With all the fall out from Chris the drum's resignation I hadn't properly registered it was this Saturday we were playing the Tyneside. Chris had arranged for his old bandmate Glyn Taylor to dep this gig some time ago because Chris the drum was facing a hernia operation in the week preceding (as it happened the op' was postposed anyway) and we had exchanged notes on what he might sing, eventually coming up with about 5 numbers. Chris and I decided to travel together in my car and leave the lights and some spares behind to facilitate this. On the Friday before the gig I fuelled up and set about blowing up the tyres a bit to support the full load on the gig night. Shock horror!!! As I put the air nozzle on the left rear valve it sheared off and all the air came out the tyre. I thought it had looked strange and looking closely at the valve you could see it was made of alloy that was a little corroded but it had clearly been bent by something? Run flat tyres cost a lot more than normal and have longer pressure monitoring metal valves in them. So now, with no air in the tyre, it was time to test the run flat ability as I resolved to drive the car about a mile to the Ford garage that services it. Actually, it ran quite smoothly but I was very careful with it. They didn't have a spare valve at Fords but offered to order one for fitting Saturday morning. Seemed best so 'Yes' I said, 'I'll leave the car with you and walk home'.
Come the day I walked over to the garage and it was all done. They had also checked the tyre out and declared it safe. Big bill of over £100 for this incident though! When I got home I loaded my gear in leaving space at the back for Chris's stack. Had 40 winks sleep in the afternoon, then drove over to Chris's, loaded up, and set off North at about 5pm! We had a good run over and arrived at the club just after 6:30pm. Just got a couple of pieces in when up rolls Glyn in a big transit - we were quorate! (or triplicate?) Glyn is a nice chap, easy going and cheerful; and in good shape for early 60s. The club is as I remembered it - a modernised but small, awkwardly shaped stage and lots of lights (some of which flash brightly in your eyes like a torture scene). I suggested the bass stack go on the floor and the Bose on the edge of the stage inside it. This set up would have the advantage of avoiding that resonant corner - but I also put a couple of Bose bags in the corner to trap that low D resonance that seems to emanate from there. Actually, when we came to test the sound it was a lot better than I remember it - this set up is one to remember for this gig!
I didn't notice the make of Glyn's mic but it was much more sensitive that the SM58 we were used to and I had to set the pre-amp down quite a lot. Sound wise it was a little brighter than the Shure and he was well pleased with the foldback from the Bose. He also loved the sub-bass we added by miking up the bass drum. I put the muzak on and we sat down to have a beer and discuss the sequencing of numbers - no real surprises for him. We had about 20 minutes to go when up walks my old dep drummer singer colleague Martin. It was good to see him and we swapped a few 'war' stories 'til showtime. He said he could stay and see the first set - it would be useful to get his feedback on balance.
The club was relatively full as we took to the stage and opened up with the usual "FBI - Heartbeat - Smilin". Glyn did a fine job; maybe driving us along a tad faster than normal (a bit like Ian) but a good, full and dependable sound. Playing with a new drummer can sometimes throw your timing a little because all the little cues you establish with the regular guy are slightly different, but Glyn settled in nicely and I didn't make any noticeable errors as we processed through the normal set. He had offered to sing "Runaround Sue" towards the end and we shifted it up to C to accommodate him; and he did a great job. I was able to get some interesting, harmonised 'bunda hit' backings in. Actually it went so well I think I'll leave it in C in future. I got the audience doing some answerbacks in "All Shook Up" and was looking to end the set with "Wonder of You" as a sing-a-long. But Chris advised we were ahead of schedule and needed another number, so I quickly called for "Be Bop A Lula" and we bashed that out before the sing-a-long finish with "Wonder of You" We had been getting mild applause all the way through and I think they were amused by the Beatle wigs and some of the banter; so I was pleased they sang along lustily with "Wonder" and gave us a good round of applause. We came off in good heart taking the opportunity to switch off a couple of the more annoying stage lights that had blinded me in the first set. Martin said the balance was excellent and then a few folks recognised me from the "Foot Tappers" and spoke about Dave Lemon. So our mood remained good as we returned for Set 2. The club had filled up some more in the break and was as full as I have ever seen it in many gigs there.
Glyn opened up with "Apache" at about the right pace (Chris tended to be a little slow in tempo on that one) and I took to the floor for a bit of a walk and listen to the band. Yep, no doubt about it, it was a fuller sound with Glyn and, playing at the right pace, made for more impact, even if the shads walk was more tricky to do. Sciatica is almost back to normal so no excuse there really. I had changed normal running order to pop "Tambourine Man" in next. And despite it being a mild mannered song it got a surprisingly good round of applause at the end. Next up was "Daydream Believer" to start some sing-a-long. No problems with pace here, Glyn was spot on and it swang nicely as the audience joined in on the chorus's. We moved quickly into "Sweet Caroline" our replacement for "Delilah". Chris starts the bass under my announcement and then we get going. Once again tempo was right and the crowd sang along and gave it a great reception. I took care announcing the next number to avoid a Cliff Richard reference and simply posed the question "Do You Wanna Dance?" I think Glyn misheard because he started with the drum beat to "Lets Dance" a la Chris Montez. No problem - I joined in on a few bars of guitar and forced it up to the right tempo - Chris and Glyn followed my lead and once I started singing he knew what we meant! It went very well after that and filled the floor - most gratifying. The following rock'n'roll sequence lost the dancers but it was high impact with "Move It" played tight'n'quick followed by "Summertime Blues" sang well by Glyn with me doing the bass answerbacks. We were getting very confident in each other as we got going with "Rip It Up". Unlike many drummers, Glyn understands the need to get what I call 'a jungle beat' going under the verses in this and he set a cracking pace as we got underway. It really swang though; but it was too fast for me to get my set piece guitar solo out in good order - and a little improvisation crept in. But we finished the whole song in good order. The audience had clearly enjoyed the excitement of the fast pace and gave it a rousing reception. Next was "Proud Mary into Bad Moon Rising". Maybe a bit faster than I am used to, I lost my way with some of the words in these but we did have some dancing going and I kept the sequence going by taking us straight into "Don't Stop" as we finished. We were heading down the home straight now as we got going with "Hot Love" We played it without error at the right pace and it filled the floor! A smooth transition up to "East Anglia Girls" followed and the dance floor filled some more as I did my 'Florida, Hawaii, California - East Anglia?' intro. Unfortunately I then forgot the first line of my parody and ended up singing California Girls until I remembered things. The chorus was a bit messy vocally but the tempo was great for the dancers and it was going down well with them. We finished in good order to a great reception. We still had over 5 minutes to do so I set about "American Trilogy" in a leisurely way. Glyn, initially a little confused, was prompted by Chris and settled into appropriate military snare work after the first section and we progressed without any problems through to the 'Hush Baby' section. I fluffed a line in this but we were in good order for the flute solo and then Glyn followed us through the big ending quite well. It certainly was well received by the crowd and the fluffed line was certainly due to missing aural cues from the normal drummer. I was pleased to have done it but was glad of a few minutes off to recover from the effort. In the break a chap who had been enjoying listening and watching the show complimented us and told us some tales of going to places like the Marquee in the 60s. I was able to relate to this 'cos I occasionally went to gigs there as a teenager to watch bands such as 'Canned Heat' and 'Yes'.
Set 3 started well with "Great Balls" and "Saw Her Standing There". I skipped "Dance the Night Away" and announced we had been requested to do a slowie "Albatross". I was surprised that no-one came up to dance it but they did look appreciative. I skipped a verse and as we came to the final section, a chap emerged from the crowd to tell me that Tony Blackburn had been on radio today to say this was no 4 in the charts on the same day in 1969. As we finished to good applause I realised that I had held a conversation with this chap while leaving my fingers on autopilot to play this instrumental. I had impressed myself! Next I invited Glyn to sing one of his vocal choices: "Pretty Woman". We got underway a tad faster than our usual pace but it did energise the dancers and I think that will be similar with Ian. I was able to add the hi harmony here and there to Glyn's lead but there were also the odd hiccups where the words or cues were not as normally expected. Then we were into the dancey sequence starting with "Saturday Night at the Movies". As we came to the final verse of "Come on Over" a lady came up and asked if we would do 'Happy Birthday' for Dee's daughter "Helen" 'Of course' I said noting that we had continued playing and the band had just softened and followed me while I held this conversation before smoothly resuming the final verse. After 50 years I am finally getting to do this job in my sleep! So we did Helen's birthday. I tried to rock it up with a second verse with mixed success but Helen (a downs syndrome teen ) was pleased and charming - however, I could see the first signs she was starting to become a little over excited. The show progressed well through 'classics' like "Alright Now - Hi Ho Silver - Shakin All Over" and at 11:20 I announced "Johnny B Goode" as the last number. This went down very well and with Helen's insistence on 7 more encores leading the crowd, we did a couple more encores with "Hippy Shakes and Born to Be Wild" to finish about 11:35. We'd still be playing now if it was up to Helen but we called it a night and did a bit of glad handing to folks that had enjoyed the show. All in all a very good night I thought. After pack, load and goodbyes to Glyn who had done a great job, Chris and I set off on the long journey home. Fortunately uneventful and good visibility - we had a good run getting to Bury St Eds at 1:45 after a 90 minute run.
Come the day I walked over to the garage and it was all done. They had also checked the tyre out and declared it safe. Big bill of over £100 for this incident though! When I got home I loaded my gear in leaving space at the back for Chris's stack. Had 40 winks sleep in the afternoon, then drove over to Chris's, loaded up, and set off North at about 5pm! We had a good run over and arrived at the club just after 6:30pm. Just got a couple of pieces in when up rolls Glyn in a big transit - we were quorate! (or triplicate?) Glyn is a nice chap, easy going and cheerful; and in good shape for early 60s. The club is as I remembered it - a modernised but small, awkwardly shaped stage and lots of lights (some of which flash brightly in your eyes like a torture scene). I suggested the bass stack go on the floor and the Bose on the edge of the stage inside it. This set up would have the advantage of avoiding that resonant corner - but I also put a couple of Bose bags in the corner to trap that low D resonance that seems to emanate from there. Actually, when we came to test the sound it was a lot better than I remember it - this set up is one to remember for this gig!
I didn't notice the make of Glyn's mic but it was much more sensitive that the SM58 we were used to and I had to set the pre-amp down quite a lot. Sound wise it was a little brighter than the Shure and he was well pleased with the foldback from the Bose. He also loved the sub-bass we added by miking up the bass drum. I put the muzak on and we sat down to have a beer and discuss the sequencing of numbers - no real surprises for him. We had about 20 minutes to go when up walks my old dep drummer singer colleague Martin. It was good to see him and we swapped a few 'war' stories 'til showtime. He said he could stay and see the first set - it would be useful to get his feedback on balance.
The club was relatively full as we took to the stage and opened up with the usual "FBI - Heartbeat - Smilin". Glyn did a fine job; maybe driving us along a tad faster than normal (a bit like Ian) but a good, full and dependable sound. Playing with a new drummer can sometimes throw your timing a little because all the little cues you establish with the regular guy are slightly different, but Glyn settled in nicely and I didn't make any noticeable errors as we processed through the normal set. He had offered to sing "Runaround Sue" towards the end and we shifted it up to C to accommodate him; and he did a great job. I was able to get some interesting, harmonised 'bunda hit' backings in. Actually it went so well I think I'll leave it in C in future. I got the audience doing some answerbacks in "All Shook Up" and was looking to end the set with "Wonder of You" as a sing-a-long. But Chris advised we were ahead of schedule and needed another number, so I quickly called for "Be Bop A Lula" and we bashed that out before the sing-a-long finish with "Wonder of You" We had been getting mild applause all the way through and I think they were amused by the Beatle wigs and some of the banter; so I was pleased they sang along lustily with "Wonder" and gave us a good round of applause. We came off in good heart taking the opportunity to switch off a couple of the more annoying stage lights that had blinded me in the first set. Martin said the balance was excellent and then a few folks recognised me from the "Foot Tappers" and spoke about Dave Lemon. So our mood remained good as we returned for Set 2. The club had filled up some more in the break and was as full as I have ever seen it in many gigs there.
Glyn opened up with "Apache" at about the right pace (Chris tended to be a little slow in tempo on that one) and I took to the floor for a bit of a walk and listen to the band. Yep, no doubt about it, it was a fuller sound with Glyn and, playing at the right pace, made for more impact, even if the shads walk was more tricky to do. Sciatica is almost back to normal so no excuse there really. I had changed normal running order to pop "Tambourine Man" in next. And despite it being a mild mannered song it got a surprisingly good round of applause at the end. Next up was "Daydream Believer" to start some sing-a-long. No problems with pace here, Glyn was spot on and it swang nicely as the audience joined in on the chorus's. We moved quickly into "Sweet Caroline" our replacement for "Delilah". Chris starts the bass under my announcement and then we get going. Once again tempo was right and the crowd sang along and gave it a great reception. I took care announcing the next number to avoid a Cliff Richard reference and simply posed the question "Do You Wanna Dance?" I think Glyn misheard because he started with the drum beat to "Lets Dance" a la Chris Montez. No problem - I joined in on a few bars of guitar and forced it up to the right tempo - Chris and Glyn followed my lead and once I started singing he knew what we meant! It went very well after that and filled the floor - most gratifying. The following rock'n'roll sequence lost the dancers but it was high impact with "Move It" played tight'n'quick followed by "Summertime Blues" sang well by Glyn with me doing the bass answerbacks. We were getting very confident in each other as we got going with "Rip It Up". Unlike many drummers, Glyn understands the need to get what I call 'a jungle beat' going under the verses in this and he set a cracking pace as we got underway. It really swang though; but it was too fast for me to get my set piece guitar solo out in good order - and a little improvisation crept in. But we finished the whole song in good order. The audience had clearly enjoyed the excitement of the fast pace and gave it a rousing reception. Next was "Proud Mary into Bad Moon Rising". Maybe a bit faster than I am used to, I lost my way with some of the words in these but we did have some dancing going and I kept the sequence going by taking us straight into "Don't Stop" as we finished. We were heading down the home straight now as we got going with "Hot Love" We played it without error at the right pace and it filled the floor! A smooth transition up to "East Anglia Girls" followed and the dance floor filled some more as I did my 'Florida, Hawaii, California - East Anglia?' intro. Unfortunately I then forgot the first line of my parody and ended up singing California Girls until I remembered things. The chorus was a bit messy vocally but the tempo was great for the dancers and it was going down well with them. We finished in good order to a great reception. We still had over 5 minutes to do so I set about "American Trilogy" in a leisurely way. Glyn, initially a little confused, was prompted by Chris and settled into appropriate military snare work after the first section and we progressed without any problems through to the 'Hush Baby' section. I fluffed a line in this but we were in good order for the flute solo and then Glyn followed us through the big ending quite well. It certainly was well received by the crowd and the fluffed line was certainly due to missing aural cues from the normal drummer. I was pleased to have done it but was glad of a few minutes off to recover from the effort. In the break a chap who had been enjoying listening and watching the show complimented us and told us some tales of going to places like the Marquee in the 60s. I was able to relate to this 'cos I occasionally went to gigs there as a teenager to watch bands such as 'Canned Heat' and 'Yes'.
Set 3 started well with "Great Balls" and "Saw Her Standing There". I skipped "Dance the Night Away" and announced we had been requested to do a slowie "Albatross". I was surprised that no-one came up to dance it but they did look appreciative. I skipped a verse and as we came to the final section, a chap emerged from the crowd to tell me that Tony Blackburn had been on radio today to say this was no 4 in the charts on the same day in 1969. As we finished to good applause I realised that I had held a conversation with this chap while leaving my fingers on autopilot to play this instrumental. I had impressed myself! Next I invited Glyn to sing one of his vocal choices: "Pretty Woman". We got underway a tad faster than our usual pace but it did energise the dancers and I think that will be similar with Ian. I was able to add the hi harmony here and there to Glyn's lead but there were also the odd hiccups where the words or cues were not as normally expected. Then we were into the dancey sequence starting with "Saturday Night at the Movies". As we came to the final verse of "Come on Over" a lady came up and asked if we would do 'Happy Birthday' for Dee's daughter "Helen" 'Of course' I said noting that we had continued playing and the band had just softened and followed me while I held this conversation before smoothly resuming the final verse. After 50 years I am finally getting to do this job in my sleep! So we did Helen's birthday. I tried to rock it up with a second verse with mixed success but Helen (a downs syndrome teen ) was pleased and charming - however, I could see the first signs she was starting to become a little over excited. The show progressed well through 'classics' like "Alright Now - Hi Ho Silver - Shakin All Over" and at 11:20 I announced "Johnny B Goode" as the last number. This went down very well and with Helen's insistence on 7 more encores leading the crowd, we did a couple more encores with "Hippy Shakes and Born to Be Wild" to finish about 11:35. We'd still be playing now if it was up to Helen but we called it a night and did a bit of glad handing to folks that had enjoyed the show. All in all a very good night I thought. After pack, load and goodbyes to Glyn who had done a great job, Chris and I set off on the long journey home. Fortunately uneventful and good visibility - we had a good run getting to Bury St Eds at 1:45 after a 90 minute run.
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