Tag Archives: pubs

28-07-2014 – The Kids Are All Right Edition

Well, as the song goes; Summer’s here, and the time is right, for drinking in the streets…

After a very Scorchio week away in touristy wallet-molesting London, we were back in time on Friday to take diva daughter Lil over to the Rolly in Swindon for a jolly evening’s acoustic fun, before slinking away off to bed, in order to get up early so I could go and set up for the next day’s wedding gig. And a mighty fine wedding gig it was as well; the groom and his chums actually played as a band (the wonderfully-named Astral Toasters, if I heard correctly); thus after our first set they hopped up and played a few numbers, which got the dance floor packed. After that it was easy for us, and we just kept the ball rolling, while the merry crowd danced, jumped, caroused, leaped, and in some cases just drunk, the night away. Alas, there were no small children doing the compulsory wedding “sliding along the dance floor on your knees” routine; but happily there were some drunken alleged adults, who filled in for them nicely. READ MORE

21-07-2014 – Gina & Lil Inspired

As Alan is away this week, this is a recorded message…

No band action this weekend, but the diva Lily was out twice; Friday, we rolled up at the Messenger in Swindon, a busy estate pub (that’s like a normal pub, but with a bigger boot), and were delighted to see our buddies Gina and Lucy roll up. Once a few lager-fuelled undesirables had been snarled away by the landlady, we were all settled in for a nice cosy fun night, and had to decide at the end whether to upset the punters, who noisily demanded more, or the landlady, who quietly asked to stop for the sake of her licence. We decided in the end to go with the landlady, because she was paying us. Rawk’n’roll sellout I know, but we live to gig another day! READ MORE

14-07-2014 – Potentially Embarrassing Social Faux Pas Special

Good morning campers!

Well, it was another busy week in rawk’n’roll; young Lily’s first gig for ages on Thursday, over at what turned out to be a very friendly pub in Ludgershall; they helped carry the kit in, they danced and sang in all the right places, they bought some of her CDs, and they even paid us more than the agreed amount. We’ll be back!

Friday and another outing for Lil, this time to our beloved Queen Amy’s to fill in for a late cancellation; not being sure of a crowd, we brought our own, including about half of Da Family and some good ol’ mates as well. Very nice night indeed. READ MORE

07-07-2014 – All On Ice

Ahoy there!

Well, a mighty fine summer weekend’s entertainment there…

When we arrived at Stanshawe’s Court on Friday, it turned out to be an enormous old mansion-turned-into-family-pub affair. Hence, among the usual pub crowd, there were several families just finishing eating as we started to set up.

One little girl pointed at Ben and I, and whispered something into her dad’s ear.

“She wants to know if you play ‘Frozen’”, he grinned at us.

“What, that song from the Disney film?” asks Ben. READ MORE

30-06-2014 – Just 2 Gigs

Yo peeps!

Right, pay attention at the back there, I’ll keep this nice and one short… partly ‘cos we didn’t play this weekend, so there’s nothing to report, and partly ‘cos I’m just lazy.

On the assumption that Stuart returns safely from Glasters intact, and hasn’t run off to join the “Rainbow Village Universal Trucking Company”, or similar, then this weekend we have a double-header treat for Bristol residents: –

Friday 4th July – Stanshawe’s Court Inn, Yate
Never played this one before. But we have played Yate before; although we’re kinda hoping we’ll be pleasantly surprised this time. You never know. Sometimes they have mad people pogo-ing for twenty minutes, then going for a little lie-down under the table to recover… and then jumping back up to do it all over again. READ MORE

23-06-2014 – Whooping and dancing

Aloha!

Oh, the madness continues. After two weeks off, a jet lagged Stuart is just back from Cuba, Lou is barely able to stand up having blistered her feet into oblivion by foolishly going running (it’s not like she doesn’t have a car), and Ben and I are both knackered sideways from working…  and we have a Harley Owner’s Group rally to play.

Actually, I think we held it all together rather well. For the first set, and most of the second, it all went swimmingly, with much singing along, dancing, whooping, and general silliness; then, suddenly, most of the merry bikers disappeared off the dance floor, not to be seen again. READ MORE

02-06-2014 – Ride Of Respect

Yo homeys!

Well, that was a rip-roaring entertaining weekend!

Firstly, a massive thanks to our pal Anne for inviting us to play at this year’s Ride Of Respect in Abingdon; having worked for months to organise the whole event, we think she deserves a rest now, but is unlikely to get one…

We’d arranged to play the Saturday night gig (for all the riders, stewards, and various other ne’er-do-wells who camped over the night before), and camp over ourselves, too – meaning no tiresome staying-sober-enough-to-drive-home was needed. So, with malice aforethought, Ben and I stashed as much beer and cider as we could shoehorn into the vehicles in between amplifiers, carefully trying to avoid remembering we would have to be up and setting up equipment again at 7:30 the next morning. READ MORE

27-05-2014 – Ride Of Respect & Death Nutter

Ahoy there shipmates!

Well, a busy and interesting Bank Holiday weekend, I think – Ben is still riding high after his recent Eurovision Song Contest victory, but nonetheless still put in a spirited performance for us on the bass…

Saturday night, we rolled up at the Woodlands Edge in sunny Swindon, to be asked to “wait until the footie has finished before you start”. Hokay, no problem; although the game (between two Spanish teams, it seems, the Swindon connections for which are still a little unclear to me) – as inevitably happens on such occasions – went into injury time (“Mummy, I’ve banged my knee!”), followed by extra time (“Awww, do we have to come home yet, Mum?”), so Lou and I amused ourselves in the meantime by seeing which of us was worse at juggling. <<Please insert your own “dropped balls” pun here. Thank you>> READ MORE

19-05-2014 – Think Words

Hello sailor!

Well, summer’s here, and the time is right… for drinking heavily in Swindon pubs it would seem. A jolly evening in the Royal Oak, Lou and I rolled up with our shiny (okay, then, shabby) PA all nice and repaired, and were greeted by a worried-looking Ben. “I’ve lost Stuart”, he says. “He went to park the car about twenty minutes ago, I’ve set all his kit up for him, and he’s still not back yet. You how he gets lost driving around Swindon…”

Just as he is saying this, we see Stuart drive majestically past; and so, giggling helplessly, we unload the van; when we’ve finished, just as I hop back in to park it, Stuart comes driving past  for another lap. He follows me, as we drive 30 seconds round the corner to the large clearly-marked car park, and we stroll back to the pub to finish setting up. READ MORE

12-05-2014 – Sleep Deprivation Weekend

Yo peeps

Slightly disoriented after a week off, and mostly knackered (me ‘cos I’m old, Ben due to a draconian work shift pattern, Stuart because the previous night was the album launch party for the Real Kings Of Spain, Lou because – well, because she’s always running around like a loony), we all trundled up to the Parson’s Nose in Melksham, and tried to remember how to set up the kit. It seems that knocking your Strat off its stand is not the most helpful part of this process, but then again nor is finding your spare batteries have shorted themselves out and melted together into an ungainly heap. Still, we finally got everything working, except for my brain (which fast forwarded in one song leaving me 2 verses ahead, and wondering why it was the rest of ‘em were all screwing it up together, and managing to do it in perfect sync…) READ MORE