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July 2002 |
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Saturday 6th July 2002 Well despite the rain the band managed once more to trudge their way up to the glittering highlights of the Civil Service Social Club, once there and set - up they started play for a full twenty-five minutes before being told to SHUT UP!!! Not as bad as it sounds though, we were only off stage for about ten to fifteen minutes while the parents cleared the chilblains from the premises so that we could get on and entertain the rowdy adult crowd, (I think that come the end the kids were actually better behaved than the adults but more about that later). The first half of the evening following the departure of the children went, for the most part, without incident. That is until Marc got his turn to impress the masses, just before playing Jerry Rafferty's Baker Street he found out why the instruction manual for the keyboards said not to bang the keys as one of them broke off and dropped on the floor, (Some might say that this would probably improve his overall performance), however once the piece had started he realised that he didn't use that key anyway, quote "I wish more would fall off it would make playing the instrument much easier" unquote. Following that he finished his part repertoire off with Mustang Sally, of Commitments fame, and a very good rendition it was too with the added vocal effect of him coughing all the way through and nearly choking to death but still managing to sing sweetly where required. Over to the second half. We started the second half with the usual alcoholic send-up of Tequila to which Marc did his usual walk around only to be obligated into leading a conga party through the lounge bar and onto the stage, (well at least it got them dancing). Next came a new voice to Le Band in the form of our guest singer Sian Everard, a young protégé of Paul Blake, who, as I am informed, is putting down a demo of her voice to send away to Stairway to the stars, just remember you heard her here first. Needless to say despite the first night nerves she showed off her angelic vocal qualities perfectly with a rendition of "will you still love me tomorrow" followed by "wind beneath my wings", what can we say, you are welcome back anytime Sian. The finale was our interpretation of New York New York the age old classic from the lips of Frank, sung beautifully as always by our own green eyes....Hazel. However as it turns out the audience wanted more, (remember what I said about the kids being better behaved), so not wanting to leave our fans wanting we gave them "One step beyond" from Madness, the crowd loved it, Marc blew his lips off playing it, and the landlord berated us for playing two songs after eleven o'clock when we are only allowed to play one, talk about kill-joy. 
Sunday 7th July 2002 The first gig of the month for the Tamar Valley Westerners, and a new venue to boot. Apparently due to a disagreement over a rent increase for the function room of the R.A.O.B the Westerners have "gone west" to the function room provided by the Hyde Park Social Club. Now anyone that is a regular visitor to the Westerners functions could be excused for thinking that it was the same place, (wide stage in front of a long dance floor with a bar at the end), however I can assure you that it was a completely different place. The country and western night went down without any hiccups to speak of until the crunch came at the end, quote "Can you sing the American Trilogy for us" unquote, oh my god we forgot to practice it and Marc has lost his music but we must battle on, we played it brilliantly (even if I do say so myself), and Marc's guest said that she had to get the hankies out because it brought a tear to her eye. Other than this the gig went as smoothly as ever, and the Westerners can look forward to our continued support even if the R.A.O.B don't want them. Additional:
Saturday 13th July 2002 Pennycross Always like playing this venue, the atmosphere is always welcoming, and we have a good following here, therefore you can imagine our surprise when at half past eight sharp we proceeded to play and found only the hardened few there to enjoy it. We were informed that of all the days of the year they had chosen this one to take a booze cruise to Calstock......."they're due back at 10:30". So we played for the few that managed to resist the briny temptation, and we were enjoyed once again by one and all. John had a bit of a fright at the start when one of the regulars came up to the stage to announce his up and coming engagement to which John just smiled and nodded, (you must attract them John). Due to the various ailments in the band, namely Marc's torn lip and John's cold, Hazel had a hard job of entertaining alone, luckily Marc's lip held out despite the sax playing (although his solo in "Brown Eyes Blue" doesn't usually have quite so many squeaks in it). John managed one and a half songs and Marc managed four, his Madness review went down well with a few punters managing a rather peculiar dance routine keeping the rest of us in stitches. Well half ten came and went with no sign of the Calstock crew, and due to fears that maybe they had run aground on an outcropped rock (apparently the skipper used to command HMS Nottingham), we gave them a well tuned send off to the theme tune from Titanic. Saltash next week, hopefully no one will be thrown out this time, see Yawl.
Saturday 20th July 2002 So we've had a few bad gigs recently, and I must admit I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity's ability to have a good time, but then............. Saltash Working Men's Club...... WAHEY!!!! What a gig, we got there and saw about ten people including the entertainment manager who was stressing out about how late we were leaving it before getting set-up. Looked disappointing but no sooner had we struck up the first few bars of Kingston Town than the punters came swarming out of the woodwork, they were everywhere from those out for a laugh to those celebrating a 50th birthday. I must admit it makes a band feel extremely proud when they get the type of welcome that we received, and from those first few bars right up to the duet finale we enjoyed it as much as the audience. What went wrong:- Marc has a new amp but has not quite worked it out yet.....TOO LOUD!!!!! The only other thing that went wrong, though I doubt anyone really minded, was our rendition of the Anniversary Waltz, don't get me wrong the music was perfect as usual, the problem was it wasn't their anniversary, it was their BIRTHDAY!! What went right:- The other people celebrating a birthday got the time honoured traditional Happy Birthday, with additional shouts compliments of Bill. Toward the end of the evening Marc entertained them with his version of the Madness classic One Step Beyond, and when he realised that the response was good he followed with D J Otiz's Hey Baby, it went so well he was asked to repeat it at the end. This is where we come to the duet finale that I mentioned earlier, I know its not meant to be a duet but a couple of lively, young (COUGH), ladies decided to get up on stage and join in, (wasn't it here that someone was banned for twenty five years for the same thing, oh yeah that was a bloke). Needlessly to say, the band earned their dosh this time and we might even get a few more gigs there as word spreads of our skilful enhancement to the well being of those who take time to listen to us, (sounds good if nothing else). |