Toftwood Social

With Jacqui away I had to make my own sandwich pack up, but having made it I decided to eat it there and then. That made me a bit late getting away, and with some fairly slow traffic en route to Thetford I pushed on speedwise to Watton and beyond. Despite a wrong turn into Stone Lane (the club is on the other side of the road!) I rolled into the yard at about 6:55pm to find Dave'n'Jen and Nige parked up waiting for the club to open. I got out the car said hello and the the club door opened – magic! The stage is on the left immediately inside the door so it was a quick load in. Set up was easy on the deep stage, Dave and I were a bit cramped for space because of the awkward shape at the front of the stage but there was plenty of room for the 12 string at the back so I set that up. We didn't bother with a sound check but I ran through some points with Nige and Dave – Dave showed me his 50's click sticks for “All Right Mama” and Nige and I walked through the solo to “Saw Her Standing There” Dave did a bit of glad handing while Nige got the beers in again. Terry and Maureen Edwards arrived in support with a few friends so we had to prise Dave away to get changed into the black with white tie. Poor Nige, he isn't happy with his black shirt which is looking a bit worn after several thousand gigs – I can see a trip to M&S mens fashion looming! The room was about 60% full as we took to the stage at 8:30pm. Dave did a bit of an introduction of the band then we made the usual start with “Foot Tapper into Just One Look”. I thought the on-stage sound was OK and the sound out front must have been good, because we got good applause. We carried on through a typical set 1 start through to the Beatles. I thought we played that well and once again it earned enthusiastic applause in its new early spot in the set. We followed up with “How Long”. I had thought this gig would be more about dancing but, although some people looked jiggy in their chairs, there was no dancing yet. But we were being received very well I thought. Next we did a fairly tight performance of “Seasons of Gold” with the banter and music going down very well. “Only You” was the mid-set slowey. I urged people to come up and have a romantic dance to the 'cod of love' (Dave) and we got quite a few takers. The dancers also enjoyed the banter and the mid-song stop for Dave to be wound up to get the big note. After that I made a judgement call that rock'n'roll would go well, so we set off into “Rock Around the Clock” into “Summertime Blues” and filled the floor nicely. I decided to follow up with “All Right Mama” to give Dave's clickety sticks a go, but by then the dancers were tiring and soon thinned out. We were playing it well enough but I decided to cut it short and get back to entertainment with “The Hollies”. We wrapped up bang on 9:30pm with “I Believe” which was very well received. Playing the rock'n'roll meant that we still had Cliff and the Shads and Buddy Holly routines to work in so I was already thinking hard about what we would put into the 45 minutes we had for set 2 as we left the stage. Following good practice I turned off all the channels on the T1 mixer. After a 15 minute break we re-assembled for set 2. I switched on my mic and the guitar, but somehow failed to switch the drum mic on. We decided to open with the Searchers with me on 12 string. The medley was very well received but no dancing, so I asked Dave to skip “Do It Again” and we did “Eyes at Me For” with added banter and sing'a'long. It seemed to go well with the audience so continuing the banter I called for our resident child prodigy (Nigel) to do a tribute to Jacko with “Rocking Robin”. We got the start of this better, but it was a bit loose thereafter. It will tighten up as we continue to play it. I called for the Eagles next and that brought a few dancers up. I thought we played and sang the sequence well and it was very well received by the crowd. I made a bit of a bad call to do “Alice” next. For some reason the audience didn't want to play along much with this one and we only got some half hearted answer backs. “Halfway” went much better and Nige and Dave did a good girly wig routine in the middle 8. Then Dave took his time to make a great appearance as Elvis doing “Wonder of You”. We followed up quickly with “Sweet Caroline” and this filled the floor so then Dave made a good call to play “Do it Again” to keep the dancers going. That took us to after 10:30pm = time for the members raffle! So we took a break and changed shirts. So far so good; the band had been going down well and people reported a classy sound. That is apart from one of Dave's mates, who noticed I had forgotten to switch the drum mic on at the start of the set! During the break I was still pondering how to fit in Buddy Holly and the Shadows walk, but by the time the concert sec announced the band to play again, Dave and Nige were only just struggling out of the dressing room, so I started the riff for 500 miles and they eventually joined me and we did a bit of Scotch banter. No one came up to dance but they clapped along, so we announced “Amarillo” as the one to come up and have a dance to. This was only partly effective - only a few came up for a dance. We carried on into “Hey Baby” and got some good sing-a-long going, but still not much dancing. I was beginning to feel a bit rough at this point. I felt somewhat drained of energy and I was pleased when Dave brought Terry Edwards up to do a few songs starting with “Johnny B Goode” and then “Take These Chains” into “Lend Me the Pillow” and “He'll Have to Go”. Surprisingly, this all went down very well. Dave continued the country feel with “Your Cheating Heart” and then called for “Love is All Around”. By then I was feeling quite weak and found it hard to concentrate. Also, I couldn't get the guitar sound right and I was making quite few cock ups. Dave and Nige soldiered on with the banter and we may have done some other numbers but I can't remember too well (it turned out it was a disastrous outing on guitar for the Quo Medley). Anyway I do remember we did “Unchained” as a finisher, with Dave doing a big sign off for the band. But we got such a great response with shouts for 'more', that the concert sec' asked for an encore. We duly swang into “Pretty Woman” and then rounded proceedings off with “Wonderful Tonight”. Not often I say this, but I was pleased to finish. Pack up was a bit slow on my part, but eventually we were ready for load up. The boys reported it was raining quite heavily, so when I went out to unlock the car, I grabbed an old curtain and put it round my shoulders to keep the rain off. Nige and Dave thought this was hilarious! I was quite tired on the way home, but the next day I felt fine and we took Claire's friend Suzzie and Rocky out for lunch at Cannons; a couple of pints later I felt back to normal! Reflecting on things, I learned some lessons at Toftwood – don't obsess about dancing (I'm usually good at that!), slowies are sometimes all an audience of a certain age wants to do (I'm usually good at spotting that!) and we always have the option to play the country card at this kind of gig.

Seacroft Caravan Park East Runton

Dave asked us to arrive early so we could set up before Marc Buller did his bit with the Bingo. I left at 4pm, thinking I might call into Dan's for a cup of tea first. Got to the outskirts of Thetford in reasonable time in busy traffic but then I ran into a long tailback from, what I heard on the radio was an accident at the cross roads. So I did a U turn and made my way through town over the nun's bridges eventually crossing the A11 to take the A134 through the forest. After that things went fairly well, but it was about 5:50 pm as I arrived in East Runton, so I elected to go straight to the gig, getting through the barrier to unload just before 6pm. Nige wasn't much later and we had all our gear in before Dave rolled up with Laura aboard to assist as roadette. Dave was in much better health than the last gig thank goodness, but he was still finding it hard work to move his kit about. Still we got set up in good order by 7pm. The boys reminded me to bring the Fender 12 string in from the car and I set it up in some space behind Dave even though I could see it would be tricky to change over when we got going. In the end Mark decided to do the bingo in our break between 2 one hour sets, so we had half an hour to while away over a beer sitting outside in the sun - yes I did have my hat on! Gordon arrived in support and to have a chat with Mark the agent. We got changed into the red'n'black and hit the stage in good time. Mark did a good bantery introduction and then we were off with “Foot Tapper” and the short “Just One Look”. A fair on stage sound I thought, but maybe a tad loud? However, we got a good round of applause from a responsive audience so Nige and I introduced the band with the bit of banter where we forget to introduce Dave, this went well. We played on through to the Everlys and “Beautiful Body” with the banter controls set to high. Dave was timing his banter a lot better and we got quite a situation comedy atmosphere going between the three of us. No dancing, but I was surprised at how attentive the audience was – lots of response to the songs and banter. After “How Long”, which I messed up the guitar part, we picked our way through the medleys. First up - a good attempt at the Beatles I thought. The 4 Seasons was fine. The Buddy Holly medley was a bit ragged, but the 'wearing the glasses' banter went well and we got some audience answer backs in “Oh Boy”! Next we did an entertaining version of “Only You” with Nige and myself winding Dave up for the big note in the last verse. We brought the set to a conclusion with an OK job of the Hollies and then wrapped up with “I Believe” to a big round of applause. Mark outroduced us so it all looked very professional.













Mark set about the bingo with gusto, but the highlight for us was the beautiful Debbie doing the checks of the winners cards. As the bingo came to an end we got changed into the white'n'black so we were ready to take to the stage for Mark to introduce Dave (and us) doing “Let There Be Drums”. Dave took off with a different rhythm that he had planned to do. It seemed a bit fast to me and when we came to the run ups I knew it was a bit fast! But it went down a bomb with the audience. At this point I called for "Rockin Robin" as a dedication to Michael Jackson. The beginning needs some attention, but this song is quite popular with the audience so it might be worth some tidying up. Next we got Sir Cliff out to do the “Young Ones” and then followed up with a Shadows walk with a lady from Manchester and a young fellow playing the rubber guitars. This was a bit uncoordinated but very entertaining as I improvised some little jumps - and it brought the house down. We carried on with the Searchers and Eagles delivering a high quality sound that again earned appreciative applause. Next up was a well bantered audience sing-a-long of “Halfway to East Runton”. We did a great middle 8 stop when Nige did a gruff answer back and amused the audience by getting both Nigel and Dave wigged up to do the girly harmonies! Elvis arrived in the building and was followed by Neil Diamond. I called for “Shine” next and gave it a good intro about us advertising for Morrisons. Well the lady who had done the Shadows walk piped up enthusiastically that she had seen 'Take That' last week and we'd better do a good job! As soon as we started she and several other ladies got up to dance. We did a fair performance of it – not as sweet as the previous gig in the open air. We swang into “Amarillo, Hey Baby and the Twist” next to keep the dancy sing-a-long atmos going. There was a bit of confusion over the choice of slowey to follow up. I announced “Unchained” and Dave got set for “Love is all Around”; so there was a bit of a gap while I found “Unchained Melody” in the book for Dave. When we finally got underway, several came up for a romantic dance, and Mark came over ready to close the evening. We got such a great reception with many shouts for 'more', that Mark asked us to encore. We duly set off with “Pretty Woman” and then followed up with “Saw Her Standing There”. Nige and I had a misunderstanding over the guitar solo length again – we'll need to walk that through sometime! But as we came to the end we still had shouts for more. So Mark asked us for one more. We obliged with “Wonderful Tonight” and that calmed everything down. Dave held back on the middle 8 vocals nicely, but that exposed my croaky voice, so I'll need to give it more 'oomph' next time. That rounded off the night nicely. Mark was well pleased with the evening and our performance in particular. Pack up went smoothly and I was on the road for just after midnight getting in at 1:30am, a bit tired over the last 10 miles. Jacqui had to be up early the next day for a charabanc outing to Hampton Court.

North Walsham Church Fete

Had to be up early for an 11 am arrival. I left at 9:30 am and, after an uneventful drive over, arrived at 10:55 to find Dave parked up and beginning his unload. It was already getting warm and humid and although there was no sign of rain, there were stormy clouds in the sky. Dave didn't seem too well. He couldn't get his breath; blaming it on the humid conditions. So I helped him up with the drums to the band tent. It had been set up closer to the shed this year and that worked better for all with easier access to the electrics, a more panoramic sound field for the band and the stalls were a bit further away which would give them a better 'trading volume'. Unfortunately the tent was on a bit of slope at my end and I ended up shoring up the Bose with some old mats and amp covers. I just about had it set when Nige arrived. He'd been for an unplanned dip in the North Sea at Scratby – he'd got caught by a big wave while walking the baby on the beach. I had asked for a simple set up, no FX rack, no strings and no 12 string; so things were soon working. We tested out individual sounds; I even played a bit on Nige's Hofner so he could have a listen out front of field. Nice bass guitar; it hangs well, fast action neck with a very natural feel, excellent string balance and the way I played it with a bit of a pluck gave it a hint of string bass sound. Dave was still suffering as Jen, Laura, Julia, Valisha and several others from the extended family arrived. He sat in the shade looking pale surrounded by his women ministering drinks, jelly babys etc. Poor old boy, his blood sugar was way down and he felt dizzy. We were just contemplating what to do about the gig, but he did start to recover by showtime. After “Foot Tap and Just One Look” the plan was to do Happy Birthday to Angela (one of the organisers) and then carry on with an 'unusual' selection of easy listening material to exercise it. We agreed that banter and continuity was not important in this gig situation, so we would play it like a bunch of old jazzers - i.e. with little breaks between numbers. So after the usual start and the birthday we did “Beautiful Body”. The on-stage (or in tent) sound was great and we soon got used to just leaving the Bose echo on for announcements as people out front seemed to have no difficulty understanding us. The sun came out and people seemed to be enjoying the band. We picked and mixed through the set 1 type stuff airing: “Seasons of Gold, Rainin in My Heart, How Long, The Beatles and Buddy Holly and Hollies Medleys, What I Say and Rockin Robin”. We were in background music mode so weren't looking for applause, but every so often we'd get some reaction or see some of the ladies dancing. Also the ladies in the stalls were bopping to the golden oldies quite a bit. We got through the Beatles in good enough order and it was appreciated, there was a quite a ripple of applause at the end. The end of Buddy Holly's “Oh Boy” was curtailed again, but I think Dave now knows what to do! We had been playing for about 50 minutes as we did the “Young Ones” and I called for “Brown Eyed Girl”. This got off to a good start and I looked out to see Dan had arrived. Dave and I were so distracted by waving to passing people that we missed the cue for the bass solo – drat! But Nige kept it going and made us repeat the F chord until we could do the bass solo and resume the last verse in good order. Despite some slight mistakes we were doing well. The sound and togetherness of the band had been good to start but had been getting steadily better as we went on, particularly the vocals, and I was feeling confident as we wrapped up with “I Believe” without strings. I put a bit of echo on the guitar to compensate and we sang with a bit of passion to close the set to quite a ripple of applause. We took about 20 minutes break and caught up with Dan and the gang. Dave was feeling a lot better as we stepped up to do the second set. We opened with the Searchers through to the Beach Boys and then Dan's special request for “Blue Suede Shoes” so he could hear Nigel's innovative bass lines. I missed an opportunity to call a bass solo in that one! Dan had to go at that point so he came up to say cheerio and how good he thought the band was sounding. I got the boys to do “Walk Don't Wipe Out” next and I thought Dave played the Wipe Out sections the best I've ever seen him do it. He put quite a bit of variety into which toms he used and played the figures without fault. We did the Eagles next at a nice easy pace and again the harmonies were good. A lady came up and asked for some Billy Fury – so we did “Halfway” complete with comic break to fix the 'girly harmonies' in the middle 8; then, of course, we had to do “Wonder of You”; Dave still got the beginning 'ah ah ah ah' wrong – I'll have to spell that one out! Next we did “Shine”. We did this really well I thought and as we came to the 'shi---ne' line the harmonies were great, the band was together, the sun was shining and the audience was clearly impressed; it doesn't get much better than that - it was our Glastonbury moment! So we took a break for the auction which took about half an hour then we came back to play a few more numbers before signing off with “Hey Baby”. Job well done I thought, we got packed and loaded up by about 4:30pm and I was home for 6pm. Ms J had done a record brisk amble in her 'Race for Life' and all was well with the world.

The Oasis at Scratby

It had been quite hot in the week and the weather was a bit close as I set off just before 5pm. Despite some heavy rain on the approach to Norwich I had a fast run to Acle and then eased back. It was as I got within a mile of the coast that I encountered a coastal mist - not thick enough to count as a “sea fog”, but it did bring the temperature down a few degrees. I was first to arrive at 6:20pm and I had just got the door unlocked when Nigel arrived with his missus Vanita. They were staying in a chalet on site for few days seaside holiday with her daughter and baby. Dave'n'Jen turned up a few minutes later and we started the load in. The idea was to get set up before bingo at 7pm and the guitar and bass stuff were largely in place by then; I left my mic and FX pedals to one side to allow Angela to call the bingo from my side the stage. Dave continued to set up his drums much to her annoyance - but they made it up later! Then it was settle down for an hour or so while the bingo and children's entertainment was under way. I decided to have a lager shandy in the bar area behind a perspex screen that kept the noise down quite well. The gig was the fullest I have seen, there were about 100 in the club room with all ages represented. Chilly (from Skegness) was the DJ doing the kids stuff and he did a pretty good job I thought. After a while Dave came back with a round of drinks. I kidded him I had a few pints while I was watching and he was concerned whether I could stand up to play! About 9:20pm, off we went to changed into the red'n'white (I got my sparkly white tie on by mistake) for our first 45 minute spot. Chilly did a good intro while I got my mic stand and FX pedals in place and then we were off with “Foot Tapper” and the short version of “Just One look”. Not a bad on-stage sound and we got a good round of applause from the audience. We carried on with the usual stuff through to the Everly's and then I announced our tribute to Michael Jackson as Nige led us into “Rockin Robin”. I managed to resist the temptation to play it in F (the key I used to play it with the Checkmates), but forgot to switch the guitar sound to rock'n''roll so the solos were a bit smooth – a bit like Des O' Connors band would do it? Still Nige sang it great, Dave drummed it with some energy and the audience loved it! I wanted to try a slowey so I got Dave to do “Three Times a Lady” next. Early on Dave ran into some trouble with his voice and I took over for a few lines while Nige got him 'vocal zoned' up. We didn't get the dancers up, but it earned a good round of applause nevertheless. I brought the Beatles up next and the banter went quite well with this bigger crowd. We played it through OK but, although by and large we are remembering our parts well enough, it still needs to gel together a bit more. I usually reckon we have to play these complex routines about 50 times to get the feel right, so we've about another 40 to go there. I think it definitely sits better earlier in the set, 'cos it is more about entertainment than dance. Next we got straight into the glasses routine as we did the three Buddy Hollys medley. This also went OK, but again Dave forgot the audience participation bit at the end of “Oh Boy” so we ground to a premature halt (all together though). Next up was “Let There Be Drums” which earned a big response from the crowd and we followed that with the Shadows Walk routine. After a bit of coaxing, a couple of young girls came up onto the front stage to play the rubber guitars and do the walk with Uncle Mog. While I was out front I could check the band sound; it was good - a powerful guitar underpinned by a solid rhythm section. We finished to a most appreciative response. I got back to the main stage and we carried on with the Hollies medley and then wrapped up with “I Believe” to strong applause. Chilly took over well and went straight into his adult dance competition so it must have looked quite slick from the front of house. During the break Nige went back to the chalet. His missus was still helping with the baby who was a bit cranky, but she said they could hear the band clearly enough to know what the songs were. A remarkable achievement from the Bose: the sound had to carry to the side of the concert room, outside into the smokers garden, through a wooden fence and down the road a bit, past some other chalets and into their chalet – amazing! As we regrouped for set 2 at about 10:45pm we were a little disappointed to see the audience had dwindled to about 50. We got lined up behind Chilly and he announced his last routine as “Hey Baby”; so Dave said 'we can do that for you' and off we went into it. Chilly sang a bit, did some dancing and we all worked hard to get the audience to sing-a-long. Fantastic showmanship from both Chilly and the Foot Tappers! The audience was still dwindling as we carried on with a shortish second set including the Searchers, Halfway, Elvis, Unchained, Shine, East Anglian trilogy, Amarillo and wrapped up with Pretty Woman. Chilly took over for the final half hour as we packed up. We had some good comments from the handful of people left and the management was pleased; so, apart from Nigel who was staying, it was load up and away for a fast run home, through some bits of mist and rain getting in about 1:30am.

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.

Trimingham Caravan Park

Lovely warm day, so I set off wearing just a shirt (a woolly long sleeved one 'mind you'!) thinking I would put on a fleece when I got to the coast. Had a good run over and arrived just before 7pm to see Andy on his way home for a bite to eat. I got gingerly out the car expecting a cold sea breeze, but it was still and mild? So, still in just a shirt, I collected the key fob off Andy and I was just about to go through the barrier when Dave rolled up. I let him in and we parked up at the back of the club just in time to see Nigel waltzing through with his gear – he had parked up at the front of the club. We were using the 'old' conventional gear and it took some getting in and setting up. I had run the PA up the previous day and had been delighted to find my notes on the reverb settings stuck on the top of the reverb unit! I elected to keep it simple on the night = no 12 string and no synth strings = I soon had it all up and running with a long lead on the guitar so I could step out and have a listen. It was a pleasure to hear my Mesa Lonestar valve guitar sound again; if only they could bottle that subtle harmonic distortion and sustain and build it into the Bose. The PA took a bit of balancing, but eventually we sound checked with a bit of Beatles and it seemed OK. As it was quiet in the room, I got the boys to play a bit of “Tell Me What I Say” and I went out front to listen. It was a pleasant surprise to hear a tight, well balanced rhythm section with a full, deep bass sound from Nigel, studio drum sound with some lovely chiming bell cymbals from Dave and nice tremelo valve sound from the guitar giving the band a hint of Rhodes piano. I couldn't fault it! I briefed the boys we would be exercising some unusual repertoire and resting Dave's voice a bit. Nige and I ran through a bit of an arrangement for the Everly's “Dream”. Then we settled down for a beer and a chat with Ray (a drummer mate of Dave's) and wife who had arrived in support and to invite us to his birthday bash later in the year. It was still very warm but it had turned a lot more humid - I looked outside and it was pouring down; a Norfolk cloudburst! For a change, we donned the black shirts with white ties looking a bit mysteriously like 'men in black' about to back Johnny Cash (god rest his soul).

Taking to the stage at 9pm we opened with 'Foot Tapper' because they hadn't heard it on our last few visits; I did a bit of a 'hello Trimingham' intro but there was not much reaction (as I expected); so we eased down on the banter after that. Carrying on with the longer version of “Just One Look”, we had one family doing a bit of dancing and the odd rumble of applause – it could have been thunder?. We played on through the book to get comfortable until we came to the end of the Everly's. Then we put Nigel on to do “Beautiful Body” and followed it up with a good, tight performance of “Brown Eyed Girl”. As we were on a roll, I selected “Dream” as the slowey at this point. Dave was a bit quick with the count in so it took me a few seconds to get the tremelo guitar setting going as we started up. Unfortunately, this meant I had to set the reverb as we were actually singing and playing; and in the end, with my clumsy footwork I failed to switch it on. But we sailed through a couple of verses, a middle 8 and a key change before Nige brought it to an early conclusion - it was only then I found the vocal reverb was off! I thought we sang it OK, but Nige later told me the key was too high, so next time we'll try it in C. However, the family dancing seemed to like it so it was a good call audience wise. I had wanted to bring the Beatles forward in the show, so we did the medley next. We got wigged up OK but the audience wasn't really paying attention, so it was just a bit of practice for the banter. We got off to a good, but slightly fast start with “8 Days a Week”, but Dave eased it back as we went along so we were about right as we swang into “Can't Buy Me Love”. I always find “All My Loving” a bit fast, but we played it well and I got the solo right to lead us into “Nowhere Man” with a smooth transition and strong accapella vocals. “I Feel Fine and She Loves You” also went well and the final vocal chord was the best we've done in live performance. So have we finally mastered this complex piece? I'll give it 8 out of 10 - it just needs a bit more feel! As far as the audience was concerned; there was little reaction on this night and I think we were all a bit disappointed with that. Strangely, we started to get a bit of feedback from the PA from this point on – it could be an artefact of the room filling up? Dealing with it as best I could, we ploughed on through the Seasons, Hollies and rock'nroll with added “Be Bop A Lula”. The rock'n'roll did bring up a few dancers; but time was up. So Dave called for “I Believe”, which we got through OK despite lack of a string pad. During the break Ray mentioned that the vocals were on the loud side. Hence the feedback I thought? So I set the PA volume down a bit and Nigel angled his PA speaker in to get some foldback. Richard, the father in the dancing family, came over and said he thought we were great and could he sing “A Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille” with us. So we resumed set 2 with a bit of country lead in, Dave sang “Under the Sun” and I did “Dance the Night Away”; then we called Richard over for his karaoke bit. I established the key was D and we busked through a verse or two. Then Richard called a halt and asked for a restart, which we obliged with, before wrapping up to thunderous applause from his family. We got Dave to flex his muscles on “Let There Be Drums” next. Dave played it great and we finally got a bit of reaction from the crowd at the bar. I decided to do “Travelodge California” next. We got through that fine and I even detected some slight applause as we finished. Next up was the “Searchers”, “Beach Boys” and the Eagles medley. Then I stepped out to do a bit of a Shadows walk with “FBI” for a change. Out front I could hear a very powerful guitar sound – much louder than the on-stage sound. In view of the lack of audience involvement I called for “Shine” next and, keeping Nige on the vocals, followed up with “What I Say” to exercise that. After last weeks debut this performance was a lot better, but still a bit of room to get the solo's right. I called for “Blue Suede Shoes” next. Dave couldn't find the words so I elected to sing it. Dave put in a close harmony just above and that worked well. It was at this point we realised we needed to take a break or the last set would be only 20 minutes. Richard and family had to go and Ray and missus were about to go, so things were a bit thinner on the ground as we resumed for the final half hour. I called for “Crazy Little Thing” to open it and we played it pretty well. We carried on with “Johnny B Good” which rocked along nicely and brought up a couple of dancers. We followed this up with the Spencer Davis sequence which was OK despite the the odd cock up - just needs a bit more shared understanding from airing it occasionally. Next up was “Midnight Hour” which I couldn't fault. Keeping Nige on the vocal Dave called for “Can't Get Enough” which went well until the forgotten ending riff. We need to play that final riff once or twice, not doing it at all is wrong. But I did try a more chorusy guitar sound for the solo and was pleased with the result! By this time it was close to midnight, So Dave called for “Unchained” to wrap up. I sensed the boys were a bit weary of the lack of reaction by that point so there was no need to 'encore'. I must admit I was feeling a bit tired as we packed up, probably the physical and emotional demands of using the old PA. But it had stopped raining and we soon had the gear in the cars. Despite the expected lack of audience reaction I think we had a done a good night for the club. I left Dave and Nige negotiating a possible engagement gig as I got on the road just before 1 am. Had a quiet run home getting in just after 2:30am.

Caxton Club Beccles

Got away at 5:15pm but was making such good progress as I approached Diss, that I eased right back on the speed and pushed the average fuel economy up to 35mpg. I turned into Morrisons car park to find Nigel, Dave’n’Jen already there. They were looking at Dave’s van tyres. In the week he’d had a puncture, the spare wheel was found to be badly corroded and today he was ‘barely’ legal and travelling without a spare. After a feel of Dave’s tyres, we set off in convoy following Nigel’s lead into Beccles and down a narrow alley to Gaol Lane before doing a bit of formation parking in a small yard at the back of the club. It’s a nice looking club house, bit like a cricket pavilion. Nigel led the way in and introduced us to Paul the guvnor who opened the fire doors for us to bring the gear in. Very nice, cosy, concert room with the bar over to one side. Nigel was delighted to point out the remodelled stage which would now easily accommodate the 3 of us - the old stage would have been very cramped apparently. Dave took the view that the room was intimate enough not to need the bass drum mic. We soon had things working and sound checked with “Nowhere Man”. The on stage sound and harmonies sounded good but the overall band sound was reported by Paul out front as bassy and a bit loud. Then I realised the guitar volume was wound right back to compensate for the volume on the Roland GT10 which was wound right up. Winding back the guitar volume so far back has the effect of taking all the top end sparkle and twang off the guitar sound. So I fixed that and we had another go and it all sounded OK then. Dave had discussed set times with Paul and we had 3 x 45 minutes to do with a prompt finish at 11:15pm. So I knew we would have to be quite tight in organising the show to fit our normal 1 hour sets in. The first casualty was the 12 string as I concluded that I would only use the 6 string to keep things slick. Then, after I took some soundings from the boys, I decided to give stronger on stage direction than normal for this gig. The room began to fill just before our 8:30 start. There was quite an age range, but it looked our kind of gig and Nigel was well known to many of the audience. We got changed in the store room. Nige and I put on our smart black’n’white, I had to borrow Dave’s black tie ‘cos mine was lost (in the depths my suit bag it turned out later). Jenny had suggested Dave wear all black and we could see this was a good idea. It took Dave’s size down a bit but, with a white tie, it still complemented what Nigel and I were wearing. The room was about half full as we took to the stage and opened with “Foot Tapper”. I signalled to Dave I would do a “Hello--- Beccles” voiceover at the end. The audience responded nicely and we ran smoothly into the short version of “Just One Look”. As we progressed smartly though “Heartbeat, Good Luck Charm and the Everlys” with medium bantering, I thought we were getting a slightly restrained, polite response from the crowd. But it was early in the night so we kept plugging away with a selection that included: “Only You, Brown Eyed Girl, How Long, Seasons of Gold and The Young Ones” with Dave wearing the Cliff teddy boy wig and glasses. Some wags near the bar thought Sir Cliff’s doubled up eyebrows were sexy! To follow I took to the Shadows walk with a slight misgiving. On the one hand, we hadn’t really got the crowd as on-side as I would have liked; on the other it might liven things up? Well, there weren’t any takers to accompany me on the walk, so I staggered through a lonely walk. But we did get a good response, which pepped us (and the audience) up a bit. However, in the light of recent experiences, I think I might position this routine later in the show. As we carried on with the Hollies we continued to get a good response; but time was nearly up, so I called for “I Believe” as the big finish. Dave croaked up a bit after the first couple of lines, but Nigel took over and we managed a creditable big ending with all 3 voices which earned us a great response from the audience. In the break a local characteress called Dot offered to accompany us on tambourine. So we resumed with “Mrs Tambourine Woman” as a special request to open set 2. We followed this up with a sequence of 3 songs to introduce the band members. First Dave with “Let There Be Drums”, it was a tad fast, but it went down a bomb with the crowd, a real ice breaker moment! Then Nige introduced me as the ‘rock royalty’ from the Checkmates to perform “Eyes at Me for”. We got some good sing-a-long going there and the crowd were now well on our side. Then it was Nigel’s turn to be introduced as one of Ray Charles ‘Raelets’ to sing “Tell Me What I Say”. This was first time out with this song and I made a bit of a mess of the introductory instrumental sections but it rocked along nicely in the end and we got another good response. We ran through the Searchers but, with no sign of any dancing, I omitted “Do It Again” and we went straight into “Take it Easy – Lying Eyes”. Pretty much everything we played now was getting a good response. I wisely decided to rest “Alice” and called for “Halfway to Beccles”. This did bring a few up to dance and we had a loud chorus of accompanying singers from the bar area. We also upped the bantering at this point and did a fine middle 8 stop for Nigel to be fitted with a girly wig to do his high answer backs. Then Elvis made an appearance to a rapturous reception. Dave is still getting his introductory ‘Whoa oh ohs’ in too early and throwing the chords out of sequence but the audience loved joining in on them. (I suppose Nigel and I could start on Em rather than the G?) It was Jenny in the audience who guessed it was Neil Diamond up next and off we went with “Sweet Caroline” with more audience participation doing swinging arms and vocal accompaniment. Once more we were running out of time so I called for the big ballad “Love is All Around” and we finished to a great reception. In the break we all worked the room (even I did a bit) and we were asked to do a Froggy number by the ex-concert sec’. So we went back on for set 3 to open with “Under the Sun”. We followed that with “500 Miles into Amarillo and Hey Baby”. We were getting a lot of audience response but not much dancing; so I cut the party dance sequence at that point and we did a short “Unchained” to fill the dance floor and followed up with “East Anglian Trilogy” which had everyone in the room singing along. We got a huge round of applause for that. Following Nige’s earlier advice and in complete contrast to what we had been doing, we then set about some soft rock with “Johnny B Goode”, “Alright Now”, Can’t Get Enough”, and “Status Quo”. There were some errors in this sequence but, again, we got a surprisingly good response from most of the audience to repertoire I would have thought was a bit out of their comfort zone. In fact Dot (in her 80’s) later commented that she was pleased we had done “Johnny B Goode” – it was one of her favourites! With time running out I called for “Pretty Woman” and we signed off on that with the usual routine of the delayed ‘show your appreciation to Dave’. At the end we got a huge response with shouts for MORE! Paul gave us the OK to encore. So I got the boys to wrap up with “Saw Her Standing There” which Nige and I played with the same bar count on the solo this time! There was a lot of positive interest from the crowd as we packed up. Several used the E word (Excellent) We all felt good about delivering a sharp but friendly show that had gone down very well with a nice crowd. We are looking forward to getting a full house on our next visit. Load up was easy. I was just about to shut the car door when Jenny came up with one of my bags she had found in the dressing room. Easy run home and asleep by 1:30am