Tag Archives: gigs

Gig Log

25-01-2016 – Mountaineering Again

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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

Gig Log

18-01-2016 – Birthday’s, Beards and Bassists

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Hey gang!

Now, THAT was a fantastic weekend. After a nice warm-up gig on Friday (well, we had to do something to warm up, it was freezing!), Saturday dawned fair and bright, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself another year older, and still not dead.

After a day mostly consisting of lounging around and eating pie, it was off down to the Anchor in Bishopston, where there was a fine turnout of old chums, and everybody had an absolutely marvellous time; there was much singing and dancing along and some very impressive head-banging. READ MORE

Gig Log

11-01-2016 – Oh The Sprain

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Hola!

Another cold, wet weekend, another gig…. This time we were at the lovely Railway Tavern, the fabled court of Queen Amy of Fishponds, for a rather busy night, as it turned out.

Being a pillock, I’d managed somehow during the week to sprain my left wrist, and also tear off half a fingernail on my right hand; this basically rendered playing the guitar somewhat painful, and so I found myself trying to coax sounds out of it without actually touching it. I guess, thinking about it, that I could have tried using my teeth instead, but I’d only get accused of Hendrix plagiarism, and besides, I have to go to the dentists on Wednesday. READ MORE

Gig Log

04-01-2016 – 2015 Review

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Happy Noo Year folks!

Okay, this seems like an appropriate time to have a quick look over our artistic achievements over the past twelve months – so here’s what I’ll do. From each month, I’ll pick out the most interesting AUF news headline, and we’ll see who falls asleep first. You have to remember, this is quite apart from the regular everyday silliness, which encompasses a broad spectrum, from drunken audience comedy dancing / falling over / nudity, to fits of hysterical childishness from us, to peaceful games of Travel Scrabble in the middle of a busy disco. And, sometimes, we even play music as well… READ MORE

Gig Log

21-12-2015 – Scrabble, Dance & DJ

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Well, it’s getting very close to that special time of year; and you need to ask yourself – have you been naughty or nice? Knowing you lot, best prepare for the worst, I’d suggest…

We had a hugely entertaining time on Friday at the New Crown Inn in Bath – lovely little pub, very friendly, and made us feel massively welcome. The landlord in particular seemed very enthusiastic, playing air guitar with gusto (it’s an Italian table sauce) for most of the second set, and joining in our impromptu game of Blind Man’s Buff after we’d packed up – which started when we threw a coat over Rosa’s head, and only finished after some ten minutes of giggling when she had to be caught just before plummeting down some stone steps… READ MORE

Gig Log

14-12-2015 – Irrelevant

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Hurry folks, there’s only one shopping day left til Christmas!

It’s true. There’s always only one shopping day left til Christmas. It’s called Christmas Eve.

My advice is not to leave it too late, though – otherwise the only place left open will be the petrol station, and that means everybody gets either charcoal briquettes or screen wash for Christmas.

Anyways, we had an interesting time this weekend, thanks for asking; I think Saturday night was my favourite, playing a party for the New Sentinels bike club down in Bedminster. After some initial confusion – expecting to be the second on of the two bands, then finding on arrival that they wanted us on first; then having to wait for them to set up first anyway, which took a while on account of their guitarist being an hour late; then after finally being able to hurriedly set up being told (just as we went on), that they wanted us to play not one but two sets – things settled down quite nicely. READ MORE

Gig Log

07-12-2015 – Dancing Edition

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Ho, ho ho, my little ones.

Yes, it’s now December, start of the silly season, and time to be able to use the C-word in public again. A fine weekend to start off with – we arrived at the Queen Vic to find the council has closed the road for a festive street fair a little further up the hill, blocking our access to get in and unload.

Fortunately, they hadn’t had the foresight to close the pavement as well, so my little van clambered nimbly over a couple of kerbs, and we were right outside the venue, with plenty of spaces to park, since everybody else seemed to be law-abiding. READ MORE

Gig Log

30-11-2015 – The Curse Of The Whammy Bar

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My, that was a busy weekend!

Friday night, and it’s off to the rather lovely Barrington Arms near Swindon with daughter Lil for an acoustic evening; a fine plan, spoiled only by the cheery signs, twinkling in the rainswept night, announcing that the M4 is shut from the next junction but one onwards. As the noted wit Oscar Wilde would have remarked, “Oh, bugger!”

So it’s off at the next exit for a frantic explore of the B roads of Wiltshire, and we finally slither to a halt outside the pub a mere hour late. Fortunately Tracy, the nice lady in charge, is very understanding, and we still manage to fit in a full two sets before finishing time. She apologises that the pub’s not too full, but blames Black Friday, the weather, the roads, and, curiously, the government. Apparently, though, they normally have more people in the place, and they usually like something a bit noisier than what we’ve just played. Lil immediately informs her that we can easily do MUCH noisier, we just bring her brothers along – this suggestion is met with approval, and so the stage is set for a full-on Polar Bear Cheesy Pirate experience in the New Year. ? READ MORE

Gig Log

23-11-2015 – Polar Bears, Fights and Glowing Guitars

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Hey folks

Helldammit, that was a fun weekend all round!

Friday night, and time for Lily’s gig up at the ol’ Clothears in Stroud; having forewarned the pub that in addition the usual acoustic-y stuff, we were bringing along the full strength of the tribe – the mighty Polar Bear Cheese Pirates From Outer Space – we arrived early and after almost an hour of careful planning, carrying, arranging, rearranging, and tripping over each other, we’d managed to get the entire band’s kit set up in the very snug space available. And a jolly night we had of it; although after over an hour of drumming way after his bedtime, poor Jimi had to curl up in a corner to snooze while we packed the rest of the kit up afterwards. Usually it’s Lily that does that. READ MORE

Gig Log

16-11-2015 – Tortured and Tigger

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Hey guys

Well another weekend, and I’m still not dead. Came pretty close, though…

After starting to feel fairly rough at the end of last week, I awoke on Saturday morning to find that during the night, somebody had removed both my lungs, and replaced them with a pair of black bin bags, which had been filled with raw sewage and cement dust and left out in the rain for a week. Not content with this, they had also set fire to my throat lining, put it out with a cricket bat, and tried to hide any evidence by removing the surface layers with a cheese grater. In addition, each of my eyeballs had been temporarily removed with a chisel and, after being used for a vigorous game of ping-pong, were soaked in vinegar before replacing them back in their sockets, using a hammer. READ MORE