back(!), and we've told Dave he has to do it on his own!

Our therapy has included a couple of band outings - one to The Ship the other Thursday, and one to Sutton Hall last Sunday - where we had the honour and privilege to meet up again with old band mates Frank Witt (with the lovely Robbie), Paul Gregory and Paul Hambley! Unfortunately, we weren't all there at the same time - it was a rolling attendance between 2:00pm and 5:00pm (when Matt eventually managed to crawl from his pit - but I suppose he is in love!!). However, it was great to see everyone, and catch up - could have more members than the Screaming Beavers if we all played together!!

We have been doing some practising as well - and there are at least 2 new numbers reaching maturity. We did try Pretty Woman - but it is well and truly in the bin, for a number of reasons (why do all the simple songs end up being so hard?). We've also even threatened to do an ABBA number or 2 - I guess that could go one of 2 ways.......

So to the next gig - Saturday 21st at The Nag's Head in Macc. Many people will know this as the Mecca of rock music in town and, because of this we approach it with some trepidation (they've billed us up as Daze and Confused, but we'll let them off!)! We're hoping for a full house, but some people are obviously feeling the pressure as they're finding other things to do like parties and things (totally understandable!)! But let's hope it's a good night - it's Andy's gig, so if it all go tits up, we'll blame him! We're all really looking forward to it, and Sandra is eager for us to play - so it's all systems go!!

As for other gigs, you'll find the list on the right hand side - still awaiting confirmation of the Congleton Beer Fest and, if that comes off we expect all our Congleton groupies (sweaty or otherwise!) to be out in force, as they have been for the last 2 years - always a great night!

So, if you're at a loose end next Saturday, get down to the Nag's - there'll be a full run down on proceedings right here - can't guarantee to do it on Sunday, cos we're expecting a late night!

WAS IT SOMETHING WE SAID.......?

Well, what a difference a week makes!!

We came off the back of last week's gig flying as high as it's just about possible to fly, and then the week went from bad to worse! Bear with me, dear reader, while I share the collective woes of Dazed & Confused with you:
1. Sunday evening - made contact with Matt Johnson, whose body had arrived back in Blighty, but whose mind was somewhere between Bangkok, the Mekong Delta and Duke's Court Macclesfield! Brought Matt up to speed with the 2 cracking gigs that had happened in his absence, hoping that he would not take it personally, and confirmed with him that he was OK to practice on Thursday and play the gig on Saturday (knowing full well that he would have to be reminded at least one more time once his body and mind had been re-introduced to each other!)
2. Wednesday - brought the gig list up to date ready to check that everyone was OK to do them (including the triumphant return the Windmill, that had hastily been plugged in for Feb 27th!)
3. Thursday morning - got a text from Matt Rose to say he was just being measured for his coffin because the flu had got him, and he wouldn't be able to practice that evening because dying would probably take priority! However, he was still confident he would be fit for Saturday - needed because Dave was escaping to Lincoln (a very shrewd move, as it turned out - see below!)
4. Thursday evening - practiced in the freezing cold (the Brewery is having a new wall fitted, as the previous one had started to march towards Macc town centre!) - not very productive, and also found that half the proposed gigs had changed or were not going to happen - including the Windmill one, because they now had a party on that night!
5. Saturday morning - text from Matt Rose - he hadn't died yet, but was still polishing his wings and harp, and would not be able to play the gig!! Mass panic, followed by calmness, when we realised that of course the remaining 5 of us would be able to carry it off - just a matter of playing and singing louder!
6. Saturday evening - I was still buoyed up by City's win against Wigan (it was quite a pleasant afternoon, all round, actually!), but felt more like a kip when I got home - then found that Chrissie, Matt J and Andy had all been over-celebrating the night before, so none of them were at peak either! Then, the rain and wind started so we got p**s wet through loading and unloading the van (it was Matt's turn in the back this week - that'll teach him to go on holiday!)! We got a lively reception from the locals when we arrived - especially as we had to throw them off the dartboard so we could set up (we did check they'd put the darts down first!) There then followed some lively exchanges which revolved around them wanting us to play the whole of the Kings of Leon back catalogue or, alternatively, for them to do that with us! We disabused them of both these suggestions, so they resorted to trying to get off with Chrissie (brave men indeed!)

On to the gig itself! We were billed up to start at 8:30 but, because many of the locals that had fruitlessly tried to get the better of our verbal exchanges had gone off to the Dog & Partridge (they did suggest we picked up our gear and came with them, because it would be packed!), we decided to wait until around 9:15 to give more people a chance to arrive. This did, in fact, happen - to the tune of our wives and Hugh's brother and sister in law!! So, we kicked off Set 1 with a total of about 15 people in the pub and, during the course of the evening this number fluctuated between about 10 and 20, as we drove some away, and enticed others in! We've been encouraged to throw some Killers numbers in (and it may even happen!) but, I'm sure if we'd done that last night, we'd have driven even family and friends away! Special mention for Iain Wilkie - a stalwart supporter, who happened to be in Bollington (not knowing we were playing) but responding to a text from Chrissie, he arrived for the second set, and even did his famous wobble dance on his own to "Bohemian Like You" - thanks Iain! Perhaps we should all have texted our friends! Mein host did go to great pains to point out that we played fantastically - just a shame that very few others were able to verify that claim!
So now we have a few weeks off to recover from the shock of last night before the next gig (21 Feb at The Nag's Head) - plenty of time to polish up some new numbers (and hit the Facebook advertising hoardings)!