Tag Archives: birthday

16-05-2016 – The Black Castle

Well hello there; do come in, we’ve been expecting you…

Right then, what just happened this weekend? Anybody remember?

This is the problem with having too nice a time at the weekend, and thinking “Oh, bugger it, I’ll write the blog up on Monday” – you can’t remember anything that happened before yesterday.

I could try making something up, but that doesn’t usually end well. Tell you what, if you lot write in and tell me what you’d like me to make up for next week, I’ll do that. Actually – here’s a better idea – you lot write in and tell me what style you’d like next week’s episode to be written in – since we’ve already covered film noire and swords-and-sorcery fantasy, you could choose (for example) a Western, a sci-fi theme, soy thriller, or anything else that take your fancy. Personally, I’d like something featuring lime jelly and lots of cheerleaders, but it’s your call. READ MORE

09-05-2016 – Ginger Amy

Aloha!

Well, guess what, another weekend, another couple of gigs…

After last weekend’s little surprise, we were hoping that nobody was going to take their top off during a gig.

Well, they didn’t…

Friday at the Tern in Yate was worthy of mention though, it was enlivened by a bunch who were in celebrating somebody’s birthday, and they all managed to get themselves into a rather advanced state of disrepair. Thus it was that we got some fairly lively audience interaction going on; in particular, one rather hirsute young gentleman, who was so keen to join in that when Rosa introduced an Amy Winehouse number by asking if there was anybody named Amy in the room, he raised his hand enthusiastically and shouted “Me! Me!”… Similarly, when Rosa commented on the warm weather, asking if anybody had had to resort to sunblock yet, he also piped up, “Yes, I did! I had to, I’m as ginger as f*&k!”. READ MORE

03-05-2016 – No Title

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

25-04-2016 – Limp Guitarist

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

19-04-2016 – Erk and Eh and Oooh

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

12-04-2016 – Erk, Fancy Dress

Ahoy there shipmates!

So, another weekend, and two more new venues we’d never played before. The Cider Press in Bishopston turned out to be a bit like the Blue Lagoon just down the road, i.e. quite a big place, with a lot of people in, and various others coming and going.

Early on, Rosa had to bully the crowd quite a lot before they started enjoying themselves, but eventually they started to get the hang of it, and there was much a-dancing around and a-falling over before the night was out. Towards the end of the evening, the doors burst open and a horde in fancy dress trooped in, including a shark, Nemo, two flamingos, a strawberry, a Mexican, somebody on a dwarf’s shoulders, and, my personal favourite, an Arab riding a camel. READ MORE

04-04-2016 – Keeping Score

Mornin!

Well after a week away, I was hoping to return refreshed and bright eyed, but unsurprisingly ended up returning knackered and bleary-eyed instead.

Anyway – after a week off, it was back on Friday for a night at the Parson’s Nose in Melksham; whilst waiting to play after setting up, we found a “Giant Alphabet Floor Puzzle – Ages 2 to 5”. Ben and I immediately pounced on it, and set about completing it as fast as possible. It’s harder than you might think – although to be honest, Ben was holding me back a little… READ MORE

21-03-2016 – Mister Stiffy

Good morning campers!

And it’s been a busy week of things breaking down, being mended, and in some cases even being replaced by a newer flashier model – and, surprisingly, none of these things was me…

Things started to look ominous when one of our PA speakers blew on Tuesday night; by fortunate coincidence, a pal had just put her shiny barely-used PA speakers up for sale on Facebook the day before, prompting Stuart and I to have a brief discussion about how nice it would be if we bought them, but concluding that we can’t really justify the expense. READ MORE

14-03-2016 – Rambling On

[Editor’s note: Ok, ok, the picture has nothing to do with this week’s Angel UpDate but, hey everyone loves fluffy kittens … don’t they?]

Hello darkness, my old friend…

Well, hello to The Darkness, anyway – can’t beat a bit of OTT classic rock pastiche, can ya?

Another rock’n’roll rollercoaster ride this weekend – starting with a slightly bizarre episode in which a very dear and fabulous friend of mine, without warning, suddenly (and I feel, unnecessarily cheerfully) turns down my non-existent proposal of wedlock… READ MORE

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

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