Top o’ the morning to ye!

Well, I’m happy to report we had riotously good fun at the Railway last Saturday; we had dancing and singing galore (why they were singing “galore” I don’t know, we don’t play it), and – even taking into account the usual “Right, this our last number” lie, several more encores than we intended. In fact, we’d already turned the PA and amps off, when it became clear that the crowd weren’t going to stop requesting another, and we found another song down the back of the sofa, had a quick conflab to work out what key it was in, and rebooted all the kit. Rather to my surprise, we all actually remembered it. READ MORE

Borag Thungg, earthlets!

In this week’s thrilling instalment, your AUF rock’n’roll heroes find themselves in a local venue that, for some reason, we’d never played before.

The King Billy (we’re on first name terms now), in Staple Hill, turned out to be a large pub on the main drag; easy load-in access, handy parking, and best of all (bless him!) a doorman who insisted on helping us carry all the heavy gear in.

So far, so good! Kind doorman assistance was particularly appreciated by Ben, who, it transpires, has this week knackered his shoulder and put his back out. We know he’s just moved house, so we naturally assume this was the result of some heavy furniture-moving escapade. READ MORE

Hola amigos!

Just a r-e-a-l-l-y short missive this week, as I forgot to write one, and I’m currently supposed to be doing something else….

After a peaceful gig-free weekend*, it’s time once again to unleash a raging apocalypse of rock on an unsuspecting audience…

Saturday 12^th – The King William IV, Staple Hill

It’s known to its friends as the King Billy, but as we’ve not been here before it seems a trifle presumptive on our part not to use its formal title. It is royalty, after all.

They seem to have bands here on a fairly regular basis though, so at least they should have some idea what to expect… READ MORE

Well, hello there!

Apologies for this missive being rather short – basically, I forgot to write it and only just remembered last minute.

So here is the briefest of bulletin reports on the latest gig-going activities…

Last Thursday at the Royal Oak started a little quieter than the previous time, but, as usual, it livened up towards the end. And, as ever, we try not to let anything stand in the way of us having a good time. Particularly Abby, who, having managed to inveigle a lift there and back from Stuart, was free from the limitations of those pesky drink-driving laws, and rewarded herself with a particularly potent pint of cider on arrival. READ MORE

Ahoy there me hearties!

Our profound apologies for not having issued something specifically for International Talk Like A Pirate Day last Monday – basically, we simply forgot.

We’ll make it up to you at some point in the future; possibly by just picking a random gig and dressing up accordingly. Or perhaps by plundering one of Her Majesty’s vessels on the high seas. (Ed: it’s His Majesty’s now, I suppose…)

Still, we can report on what we fully expect to have been an all-time career low last weekend, when we were offered a slot at the Cider and Pie Festival just down the road from me – to be headlined by the Wurzels, just to give you an idea of the prestige of the event… READ MORE

Mornin all!

Just a quick missive to update you all on the latest shenanigans in the weird and wonderful world of Rawk & Roll^TM.

So, Saturday night at the excellent Old Mill in Portishead, Ben and I arrive a touch early and – dare I say – with almost military precision, set up the PA, backline, lights, smoke machine, and rubber chicken. We’ve almost completed this process when we espy Stuart pull up outside, so we skip merrily out to help haul his drumming paraphernalia in.

Oh dearie me, he does not look at all well. I realize that pale grey is a fashionable colour for domestic residences these days, but it does not look good on a percussionist. Still, he is adamant that “the show must go on”, even if he does have to stop three times for a rest while setting up his drumkit… READ MORE

Hey gang

Well after a week away from work (but not from working, oh dearie me, no, not with 25 years’ worth of accumulated crap to empty out of a house), it was a light relief to load up the ol’ van with the usual catalogue of amplifiers, guitars, lights, and associated gigging paraphernalia for our outing to the Railway Tavern in Fishponds.

However, after some thought, I decided to take the catalogues back out again, and put the actual equipment in instead.

Ben decided to give his spare bass a rare outing, but after two songs remembered why it was relegated to spare, and switched back to his regular weapon of choice. (And, just in case anyone is mean-spirited enough to forward this on to my dear other half, I would like to clarify that I, personally, do not possess any “spare” guitars. Oh, dearie me, no. They each have specific tonal qualities and functionalities, and thus all are absolutely and fundamentally necessary. I trust that clears that point up once and for all). READ MORE

Yoho, me hearties!

Arrrr, and it be a fine sunny day here on the good ship Angel Up Front, the gulls be a-wheelin’ over the mizzen mast, there’s a stiff breeze a-blowin’ from the Indies to the Spanish Main, I spies a merchantman clipper on the horizon, laden with booty ripe for a-plunderin’, and….

What’s that? “Come in number seven, your time is up?”

Surely can’t have been half an hour yet, can it?

Actually, I have in fact been on the high seas this week – beloved talented daughter Lily, fresh from her support gig at the Fleece last weekend, chose to splash (see what I did there?) her ill-gotten gains on a paddleboard, and so we spent a merry couple of hours trying it out at the local water park one evening. READ MORE

Greetings, Earthlings!

And, after a Welcome Break^TM for everyone, it’s back to the rock’n’roll grindstone, with rather a doozy of a local gig coming up.

We’re expecting to see quite a few old pals coming along to this one, and quite possibly some new ones as well. Best of all, it’s within walking distance for our glamorous chanteuse Abs, which means that she can – and we are proud of her for this choice of terminology – “get proper shitfaced”.

Friday 26^th August – Blue Lagoon, Gloucester Road READ MORE

Top o’the mornin’ to ye!

Right, this missive will be a brief one, not least because I forgot to write it 2 days ago and only just remembered…

It’s not my fault, my mind has been occupied recently with Higher Things.

Well, in fact, it’s been occupied with trying to remember the names of the Hair Bear Bunch.

(If anyone else is old enough to remember, a kid’s TV series from the seventies, as I recall were cartoon bears who lived in a zoo which they perpetually escaped from and travelled around on an invisible motorcycle). Obviously, I could Google the answer, but then I’d end up following a link and watching an episode or two, and I don’t want to do that as it will probably turn out to be rubbish; I think on balance I prefer to keep the happy nostalgic view of it that I recall. Even if I can’t remember their bloody names. It’s either that or go back to putting LSD in my cornflakes, which, in retrospect, I suspect must have been what our parents were doing at the time. READ MORE