The start of our run up to Xmas tour. I had enjoyed the couple of weeks off but it was time to get back to work! We had a practice in the week and passed a few Xmas songs as suitable for broadcast; and I intended to try out "Rockin All Over the World and The Road to Hell" at the gig if opportunity allowed. I checked the pub out on the internet and the pictures were full of jolly white haired country types enjoying nice looking meals / beers. Looked like 'our kind of gig'! Chris the bass rolled by to pick me up at 6:10 and we formed a duo convoy to the 3 Kings at Fornham where Chris the drum joined in a deft manoeuvre slipping in between us to make it a trio. Then it was a case of simply following Chris to Lakenheath and then a few miles further to Feltwell. Strange approaching a gig in the dark after the Summer - but it was relatively mild. Chris went in and sought direction as to the best way to enter and soon we were reversing up to the back yard to take the gear straight into the bar playing area. The bar was really busy though so we had to wend our way past folks to drop the gear off at the end wall. The management cleared the pool table to one side and that cleared the folks back to the bar itself. I must say that even at 7pm this lot looked 'well oiled'. Many of them were in wellies and ordering more rounds. As we got the gear in Chris the bass whispered 'its a gypsy shooting party'. 'Crikey' I thought, 'Gypsies, guns, drink, women = all the ingredients for a wild west fighting night!'
Actually there was quite a bit of room now the pool table was over to one side and set up went well. Chris restricted the lighting set up 'cos we were running everything off one 13 amp supply. I thought that low voltage might have made the PA a bit weak 'til I realised the Bose on my side wasn't even switched on - easily fixed! I ran the PA up to and into feedback but the suppressors were having to work hard to deal with the changing frequencies of a busy bar. Chris the bass got the drinks in while I made last minute adjustments and fielded requests for songs by 'Dexy's Midnight Runners'. Still, we had best part of 45 minutes to while away before show time and I hoped that maybe they will quieten down a bit as the drink takes hold. I put some Rod Stewart American Songbook tunes on the PA to relax things, but, fortunately, most of the arguments seemed to taking place outside the pub. As 9pm approached the two Chris's proposed just changing into white Ts and waistcoats, we'll stay in our jeans and trainers. I agreed - so we 'made it so'.
We came on just before 9pm to have a last PA check and tune, then opened up on the dot with "FBI". This got no reaction, so we carried on quickly with "Heartbeat". It must have been the atmosphere of 60's English countryside evoked by the TV series, but that got several of them up and dancing in their wellies. Non too steady on their feet either but the atmos was calmer. Singing was proving to be hard work 'cos the PA level before feedback was low, and this continued to plague us all night. Next song was "Smiling". My banter went straight over their heads, so I thought I'd not bother too much more with banter and just slick through the numbers. But I did try out "Rocking Around the Xmas Tree" (even though it was a bit early in the year!) Unfortunately I started it much too fast - but the crowd seemed to like the thrash version and weren't too fussed about dancing in time! We carried on with more rock'n'roll which kept them all up and dancing; so much so that we did all 3 songs rather than the usual perm any 2 from 3 of: "Rock Around Clock, Alright Mama, Blue Suede". Next up "Act Naturally and Ring of Fire" introducing the Chris's went well and engaged the crowd a little; but I signalled to skip "Eyes" and we proceeded into the "8 Days a Week - Can't Buy Love" Beatles sequence (without wigs) which again filled the floor with welly dancers. We lost them with the Searchers Medley, but they did join in by singing along in "Runaround Sue - All Shook Up". We were quite pleased at our efforts in crowd control as we finished the set with "Halfway to Paradise" with some gropey dancing and squiffy sing-a-long"
We took our break in the restaurant which was peaceful. But when we returned 10 minutes later the bar was much less rowdy. 'Aah' I spied - a buffet had arrived and the food and drink must be having a soporific effect. We set about a fairly normal set 2 and after about 20 minutes things were even calmer as the shooting party began leaving. They were replaced to some extent by some old boys who were appreciating the music a bit more than our set 1 crowd. Things were going well enough for me to call for Chris the bass to sing his debut of "Rockin All Over the World". His vocal was a bit rough but we definitely captured the rhythm and flavour of the song and he got a good reception. As we cruised to the set end with a rough and too fast version of "East Anglia Girls" I pondered what to finish with. I wasn't in the mood, and the venue wasn't right for, "Trilogy"; so I called for "Wicked Games". I thought we did a good effort on this. I was pleased with my vocal and we created a good closing atmosphere for this mixed audience. For in the last 10 minutes the old boys were drifting away and the bar was filling up with the under-25's!
We opened set 3 with "Great Balls" as normal and I took us straight into "Saw Her Standin There" and so we played on doing a continuous sequence of several numbers all the way through to "All Right Now". Somehow I forgot "Another Brick in the Wall" but I called for the debut of "Road to Hell" instead. This went surprisingly well with the younger audience and we played it fairly well. I was happy with my vocal but I need to sort the detail of the solo's out. But I think it was convincing enough. Strangely enough the young crowd had been asking for something by Lionel Ritchie? I was almost tempted to do a few bars of "3 times a lady", but strumming it while I was talking I couldn't even remember the first 3 chords, so I abandoned that and made my apologies to the requestor. We carried on with our run down to midnight with: "Hippy Shakes, Mustang Sally and Johnny B Goode! We had 5 minutes left and someone called for more so we set off into "Born to Be Wild". Something good happened at the first "Born to be Wild" - Chris the Drum didn't slow it down! But second time around he did? We finished in good order and I thought it was about the best version we had done to date. As we packed up I told Chris I was pleased with his playing of it, especially first time around, and he said he got lost and forgot to slow it. I said why not keep it like that in future? So fingers crossed for the next outing. Load up was tricky with people in the way but we finally got going about 12:40pm. Not a bad trip home on a dark, misty night. Chris the bass led and set off at speed and lost us somewhere near Lakenheath. I was home by 1:30am a bit sore with sciatica, but it is on the mend. Chris the drum texted the next day to say we should call Chris the bass 'Speedy Gonzalez' to reflect his driving style. I replied saying we should make it his theme tune! Reflecting: I wasn't too happy with the band sound on the night, but apparently, the pub manager was impressed with the band and its professionalism and is keen to have us back in 2015.
Actually there was quite a bit of room now the pool table was over to one side and set up went well. Chris restricted the lighting set up 'cos we were running everything off one 13 amp supply. I thought that low voltage might have made the PA a bit weak 'til I realised the Bose on my side wasn't even switched on - easily fixed! I ran the PA up to and into feedback but the suppressors were having to work hard to deal with the changing frequencies of a busy bar. Chris the bass got the drinks in while I made last minute adjustments and fielded requests for songs by 'Dexy's Midnight Runners'. Still, we had best part of 45 minutes to while away before show time and I hoped that maybe they will quieten down a bit as the drink takes hold. I put some Rod Stewart American Songbook tunes on the PA to relax things, but, fortunately, most of the arguments seemed to taking place outside the pub. As 9pm approached the two Chris's proposed just changing into white Ts and waistcoats, we'll stay in our jeans and trainers. I agreed - so we 'made it so'.
We came on just before 9pm to have a last PA check and tune, then opened up on the dot with "FBI". This got no reaction, so we carried on quickly with "Heartbeat". It must have been the atmosphere of 60's English countryside evoked by the TV series, but that got several of them up and dancing in their wellies. Non too steady on their feet either but the atmos was calmer. Singing was proving to be hard work 'cos the PA level before feedback was low, and this continued to plague us all night. Next song was "Smiling". My banter went straight over their heads, so I thought I'd not bother too much more with banter and just slick through the numbers. But I did try out "Rocking Around the Xmas Tree" (even though it was a bit early in the year!) Unfortunately I started it much too fast - but the crowd seemed to like the thrash version and weren't too fussed about dancing in time! We carried on with more rock'n'roll which kept them all up and dancing; so much so that we did all 3 songs rather than the usual perm any 2 from 3 of: "Rock Around Clock, Alright Mama, Blue Suede". Next up "Act Naturally and Ring of Fire" introducing the Chris's went well and engaged the crowd a little; but I signalled to skip "Eyes" and we proceeded into the "8 Days a Week - Can't Buy Love" Beatles sequence (without wigs) which again filled the floor with welly dancers. We lost them with the Searchers Medley, but they did join in by singing along in "Runaround Sue - All Shook Up". We were quite pleased at our efforts in crowd control as we finished the set with "Halfway to Paradise" with some gropey dancing and squiffy sing-a-long"
We took our break in the restaurant which was peaceful. But when we returned 10 minutes later the bar was much less rowdy. 'Aah' I spied - a buffet had arrived and the food and drink must be having a soporific effect. We set about a fairly normal set 2 and after about 20 minutes things were even calmer as the shooting party began leaving. They were replaced to some extent by some old boys who were appreciating the music a bit more than our set 1 crowd. Things were going well enough for me to call for Chris the bass to sing his debut of "Rockin All Over the World". His vocal was a bit rough but we definitely captured the rhythm and flavour of the song and he got a good reception. As we cruised to the set end with a rough and too fast version of "East Anglia Girls" I pondered what to finish with. I wasn't in the mood, and the venue wasn't right for, "Trilogy"; so I called for "Wicked Games". I thought we did a good effort on this. I was pleased with my vocal and we created a good closing atmosphere for this mixed audience. For in the last 10 minutes the old boys were drifting away and the bar was filling up with the under-25's!
We opened set 3 with "Great Balls" as normal and I took us straight into "Saw Her Standin There" and so we played on doing a continuous sequence of several numbers all the way through to "All Right Now". Somehow I forgot "Another Brick in the Wall" but I called for the debut of "Road to Hell" instead. This went surprisingly well with the younger audience and we played it fairly well. I was happy with my vocal but I need to sort the detail of the solo's out. But I think it was convincing enough. Strangely enough the young crowd had been asking for something by Lionel Ritchie? I was almost tempted to do a few bars of "3 times a lady", but strumming it while I was talking I couldn't even remember the first 3 chords, so I abandoned that and made my apologies to the requestor. We carried on with our run down to midnight with: "Hippy Shakes, Mustang Sally and Johnny B Goode! We had 5 minutes left and someone called for more so we set off into "Born to Be Wild". Something good happened at the first "Born to be Wild" - Chris the Drum didn't slow it down! But second time around he did? We finished in good order and I thought it was about the best version we had done to date. As we packed up I told Chris I was pleased with his playing of it, especially first time around, and he said he got lost and forgot to slow it. I said why not keep it like that in future? So fingers crossed for the next outing. Load up was tricky with people in the way but we finally got going about 12:40pm. Not a bad trip home on a dark, misty night. Chris the bass led and set off at speed and lost us somewhere near Lakenheath. I was home by 1:30am a bit sore with sciatica, but it is on the mend. Chris the drum texted the next day to say we should call Chris the bass 'Speedy Gonzalez' to reflect his driving style. I replied saying we should make it his theme tune! Reflecting: I wasn't too happy with the band sound on the night, but apparently, the pub manager was impressed with the band and its professionalism and is keen to have us back in 2015.
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