Tag Archives: bath

03-05-2016 – No Title

May 3, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Hey gang

Well, a relatively quiet blank holiday weekend for us, just the one outing to Caldicot, to the rather nice Cellar Bar. Rosa’s opening gambit rather took the locals by surprise, though.

After whispering in my ear to check where we actually are tonight, she greets the audience by announcing us, and then asking them, “So, what is there to do on a Saturday night here in Caldicot, then…?”

There is a moment’s silent pause for reflection, before a number of them shout out simultaneously, “DRINK!!!” READ MORE

Gig Log

25-04-2016 – Limp Guitarist

April 25, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye!

Okay, after last week’s rather epic offering, I think I’m entitled to keep this week’s missive nice and short. Well, short anyway…

Friday’s jaunt up the North Face of the Rum Bar in Chepstow, despite a pretty slow start, ended up being very lively by the end of the night; unfortunately I fell foul of the dreaded stairs on the descent afterwards – manhandling my amp down the wet cast-iron fire escape, I slipped, and although I managed to save my amp from expensive harm, I twisted my knee good and proper. Bugger! That’ll see me hobbling around whingeing for a few days, then… READ MORE

Gig Log

19-04-2016 – Erk and Eh and Oooh

April 19, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Ahoy there shipmates!

Well, on Friday we played what should by rights have been a very good gig at the Blue Lagoon – nice and local, great venue, a few pals in, really good crowd – so what was the problem?

Well, I’ll tell you – but I’ll warn you now, it does get a little bit sweary towards the end…

If you’re of a sensitive disposition, you may want to scroll down to where the font changes, which is where the funny bit starts.

[Editor’s note: I had to think for a while on whether to put this out or not. Maybe it’s not the sort of thing that we should have floating around and out of control on the internet as it is a bit offensive but the truth is, in all the years we have been together I don’t think we have had anyone go at it so much for so long at a gig therefore due to it being such an exceptional incident Alan can let rip. This chap didn’t annoy me quite as much as I have a drum kit as a barrier but I spent most of the night with half an eye on this person. I don’t think he was drunk but I think he had taken something, maybe an upper like cocaine or amphetamines, I’m not sure but he sure kept going and his mates were egging him on knowing that he was in a state and very irritating even if he wasn’t aware of it.] READ MORE

Gig Log

08-03-2016 – The Fluffy Saga Gone Bet Lynch

March 8, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Well, good morning, my little shenanigans…

This is starting to get repetitive – another weekend, another pair of gigs – although, to be fair, Friday’s was quite a good turnaround, starting off in appalling fashion – thanks partly to the strange acoustics in the room, but mostly to my general ineptitude (particularly compounded by my seemingly astronomical inability to count to four), we had to throw in the towel on the first number after eight bars, and start it over again – but by the end of the night was huge jolly fun for everyone, due in no small part I suspect to those that enthusiastically joined in Rosa’s Drinking Game. It’s just a little disappointing that Ben and I had our hands full, so we couldn’t actually play along. READ MORE

Gig Log

29-02-2016 – Furry

February 29, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Yo homeys! [Editor’s note: I think he means “Hello”]

Well, more mad fun in the world of rawk’n’roll. Friday night, and the King William IV in Bath turns out to be a small pub, with only-just-enough-room to set up in, provided that Ben and I don’t mind both each playing hidden behind a PA speaker, and provided that they’re not actually using the pool table which is right next to where I have to go.

They are (inevitably) using the pool table all night, so I find myself trying to play solos whilst ducking under the back of a pool cue, simultaneously making sure the bumblewit poolies aren’t treading all over my pedals every time they try to take a shot. READ MORE

Gig Log

22-02-2016 – Anover Birfday!

February 22, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Goooooood morning!

Another weekend, another fantastic time…. Friday night, and since it’s my beautiful Dem’s birthday, we have persuaded her to come along with us to the Cat & Wheel, with daughter Lil as an escort. (That’s not in the sense of “working as an escort”, you understand, just “escorting Dem”. I mean, the extra cash always comes in handy, but everybody needs a night off now and then…)

Anyhoo, my lovely two were just into their second pint, and the kit was just about set up, when our ol’ pals John & Adam rolled in, and in true chivalrous fashion took charge of supervising the girls’ alcohol intake for the evening – with extremely successful results. READ MORE

Gig Log

15-02-2016 – Silly Rock

February 15, 2016 admin Leave a comment

What ho!

Well, another weekend in rawk’n’roll, another triumph of amiably bumbling about and somehow managing to overcome technical difficulties despite astronomical ineptitude…

Friday at the Trout started off none-too-well, as I discovered on setting up that my amp foot switch has suffered a nervous breakdown and so I have lost one channel of my amp. Never mind, at least it still makes a noise, it just means I’ll have to think about what I’m doing a bit carefully. Ben, meanwhile, has also lost his volume-boosting ability due to a cable failure – thus the pair of us spend the gig fiddling with our knobs a little more frantically than usual. READ MORE

Gig Log

09-02-2016 – Of Cupcakes And Nipples

February 9, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Hey peeps!

Well, if you weren’t there on Saturday, you missed a mighty fine night up at the Queen Vic in Stroud – despite the foul weather, there was plenty of fun to be had, with lots of silliness and dancing around. We were especially pleased to see some ol’ chums show up, and I was quite touched by how many were concerned for my health, after having read last week’s little missive.

I think the highlight of the evening for me was when Rosa, by way of announcing our next song (which is a moderately dreadful number originally by Katy Perry, but which Ben and I have done our best to turn into a grunge metal slag heap), asks the audience to see if they can guess, “Who has previously performed with cupcakes on their nipples?” READ MORE

Gig Log

02-02-2016 – Valves

February 2, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Yo homeys!

Well, that was fun; as it happened, we ended up playing 2 gigs this weekend, since we got a call to cover a cancellation on Friday at the Red Lion in Paulton, way down in deepest darkest Zummerzet. We were set up at one end of the pub, while the bar and all the punters were down half a flight of stairs; having played this kind of set up before, we knew that it was going to be hard work dragging the punters up the stairs to join us. As it turned out, it took us until nearly half way through the first set before Rosa succeeded in bullying them to come up and start enjoying themselves. READ MORE

Gig Log

25-01-2016 – Mountaineering Again

January 25, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye…

Right, that’s enough of that. Now, pay attention at the back there, for this debriefing of our last expedition, in which we attempted to summit the tricky South West Face of the Rum Bar in Chepstow.

Ben and I arrived first, and made base camp with the van at the car park nestled in the foothills of the venue. Since our Sherpas had failed to arrive, it was left to the two of us to empty the van, sort the equipment into the two categories “We absolutely can’t do without that”, and “I’m not carrying that bloody thing up those stairs if I don’t have to”. READ MORE