I put my music on and stepped out into the hall. The room is absorbent of harsh side and ceiling reflections and there is quite a pronounced bass lift around 50-100hz. This is particularly noticeable on the stage, and it resulted in us turning down the bass drum later. But it also gives the music a low volume spread with a full sounding quality out in the hall – ‘loudness’ is the term beat boxes use to beef up the bottom (and top) and it is a similar effect to that. And as I thought, the natural reverb from the high ceiling complements the vocals nicely. Nige got the beers in and we had a bit of a chat about reading audiences and improving the show flow. I suggested that we set it all up in sequences of 2-5 numbers; so we have about 30 sequences in the book rather than lots of individual songs. Daves’ mate Terry and wife arrived. Then Dave spoke to David the concert secretary about times and he said he wanted an 8pm start with a stop at 9pm for bingo. Then he mentioned they had an extension over the bank holiday and he asked us to play on to 12:15am on the night - he would see us alright; nudge, nudge! We got changed into the red’n’black in the TV room on the other side of the building and then we had a long walk back to take to the stage at 8pm as agreed. We had been briefed that this audience liked to dance and they particularly liked a ‘barn dance’ We made the usual start through to the Everlys - with the banter controls set to low. People were up and dancing from the off and the floor filled when we did the first slowey: “Only You”. So much so that we elected to follow up with “Rainin in my Heart” to keep them going. After that Dave led us into a country barn dance sequence starting with “Send MeThe Pillow” and ending with “Crystal Chandeliers” – all improvised in C. The audience responded by dancing round in a circle arm in arm (barn dance style) and we got a great round of applause for doing that. Playing on: we turned the banter controls up a bit, Sir Cliff (with wig and glasses) came and went and we got a couple of ladies up to do the Shadows’ walk and that went down real well. We cruised to the end of the set through some rock’n’roll and ended with “3 Times a Lady” which filled the floor with waltzers. Had a long break while the bingo was on and coming back on for set 2 I got the boys to start with “Let There Be Drums” and “Eyes at Me For” – The drum solo got a great response and we had a lotta sing’a’long with the Checkmates hit. As we struck up with the Searchers I sensed immediately the pace was right, and it must have been because we soon had the floor full of 60’s dancers and that also meant a great reception for “Do It Again” and the Eagles which followed on. Changing back to 6 string we skipped “Alice” and went on to “Halfway”. Dave misread my intention to get Nigel wigged up like a girl in the middle 8 and so we had a very confused middle 8 restart. Next up was Elvis who was welcomed by a enthusiastic crowd clapping him in. “The Wonder of You” went down so well that we had to play “Just Can’t Help Falling in Love” and that filled the floor with slow dancers. We carried on with “Sweet Caroline”, “Shine” and the “Bay Cities” getting a great response all the way. Then we wrapped up with “Love is all Around” to take a break about 10:45pm. The night was young as we resumed at 11pm with the “Hollies” (a bit late in the night to be singing so high!) and then we pressed on through the party dance from “Amarillo” to “All Right Now” (which Nige cleverly introduced by asking if the audience was alright now---!) A group of girls applauded my solo – fantastic! The dance floor was full, the crowd were very appreciative and all was well with our world. We then did “Unchained” and “American Trilogy” to bring the house down. Bringing a change of pace: Terry came up to guest sing “Jambalaya”, “Johnny Be Good” and “Sweet Little 16”. As the night rolled on we picked and mixed from our reserves repertoire; including: “Dance the Night Away”, “Crazy Little Thing”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Hippy Hippy Shakes”, ““You Really Got Me” and a rockin’ improvised version of “Mony Mony” (thanks to Nigel) – that really had the crowd rocking! We ran into the “Pretty Woman” end sequence a bit early ‘cos I got times mixed up, but we had a bit of fun padding the set out with “Great Balls” and “Saw Her Standing There” before finally wrapping up with “Wonderful Tonight”. Overall it had been a great night for the band and many people were effusive in their appreciation. We didn’t have to pack the gear up, just tidied things away on the stage a bit. But I did take my guitars home getting in about 2am.
