Ahoy there, shipmates!

This week, we’re blogging in accordance with our new inclusiveness policy, so there’s lots of Subtitles For The Hard Of Thinking – in short, less words, and more pictures. A bit like, “Where’s Spot?”*.

Now read on…

We had an absolutely fantastic evening up at the dear ol’ Queen Vic up in Stroud on Saturday – only the second gig we’ve played with young Miss Rosa at the helm, and of course, being International Talk Like A Pirate Day, a perfect excuse to dress up like a bunch of silly buggers.

So we did; there was much eyepatchery and “Aharr”-ing before we even set off, and when we arrived we were delighted to find our old pals John and Anne grinning and waiting for us.

My beloved Dem came along for the night too, ostensibly to take a few pictures, but mainly I suspect to wear the captain’s hat…

…and once we were set up and soundchecked, she tried to get us to pose for a team photo – this was the best she could manage…

Rosa, you’ll note, is the attractive one who isn’t me.

I enquired whether she’d bought the “pirate princess” outfit especially for this evening.

“No-o-o-o”, she admits, “I – er – I already had one anyway…”

I think she’s going to fit right in.

So, with the stage, drumkit – and anything else that couldn’t get out of the way fast enough – suitably draped in flags and assorted piracy regalia, it was time to start making a noise – but not before Dem took this photo specifically to quell the ugly rumours currently circulating that I never tune up before a gig.

See? That’s me, tuning up, that is.

Clear evidence that I DO actually tune up; It’s just that the way I play, it doesn’t make any difference, that’s all.

So, off we went – and a vastly entertaining evening of it we had…

Unfortunately, no photographs have survived of the stuffed parrot we’d hastily gaffa-taped to Rosa’s shoulder…

…but she did pull off a convincing hornpipe…

(that last phrase sounded rather more dodgy than I intended)

…Still, towards the end of the evening, we were joined onstage by a chorus of lovely air guitar ladies…

…one of whom was kind enough to give me a few tips…

…and we ended the evening with the almost inevitable rubber-duck-enhanced speed guitar duel (you can see in this shot that the fingers are actually on fire)…

…which (it is my firm belief) I won. Because I had a rubber duck on my side.

So, all in all, that was huge fun. Coming up this week – a kinda sad moment, as it’s our last gig with Lou…

Friday 25th – The Trident, Downend
A nice little local pub, this one, and the last time in the foreseeable future that we’ll be causing Lou the regular exasperation that we do so well. We’ve had a great time with her over the past two and a half years, and we’re all wishing her the very best of luck with her other projects. I’m sure she’s looking forward to the prospect of not having to spend her Saturday nights with the same bunch of idiots every week.

In the meantime, we’re also looking forward to hitting up the streets with Rosa; who, in addition to her undisputable musical talents, is an unstoppable bundle of fun, and appears to actually be ahead of the rest of us in the playing sillybuggers game – in fact, I’m beginning to wonder how long we’ll be able to keep up with her…we’re not used to looking like the normal ones.

Thas’ your lot for now…

Square on
A

*He’s in his basket.