The Tyneside Sheringham

I had spent some time with Roy in the “Greyhound” at lunch watching Man U getting beat by Chelsea and then left him in the Bury beer festival with the ladies. I had a good trip over arriving at 6:30pm. I had just got a couple of bits of gear in when Dave A and Rita arrived in their Mercedes Camper. They had spent the day on the area and were going to stop over near Kings Lynn on route to Peterboro’ for Sunday. We got a few more bits in and then Dave and Martin turned up. After a many point turn Dave got parked up and Dave A took his van across the road to park in the main car park. The club room looked a bit more refurbished than when we had last been there, but the club lights are still a rubbish so Dave brought 4 lights in. Only trouble was he had forgotten the leads – so it was back into the van and we had to make the best of the stage lights. We agreed to check the lights out before the next gig! Got set up and soundchecked OK and saw a few people were gathering for the evenings entertainment. Having had a couple of beers in the day, I decided to drink water while the boys had a beer. The audience seemed to be more “our kind” than previously and we had a bit of a following at this gig, so Dave did a bit of public relations while I chatted to Dave and Rita A. For this gig I had written out the set running order and pinned a copy up on the PA speaker near me. At 8:30pm we embarked on the start of set 1 with some confidence. And it worked very well. We knew what was coming next and bantered away happily as we played for an hour without departing from the order. I started a lonely Shadows Walk but one of the girls in the audience came up and had a go with me and we got a good reaction. The slowies and quickies were well appreciated by the dancers and we got a good round of applause as we did the big finish with “I Believe”. Had another glass of water in the interval then we got on and did set 2 as listed through to “Blue Suede Shoes”. Eagles and Beachboys went well and we did a good happy birthday for Mary who wore the hat. Dave did a great Elvis coming in from the dressing room and acknowledging the crowd before taking to the drums. I messed up a bit with “Crazy Little Thing”, I think because we hadn’t done it a lot recently. Anyway not fatal and we did a good “Shake Rattle and Roll” to make up. Finished off the set with “Love is all Around” which went very well. Dave A had a bit of trouble with the timing on the bass run down between verses, but we followed it OK so no harm done. Another glass of water and off we went into a dancey set 3 following the running order through to “Hi Ho Silver” which I sang from memory. The audience was thinning a little and getting younger. Apparently some had come from over the road at the Social Club where Midnight Hour were having a bad night? We did a good take of “Unchained”, which Dave A had to improvise because somehow the music hadn’t arrived in the book – my fault! Also did a loud sing-a-long version of American Trilogy (I played guitar for the flute bits) and then it was into the closing sequence. Dave said goodnight from the band over the end of “Pretty Woman” and we did a couple of verses of “Wonderful Tonight as an encore. It was as we came off stage that I realised that Dave’s ex-wife and daughters must have arrived towards the end of the set. Although all was quiet while we packed up an atmosphere was brewing!!! We had had a good night, done a good job and the management were well pleased; they were looking to book us for some possible Sunday lunches in the Summer season. I got away about 12:30am with some good help from Martin. Things were still quiet with Dave then, but apparently there was a bit of a row developing. Later in the week Dave said there had been a row and he was having to be careful now they had moved into the area temporarily and were disrupting life in North Walsham. Got in about 2am after a good run back on a clear night through “Market Shipborough”.

Lowestoft Ex Servicemens Club

Got off about 5:15pm, another cold windy day. Had an uneventful trip to Lowestoft and caught sight of Dave’s van as I approached the club. So I followed him into the car park and parked up. Dave was accompanied by his roadette Jenny. But she had had a fall in the week so Dave was meant to be doing the bulk of the shifting. A few minutes later Dave Ainsworth and his wife Rita arrived and then the club opened up. Jenny and Rita both helped us in with the gear despite my warnings on “health and safety”. We got set up on the small stage OK. I passed Dave some armoured leads for his mic and monitor so we could omit the snake. Dave A had his Trace Elliott 2x10 rig and it sounded just fine. We knew we had to keep the volume down and we sound checked briefly with “I Feel Fine”. All seemed OK so I hoped we would be in for a good night with a revised set listing. The 2 Daves were on new books. I had printed out the new running order, but I had left it in the car – bad mistake! Had a couple of beers while the bingo was on and we got changed and ready to go at 9pm. Had a slightly tentative start to set 1 but it was all working well by “Good Luck Charm” and we had a few folks up and dancing already. We got such a good dancing response to “3 Times A Lady” that we improvised “I Love You Because” as a follow up waltz. So far so good. The on stage sound was fine. Dave A was sitting back in the mix which was OK but we expect he will grow into it more as he gets familiar. The PA sounded a bit grainy to me but people had no trouble hearing what we were doing! We proceeded on with the set. I included the “Walking In the Rain” medley which Dave A followed well considering we hadn’t done it for a bit and I had taken over Dan’s parts. We got some good audience singing back response in places! On the whole Dave and I were bantering well enough together in this set. Tried the Shadows walk on my own with “Apache”. It is certainly better than nothing but It will be good to get back to the synchronised bit which always draws a good response. Did the rock’n’roll and finished off with “I Believe” to close a fair performance that had gone down well. After a break for water we got on for another hour to do set 2. This started off OK with “I Feel Fine” and the Eagles medley, but then we started to make some poor decisions on departures from the running order. Dave and I had been suffering with colds in the week and voices were a bit strained by now. Also I had started to miss not having the new running order in front of me and couldn’t get the announcements out quite as I would like. But, although we had some difficulty reading whether the dancers wanted sloweys or fasties, it is fair to say we were generally holding the attention of the crowd. Finished set 2 off with my poor choice of “Shake Rattle and Roll” ‘cos I couldn’t remember the running order. So we had a break for the raffle and got on with Set 3 starting with the rendition of “Sweet Caroline” that we should have played towards the end of Set 2. Then we played through the dance routine with good continuity up to a confused start to “Locomotion”. We lost the plot a bit thereafter, but it wasn’t long before we were closing off with the usual Orbison Clapton finish. They both went well, but we didn’t have time for an encore. I was a bit despondent at the end feeling I could have done better, but people kept coming up to saying what a good night it had been. The governor’s were pleased because we had kept the audience to the end so I guess we were being hard on ourselves. Got packed up slowly to find it was raining outside for the load up. Dave A looked tired but happy - Rita was driving him back. We did a bit of extra manoeuvring to extricate the Galaxy and then it was an hour and half home in the cold rain. Got in about 2am.

Wreningham Village Hall, Dan’s Last Night

Jacqui accompanied me and we wended our way through Garboldisham to join the A11, so far so good. Came off at the Wymondham exit and ran into the same problem as last time - they have moved the road? So I improvised and fought my way across country to get to the hall about 6:30pm . I was just having a sandwich when the lady in charge opened the doors. Just as I was getting the gear in, Dan, Michele Harriet and Dave, Jenny and Steve rolled into the car park in convoy. We managed to get the gear in pretty quick while the ladies sat and nattered in the band dressing room with the heater on full blast. Set up went smoothly - I got Steve to help me set the snake up and Dan decided to use the hall lights which were good. Had a bit of a problem with hiss from the harmoniser at high levels which will need some investigation, but otherwise the PA sounded clear and penetrating. Did a bit of a run through and all seemed well. Anticipating a slow start I put the longer background music set on the machine to welcome people in. Had a beer and then we did a longish set 1 of just over an hour. We had a good on stage sound and the audience included a lot of modern jive dancers who just kept at it and kept the band going. Although there was a good balance out front, it was clear from reviewing the video that Dave was oversinging at times. Because it drives the mic into distortion the only real solution is for Dave to back off the mic when he “lets rip” vocally. Dan and I got a bit out of synch on the Shadows dance but it still got a good reception. Started set 2 with “I Feel Fine” and “Seasons of Gold” which both went well. Dave was backing off the mic in this set so front of house vocal balance was much better. Played through to the Elvis routine and Dan played the flute for the last time as we brought Elvis into the building. After Elvis we brought on Dave’s yodelling country mate to do a couple of rock’n’roll numbers: “Johnny B Goode and Sweet Little Sixteen” The key of E was not ideal for me but I set about providing a deep country / rockabilly riff to it and apart from the odd bits of musical misunderstanding we rocked through it nicely. Then we did the presentation to Dan and Michele as we wished them well for the future in the USA. Steve brought up the goods and Dave did a fine job of MC ing presenting a memorial shield, card and bottle of fizz to Dan and a flower basket to Michele (all organised by Jenny I think). Finished off with “Love is All Around”. After the raffle (which I think Jenny won a prize at) we got back on for the final set. Playing through from “500 Miles” to “Hi Ho” We had a full hour to play so brought in some of the rock’n’roll we skipped earlier and other odd numbers, before finishing with “Wonderful Tonight” . The Lady in Charge asked us to do one more and Dan chose his last song as “Be Bop A Lula” which we rattled out just fine. Some folks came up at the end and said how much they’d enjoyed it and what a great sound it was (not too loud). Then it was the long pack up. With all the gear aboard we had a final group hug then set off home. We got a few miles down the road before I got lost again and we ended up driving along by-roads ‘til I hit Garboldisham and could find the way home. Finally got in about 2:30am on a cold misty night.

Kings Head Loddon

Got there about 6:40pm, the Kings Head is a bit further on from the Swan and the road narrows past the pub. Pulled into the car park and was told to bring car to the front door for an easy load into the playing area. Popped outside and started backing the car up when Dave, Jen and Dan arrived in convoy. So I explained the situation and we set about synchronised parking and unloading on the pavement and into the pub. Smallish playing area, but we managed to get set up fine using just one monitor and one guitar. Dan even set up some lights. Apart from Dave and Dan having a strange disagreement about soundcheck volume, everything was ready to rock! The governor said there was going to be a presentation which he hoped would boost attendance to over 80; but apparently there were a couple of other “do’s” on in the village so - fingers crossed. We were playing in “civvies” rather than the band uniform so we had time for a couple of beers before start up. Did a good hour of the usual set one stuff which didn’t raise as much reaction from the small crowd as a club, but they looked like they were enjoying it well enough. A lady who had had a bit to drink led a bit of rock’n’roll dancing and the governor’s father was also having a beer or two, enjoying the band and generally having a good time. I was a lot happier with the MPX 1 settings, but I have to get used to the new footswitch routines and sometimes I was getting it wrong. Had another beer and carried on with typical set 2. A few mistakes crept in to the show, but nothing fatal. We did “Unchained Melody” before the Elvis routine and I got the middle 8s mixed up. After another break the crowd had dwindled to a hard core of about 20. Anyway, we rocked through set 3 to “All Right Now” and then did “American Trilogy” and a couple more before we got into the finishing sequence. Apart from the small crowd it had been a good night. The governor’s father complimented us saying he’s expected a good band, but was delighted to have also got seasoned entertainers which had made for a great night. Unfortunately for Dan and Dave the chip shop had shut. Hard work packing and loading up but I got away about 12:30ish and was home for 1:30 am.

Dave A

Practice session with Dave A at my place.