Checkmates at King Edward Hall Lindfield

After our jaunt to the Bluebell we proceeded through the Sussex countryside to Jenny and Miles house in Lindfield where we were treated to a nice lunch and drink!  We managed a little walk round the village in the afternoon then I set off for the gig while Jacqui watched Strictly with Jenny.  I found a good parking spot straight away and (recently arrived) Graham and Raye gave me a hand in with the gear.  Its a high stage here and we had to take care heaving Graham's Trace Elliot combo onto the stage.  We had about 30 minutes to check some things out.  Graham wanted to correct a difference between us on the riffs on "Counting Teardrops".  What I thought was a harmony on guitar wasn't really working - so we agreed to play the same unison run from E in the verses.  We gave the newies a run through.  As per last year I wonder if "Never Know What Your Missing" would benefit from a raise in key. Then we agreed the main arrangement for "Drums" which had got a bit too improvised of late.  All this practice revealed a stage resonance around A which rattled the drums but nothing we could do about that other than drop the volume a bit.  Graham wanted to check out the echo levels which he thought were too high on the ballads.  We had a difference of opinion there that we needed to solve by objective listening.  I went out front while he sang "Make Believe" over bass and drums and had to admit he had a point.  When I checked the ballad echo level in the FX unit it was about 60 and I had to reduce it to 50 to get it sounding good out front.  The levels on the slap back and the general vocal were fine at around 50 and the whole level was adjustable on the FX return on the mixer,  so we were all a lot happier after this discussion.  Jacqui arrived at 8pm; and Val arrived about the same time along with Val's sister Marilyn accompanied by Graham from the band 'Music Box'.   

We struck up with our fist set shortly after and of course as soon as we got going this wonderful crowd were dancing applauding and responding to our banter.  As we got going into "Walk Right Back" the dance floor really filled,  so I indicated to Graham we would run on into "When Will I Be loved" and the transition went really well despite my not playing it for best part of a year.  Sensing the crowd were up for it,  I dropped in "Rainin in My Heart" as a mid set slowey and that filled the floor as well.  After that we did the set as written and that took us to 9pm where we would have a 45 minute break for the buffet.  Jacqui insisted I had a something to eat and I found myself on the receiving end of a couple of sandwiches - very nice.  That called for another beer,  but I had to settle for a shandy as I had had rather a boozy lunch earlier in the day!  We went back on to play the Checkmates hits and then "Drums".  This was much tighter than the previous night but Graham surprised me when we doing our bit round the tom.  We pushed Raye away as planned so he could go and get his illuminated sticks,  but then Graham said 'en guard!'  Next thing we were fencing with the sticks in a mock sword fight.  He was getting the better of me so I was glad when Raye reappeared,  the lights dimmed and he got going with the flashing sticks.  The crowd loved it!

We took a short break,  changed shirts and resumed for 30 minutes dancing.  By the time we did our usual "Lucky Old Sun - Early in the Morning ending and got through a few encores it was 11:45 and we called a halt.  Very pleased with the end result.  We got packed and loaded in good form and said our goodbyes.  Raye asked me to plan a half hour set for our next appearance at a vintage Brit Rock n Roll weekend at the Borderline Club in Soho early in the New Year.    Jacqui and I crept back into Jenny and Miles house at about 12:45 tired but pleased with the night.

Next day we set off after breakfast on the long trip home - the sciatica not too bad so only two stops en route!

 

The Checkmates at Hassocks (Clayton and Keymer) British Legion

We set off for the annual Checkmates re-union gig weekend at 11:45 am on a typical dry Autumn day.  I was keen to get round the M25 before 4pm to avoid being stuck in a Friday afternoon jam,  but I planned to make a few stops to walk out the sciatica en route.   First stop Birchanger services near Stansted.  A worn out road surface leading into a jam packed car park almost made me head immediately for the exit - but it was already jammed with people trying to leave!  The reason we were travelling on the Friday was because with a week to go,  Raye rang up to say he had taken an extra gig at Hassocks British Legion on the Friday night.  Ms J and I thought it too much to spring it on the friends we were staying with that we needed to stay an extra night at short notice.  So we booked a room at the Hickstead Hotel near the gig where I aimed to have an hour or two resting before set up.  After a brief walk round the services we set off again - heading West round the M25 to avoid the tolls, a predictable source of jammed up traffic on a Friday.  I decided to skip the next services at South Mimms because that also is difficult to get into and we carried on round the M25 to the new services at Cobham where we stopped for a Kentucky chicken meal and coffee.  These services are new; and easy to access and park so we returned to the journey in good humour expecting a quick run down the M23 towards Brighton.  But hopes were soon dashed as we joined a tailback off the M25 into a 30 minute queue to get onto the M23 proper.  Major road works!  After that delay we had a fast run past Gatwick and onto the improved A23 towards Hickstead pulling up at the hotel at just after 4pm - so not too bad in the end.  It was a stormy early evening with plenty of thunder about and Jacqui decided to come with me to the gig for set up; so we set off at 5:45pm getting to the Legion car park at just after 6pm to find Raye and Graham already parked waiting for the place to open.  I had just got parked when Barry the barman came over to open up - we started our load in.  Not too bad here just have to watch out for 'elf n safety' issues in the back yard.   Actually set up didn't take too long and we were able to run through a few numbers before people started coming in.  We ran through 3 special songs Raye had requested.  "Brand New Cadillac" by Vince Taylor from his 2 i's coffee bar days,  "Sea Cruise" by Frankie Ford (that I had elected to sing) and "Reelin and a Rockin" another number Raye did in his Soho days.  I was surprised how well these went - particularly "Cadillac" which we really caught the pre-Beatles British Rock vibe with. 

Janice and Val (the other wives) arrived about 7:30pm and some other folks drifted in,  including Harvey Smith our long time supporter at this club.  But the club room was only about 70% full by show time. 

 The long suffering wives!

We got changed into our green shirts and appeared a few minutes late to open up the show with "Eyes".  Good sound - a bit dry though so I pushed the FX return up,  then good applause at our false ending.  The first few numbers proceeded on OK - a few errors here and there but nothing fatal!  I thought Raye was more on the ball than the previous year and he was playing a bit louder.  I had held the rest of the band levels down so we had a good overall balance.  After "Walk Right Back" we did "Brand New Cadillac".  For a first time performance this was good and we all enjoyed playing it.  Despite learning the solo like the record,  I couldn't quite remember it on the night and I ended up modernising it subtly;  and considering the audience probably didn't know it at all,  it went down well with the crowd. A couple more numbers on we arrived at "Smiling".  Graham knew I was doing this with ReTrio and kindly offered me the lead vocal on it.  It suited me because I could go on auto-pilot a bit more so off we went.  Raye pushed it along a tad faster than I am used to, and it may have come across as a bit hurried;  but it was well received by the crowd.  I announced it retrospectively as one Raye played with Jimmy Justice and the ExCheckers in 1962 pushing it up the charts to number 2 (I wasn't sure if this is true  and I since found it was number 9 in March 1962).  Then it was rock n roll business as usual through to the end of the set with "Wipe Out" - always a great finisher with the Checkmates.

We were disappointed with the attendance.  One of the reasons people may have stayed in was a massive storm over the area.  We found out later most of the power had gone off in Hassocks but the British Legion was spared!  We started set 2 with our usual rendition of the Checkmates Hits which the audience listened to politely.  This included "Never Know What You're Missing and Counting Teardrops" which are less ingrained in our psyche and harder work to remember.  We got through OK but Graham and I made mental notes to re-visit before the next outing!  Raye forgot the beginning to "Them There Eyes"  but somehow we got underway on the restart without anyone noticing!  After a few more standard songs from our set we finished with "Drums".  A bit ragged here and there,  but it was interesting to see the house lights dim and Raye bashing out a rhythm on the floor tom out front with a pair of those sticks that light up!  A great reception as usual.

We agreed to stay in the green shirts because, by the start of set 3, a few had left.  We tended to go through the motions in this set.  Second number in we came to "Reelin and a Rockin" one of the new ones.  Graham had asked me to hold the D rather than drop to the C as per a usual 12 bar in G.  I remembered it most of the time I think.   After a very well received "Saw her Standin There" we came to another new song "Sea Cruise".  Raye started with the bells on the bell of his ride cymbal;  I brought in strings on a low E to simulate a ships horn.  As I start the riff in A,  Raye shouts 'All Aboard'  and then we are into the sax riff to open the song.  In that sense it was similar to the Frankie Ford record - we did it faster though.  I did quite enjoy doing it but had trouble remembering the words;  however, Graham and I had the 'oooh ee baby'  harmonies spot on - just loved doing those and they are so catchy.  Jacqui said later it was stuck in her head as an ear worm for a couple of days.  The 25 or so folk that were left by 11:30 kept us encoring with "Eyes" and my choice of "Hound Dog" to finish a mostly satisfying performance by the band.

Raye received some welcome assistance in pack up and we were soon loaded and ready for off.  I had to be guided out of a tight spot in the car park,  but soon Jacqui and I were on our way to the hotel.  Slept well and long after a busy day and the took our time over an excellent breakfast before driving up to Haywards Heath.  We called in Tesco on the way and Jacqui suggested we had enough time to spend an hour at the Bluebell Railway before we were due at Jenny and Miles for lunch - so we did!

 

ReTrio at Felsto Arms Felixstowe

The guvnor (Robbie) at the Felsto had liked our set a few weeks previously and made room in their schedule for us to play a late Sunday afternoon slot.  On the day, the weather was still very nice for the time of year and I was looking forward to a relaxed drive over for a 2pm arrive and 4pm performance start.  But things conspired to slow me down - my sister was staying over to visit my mum,  I lost track of time and nearly forgot I needed a big feed before I set off, and finally, when I did get going,  I realised I had left my phone behind and had to double back home from Thurston.  I grabbed the phone and texted the boys that I was in delay and got going again.  I did the 40 mile run to Felixstowe in 30 minutes,  but it took another ten minutes to drive through the afternoon seaside traffic to the pub,  so it was about 2:40pm by the time I parked up.  The boys came out to give me a hand getting the gear in and I was tied up doing stuff for about 30 minutes before I got my first pint of lager in.  I had concluded from the previous visit we could do the double Bose configuration at this venue and this time I also decided to use my guitar synth - setting the rack up in its usual place under the mixer.   I finished set up and, testing things out, found the mains lead to the graphic EQ had come adrift in the rack.  I was able to fix that and my perception was that the overall sound was brighter and stronger - even though it was meant to be 'hard' bypassed with mains on or off.  The PA sound and headroom before feedback was good and I was happy with the existing levels,  just dropping Chris the drum's mic a tad and pushing Chris the bass's mic up a tad to correct imbalances that had built up last time out.  Just time to start a second pint as we started to think about showtime at 4pm.  We had arrived in jeans and black shirts as directed by our wardrobe mistress Chris the drum.  So all we needed to do was put on our white ties and hats.  The pub was getting busier and there were quite a few of Chris the drum's relatives in support so it was quite full as we took to our instruments.  In fact Chris the bass was nearly lost in a bunch of folk standing all around him!

We opened set 1 with "Flingel Bunt" for a change.  It got polite applause but as we got going with the usual set and interacted with the audience,  particularly a couple on my left,  they started to respond well.  We dropped in a special request for "Penny Arcade" after 30 minutes which went well and got some ladies dancing in the limited space in front of the band and the next number "Halfway to Paradise" they were singing along.  Then a few more came up came up to dance as we did "Runaround Sue - All Shook Up".  I chose to finish the set with "Wonder of You" and about halfway through an Elvis tribute singer started to join in on Chris the bass's mic.  OK enough I thought so I let him do the rest of the song and,  of course,  that entertained the crowd enormously.  He did take on the high line at the ending and focussing his voice did a good job of it!  In the break we tanked up with water and our guest singer revealed he was in the business - having a night off!  

We came on for set 2 opening with a special request for "Apache" and continued to play a standard sequence to about the 30 minute point when I called for "Wicked Games".  We had a bit of trouble getting started and I have since resolved to play a couple of chord sequences prior to the guitar opening (as per the record).  This will allow the boys to settle into the correct rhythm before I start the lead guitar parts.  As it was, the nice guitar bits were lost in the confused start.  But it went well enough after that even though my voice was also a tad froggy on the high parts on this night.  We ended in good enough order but we didn't get much reaction -  I think because it was a slowey and being a 'modern' song from the 80s they didn't know it well enough to sing along.  We soon got back on track with an ending sequence of "Hot Love" into "East Anglia Girls".  The latter is still a little confused and rushed:  but I have a cunning idea for the start of this that I will try out next time!   We finished with "American Trilogy" assisted by our Elvis tribute singer who was a little looser from a beer or two this time!  Nevertheless it went down a storm.  

We set off into set 3 with "Great Balls" and then played a fairly continuous sing-a-long / dance - a - long sequence through "Saw Her Standin There - Pretty Woman - Sweet Caroline - Saturday Night (Accompanied by Elvis doing a good job on the hi bits) - Come on Over to My Place - Hey Baby - Hi Ho - All Right Now".  At the last practice I had encouraged the boys to morph into "Another Brick In The Wall" at this point and with a bit flailing of arms and encouragement we did indeed get underway with the drum beat.  The two Chris's sing this,  but on the night it was only Chris the drum as Chris the bass was clearly concentrating on the prominent bass riff in this song.   Actually it went not too bad:  Chris the bass and I both forgot the accapella all join in vocals on the second verse but Chris the drum soldiered on and soon we were approaching the solo.  On the night I made a decision to use a sustain chorused sound for this; but it was a bit over the top I think and I need to try and do it cleaner going forward.  Apart from the first few notes I hadn't prepared anything and just improvised the character of the Dave Gilmore 80's solo. I looked round to the boys to indicate the end and we did finish quite tight.  It received a good response and I think it will work well in this sequence.  Chris bass called for "Hippy Hippy Shake to follow:  we were good and tight and it went down very well. Next up it was 'all the ladies' sing (and Elvis) as we did "Mustang Sally".  It was now time for "Johnny B Goode" to bring us to the 7pm finish time and,  announcing it as our last number,  off we went.  I was pleased that we got our outroductions a bit tighter on this night and the audience gave us all a big hand and there were enough shouts for more at the end to send us into another ball of confusion with our encore "Born to be Wild".  By now I know that Chris the drum will slow it down on the 'Born to be wild' bits and I decided to follow him this time rather than try and force him to follow the record.  By not fighting each other tempowise we definitely got a better overall feel,  but it just sounds wrong to me.  Still the crowd loved it and we had to work hard in our final sign off to avoid being sucked into more encores.   We got a lot of praise at the end from all sections of the crowd and Robbie asked Chris to call him back so he could fix some slots for 2015.  Pack up was difficult in this crowded pub but somehow it all came together.  I found an armoured lead had been trod on bad enough to bend the jack and I misplaced my interval muzak player (it turned up in the guitar FX bag the next day).  We got on the road about 8pm.  I had a reasonable run as far as Stowmarket before the sciatica kicked in hard but then it was only 15 minutes of pain before I got home about 8:45 pm to spend the rest of the evo with Ms J and my sister watching playbacks from 'Strictly Dancing'.  The sciatica is definitely on the mend but still quite debilitating if I have to sit for more than 30 minutes.

ReTrio at the Shepherd and Dog Onehouse Stowmarket

Chris the bass (accompanied by Bridget) swang round so we could form a 2 car convoy at 6:15 pm.  Jacqui was letting me out on my own tonight!  It had been another marvellous Indian Summer day sunny,  still and warm; and it was still warm as we headed East towards Stowmarket.  Chris took a strange left at Woolpit and then it was across country towards the South of Stowmarket where the pub was situated in a rural idyl opposite a campsite in a farmer's field (potential audience?).  We reversed onto the drive right in front of the load in door and strode into the pub.  First impression was it was very small and questions came to mind like where are we playing? and how did the soul band advertised the previous month fit in?  Chris had a word with the landlady who said they would shift the pool table after the next game.  So we got some beers in.  Chris the drum arrived with Trudy about 7pm and we started to get the gear in.  The only way we could see of fitting in was to block off the door to the gents - people would be able to access it via a short diversion outside!  It turned out the landlady expected that anyway and now I could see a workable space.  We soon had things set up and I checked the PA.  The room was prone to high frequency feedback - I tried priming the feedback suppressors but the frequencies kept changing so I had to take the levels down a bit.  Even so it was still ringing and the suppressors were working hard.  It was quite a bassy room and I didn't want to lose any more top so I left it and hoped for the best from a fuller room.

 

A big enough gents to 'comfortably' get changed into our black shirts, white tie smart outfit.  Tonight would be the first outing for our white hats (with black band).  It seemed to take ages for the last 10 minutes before show time to tick by,   but it was warm enough to sit outside and contemplate the nice evening.  Finally we entered a busy performance room with maybe 30 people across a wide age range in attendance.  I tried to get the boys to join in our 'We are ReTrio' shout to open things but it was only me!  We got underway with "FBI" and it sounded OK if a little bass boomy at about 70Hz.  More down to the Bose than Chris's bass rig I think.  We got a smattering of applause for "FBI" and carried on with the usual show.  I was bracing myself for a disinterested audience,  but we soon got a connection going with relatively slick banter and applause started to increase as we completed the rock and roll phase of the set and introduced the band.  We did "Act Naturally and Ring of Fire" to introduce the two Chris's and these were very well received -  there were some country folk in the bar (in both senses of the word).  I decided to skip "Eyes" and we abandoned hats and wigged up for the short "Beatles Sequence".  This went pretty well and we got a great reception for it and even better as we completed the "Searchers Medley" in relatively good order.  (Note: I still need to get the Chris's to synch their accents at the start of "Needles and Pins").  We were still being plagued with bits of feedback as the resonant frequencies of the room kept changing,  but I didn't think it would be too noticeable out front and I didn't spot any adverse audience reaction to it.  We ploughed on to the end finishing with "Wonder of You" to warm applause from a crowd we had clearly won over.

In the break Trudy mentioned she had heard the feedback so I lowered levels for our return for set 2.  I went out front for the Shads Apache Limp (sciatica is on the mend but any excuse!).  The band sound wasn't as bassy out there and it was quite a good mix - we could afford to drop the bass and guitar levels a tad,  but I settled for as we were as I returned to the mic to do "Do You Wanna Dance".  We don't mention 'Sir Cliff' nowadays - not unplayable like Gary Glitter yet,  best wait and see events progress before we mention Cliff's name I think! After a fair performance of "Happy Together" we continued to win this audience over as we got them singing along to "Daydream Believer" and "Delilah".  One of the 'country' boys had had a few more drinks and kept asking for a Johnny Cash song so we obliged with "Folsom Prison" - it went pretty well considering we haven't done it for a while - just a bit of finger trouble in the first solo!  We carried on through the usual numbers and I was pleased with a more relaxed "East Anglia Girls" and surprised at how many in the crowd immediately got the joke - especially when I sand about the 'Stowmarket farmers daughters'.  We finished the set with "American Trilogy" which really brought out the ultimate in audience response at this gig - they were most loud and appreciative!  The Chris's wives set off home in the break as did a few of the older ones in the audience.

I opened set 3 with "Dance the Night Away" and that did indeed bring up a few dancing.   By now the audience had dwindled to about 20 in the 20 - 40 something age range,  but they danced and sang their way through our long 7 song sequence from "Pretty Woman" to "All Right Now".  At the end of that a rather inebriated young man came over and asked if we could do something from the eighties - like Spandau Ballet?  Don't know that I said but, thinking quickly of something simple the band could busk I replied:  I can do "Wicked Games" by Chris Isaac - a number one on the eighties!  I do know this quite well so I just told Chris the bass the three chords: Bm A E and Chris the drum to follow me on a slowey and away we went.  Actually I took a bit of license with the words,  but the guitar parts were accurate and, to his credit, the young fellow got a few girls up to dance it with him and they all sang along in the chorus so no one noticed my verse errors.  Well -  it got a fantastic response; even the landlady came out from behind the bar and danced and sang and applauded.  Chris the drum said 'keep that one in the set Adrian!'  It was approaching show close time so we set off into "Johnny B Goode" doing a good set of outro's where the audience gave it up big for each of us.  I milked my outroduction a bit holding Chris the bass on the E until the applause died down a little and then took them into the opening riff again - it all worked most professionally and I was very pleased.  Well! there was a lot of shouts for more and the boys were in a wild mood - so we set off into a another venture of varied pace and timing with "Born to be Wild" - to my ears it is really messy;  we must have a conversation about this sometime!  Despite a few more shouts for more,  we were done and so we took our final bows and set off to the gents.  It had been another good night for the band and we were all up beat about it.  As we packed up Chris the bass was called over to see the landlady who said it was excellent.  They only have a few bands a year (usually in the Summer),  but they would love to have us back.   Pack and load didn't take too long and I was on the road by 12:40am getting in for a cocoa at 1am ish.   The gamey leg was sore but not as bad as it had been so I had a good nights sleep.

ReTrio at Felsto Arms Felixstowe

Woke up with bad leg pain,  but it loosened up in time for an early departure for this gig.  Chris the bass had the impression it was a 7:30pm start and a small venue so we geared up accordingly.  Chris was taking Chris the drum and I said I'd meet them there about 6pm.  A very good run over on another fine day. 

Parking looked difficult but Chris had arranged for me to pull into a small yard behind the pub.  It meant a slightly longer gear lug than on the street but it was out the way of traffic. 

The boys had found it would be an 8pm start and the landlady would clear the playing area by 6:30pm.  It was a small but workable room provided the door to the patio was locked which it now was!  I would set up in front of that with a Bose and after a bit of consideration we decided to put up a Line 6 speaker on its stand in the bay window on Chris the bass's side.  We worked quickly on set up.  Chris the drum would have to enter and exit his kit on Chris's side, which gave me quite a good sized performance area, so I set up all the foot pedals but missed the synth/graphic EQ rack out.  No sound check but I ran the PA into feedback and rolled it back.  I have found the Line 6 speakers need quite a hot line level signal from the mixer so at some point I am going to have to sort that out on the mixer,  but for now we just turn the speaker up close to max ( I most have a poke around and see if there is a pad switched in somewhere?).  We had come prepared to play in jeans and open necked black shirts so we were well ready for the 8pm start. 

The pub was busy but not as crowded as we had been led to believe it would be.  We tried a new start with me announcing "We are ReTrio---!"  then I got going with FBI - think I might ask the boys to join in next time?  We were soon into "Heartbeat" where I took the PA level down a little to lose some bits of feedback.  With a Bose right behind me the sound was very good;  and on Chris's side he claimed to have enough fold back to get a good balance.  Not sure how much Chris the drum heard in his corner but he just ploughed on.  People were quite close to the band and you could see they were engaged by the live music and we got a more than polite round of applause at the end of each song.  I found interacting with this responsive crowd easy going but I kept the banter tight as we progressed through a well appreciated first set.  Once again the rock n roll energised people (even though we didn't play it quite as well together as the previous night).  We ran out of time to do a slowey to finish so,  once again,  it was "All Shook Up" and they did! 

We did quite a bit of meet 'n' greet in the break.   For set 2 I simply removed my black shirt to reveal a white T underneath and donned my waistcoat for a 'Status Quo' look.  We opened with "Apache" and I strode forward to do the Shadows sciatic stagger.  To my amazement several people lined up to do it as well.  After the first verse I turned to face the band and,  apparently,  it was like a scene from 'Saturday Night Fever' with a V of dancers behind me all following my moves - fantastic fun that got a great response from the pub as we finished!  In the break we'd had a request for a Stones song so we did that next - "Honkey Tonk Women".  It went really well considering we only air it occasionally.  The boys now feel confident enough to join in the vocal on the chorus and the 'crowd' sound gives it a better feel.  We went on to play most of our set 2 songs with the landlady filtering through requests such as 'anything from Eddie Cochrane? - Certainly madam Summertime Blues fit the bill?' and 'Happy Birthday' three times.  Of course we were well buoyed up with all this and confidence was high as we set off into the set closer "American Trilogy".  No strings to fill it out but judicious use of echo on the guitar created enough effect in this small room.  Quite a few in the audience were singing along which took the pressure off my vocal.  Unfortunately I ran into a bit of finger trouble in the flute solo (played on guitar this night).  Possibly due to two successive nights gigging the fingers just wouldn't slide up the neck as usual and a couple of bum notes emerged.  I kept a straight face and played out the end of the solo as though nothing had happened,  but I was beating myself up inside.  The song continued,  reached its climax and we ended to a roof raising roar of approval. 

Set 3 ran its usual course but my voice was tiring in the last 15 minutes.  With the voices croaking a bit as we ended with Johnny B Goode we got great applause and shouts for more.   We encored with "Mustang Sally" to complete a great night by our standards.  Pack up was slow as we did a lot of glad handing to a truly appreciative crowd.  Eventually we were all aboard and I set off home slightly ahead of the boys who were still discussing the idea of another booking there.  Apparently it was a low turn out in the night but next time they reckon the word would have got around and it will be packed.  Once clear of Felixstowe I finished my sandwich and pushed the car quite fast along the A14 to try and get home before the sciatica kicked in.  But by Stowmarket the pain in the backside was agony.  I struggled on through the next 12 miles or so and was pleased to be home so I could take a dose of Nurafen before bed.  Exhausted but happy with the weekend's performances -  the band has come on a lot in the last few weeks. 

ReTrio at Five Miles From Anyware Wickham Fen Cambridgeshire

I was looking forward to this gig out of our usual area.  I checked it out on the net as a big pub / restaurant by the side of the river Cam.  Jacqui said she would come as well and we set off on a nice, sunny evening just before 6:30pm aiming for a 7pm arrival.  Arrived to find the 2 Chris's unloading through a pool room into a good sized performance area in the main bar. Setting up was no problem and we soon had things ready for test.  All seemed to be working well as Chris the bass's missus Bridget arrived with son Nathan and GF Leanne.  The band got a beer on the house!  We had about 40 mins to have a drink then we got changed into our 'smart' back shirts white ties for the 9pm start.

 

 

The room looked busy (but not full) as we opened up with FBI which sounded fine and got a polite round of applause.  We carried on through the first set pretty much as set out and it went well with a reasonable audience connection.  Despite my running the PA into feedback at set up the room acoustics must have changed because we kept getting little bits of feedback.  I was keen to maintain continuity so all I could fit in between numbers to fix it was adjusting the volumes on the mics. We did an amusing band intro where I indicated that Chris the bass had one foot in the river Cam - the lightweight (and brief) banter went well I thought so we wigged up for the Beatles.  Once again we finished the set with "All Shook Up".  When we came off our entourage said it was a well balanced sound and we came across as professional.  Nathan had noticed the bits of feedback but, because it was only in short bursts, he didn't find it too distracting and he said he liked the way I built the set up.  They all reported the mics sounded good and clear so I didn't want to unbalance the band by taking the PA down too much more. 

Chris the drum was really hot and sweaty so he asked for a change into white Ts and waistcoats for set 2.   Again we played it close to the set listing,  I think I will have to shift "Wonder of You" because there are too many sing-a-longs this early in the set.  The band really started to cook in the rock n roll sequence and we did a most together version of "Rip It Up" - I told the boys later I was very happy with that and I know they were too.  This is a good example of the subtleties you can get going when you know the material - and several songs we are now starting to play like a band rather than 3 musicians.  We had started to get some dance action and the only song change was me calling for "Bad Moon" to build on some dancing we got going with "Proud Mary" - could pair these two up regularly!  "East Anglia Girls" went a little better,  but still lots to do to get this effective - I think we should persevere because some in the audience do get it.  We finished with a well performed version of "American Trilogy" which got a massive response as usual.  As I came off Ms J said the band sounded good and she had been taking some phone footage I would be interested in.  Wow, I said, I would have tried harder if I'd known!  But, in truth,  we had played and sung to the top range of our ability. 

Here's a clip:

We came back on for set 3 at 11pm and the crowd had dwindled a little - some of them had been enjoying a drink so you can't blame them really.  We got on and played a typical set 3.  All fine,  bits of dancing,  good applause considering.  Oddly enough "Mustang Sally" went down well with quite a full dance floor and some full harmonies on the answerbacks. A couple of numbers later it was 11:45 pm and I was feeling tired and the voice was starting to go.  As we started our last number: Johnny B Goode, there were probably about 20 left watching and maybe 5 dancing.  It all went well but, despite a half hearted call for 'more',  we elected to close as it was getting close to midnight! Chris the drum thought we should have done more rock n roll in the last set because people were drifting off - can't say I agree it would make any difference but maybe we can try some out next time.

We were soon packed and loaded and I set off in misty but mild conditions for the 40 minute run home.  Despite some patches of fog we had a good run home getting in just after 1am.  My sciatic leg was playing up by then and I was glad to get to bed.  Another good night for the band and hope we will be back there. 

ReTrio at Moreton Hall Community Centre

A local gig with ReTrio returning to the scene of Glastonbury St Edmunds 2013 to perform a '60s 70s' night in the club room.  Lovely sunny, warm evening.  I left home at 6:20 and arrived at the centre at 6:28 to find the two Chris's already loaded in.  I walked in with my suit bag and Chris the bass said 'bring you car down the back to the patio doors' - which I duly did and from there it was an easy load into the alcove that formed the performance area.  There was quite a bit of room in the alcove but I agreed with Chris the bass's idea that the Bose on his side should be sited outside the alcove to give best line of sound into the club room.  Set up was relatively easy the only problem was getting a long enough mains lead over to Chris's side - I just doubled up adding another extension to the usual extension.  He had been busy setting up the lights from another power supply and by about 7:15pm we were nearly ready to switch on.  I switched on and all worked! I spent a few minutes adjusting the bass drum sub-bass sound going for a deep rather than heard sound.  My final flourish was to replace my usual Audix OM5 mic with an OM6 I had treated myself to in the week.  The OM6 is said to be slightly more favourable for female singers as it boost the lows a little which I thought would suit my voice;  also it a little more directional,  hence feedback resistant, than the OM5. I powered up and  was immediately impressed.  The change was subtle but definitely an improvement for my vocal sound. Once I checked all was working,  I set up the Boses so that the one on Chris's side was about 45% and on my side about 40%.  The idea was that this would reduce the risk of feedback from sounds bouncing round the alcove whilst tending to fill the hall from the Bose outside the alcove.  It worked well - feedback headroom on the OM6 was huge and it was only when I brought in the boys mics that we got feedback - but I could easily back off from that on the mixer master volume whilst maintaining quite a high performance level in the hall.   





View from my new mic!

All three wives had come out to see the band and with a few friends and followers,  there were about 10 on our side by 8pm.  Chris bass looks after the venue management and sorts timing out.  I was a little confused by the timings on this night but I think it was an 8:45 start we were geared up for.  So about 8:35 we set off for the 'Directors Room' to change into our smarter black shirt, white tie outfits.  We had been a bit concerned about the poor attendance but there must have been an influx while we were getting changed because it was a lot busier when we emerged.  We took our spots and opened up with the usual set 1.  I thought the sound was good but well absorbed by the hall - it seemed a bit on the quiet side to me.  I pushed the master volume up a notch after "F B I" and we carried on through "Heartbeat and Smiling" with good response from the audience.  As soon as we opened with our little rock and roll set, a couple of our entourage (Nathan's GF Leanne and her sister Elaine) got up to dance and soon after a few locals were joining in.  This was good because we had been working on getting a more dancey tempo going in these rock n roll numbers.  We did "Act Naturally and "Ring of Fire" to introduce the Chris's and got a good response to the country sound. Chris the bass introduced me as a former member of that number 1 hit band the Checkmates.  I did the false intro for "Eyes" and a couple of voice wailed back 'What do you wanna....' !  That's enough for me to deliver "Eyes" and it went well.  We did the Beatles "8 Days into Can't Buy Love" after a bit of a hic up while Chris the drum found his wig.  I thought we played them well and we got a good round of applause.  So far so good!   Next up was the Searchers medley.  Once again we got off too fast into "Sugar and Spice" - my fault on the count in doh!  I managed to slow it a little on the run into "Needles and Pins" but the rhythm section was still going at full bore for this song.  But what made the transition worse was Chris once again got into the wrong key.  Again I had to shout F (key of not expletive!) across the stage to get it sorted.  After that it went fine and after "Walk in Room" we finished to big applause so it hadn't been too noticeable out front.  As I announced "Halfway to Paradise" Chris signalled one more number.  Once underway, I kept it short with just one middle 8 so I could actually finish with Runaround Sue.  Despite Chris drum forgetting his vocal parts at the beginning,  we played this well - tight and a good tempo and we finished with a good tight ending.  We came off to a good round of applause and Jacqui told me it was a good sound - so I was well pleased. 

In the break I pushed up the volume on the Boses a couple of per cent. As I was doing the final bit of tuning preparatory to doing "Apache" the other two started.  I had to let them do another couple of bars whilst I got sorted and it took me half the song to get comfortable - we guitarists are sensitive things that can't handle the unexpected easily!  Also in the break one of Chris the drum's mates had requested a Hollies number - we were pleased to have a request and we decided to do the only one we knew "Just One Look".  I announced it and the chap requesting at the bar was clearly delighted.  We had a bit of trouble with the count in but we got going second time around.  No problem remembering it and we played it well; and the requestor and his mates gave it up big at the end.  I skipped the usual Sir Cliff song to get Chris drum going with "Happy Together".  I thought we played and sang it well and the audience was clearly tapping and singing along but some little bits of feedback crept in -  unfortunately not enough to trigger the feedback suppressors.  I quietly remonstrated with myself for not pushing the pa into feedback at set up to prime the feedback suppressors.  Without causing a scene in front of an attentive audience the only option was to drop the volume a tad.  We carried on through the usual sing a long sequence of "Daydream Believer and Delilah" and the crowd was giving it up vocally, and we got a great response for them at the end.  I had made a couple of changes to the set running order and we now arrived at the first:  "Wonder of You".  Actually I was pleased with this.  Doing it a bit earlier my voice was stronger and I thought we did a good version.  And the audience did as well 'cos we got a really big round of applause.  Next up was a little rock n roll sequence with "Move It, Summertime Blues and Rip It Up".  Went very well:  good sound,  strong beat and several dancers up and jiving.  I was particularly pleased with "Rip It Up".  Chris the drum doesn't get my idea of a sort of 'jungle beat' in the verse,  but tonight he tried out a driving bass drum for these sections and it worked well and sounded particularly  good -  cos of the sub-bass mic up.  But even better, as we got into the chorus the two Chris's really cooked and the band swang on though the solos so well I even got the guitar fingering spot on.  I was so pleased I called for "Jailhouse rock" to continue it.  Chris still doesn't get the drum answer backs on the verse but again he replaced it with a driving bass drum - that will do nicely for the time being! We got underway with "Proud Mary" which entertained the dancers with its slow beginning.  Towards the end Chris drum and myself got at cross purposes - I was sure he had reached the final verse which I harmonise a high line to,  but he was using words from the previous verse?  Anyway,  I took the decision to force it to an ending as I saw it and got straight off into "Don't Stop" which we did well with the boys joining in on the 'Don't Stops' adding a bit of oomph!  Made a slight mistake reversing the stopped bit in the final two chorus's but the Chris's followed without losing a beat. I was thinking we would now run down to the finale with "Hot Love into our debut performance of East Anglia Girls" and announced it as such.  Despite Chris the bass starting it a bit too fast for my liking "Hot Love" went very well and filled the dance floor nicely.  The idea was to go up a tone on the same rhythm and then into "East Anglia Girls"  But, because we were going quite fast, it all happened too quickly to settle into the new song - so it came across as hurried.  I mixed up some of the words in my haste and the Chris's were equally flummoxed by their vocal lines.  Still we got the gist of the song out and we all finished together on the final 'girls---',  It will get better and next time I will slow it down before we get into the vocal.   I announced "Amercan Trilogy" as the set closer and we played it pretty well.  We got a massive response as we finished and we left the stage feeling 10 feet tall!  A good set I thought.  Chris the bass agreed but said we had come off a couple of songs too early on his schedule.  I was still confused 'cos I thought we had done a good 45 minutes,  maybe the slicker between songs linking / sharper banter is leaving us more playing time?  Anyway we agreed to try and do an hour for the final set. 

Psycadelic look - but not actually a Pink Floyd song!

I risked another shandy in the break and we resumed for the final set opening with "Great Balls".   I counted Chris straight into "Saw Her Standing There" and we played without stopping for about 25 minutes through "Dance the Night, Pretty Woman,  Saturday Night, Sweet Caroline. Hey Baby, Amarillo,  Hi Ho and All Right Now".  All well appreciated and danced to!  Chris the bass indicated we still had half an hour to go so I called for some numbers skipped earlier: "Do You Wanna Dance, All Shook Up".  Then I called for "Shakin All Over" which we hadn't done for a bit.  We played it surprisingly well and it went down well.  We dropped in "Help Make It Thru the Night" as the test slowey.  Unfortunately I started in A rather than D.  I switched to D but Chris was now singing in A.  We should have stopped and restarted!  It took a verse to get sorted and must have sounded very Karaoke. Despite this there was a little bit of dancing thanks to our entourage indulging a couple of blokes in a slowey!  It was 11:30pm so I announced "Johnny B Goode" as the last number and we played it just fine.  We all got good audience responses in the outros and big shouts for more at the end.  So as per the previous outing we encored with "Hippy Hippy Shake" (good for sciatica) and still we got shouts for more!  We finally signed off with "Wonderful Tonight" at about 11:45pm .

As I came off the chairman came over to congratulate me (and band) on a great evening's entertainment - he had really enjoyed it.   Leading the band performance does take it out of me and I enjoyed a few quiet minutes in our dressing room getting changed.  Then it was back into the fray of pack up. Jacqui had sensibly got a lift home with Bridget.  My leg was quite sore as I packed up and I was glad to get the gear in the car.  I was home by 12:40am and we had cocoa and toast before turning in.  A very good night for the band building on the success at Searles.