Trimingham Caravan Park

Put 2 seats back in the Galaxy; still some room left ‘cos the Bose gear doesn’t take up much space. Good run over and met up with Nigel in the car park just before 7pm. Dave and Martin arrived shortly after and Nige showed off his toy cigarette, which generates nicotine flavoured steam. Andy dropped by with the passcard and Dave and I went through; Nige elected to shift his gear through to the front of the club from the car park. Got set up with the Bose’s on the floor. We set up with the sound level down a bit and we did manage a brief soundcheck with “How Long” and it sounded pretty good. Had a water and a beer because I was very thirsty and then we were on for Set 1. All went very well from the off. It was a good sound balance, Dave was holding the drum pace in check and taking his time over the banter which started to work well; even Nige got a couple of remarks in. The audience was a bit bigger than usual and they were generally attentive and applauded in all the right places. Only trouble was it was going so well I forgot the order and forgot to put on the 12 string – so we did the Hollies Medley on 6 string – still no one noticed much. Got back on track and an old boy came up to do tambourine on Mr Tambourine Man. Played through to “I Believe” and got a great reception. We were dead chuffed ‘cos it was the first time since Dan left that things had gone so smoothly. Laura and friends arrived in the interval. Set 2 went similarly well; starting with a good rendition of “Travelodge” the whole set was nicely paced, with good banter and good audience reaction. Towards the end of the set we even had a few come up and dance to the Bay City Rollers and “Love Is All Around”. For set 3 I got the boys to open up with “Crazy Little Thing” (which needs some maintenance attention on the harmonies) and then we played through “500 Miles to Hi Ho” without stopping (but at an easy pace), attracting a few dancers along the way. We then did “Unchained and Trilogy”; and I thought a fair rendition of the Spencer Davis sequence (Nige not convinced) and “Dance the Night Away” before moving into the closing sequence. Rather than announce the individuals at the end of “Pretty Woman”, Dave gave a little talk on the value of supporting your local club and that went well. So we encored with “Wonderful” finishing spot on midnight. It had been a very good night for the band and we were happy bunnies as we packed up. Got away at 12:45 and home for 2:25am It was foggy in places and I missed the turn onto the A140 just outside Cromer, but picked it back up by following the Felbrigg road. I was a bit tired the next day and even more so after I had a very hard game of squash with Rocky which left us both gasping for breath as we called it a draw.

Session

Nige came round my house for a getting to know you and your music gear session.

Searles at Hunstanton

Marita and Jacqui were accompanying me so I had to put a couple of seats back in the car. We set off early so we could have a bit of time at the seaside. Called in a pub at Snettisham to have a drink and some nuts. We arrived at the gig about 3pm and parked up round the back. It was warm and sunny enough for us to walk along the front to town and have fish and chips at a restaurant there. We walked slowly back to the gig avoiding the temptations of ice cream to meet up with Dave and Jenny who had just arrived. Got the gear in on the trailer and half set up when Nigel arrived.



We were soon all set up and ready to go. There weren’t many there as we started the revised set 1 but it filled up rapidly as we progressed. Dave got a guy up to do the Shadows walk and he got a free CD. We had some kids playing tambourine in Mr Tambourine Man; and just as we came to the end of that a group of 20 something girls danced their way to the front, obviously enjoying the 60’s vibe, waving, blowing the band kisses etc. This did liven us up a bit and we progressed right through to “I Believe” with a spring in our patter! In the break the girls insisted on having photo’s with the band but then they had to head off – presumably to find some younger men. Jacqui, Marita and Jenny looked suitably shocked at the whole episode! We started set 2 with the Searchers which went well. Then we got a request for “Peggy Sue” which Nigel happened to know – so we did that and it was much appreciated. Proceeded through the rest of the set OK and took a break. Started set 3 with “500 miles” which got a good response so we carried on with the “Amarillo” party dance sequence through to “Hi Ho Silver”



We did the Spencer Davis pieces (much too fast) and after that the concentration of the band waned as we played through “American Trilogy” and “Unchained” with lots of trivial errors. So we finished off with “Pretty Woman”; Nigel and I did the “avoid signing off the drummer” routine which went well enough for us to encore with “Wonderful Tonight”. Got packed up quick with J’s help and we munched our pack up meal on the way home getting in about 1am.

Seacroft Holiday Park, East Runton

Ginge was meant to coming with me on the gig, but he was stuck in bank holiday weekend traffic. So I set off and ran into traffic approaching Thetford. I was sufficiently thick that I elected to turn round and skirt round Thetford on country roads. Thereafter I had a good run to East Runton arriving at 6:30 as planned. This is a new gig for us - you have to check in at reception and they let you through a barrier. The club house is immediately on the left with access doors to the stage there. I had just got the door open when Dave arrived with Martin (Nigel pulled up a bit later). Dave was please to see I had my Foot Tappers T shirt on. The club house is new and very well fitted out. Got the gear in and set up with no problem. We don’t bother with soundchecks nowadays ‘cos it is not that professional. Mark Buller (the agent who was compering) arrived and started off his kids show. There were a few families in but it was by no means packed, however, Mark’s show went very well I thought. We were only doing two sets, so we started off with our slightly revised set 1 which now includes “How Long and Seasons of Gold” and it went pretty well. The medium sized crowd were very appreciative and we finished off with a request for “Wipe Out” which got Dave well lathered up! In the break we were talking to Rachel the site managers daughter who had learned to read drums and was interested in having a go – she also liked Martin’s hair; calling it African Sunset. After a break for Bingo, Mark called us back for the next set which we started with the Searchers medley. Then we brought on Rachel, who it turns out is a bit of a barefoot drummer, to play “Hey Baby”. Very entertaining but rhythmically challenging! Played out the rest of the hour picking and mixing between sets 2 and 3 and got a generally good reception. At the end Mark Buller came over and congratulated us on a much improved show, great harmonies and tighter sound; and talked about booking us in some better gigs. Got packed up and away in good time and was home (via Norwich) by 1:15am.

Practice

More of a maintenance session to try and iron out weaknesses in current material. We finished early ‘cos we had a gig Friday.

Lowestoft Railway and Bowls

Had a slow run over so a bit later than planned, but the Galaxy did over 36 mpg. Arrived at 6:50 to find Dave and Jen already there. We got some of the gear in and Nigel rolled in. Frank, the governor, gave us the good news that there was no disco, and the not so good news that many of the club were on holiday so it would be a quiet night. Dave had a bad back and we had a few tables to shift, so I taught him Captain Hackenthorpe’s back relief exercise which did the trick for the night. Got set up without difficulty and, as is the custom nowadays, we didn’t bother with a soundcheck. So we settled down for a beer and some banter before we went on at 8:40. Played through set 1 pretty much as set out on the book, choosing “Raining in my Heart”, “Walk Don’t Wipe Out” and “Three Times a Lady at the choice points. Generally all went well and the small audience applauded lustily at all the right places, but Dave was a bit on edge even though there were only about 20 people there. By the time we got on for Set 2 there were a few more in. We got a great reception for the Eagles opener “How Long”, and followed up with a good “Seasons of Gold” and Eagles sequence which continued the good vibe. We played on through the set to “Bye Bye Baby” by which time we had got a couple up and dancing. I had problems seeing my foot pedal and getting the volume right for the solo but it wasn’t fatal. Finished off with a ragged version of “Love is All Around”. Went on for a short set 3, starting with “Hotel California” which went well until the solo, when again I hit the wrong switch on the pedal, which meant I had to catch up a few bars later. Nevertheless, it got a great reception. We only had a few minutes left, so we did the Spencer Davis sequence. “Somebody Help Me” was bit too fast for me and we confused each other on the middle 8 of “Keep on Running” but it’s best to keep exercising them until we know them. Then it was time to finish with “Pretty Woman” and “Wonderful Tonight”. The small crowd had been very enthusiastic and we sold a CD to the governor who had enjoyed “a brilliant band”. Got packed up quick and away by 12:30am. Quiet run home and in bed for 1:45am.

Practice

Nigel late getting over so Dave and I sorted out some show stuff – announcements and the timing to “3 Times a Lady”. I tried to record the improved Hollies medley and 4 Seasons but it didn’t work (hard disk memory?) We worked on “Shine” and “Queen” and made some progress with these hard pieces.