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N
O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7
Friday
2nd
November 07
Forum Theatre,
Billingham.
Our early
arrival at Billingham prompted Dave to wonder whether
we had forgotten to put the clocks back, but it was
all the fault of unusually low traffic volume on the
M62.
In spite of an administrative cock-up over publicity
print for this venue, the advance sales had been
pretty good, and with a healthy walk up on the night,
we would playing to a really decent sized crowd.
As we stood behind the curtain listening to the
play-on, we could also hear a couple of voices that
sounded as though we may be in for an interesting
night. When the curtain went up, the two ladies
in question made themselves abundantly apparent by
standing up and dancing to the front of the
stage. The ushers quickly had them back in their
seats, but it took several more visits by them, a tube
of super-glue and some nails to finally adhere their
bums down for the remainder of the first half.
Their failure to re-appear for the second half, was
either due to them being turfed out, or them being fed
up and leaving of their own accord. Whichever,
they were missed by us, but not necessarily for the
right reasons.
Bit of a wierd on stage sound, but the audience seemed
to have a fab time. Hope we can come back here!!
Saturday
17th
November 07
The Shire London,
Barnet.
This Golf
Club Winter Ball was as "last minute" as
gigs every come in for us and with Dirk away, we call
on Chris O'Neil to stand in with the bass
guitar. It's also the first time in a long while
that Dave or Ade have not been with us. After
nearly five years on the road together, it's a sad day
but things change and we sincerely wish them success
with their future plans.
The equipment is now being taken care of by Rooftop
Audio. If you have followed these postings for
some time (poor sods), you may have seen Chris and
Steve pop up in the blog over the last few
years. It's now a pleasure to formally welcome
them to the team.
There is a lot more hanging about at these functions
compared to the theatre dates and even though the
surroundings were more than pleasant, it is very hard
not to get bored. Israel v Russia provided
something of a lifeline in that department, with Israel
throwing a surprising bone to the England football
team in respect of their defeat of Russia, leaving
England with the task of only having to draw with
Croatia at Wembley this coming Wednesday, in order to
qualify for Euro 2008.
Meanwhile in the changing room, Eddie was enjoying the
acoustics and singing songs by James Taylor and Cat
Stevens with his usual remarkable vocal impressions.
The gig itself went very well and was well
received. The audience was enthusiastic,
appreciative and kept the dance floor full during the
set, even during the slower numbers.
We'd like to thank the club owners for their
hospitality and humour, it was appreciated.
We arrive home late.
Thursday
22nd
November 07
Happy
Birthday Eddie!
Friday
23rd
November 07
Forest Theatre,
Coleford.
We thought
it would be a good idea to arrive "well"
early for this Gloucester concert, as it was Rooftop's
first theatre with us and there were almost certainly
going to issues that we would have to
address.
So...we did and we did. Now everyone has met the
full Rooftop squadron of Chris, Steve and Pete, as all
three were on this gig. There was even enough
time for Eddie to have a go on the drums.
Good concert and good feedback from the audience, one
I think we all enjoyed.
Thursday
29th
November 07
Harlequin Theatre,
Redhill.
Today
started off wonderfully. Within 10 miles of
leaving home, I was pulled up for speeding on the
Runcorn Expressway. Totally guilty and not even
borderline, 54 in a 40 zone, gimme the points and the
fine. Of course, I could moan about the fact
that this particular road seems to change its speed
limits more frequently than Roy has to scythe through
his chestal hair, but that won't get me anywhere.
Neither will droning on about the ludicrous amount of
street furniture on the roads these days which you are
expected to take in whilst avoiding the real twats who
are driving in the wrong lane.......arhhh...maybe
that's why we should slow down!! The photo they
showed me was remarkably clear, displaying the car
reg. and a full face shot. Thank God I wasn't on the
phone, smoking a fag and eating a Ginsters at the same
time. Still, I'm glad to think that I am doing
my bit and paying a little bit more to the Police
coffers. If they are pulling in around £1400 an
hour in fixed penalties from each patrol, they'd be
pissed off if we all drove within the limits.
With Derek joining us on the M6, the conversation
returns to our favourite subject of "this
country", how oppressive things are getting, how
apathetic we are and what we would do about it......if
we could be arsed!
Seven hours have been allowed to make this journey
down to Surrey. As it turned out, we only needed
five of them, in spite of quite bad M25 traffic and a
lorry hitting the railway bridge in Redhill
itself. Steve and Pete were already set up and
were just putting the finishing touches to the cabling
as we found our way to the dressing rooms. It's
more than three years since we played here, the
backstage area looked familiar, but I have no
recollection of the stage or auditorium
whatsoever....all part of the blur.
Dirk and Pete have now nailed the foldback sound on
stage, but I'm still not happy with my amp. - it's too
quiet for me and too loud for Pete front of
house. The old problem of the throw of an AC30
and the deaf bastard using it!
It's funny how half an hour can sometimes seem like
such a long time. We all think that it's a 7.30
start, and feel a collective disappointment to
discover that it's actually 8pm. With there
often being so much time to hang around, is it any
wonder Roy will read endless biographies, Eddie will
find a cupboard to sleep in - well away from the rest
of us, I will take silly amounts of pictures and Dirk
will always have the thrill of shaving with cold water
10 minutes before curtain up.
At half time, Dirk maintains that we have played
really well. I know I've dropped a couple of
bollocks, but more than that, I'm feeling it's all a
bit flat, but can explain no more. Roy is a bit
cross because he can see a member of the audience who,
although appearing to be enjoying himself, has not
clapped once.
"It's ruining me gig!.....Madonna would have him
thrown out y'know"
Roy also speculates that the chap may be a
drummer....... "They're right miserable
gits at gigs!"
Act 2 continues in much the same fashion, but for me,
the strong smell of humous coming from the bass player
that had been so pungent, was replaced by the whiff of
cheddar crisps. Oh the glamour.
Amazingly, it is six years to the day that George
passed away, so I substituted the more crowd pleasing Here
Comes The Sun, with While My Guitar, which
seemed more appropriate today.
After the show, it was nice to see Liz and Beryl from
Upbeat, who had made a titanic effort to travel to see
the band that has been keeping them in champagne and
truffles for the last five years!!!
My obituary.... may follow!
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