The Tyneside at Sheringham

I was a bit tired from a heck of a week dealing with the fall out from our central heating upgrade – still it seems to be working now! We set off about 2pm because Jacqui was accompanying me to East Runton to join in a surprise birthday party for Alyson. Also, on the way, we were to call into Cromer to deliver a quilt made by one of J's quilting colleagues. Weather was a bit stormy but we arrived at Michele's at 4pm, just in time to see Harriet setting off to an end of term party. Then we went round next door to have tea with Steve and Alyson and meet their new Norfolk terrier pups, Alyson had no idea there was a surprise brewing. I got to the gig at 6:30pm and had most of the gear in before Dave arrived. Nige rolled up shortly after and because of space considerations, we set up a bit differently. I took Dave's vocal into my Bose and Nige took the bass drum into his. We had just got things working when Nige introduced us to Brian from Midnight Hour. He was playing at the Social Club across the road and had looked in to say hello – he was very interested in the Bose gear. Demoing the gear to Brian gave a bit of a sound check, but the place was filling up so we didn't do a proper sound check (with hindsight we should have done!). Jen arrived with quite a party from the extended family. We had a beer and then Dave and Nige worked the room while I had a rest. We got changed into the all black (with white ties) and hit the stage a few minutes after 8:30pm to open with “Foot Tapper”. We had agreed to keep the volume down a bit to curb the boomyness we had experienced on previous visits and the first couple of numbers sounded OK on stage. But as we progressed into “Heartbeat” I was missing the bass in the on-stage mix and looked round to see Nigel struggling with his controls. He never really got it right and the on-stage sound remained bass light throughout the gig. Conscious that it might be me creating the resonance I reduced the bass boost on the guitar at the earliest opportunity but all that succeeded in doing was distracting me into making a string of minor cock ups. Interestingly, we had a much bigger and more enthusiastic audience than usual. There was plenty of applause and sing-a-long as we progressed through “Good Luck Charm into the Everlys and Beautiful Body” In line with my strategy of bringing it forward in the show, I decided to call the Beatles next. We had a quick wig banter and then played through the medley at a surprisingly laid back pace. The harmonies seemed to be working well and for the most part I got the guitar right. Maybe it could have been a little bit bit more together but as we finished with the strong vocal 'yeah' chord we got a great round of applause for it – best yet for this, so we must have been doing something right! 9 out of 10 boys, just need to play it a bit more together. Flushed with that bit of success I called for the Buddy Holly medley next. The glasses banter was a bit hurried and we hurriedly got under way with “That'll Be the Day”. But, pleasant surprise - this was played at a reasonable pace. As we sasheyed into “Peggy Sue” we took the pace up a notch, played it well and progressed into “Oh Boy” in good order. I forgot which way round Nige and I sing the backing (it should be me hi and Nige lo) so the backing was a bit uncoordinated, but we got through the verses and guitar solo quite well and we were soon cruising down the home straight with the 'umm diddly um dums' where, unfortunately, Dave forgot to to do the audience replies and coda repeat. Still at least we all finished wrong together. Once again we got a good round of applause and Nige scored the win when Dave asked: 'so who was the best Buddy?' 'The bass player of course!' replied a wag in the crowd! After an OK ish “How Long”, Dave followed on with “Rock Around the Clock”. Not a bad call; we a had a couple up and dancing, but not enough to continue into “Summertime Blues”. So I called for the “Hollies” next. This went OK and earned a good round of applause. Next up was Cliff and the Shadows. We had a couple of gents come up and do the Shadows walk which made it a highlight for the audience, who gave it up loud and proud! While I was out front I could hear the bass a bit better, but definitely not as full as usual. However, the hour was up, it was time to finish. We chose “3 Times a Lady” during which a few came up to dance and we played it well enough to finish on a high with a good round of applause. I must report that Dave was having a good night on his banter, which was well timed and projected on the whole. The club was trying out bingo in the interval and they soon got a good bingo vibe going from a fullish house. I wanted to resume with the drum routine, but Brian from Midnight Hour had popped back over in their break and Dave was a bit nervy about performing in front of another drummer, so we started with the Searchers through to the Beach Boys. Although there wasn't much dance action, we got a good response from the crowd at the end; and later Dave got a report from one of the boys from Hustler that the harmonies 'were fantastic'. Brian had gone by now, so we did “Let There be Drums” to a great response and followed up with “Eyes” which got a great sing-a-long going. Then it was time to introduce Nigel on “What I Say”. We got the beginning a bit righter this time; I confused Nige in the middle solo's but next time I'll get it right!! After a well received but slightly fast Eagles, we did “Halfway” which they sang along to nicely, then it was time for the expensive guest artiste as Elvis Lemmon emerged to do the “Wonder of You”. Both this and “Sweet Caroline” went very well with an increasingly enthusiastic crowd. So I took a risk and whipped them into a frenzy about their 'tartan youth' as we started the “Bay Cities”. On cue the floor filled and apart from a brainstorm where I forgot the words to “Bye Bye Baby” we played the sequence through pretty enthusiastically ourselves. Apparently Nige ran out off puff on “Shang a Lang” and Dave had to take over. Unfortunately the floor was clearing as Dave called “Shine” next. Good call I thought, but my lack of practice in the week soon led to some problems with muffed chords. Still the audience were singing along nicely even if they weren't dancing. I called for “Love is All Around” to finish; but from the off I had some problems with setting the acoustic guitar sound which distracted me into cock up territory again! Still; we had quite a few dancing by the time we finished so without any fuss we all played by feel to extend the end by a few bars. After the bingo we only had about 35 minutes to do. We opened with “500 Miles” which got them singing and stamping, then as we swang into “Amarillo” the floor filled and stayed full until they ran out off puff as we got into the “Locomotion”. “Unchained” soon had the dancers out in force again, so we did the long version. I made a bad call with “Mony Mony” which they weren't up for but Nigel bashed it out courageously and then it was time to wrap up with “Pretty Woman” and encore with “Johnny B Goode”. Even after the encore we left them calling for 'more'. It had been a successful night for the club, but less so for the band. I think we all felt the sound was poor. But comments we got from people suggested that it was fine. As we packed up I formulated a plan for a different amplification plan next time. Basically, I suggest we put my Bose at the back in the corner to act as a PA and put all three mics through it. Then Nige and I would use conventional bass and guitar rigs. I think its well worth a try! As we set off on our separate ways, I remembered to go and pick Jacqui up from East Runton. They had had a great surprise party but J and Michele weren't tipsy at all – how do they manage that? So I loaded J aboard and set off home via Norwich. I was pretty exhausted and needed 2 colas to keep me going. We got in just after 2am and we were both tired most of the next day. So, not a lot of tidying up after the gas man was achieved.