Wreningham Village Hall, Dan’s Last Night

Jacqui accompanied me and we wended our way through Garboldisham to join the A11, so far so good. Came off at the Wymondham exit and ran into the same problem as last time - they have moved the road? So I improvised and fought my way across country to get to the hall about 6:30pm . I was just having a sandwich when the lady in charge opened the doors. Just as I was getting the gear in, Dan, Michele Harriet and Dave, Jenny and Steve rolled into the car park in convoy. We managed to get the gear in pretty quick while the ladies sat and nattered in the band dressing room with the heater on full blast. Set up went smoothly - I got Steve to help me set the snake up and Dan decided to use the hall lights which were good. Had a bit of a problem with hiss from the harmoniser at high levels which will need some investigation, but otherwise the PA sounded clear and penetrating. Did a bit of a run through and all seemed well. Anticipating a slow start I put the longer background music set on the machine to welcome people in. Had a beer and then we did a longish set 1 of just over an hour. We had a good on stage sound and the audience included a lot of modern jive dancers who just kept at it and kept the band going. Although there was a good balance out front, it was clear from reviewing the video that Dave was oversinging at times. Because it drives the mic into distortion the only real solution is for Dave to back off the mic when he “lets rip” vocally. Dan and I got a bit out of synch on the Shadows dance but it still got a good reception. Started set 2 with “I Feel Fine” and “Seasons of Gold” which both went well. Dave was backing off the mic in this set so front of house vocal balance was much better. Played through to the Elvis routine and Dan played the flute for the last time as we brought Elvis into the building. After Elvis we brought on Dave’s yodelling country mate to do a couple of rock’n’roll numbers: “Johnny B Goode and Sweet Little Sixteen” The key of E was not ideal for me but I set about providing a deep country / rockabilly riff to it and apart from the odd bits of musical misunderstanding we rocked through it nicely. Then we did the presentation to Dan and Michele as we wished them well for the future in the USA. Steve brought up the goods and Dave did a fine job of MC ing presenting a memorial shield, card and bottle of fizz to Dan and a flower basket to Michele (all organised by Jenny I think). Finished off with “Love is All Around”. After the raffle (which I think Jenny won a prize at) we got back on for the final set. Playing through from “500 Miles” to “Hi Ho” We had a full hour to play so brought in some of the rock’n’roll we skipped earlier and other odd numbers, before finishing with “Wonderful Tonight” . The Lady in Charge asked us to do one more and Dan chose his last song as “Be Bop A Lula” which we rattled out just fine. Some folks came up at the end and said how much they’d enjoyed it and what a great sound it was (not too loud). Then it was the long pack up. With all the gear aboard we had a final group hug then set off home. We got a few miles down the road before I got lost again and we ended up driving along by-roads ‘til I hit Garboldisham and could find the way home. Finally got in about 2:30am on a cold misty night.