Mornin all!
And we have an exciting week coming up on the rock’n’roll rollercoasterTM; you may recall, many moons ago, we announced our resident Viking bass player Ben was planning to leave us, having finally tired of mine and Stuart’s company after thirteen or so years (I know, right? No stamina, some people).
Ben had very kindly agreed to carry on gigging until we found a suitable replacement and got them up to speed. Due to an unfortunate, protracted and complex sequence of events, this took far, far longer than any of us anticipated; but Ben has gamely soldiered on until now, at last, we finally have a new player on Team AUF.
So, this Saturday will mark the debut gig for our new bottom-end-plank-spanker, the talented and lovely Mr Steve James.
He’s had to learn quite a lot of material for this, so to help him feel at home and take the pressure off, I’m planning on making quite a few mistakes myself this week. Anything to help out.
Of course, we’ve not seen the last of Ben by any means – he’ll be appearing at gigs here and there, maybe to sing a tune or two with us, or at least to watch us carry all the heavy stuff in and out from the comfort of a nearby table full of beer.
And I hereby take this opportunity to say my personal thanks to Ben for having been a marvellous bandmate, friend, and fellow idiot for the past thirteen years, and that at least in the latter two categories, he will continue with his duties for many years to come.
Saturday 18th – The King William IV, Staple Hill
A reassuringly relaxed pub – at least, last time we were there, a lot of the punters (customers) were in quite an advanced state of relaxation, with a respectable amount of dancing and singing along. And the door crew do insist on helping carry our stuff in, which is delightful. Rather excited for this one.
Square on
A