100 Club Oxford St London with The Checkmates

Got the train in from Cambridge with guitar in gig bag and because it was a nice day I walked over to Oxford St from Kings X. Met up with the gang and we had a couple of beers before going into the club for the soundcheck with the house gear. I was using an old Watkins Dominator miked up. Quite a course sound without FX, but it could certainly cut through if needed. Met some of the other musicians, including Brian “Liquorice” Locking from the Shadows who had brought a band along to do some Shadows stuff late on in the programme. My sister, Gina, had arrived to support us, so we all went out for an Italian meal and some wine. Came back to the club about 8pm and it was full. We ended up signing autographs, posing for pictures with fans, doing interviews with journalists etc. (One chap had come over from France just to see the Checkmates and get our signature on an album!) 

The night had started with skiffle and built up to more rock’n’roll by 9pm. We went on after Big Jim Sullivan’s house band and we did about 20 minutes featuring: “Eyes”, “Slow Boat”, I Wonder”, Drums, Lucky Old Sun and finished with “Early in the Morning” with Raye coming out from the behind the kit to play snare and one cymbal up front with us. Unlike the previous acts we opted for a vocal heavy sound and we were the only band to feature harmonies and dress up in the stage gear. People said there was quite a difference from what had gone before. We had to improvise the drum routine ‘cos we couldn’t shift bits of the kit, so we opted for a quick return to the final verse. Despite the odd cock up it went down a bomb! The show was being videoed but I don’t think it was a TV company? 

Shortly after our appearance we had to think about getting trains home, so we had a group hug about 10:20pm and set off in various directions. I gave Gina a lift back to her hotel in a bicycle rickshaw driven by a young Columbian guy I hailed outside the club. Got the train up to Cambridge getting in just after midnight and was home by just after 1am – a bit tired!

Norwich Working Mens' Club

Our first gig back after New Years Eve. We had had a practice mid-month and the gear all seemed to be working, so we were looking forward to the start of the new campaign. Had a quiet drive over in relatively windy conditions and used up my contingency time exploring Norwich’s one-way system to find St Gregory’s Alley just off St Benedict St. Although I could park at a bus stop, bollards on the alley prevented my getting up the alley to the club. So I went in and found one of the guvnors, who explained that one bollard lifted out to give access. By the time I’d parked up and got some of my gear into the club, the others arrived and we did a bit of “close three part parking” to leave room for pedestrians up the alley. Got the rest of the gear in and up a short flight of stairs to the concert room. It’s a fair size with a boxy stage but not a lot of width, so we set up the PA on the floor and to the sides of the band. We were getting close to completing set up when one of the club members warned us not to park outside! So we set off on a long drive round Norwich to end up in a multistory car park a few hundred yards from the club. By the time we got back time was tight and it was a bit of a rush to set up. I set up my spare SM 58 for Dave to see if that got rid of the mic problem, and it all seems to go well in the soundcheck. Got off to a good start with set 1 playing through OK to “Apache” I thought we were fairly quiet but the club’s noise level meter did keep peaking in the red. Then we ran into trouble, Dave’s mic cut out completely after “Peaceful Easy Feeling”. I quickly got him to pass his lead over to bypass the snake and plug straight into the mixer, but no joy? So I tried it in another channel and it worked! Only trouble was I had disconnected my mic by mistake. So as we swung off into the Beatles, I had to dash over and sing through Dan’s mic until the song finished and I could put it right. The good thing is that I have identified a faulty channel on the mixer as probably being the cause of all Dave’s recent mic problems. Despite the problems the audience remained attentive and appreciative and particularly liked the sloweys. Finished with “I Believe” to warm applause. Then there was some bingo - Jenny won £17 but we didn’t make her pay a round of drinks! Got back on to do a fairly standard set 2, Dave made a good call placing “Do It Again” after the Eagles as we had several people up and dancing, and we kept them dancing right through to the end of the set. Finished off the night with a typical dancey set 3 featuring requests for “Sweet Caroline”, “Achey Breakey” and “Unchained”. Got a great reception and shouts for more as we wound up with “Wonderful Tonight”, so we encored with “Great Balls of Fire” and “He’s Got You”. Took quite a time to pack up, Dave did a lot of talking to the audience and the guvnor who was well chuffed with the night. 

The management said it was rare for a band to keep the audience after the raffle and next time we can play on to midnight if we want to. Got the gear down the stairs and walked over the car park (cost £1.60) to face a long drive round Norwich to get back to the club and load up. Finally got away about 12:15am and after a good drive in windy conditions made it home for 1:20am.